- Wright-Patt is well known for being
the largest single site employer in Ohio,
yet it's rare to get the opportunity to see some
of the exciting things that go on here every single day.
Today, I had the chance to speak with one individual
who's changing the way ground troups conduct
night operations with a crayon.
This is First Look.
(upbeat music)
- That's gonna be their entrance point.
- [Narrator] Troups are currently
using commercial glow sticks to write messages
and mark routes during night operations,
which isn't cost effective, nor very practical.
Inside the Air Force Research Lab,
I met with Dr. Larry Brott, a materials engineer,
who was basically told, hey, we've got this problem,
try and solve it, and that's exactly what he did.
^- The idea that we came up with is,
^is there a way that we can convert these liquids
^into something that looks more dry.
So, we took those oils that are used in these
glow sticks and microencapsulated them.
- [Narrator] From there, he took it back to the basics,
and created a wax molding in the shape of a large crayon.
- And suddenly you have something that's reusable,
non-toxic, now you can write specific messages,
and when you're done writing your specific message,
you put it right back in your knapsack,
and it's good for the next day,
and the next day, until your crayon is gone.
- [Narrator] These crayons are expected to hit the field
towards the end of this summer, and that's
the truly exciting part of this story.
Dr. Brott was able to solve a big problem,
with a simple solution and it's people,
like him, who will continue to keep the Air Force
on the cutting edge of innovation.
Even if it's something as simple as a crayon.
^(mellow music)