Kent State Third Frontier Researchers Develop Energy-Saving Technologies

Story excerpt provided by Kent State University.

Two Kent State University researchers have won Ohio Third Frontier grants to test and build prototypes of energy-saving technologies. The researchers were selected as 2014 Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-Up Fund awardees by the Ohio Third Frontier Commission last month.

Quan LiQuan Li, Ph.D., senior research fellow in Kent State’s Liquid Crystals Institute and adjunct professor in chemical physics, will develop a small-scale prototype of a “smart” window that will not only darken or lighten to reduce glare and provide privacy but will control heat flow for energy savings.

His $35,000 award will enable him and his Ph.D. students to test the feasibility of the liquid crystal technology. The glass, which can switch from clear to opaque and vice versa, could have applications in automobile and aircraft windshields, where quick changes are needed to block sun glare. It also would provide privacy control for bathrooms, offices and hospitals, for example.

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Originally Published Wednesday, March 19, 2014.