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COLOR OF SUCCESS Area native's inventions may allow us to be chameleons in future IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Courtland High and Mary Washington graduate's invention will allow people to change the color of their clothing with the flip of a switch, and turn their office into a beach-like environment
Date published: 1/16/2007
By MICHAEL ZITZ
In the next decade, instead of changing clothes, we'll flip tiny switches to adjust the color of our apparel to reflect our moods.
We'll be able to change rugs, drapes, sofas and even wallpaper to a more festive shade for a party with a flick of the wrist.
Our children will be able to watch DVD movies in the car--not on clunky portable players or panels but on the fabric on the back of the front seats.
We'll even be able to make the walls and ceilings of offices produce a relaxing beach-like environment.
We'll have Gregory A. Sotzing, a 1989 graduate of Spotsylvania County's Courtland High School, to thank for it.
Sotzing, an associate professor of chemistry and polymer science at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, has developed a flexible electrochromic polymer that can change colors--and that will probably soon be able to produce images--in any fabric.
A large, well-known Asian corporation is about to give Sotzing, a Mary Washington College graduate who has a Ph.D. from the University of Florida, a grant to continue research on the project.
Sotzing said he can't divulge the name of the company yet.
New Scientist and National Geographic magazines have both reported on Sotzing's breakthrough, which could also have military camouflage applications.
None of this surprises Roy Gratz, a distinguished professor of chemistry who was Sotzing's honors advisor at what is now the University of Mary Washington. Sotzing is "one of our most successful students in terms of getting recognition--one of the top ones," Gratz said.
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands recently developed a technology called Lumalive that involves weaving light-emitting diodes--essentially tiny light bulbs--into fabric to create displays.
But Sotzing's revolutionary new process involves actual changes in the thread itself.
"You either remove or add electrons to the material and it goes through a color change," he explained.
Sotzing said the process can be used on anything containing fibers, "and fiber is pretty much everywhere--carpets, wallpaper, upholstery in cars, clothing, sofas, rugs."
In the clothing application, an array of tiny switches inside, "somewhere on your being," will allow the wearer to change colors at will, he said.
Sotzing said the camouflage ramifications could be awe-inspiring.
"You'll be able to hide in front of a tree instead of behind it," he said.
He said the process can be refined to the point where it produces "pretty complex images."
He said the Asian company seems to be interested in an application that involves showing video on the actual car seat-backs as opposed to fixed, hard displays.
One industry insider said Sotzing's efforts are helping a whole new American industry blossom.
| 'You either remove or add electrons to the material and it goes through a color change.'
Gregory A. Sotzing Inventor |
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Date published: 1/16/2007
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