News Release Details

UT Knoxville’s Smart Adhesive Joint for Composites and Metals gains finalist honors from the American Composites Manufacturers Association with help from Luna’s Fiber Optic Sensing technology

ROANOKE, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2016-- Insert in second sentence of first paragraph of release issued November 7, 2016: Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA)

The corrected release reads:

LUNA’S ODISI FEATURED AS A FINALIST IN THE ACMA AWARDS FOR COMPOSITE EXCELLENCE

UT Knoxville’s Smart Adhesive Joint for Composites and Metals gains finalist honors from the American Composites Manufacturers Association with help from Luna’s Fiber Optic Sensing technology

At the 2016 CAMX – The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, the composite materials industry’s premier trade event, the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) announced finalists for the Awards for Composite Excellence (ACE). Amongst the finalists in the Manufacturing Category for the Equipment and Tooling Innovation Award was the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for their Smart Adhesive Joint for Composites and Metals, which features Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA) ODiSI product (Optical Distributed Sensing) as a key enabling technology.

Luna’s ODiSI technology uses a lightweight, flexible, inexpensive, easy-to-install, distributed optical fiber sensor to provide critical stress, strain and temperature information to designers and manufacturers working with advanced materials. The ability to embed ODiSI’s fiber sensor within a composite material enables the development of “smart” composite structures. The demand for composite and other lightweight materials is growing rapidly, driven by “lightweighting” requirements within the aerospace and automotive industries and the associated requirements for lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The market for such materials today exceeds $150 billion.

Bonding and gluing similar and dissimilar materials to form strong “joints” is one of the key technological challenges within this space. The “smart joint” innovation was recently developed by Dr. Dayakar Penumadu, Fred N. Peebles Professor and Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM) Chair of Excellence in the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee. This innovation uses ODiSI technology to determine the quality of an adhesive joint between carbon/glass composites and/or metals and a patent application for this technology has been submitted by the University of Tennessee Research Foundation. Luna’s advanced fiber optic sensing technology is integrated into a bonded smart joint during the curing stage or after preparation of the joint. The integrated fiber optic strand (embedded in the bond) is connected back to an ODiSI instrument which analyzes the strains/stresses in the bonded joint. These stresses can be related to the quality of the bond. ODiSI can measure stress/strain with ultra-high spatial resolution (millimeters) using cost-effective fiber sensors. The result is a scalable approach to a bonded joint that can report on its own integrity from within.

“Smart joint can be used for optimizing, monitoring, and preventing failures between joints of similar and dissimilar materials for the aerospace, wind, infrastructure, and automotive sectors. Adhesively bonded joints that are suitably surface treated show a lot of promise for maintaining stealth and avoiding holes for mechanical fasteners, and this technology will be revolutionary for such applications,” said Professor Penumadu.

“We are pleased that ODiSI played a critical role in the development of the smart joint composites and that our colleagues from the University of Tennessee were nominated for a prestigious award for their work in this area,” commented My Chung, president and CEO of Luna Innovations. “Our ODiSI line of fiber sensing products is rapidly gaining traction across multiple industries and applications, and we view the development of ‘smart’ structures as one of the most promising. This innovation will enhance the safety and quality of next generation structures designed with advanced materials.”

About ACE

For more than 20 years, the Awards for Composites Excellence (ACE) have recognized the superior product and process achievements that are the forefront of innovation to the industry. This annual competition and product showcase hosted by the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) recognizes superiority in engineering and design as well as improvements and innovation in equipment and manufacturing. The products, equipment and processes that receive this distinguished recognition have significant impact within the market as well as a proven understanding of composites.

About Luna:

Luna Innovations Incorporated (www.lunainc.com) is a leader in optical technology, providing unique capabilities in high speed optoelectronics and high performance fiber optic test products for the telecommunications industry and distributed fiber optic sensing for the aerospace and automotive industries. Luna is organized into two business segments which work closely together to turn ideas into products: a Technology Development segment and a Products and Licensing segment. Luna’s business model is designed to accelerate the process of bringing new and innovative technologies to market.

Forward-Looking Statements:

The statements in this release that are not historical facts constitute “forward-looking statements” made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include the company's expectations regarding the characteristics of its products and technologies, including their potential uses and capabilities and market impact and acceptance, the capabilities and potential opportunities for other related technologies, the composite market and factors affecting growth of the market, and potential demand for the company’s ODiSI technology. Management cautions the reader that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to a number of both known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. These factors include, without limitation, failure of demand or market acceptance for the company’s products and services to meet expectations, technological challenges for the company's products and technologies and other related technologies, other challenges that may face the composite market, and those risks and uncertainties set forth in the company’s periodic reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Such filings are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and on the company’s website at www.lunainc.com. The statements made in this release are based on information available to the company as of the date of this release and Luna undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

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Source: Luna Innovations Incorporated

Investor Contact:
Luna Innovations Incorporated
Dale Messick, CFO
1-540-769-8400
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