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Ex-GM vice chair joins board of steel materials company

Oct 10 (Reuters) - Former General Motors Co ViceChairman Robert Lutz has joined the board of a steel materialsdesign company in which the U.S. automaker has invested,NanoSteel Co Inc said on Wednesday.

Privately held NanoSteel has created a technology for themanufacture of a new class of high-strength steel that it hopesto eventually license to steelmakers for use in the autoindustry.

NanoSteel's "approach has the potential to offer the mostnatural progression for automakers to stick with their mosttrusted material - steel - and at the same time enjoyexceptional properties that support the design of nextgeneration fuel efficient vehicles," Lutz said in a companystatement.

In August, GM's venture capital arm invested an undisclosedamount in NanoSteel as a way to tap into the company's new steelalloy technology.

"Over the next several years, light-weighting of vehicleswill be a major focus area to improve fuel economy," GM ChiefTechnology Officer and head of GM Ventures said at the time ofthe investment. "NanoSteel's nano-structured alloys offer uniquematerial characteristics that are not available today, makingthem a potential game-changer."

The lead investors in Providence, Rhode Island-basedNanoSteel include EnerTech Capital and Fairhaven CapitalPartners.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by MargueritaChoy)

((benjamin.klayman@thomsonreuters.com)(313-416-4071)(Reuters

Messaging: benjamin.klayman.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))

Keywords: NANOSTEEL LUTZ/