Truly reinventing the wheel
By Brent Kampe
Oct. 10, 2005 9:00 p.m.
When third-year microbiology student Nima Milani-Nejad entered
the 2005 Building and Landscape Product Design Competition, he
“had no idea (he) was going to win” anything.
After all, Milani-Nejad was up against 80 entries offered by 25
different individuals, groups and companies ““ including those
whose sole business was to design products created from waste
tires, the main criterion for the contest.
So he was surprised when, after submitting two product designs,
each a composite material for building myriad objects, he garnered
accolades for each. He won a silver medal and a “Best in
Class” award for the “New Residential
Building/Construction Products” category, and a bronze medal
in the same.
The competition, sponsored by the California Integrated Waste
Management Board, was held in August to help find answers to the
growing problem of waste tires in California. Products prepared by
contestants needed a composition of at least 50 percent recycled
tires.
“These exciting new products … will help us to reach our
goal of finding new uses for all of the 39 million tires we
generate each year in California,” said board Chairwoman
Rosario Marin in a statement.
An estimated 1.5 million tires are currently stockpiled in
landfills, posing health and safety risks for Californians,
according to the board.
Coming up with his products for the competition was easy ““
Milani-Nejad had already invented them.
Last year he went on a tour of his uncle’s company, Crumb
Rubber Manufacturers, which creates products such as asphalt using
rubber from waste tires.
He was inspired to find new ways to use the materials, and
employing his background as a former chemistry student, he
formulated two new composites which he envisioned could be used as
the building substance for a variety of public fixtures.
“You can mold (them) into anything you want,”
Milani-Nejad said.
The first composite is a rubber cement concrete construction
material and has several properties that make it ideal for use in
buildings and roofs, including effective heat and sound insulation.
It also weighs much less than concrete, yet retains its
strength.
Another potential use for this material is as a freeway divider.
Though it would otherwise look like a normal traffic barrier, his
material could be used in layers to absorb the speed of a vehicle
in an accident for a more cushioned impact.
The design received a patent from the United States Trademark
and Patent Office, an uncommon accomplishment for a
20-year-old.
His second material is patent-pending, and in a similar fashion,
can be used in buildings or curbs.
For a while, his ideas had been lying latent until he saw an
advertisement for the competition. He decided to enter because the
contest would be a good opportunity to publicize his
inventions.
As a winner, the board will assist him in marketing his product,
translating it from an idea into a commercially available
solution.
