U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visited Northwest Arkansas on Friday, March 25, to tour the manufacturing facility of NanoMech and participate in a round-table discussion that included Chancellor G. David Gearhart.

Geithner's visit to the region was to designed to promote changes to a federal tax credit that can be used for research and experimentation, one which would allow NanoMech to expand its operation and increase its research.

NanoMech is a nano-particle manufacturer founded on the groundbreaking research of Ajay Malshe, a professor of mechanical engineering and the Twenty-First Century Professor of Materials, Manufacturing and Integrated Systems in the university's College of Engineering.

Malshe's breakthrough research in nano-materials and manufacturing includes coating of nanoparticles, the first cubic boron nitride coating for machine tools, advanced nano-engineered lubricants, and novel nano-electro-machining that has contributed to innovations in teaching and research and has helped U.S. manufacturers produce superior devices and parts. In addition to creating jobs in Arkansas, the latter contribution has helped manufacturers remain globally competitive by increasing industrial efficiency. Malshe was recently recognized as one of the 10 most influential nanotechnology leaders of 2010 by NanoBusiness Alliance.

NanoMech is just one company established based on research at the University of Arkansas.

Geithner advocated improvement of the tax credit as one of many ways the country could spur economic recovery and help create new jobs.

“This proposal should be part of a comprehensive reform of the corporate tax system to make American companies more competitive,” Geithner said during the tour of NanoMech. “Reform that eliminates loopholes and preferences, lowers the tax rate on investments in the United States, and replaces a complicated muck of temporary provisions, with a more powerful, but more targeted set of permanent incentives, like the R&E tax credit.”

In addition to coverage by local media, Geithner's visit was reported by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Reuters.