Optrix™: Making an Impact on the Built Environment
Every inventor has a story about the moment of discovery. For UM College of Architecture graduate Abhinand Lath, that moment occurred in the winter of 2003 while he was working on his master's thesis, attempting to show how poetic ideas can be translated into materials. As he recalls, "I was reading a Japanese poem about a woman walking through a bamboo forest, and how her movements made the delicate stalks sway, creating ten thousand generations of shadows. Something clicked. The next morning, I woke up with the idea of moving pieces of shadow to unexpected places."
Lath, who also holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, discussed his brainstorm with Doug Kelbaugh, Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and immediately received a summer research grant. Initially, Lath achieved the desired shifting-light effect by embedding fibers in concrete, then began using pieces of plexiglass or acrylic. Over the summer, the process evolved into OpTrix™, an interwoven matrix of reactive fiber optic strands that move light from one area to another.
In the spring of 2004, Lath won a competition for new ideas sponsored by Metropolis magazine. He also earned the opportunity to display OpTrix™ at an exhibition of experimental design held at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, where he received an award for Best New Talent. Currently, he's working with UM Tech Transfer staff members to determine the optimal course of action. "Ultimately, I'd like to focus on designing buildings," he says. "But right now, I want to get this technology out into the world, whether through a license, a start-up, or some combination."
Printed from: http://www.techtransfer.umich.edu/news_events/success_stories/story_27.php