- Richard Palmer
Inventor/CEO - Floria Antolini
Materials manager - John Sudul
Product designer - Mike Austin
Snowboarder
- Concept
- Technology
- Application
- How is it used?
- d3o engineering story
+ 30mins. video
Engineering a Dream
The inspiring story of how one engineer turned his dream of creating a ‘smart’ material into a successful reality and the impact it is having
on everyday lives.
Synopsis
Part scientist, part designer, part entrepreneur - Richard Palmer is an engineer who believes passionately in the pursuit of dreams:
“Everyone has dreams but the dream will always just stay in your head unless you turn it into something. It’s the effort and energy to turn
your dream into something tangible that has the value.”
In this film Richard tells the story of how he turned his engineering dream – making a soft, lightweight material that becomes as hard as
steel - into a successful reality. From its humble beginnings as uncontrollable ‘goo’, we see how Richard’s ‘smart’ material, d3o, is now
revolutionizing everything from snowboarding gear to footballs to ballet shoes.
As we follow Richard on a typical day - assessing new versions of d3o with his chemical engineer, testing d3o kit with a champion
snowboarder, meeting his financier and being hit with a shovel on Brighton Promenade - we gain a unique insight into what it takes to be a
successful engineer in the 21st century and see at first hand the impact (pun intended) that engineers can have on everyday lives.
Background
‘d3o’ is a specially engineered material made with intelligent molecules that flow with you as you move but lock together to absorb the shock of impact. It was invented by British engineer, Richard Palmer, and is being used in an increasing array of products, from kneepads and beanie hats to ballet shoes and footballs. It’s orange, it feels like putty, and you can wrap it round your fingers. But if your fingers are hit with a hammer, d3o becomes as hard as steel, instantly distributing and diluting the force, meaning you would hardly feel a thing. This is what is so amazing about d3o – it prevents serious injury, but doesn’t restrict freedom of movement.
Richard understands that you can have a great idea, but if you don’t turn it into something people can use, and if you don’t stand out in the marketplace, it will come to nothing. Richard is not only a brilliant engineer he’s an entrepreneur too. Beginning all by himself and putting his house on the line, he now employs a large team of people and works with famous brands like Puma and sports stars like champion snowboarder, Mike Austin.
d3o is a fascinating innovation and an inspiring personal success story.
Why this film?
To inspire a new and diverse generation of UK engineers, technologists and scientists
Aimed at secondary students, teachers and parents, shows what its like to be an engineer in the 21st century. Faraday’s aim is to challenge young people’s perceptions, helping them to see careers in engineering, science and technology as exciting, accessible, valuable and rewarding.
