NanoDynamics Inc. has named a new chief executive officer following the ouster of Keith A. Blakely, a co-founder of the Buffalo-based high-tech company.

The board of directors replaced Keith A. Blakely, who helped start NanoDynamics in 2002, as CEO with William Cann, who had been serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Blakely remains a member of the board but is no longer employed by the company, said Jennifer Parker, a NanoDynamics spokeswoman.

The leadership switch reflects the board’s shift toward focusing on commercializing a select few technologies that NanoDynamics has researched and developed, Parker said. The company employs a total of 75 people in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Columbus, Ohio.

Cann joined NanoDynamics in fall 2007. He had worked for a number of other companies, most recently Envirosolutions, a nonhazardous solid waste disposal startup company in Virginia where he served as vice president and chief financial officer.

Blakely served as NanoDynamics’ CEO for about seven years. Prior to that, he helped launch Advanced Refractory Technologies in North Buffalo. The ceramics materials developer was bought in 2001 by a subsidiary of Tyco International, renamed MA/COM and was subsequently closed.

Blakely, who is known for his entrepreneurial background, remains chairman of the InVentures Group, a consulting services business.

NanoDynamics is focusing on commercializing solid oxide fuel cells; water filtration technology; halloycites, which are expected to be used to inhibit microbial growth in building and construction materials’ and cement additive technology.

Earlier this year, a Nano- Dynamics subsidiary was awarded a $1.78 million grant from the Office of Naval Research to develop a solid oxide fuel cell system for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles.

NanoDynamics twice in the past two years halted plans to raise $100 million through an initial public offering. In February 2008, it pulled the plug on a planned offering on the Dubai stock exchange. And in 2007, it dropped a plan to list on Nasdaq.