WEBVTT 00:00.277 --> 00:01.260 (upbeat techno music) 00:01.260 --> 00:03.620 - [Narrator] The Air Force Technology Transfer Program 00:03.620 --> 00:05.450 helps move important new technologies 00:05.450 --> 00:08.630 from Air Force research centers into the private sector 00:08.630 --> 00:12.250 where they can benefit the US Military and American economy. 00:12.250 --> 00:14.043 This is the story of one of them. 00:15.060 --> 00:19.464 - [Man] Five, four, three, two, one. 00:19.464 --> 00:22.047 (engine roars) 00:23.090 --> 00:25.310 - [Narrator] Keeping the US Air Force on the cutting edge 00:25.310 --> 00:27.723 of liquid propulsion systems in space, 00:28.900 --> 00:29.733 missile 00:31.560 --> 00:34.160 and aircraft technology (engine roars) 00:34.160 --> 00:37.310 is the mission of the AFRL Research Laboratory 00:37.310 --> 00:40.000 at the Edwards Air Force Base in California. 00:40.000 --> 00:43.050 - Almost every propulsion system that the military has, 00:43.050 --> 00:45.800 uses a liquid of some sort. 00:45.800 --> 00:47.900 All of those systems involve surfaces 00:47.900 --> 00:49.340 that interact with liquids. 00:49.340 --> 00:52.210 Particularly, fuels, oils and greases. 00:52.210 --> 00:54.380 So, the military is very interested in being able 00:54.380 --> 00:57.450 to control those interactions in ways that basically 00:57.450 --> 00:59.990 enhance the performance of any of those systems. 00:59.990 --> 01:02.740 - [Narrator] In 2002 a team led by the lab's 01:02.740 --> 01:06.340 senior scientist, Joseph Mabry, synthesized a series 01:06.340 --> 01:09.580 of chemical compounds, called fluorinated polyhedral 01:09.580 --> 01:13.540 oligomeric silsesquioxane monomers or F-POS, 01:13.540 --> 01:14.940 that were capable of repelling 01:14.940 --> 01:16.840 both water and oily liquids. 01:16.840 --> 01:17.950 - [Scientist] Here on the left hand side 01:17.950 --> 01:20.970 is a piece of untreated aluminum metal 01:20.970 --> 01:23.320 and then we have a coated aluminum 01:23.320 --> 01:25.640 with our repellent surface and you could see 01:25.640 --> 01:27.730 the water droplet will bead up 01:27.730 --> 01:30.030 and it doesn't want to stay anywhere. 01:30.030 --> 01:32.070 - [Narrator] The F-POS technology caught the attention 01:32.070 --> 01:34.620 of some scientists at Boston's prestigious 01:34.620 --> 01:37.460 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 01:37.460 --> 01:39.350 - They immediately saw the potential 01:39.350 --> 01:41.730 of the molecule that Dr. Mabry had made, 01:41.730 --> 01:44.060 for really pushing the limits 01:44.060 --> 01:47.360 in terms of controlling the interaction of solids and fluids 01:47.360 --> 01:49.530 in ways that people hadn't thought about before. 01:49.530 --> 01:52.860 - [Narrator] An MIT spinout, NBD Nano, named after 01:52.860 --> 01:56.100 the Namib desert beetle that harvests moisture on its back, 01:56.100 --> 01:59.860 saw potential commercial uses for the F-POS technology. 01:59.860 --> 02:01.670 - We look at what the Air Force is developing. 02:01.670 --> 02:04.910 For the most part they're very real technologies. 02:04.910 --> 02:07.420 And what I mean real, I mean scientifically sound. 02:07.420 --> 02:10.380 But, more importantly, with clear applications in mind. 02:10.380 --> 02:14.680 A lot of academic research, is just that, it's academic. 02:14.680 --> 02:16.820 But where the Air Force differs, I believe, 02:16.820 --> 02:19.560 is really the focus on applications. 02:19.560 --> 02:21.000 - [Narrator] With the help of Techly, 02:21.000 --> 02:23.640 a DoD partnership intermediary, 02:23.640 --> 02:26.710 NBD Nano licensed the F-POS technology, 02:26.710 --> 02:29.100 formed a collaboration with the AFRL 02:29.100 --> 02:30.440 and went looking for funding 02:30.440 --> 02:32.850 to commercialize the Air Force technology. 02:32.850 --> 02:34.830 - So we have been working with the Air Force 02:34.830 --> 02:36.810 for approximately four years now. 02:36.810 --> 02:38.940 Since then we have done a lot of the work 02:38.940 --> 02:41.770 around formulating that material 02:41.770 --> 02:43.377 and improving upon it 02:43.377 --> 02:46.560 so that it can be applied in a commercial setting. 02:46.560 --> 02:48.640 - [Narrator] NBD Nano identified several 02:48.640 --> 02:50.770 promising commercial applications. 02:50.770 --> 02:53.500 The first of which they called RepelShell. 02:53.500 --> 02:55.830 A water and oil repellent formulation 02:55.830 --> 02:58.000 that can be used as a plastic additive, 02:58.000 --> 02:59.760 or as a glass coating. 02:59.760 --> 03:02.720 - We can actually directly integrate it into 03:02.720 --> 03:04.170 already vetted plastics, 03:04.170 --> 03:06.140 that are in commercial setting today. 03:06.140 --> 03:08.620 We can integrate this material into a paint, 03:08.620 --> 03:10.468 to try and make that paint 03:10.468 --> 03:12.890 more water and oil repellent. 03:12.890 --> 03:15.040 - We're doing a lot in athletic materials, 03:15.040 --> 03:17.600 whether that's running shoes or running gear. 03:17.600 --> 03:19.600 - [Narrator] NBD Nano has broadened the uses 03:19.600 --> 03:22.520 of the AFRL F-POS technology beyond 03:22.520 --> 03:24.270 oil and water repellent products, 03:24.270 --> 03:27.900 to a class of oil and water attracting formulations. 03:27.900 --> 03:30.410 NanoGlue is a next-generation adhesive 03:30.410 --> 03:33.510 with many high-value specialized applications. 03:33.510 --> 03:37.390 In addition, NBD Nano has developed a mixture of attracting 03:37.390 --> 03:40.023 and repelling compounds like Invisiprint. 03:41.130 --> 03:45.210 - Invisiprint is a whole new class of technology. 03:45.210 --> 03:46.900 It essentially hides fingerprints 03:46.900 --> 03:48.560 on a variety of print surfaces. 03:48.560 --> 03:50.410 Predominantly glass and metal. 03:50.410 --> 03:52.600 - [Narrator] Currently, the company is scaling up 03:52.600 --> 03:54.340 for industrial production. 03:54.340 --> 03:57.080 But none of these technological or commercial advancements 03:57.080 --> 03:59.350 would have been possible without the work done 03:59.350 --> 04:02.430 by the AFRL team at Edwards Air Force Base 04:02.430 --> 04:04.913 and the Air Force Technology Transfer Program. 04:06.180 --> 04:09.790 AFRL propulsion research, creating breakthroughs 04:09.790 --> 04:11.800 in material science that are leading 04:11.800 --> 04:14.500 to important new commercial products. 04:14.500 --> 04:16.170 For more information contact 04:16.170 --> 04:18.763 the Air Force Technology Transfer Program.