HOUGHTON -- For years, John Jaszczak supplied fellow scientists with rare samples of graphite that he dissolves into crystals.

Back in 2005, the future Nobel recipients contacted Jaszczak after creating atom-thin sheets of graphite called graphene.

They were hoping Jaszczak's graphite might make an even better quality graphene, which could become the next big technology.

"They found it has surprising electronic properties, and it's lead to an explosion of research by scientists hoping that a new generation of electronic devices could be made, by exploiting these novel properties of graphene," says Jaszczak.

Jaszczak has turned over his graphite business to a Tech enterprise team, but he still enjoys showing off the mineral's properties to local high school students.