Christina Lomasney

Christina Lomasney isn’t out to change the way we share photos with one another, nor does she want to create a new mobile app for finding the best restaurants in your neighborhood.  Nope, she’s frankly got bigger fish to fry.

A University of Washington-trained physicist who previously worked at Boeing, Lomasney believes that Modumetal’s nanolaminated coatings are stronger, lighter and more durable than steel.

Now, that’s cooler than any new social networking startup.

Modumetal got a ringing endorsement earlier this month when it raised more than $10 million from Second Avenue Partners; Catamount Ventures; Chevron Technology Ventures and other undisclosed backers. At the same time, Concur CEO Steve Singh (another 2012  GeekWire Newsmaker) joined the board.

The cool thing about Modumetal is that after years in the research lab, it is just getting rolling. The 20-person startup truly does have the opportunity to transform not one, but multiple industries, reinventing how everything from buildings to oil platforms to automobiles are constructed.

That alone made Lomasney an easy choice for the 2012 GeekWire Newsmakers of the Year list.

We’ll recognize the Newsmakers of the Year at the GeekWire Gala, Dec. 6 at McCaw Hall in Seattle. Details and Tickets Here.

“We have some very large customers that are engaged with us and are excited about the application,” Lomasney told GeekWire earlier this month. “I think we will see a huge turning point, probably in the next year to 18 months.”

We’ll be spotlighting all of our 2012 Newsmakers on GeekWire over the next month, leading up to the GeekWire Gala on Dec. 6 at McCaw Hall in Seattle. Many of the newsmakers, including Lomasney, will be joining us and the rest of the tech community on that night to mark a remarkable year of news.

Go here to read profiles of other GeekWire Newsmakers of the Year.

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