It was good to get back on the horse again! We just got back from a one week trip to Germany and Turkey. We were visiting an important customer in Germany, and our Series A lead investor in Turkey.
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Eyewear manufacturers have entered 2022 with a mandate to grow sales faster than the global eyewear market. According to Grandview Research, the eyewear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2021 to 2028, reaching close to $280B by 2028. This means that eyewear manufacturers need to grow 10%+ organically to hit their goals. Eyewear designers and engineers are being tasked with developing new solutions that will help the company grow in this competitive market.
As we work with leading designers, we are seeing a number of best practices being deployed that are impacting their ability to deliver on these priorities. In this post, we will lay out the top 5 eyewear design trends for 2022 and dig in further in subsequent posts on how eyewear manufacturers are planning around these trends.
Eyewear designers have a lot to look forward to this year. The market is ripe for growth and disruption. Manufacturers will need to keep up with the competition. New eyewear technology and solutions will be designed that will revolutionize the eyewear industry. A combination of improved performance, additional comfort, and fashion will lead the way. Setex Technologies will be there for eyewear manufacturers as they seek out new gripping technology for nose pads and other eyewear applications.
A variety of industries have discovered the benefits of partnering with Setex Technologies. Years of academic research which set out to examine how a gecko can defy gravity gave birth to Setex®. It is a dry adhesive technology supplying micro-fibrillar polymer based dry adhesives and surfaces for a wide range of product applications. It supplies innovative solutions to a diversity of products that require adhesion, gripping and fastening solutions.
Studied, researched and developed at Carnegie Mellon University, Setex® is a uniquely effective adhesive technology. From this discovery, Dr. Metin Sitti, a professor of Mechanical Engineering founded and spun out Setex Technologies, formerly known as nanoGriptech from the University in 2009. Since then, the Setex Technologies team of experts has secured multiple research awards from organizations, including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and the PA NanoMaterials Commercialization Center.
Commercially innovative, practical, adaptable, and customizable, industries are benefiting from partnering with Setex Technologies. Industries currently using Setex® as a solution in adhesion, gripping and fastening include, medical, sports, aerospace, wearables, semiconductors, automotive and more.
Setex Tape is the first commercially available dry adhesive technology that supplies both a permanent and temporary bonding solution. It is a dry, residue-free adhesive that can be used repeatedly. Setex Technologies will collaborate with any partner in customizing an exclusive solution for their needs.
The Setex Team is ready to work with partners who require gravity defying slippage, adhesion, gripping power and reusability.
Partnering with Setex Technologies begins with defining the product, uses, expectations, design, target cost, specs, manufacturing, and subassemblies needed. Once the parameters and uses of the customized partner project are completed, the design process begins.
Upon completion of the design process the prototype manufacturing begins. Setex is determined to supply the adhesion, gripping, or fastening solution that best benefits the partner’s use. Prototyping customized products for partners include, testing manufacturing solutions, along with verifying that the product exceeds expectations and is a workable solution for the needs of the partner.
The final phase is launching the product with the partner. This includes manufacturing, assembly, and training. The Setex Team follows through with end users to ensure superior quality that performs its designed functionality.
Setex is involved with partners in a diversity of industries. Setex doesn’t make products, it makes them perform better. Setex benefits partners by defying gravity, preventing slippage, supplying reusable adhesion, and preparing for the future
Setex doesn’t make prosthetics, it improves how they help the person. Setex doesn’t make the earbuds, it keeps them in place. Setex doesn’t make the game, it keeps the controller in your hand.
Setex is ready to work with manufacturers and developers of products that need to defy gravity, today and tomorrow, on earth and in space.
The science behind Setex Technologies was inspired by a question proposed by one of the many wonders of nature. “How do geckos defy gravity?” The academic research and scientific experiments that set out to answer this question gave birth to Setex Technologies.
This approach of asking how and why actions in nature are possible has led to innovations that solved complex human inquiries for centuries. Leonardo da Vinci, a painter, sculptor, inventor, scientist, theatrical set director, puzzle-maker, and more often began with a simple question. His well-documented journals are filled with such inquiries as, how do birds fly, how do fish swim, how is light diffracted over distance. Over his life, he had thousands of questions on how nature worked.
Throughout his prolific and illustrious career, da Vinci spent countless hours in observance of nature. He used these observations to sharpen his skills as a painter and more. He studied the interplay of shadows and light which led to his ability to transform his artwork beyond a one-dimensional image. To achieve realistic sculptures, he observed how muscles relied on each other for movement. He used the power of observation, research, and experimentation to emulate nature.
The process of studying how nature works and applying the answers to solving human problems is known as biometrics or biomimicry. The words are compound words taken from ancient Greek. bios translated as life and mimesis as an imitation. Simply put the words biometrics or biomimicry mean the process of imitating life.
Setex Technologies is the end result of applying biometrics to develop innovative products based on the ability of the gecko to defy gravity. The original research centered on answering that question, then developing a process that would emulate the gravity-defying ability of the gecko. This led to the breakthrough of the gecko-inspired grip and adhesion products developed by the scientists at Setex Technologies.
The gecko does not use webs, claws, or glue to defy gravity. It has developed the powers to walk upside down, and vertically through evolution. The development of this skill was in response to its need to escape predators which it must be able to do at birth. This evolutionary ability is a complex system that encompasses, geometry, biology, physics, and chemistry working in unison.
The gecko uses the principle that negative and positive charges attract. To take advantage of this rule of physics, it relies on a complex interplay of the geometry of its feet, its toe pads, and intermolecular forces.
The toepads of the gecko have thin hairs called setae made of keratin, a structural protein, they end in smaller structures known as spatulae. The shape of the gecko toe pad combined with a positive and negative interplay between the setae, spatulae and the surface is in short how evolution has allowed the gecko to defy gravity.
After answering the question, how do geckos defy gravity, the next step was how it could be imitated for solutions that help human problems. Setex Technologies was incubated from research, experimentation, and development at Carnegie Mellon University.
The result of the original inquiry and years of research and experimentation was a technology to supply micro-fibrillar polymer-based dry adhesives and surfaces for a wide range of product applications. Patented gecko-inspired Setex materials delivering products and solutions that stick, grip, and fasten with unmatched flexibility and under the most challenging circumstances emerged from academic research to commercial production.
Setex Technologies is applying the science of how geckos defy gravity to solve gripping and sticking solutions to an array of diverse industries. Setex Technologies is already supplying innovative solutions to hundreds of products and industries with many more on the horizo
In taking a dive into the wearable industry it’s obvious that everything old is new again. Wearables per se are not new. People have been wearing, eyeglasses, hearing aids, watches, and jewelry for centuries. Over time some wearables have faded out of fashion only to be re-invented and born again as a popular faddish accessory.
Although eyeglasses are a necessity for some people who wear them, when they were not fashionable, they were replaced by contact lenses. As the wheel of fashion spins, eyeglasses have not only had a resurgence for those who need them, they are worn as a fashion accessory by others.
Watches once found on most adult wrists by the 1990s were replaced by the phone which was carried all day. The spinning wheel of fashion landed on watch, and it again became a fashion statement.
Joining these two wearables that have spun around through the decades from in favor and out of fashion, there are other wearables such as hearing aids that are essential. Although their footprint became smaller and they were less noticeable, securing them in place was always a problem.
Along with wristwatches and eyewear making a full-out fashion comeback in recent years, high-tech wearables are also commanding attention. Wearables that track workout times, heart rates, mileage, calories, and more are now prominent on the forearms of runners, bikers, and walkers.
Cell-based communication devices are competing with wristwatches for that body spot, while earbuds that serve dual purposes are pushing out traditional hearing aids. Others wear microphones attached to collars, chest pockets, and other parts of the body for hands-free communications over cellular devices.
The announcement that the age of the metaverse is upon us means that even more wearables will dominate everyday life. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) devices will explode as more people align their everyday lives with the metaverse.
Already on the drawing boards and set to join a lengthy list of future wearables are microchipped jewelry that can keep track of biometrics, control business and personal Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and also produce a hologram for your metaverse avatar.
The wave of wearables from clothing embedded with tech to prototype devices that access AI, VR, and the IoT are in the near future. Beyond that one only needs to look at Sci-Fi shows and movies to guess at what the future of wearables will look like in the next few decades.
Securing wearables today and tomorrow requires a gravity-defying solution. In securing wearables the solution requires comfort. It must be able to firmly hold wearables in place while walking, jogging, running, biking, even during water sports. It must be removable and reusable. It can’t leave behind a film or sticky residue. Luckily, it is already here to secure wearables today and into the future.
Studying the past opens the doors to the future. Setex Technologies was born from studying nature. By learning how a gecko defies gravity Setex learned how to make advanced innovative products that grip, stick, and fasten. The result is an advanced micro-fibrillar polymer-based dry adhesive technology. For the wearable industry today, tomorrow, and into the coming AI, VR, and Space Age, Setex Elastomeric polymers have been converted into Setex Grip structures which demonstrate a remarkable power to adhere, grip, and fasten even on wet, sweaty, and oily skin. Setex is ready to secure wearables today, tomorrow, and beyond.
nanoGriptech, Inc., the first commercial manufacturer of gecko-inspired micro-structured dry adhesives and surfaces for a wide range of consumer and industrial applications, announced today its name change to Setex Technologies, Inc.
The goal of the transition to Setex Technologies for the corporate and B2B name is to share and leverage the equity on the Setex B2C name, maintaining a stronger and more coherent brand architecture to better serve both business models. The firm has also introduced a new tagline, “Stay in control.” “Our product solves everyday issues of keeping things in place, where they are intended to be,” explains Kuhn, “therefore helping people stay in control of their daily tasks which can range from improving your game all the way to safety at work.” The new branding was the work of Pittsburgh-based brand consultancy, The Machine.
The company has relaunched two new websites reflecting the B2B brand at setextechnologies.com and the B2C brand at setexgrip.com.
About nanoGriptech, Inc. a.k.a. Setex Technologies, Inc.
Setex Technologies, Inc. is a privately-held developer and manufacturer of gecko-inspired dry adhesive technology used in applications ranging from wearable consumer goods to semiconductor and glass handling to automotive upholstery fastening. The company was spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2009 by its founder, Dr. Metin Sitti. It occupies over 12,000 square feet of space in a former chocolate factory in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. For more information about nanoGriptech™ and Setex™ gecko-inspired adhesives, contact John Kearney at 412.224.2136 or jkearney@setextechnologies.com or visit setextechnologies.com
Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania (RIDC) announced that nanoGriptech, a current tenant, has signed a new five-year lease for expanded space at the Lawrenceville Technology Center (LTC). NanoGriptech will gain approximately an additional 6,300 square feet of space, for a total of 12,681 square feet in the Chocolate Factory, an LTC building named in recognition of its chocolate factory roots
The company developed its patented technology by biomimicking the hairs, called setae, on gecko’s toes which allow the lizards to climb and grip many surfaces. They are currently working with a number of Fortune 500 companies to develop solutions for a range of applications, including wearable consumer products, semiconductor and glass handling, and automotive upholstery fastening. Under the Setex brand name, the company has been marketing a variety of grip pad products for eyeglasses, earbuds, game controllers, and other devices directly to consumers since 2020. Like the underlying technology, the brand name Setex is also inspired by the gecko’s setae.
Founded in 2012, nanoGriptech is the commercial manufacturer of Setex GeckoGrip and GeckoTape – gecko-biomimicry grip and adhesive products for consumers and businesses. Setex GeckoGrip’s unique skin gripping properties are used in solutions for eyewear, wearables, electronics and sporting goods. Setex GeckoTape is a repeatable, paper-thin, conformal and residue-free tape with applications in semiconductor, automotive, medical, parts handling, and mounting. NanoGriptech’s products are sold directly to consumers on e-commerce platforms, as well as through business to business.
“Flexible office and manufacturing space is a highly sought-after commodity by growing technology and innovative firms,” said RIDC President Donald F. Smith, Jr. “Providing those kinds of spaces, with flexible lease terms that allow for expansion, incentivizes local university spin-off companies commercializing their tech here, like nanoGriptech, to stay and continue to drive the region’s economy and its position as one of the global leaders in innovation.”
About RIDC
The mission of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania is to catalyze and support economic growth and high-quality job creation through real estate development and finance of projects that advance the public interest. A not-for-profit entity, RIDC owns over 2,800 acres of land in 11 industrial parks and manages over 50 buildings.
The Chocolate Factory, now home to some of Pittsburgh’s fastest-growing technology firms, including nanoGriptech, Helomics and HEBI Robotics, was formerly a chocolate factory owned by Geoffrey Boehm in the 1990s, and before that, an Atlantic & Pacific Company storehouse built in 1930. In 2004, RIDC completely renovated the 70,000-square-foot building into a multi-tenant, office/high-tech manufacturing facility. More information is available at www.ridc.org.
nanoGriptech, Inc., the first commercial manufacturer of gecko-inspired micro-structured dry adhesives and surfaces for a wide range of consumer and industrial applications, announced today its name change to Setex Technologies, Inc.
The company developed its patented technology by biomimicking the hairs, called setae, on gecko’s toes which allow the lizards to climb and grip many surfaces. They are currently working with a number of Fortune 500 companies to develop solutions for a range of applications, including wearable consumer products, semiconductor and glass handling, and automotive upholstery fastening. Under the Setex brand name, the company has been marketing a variety of grip pad products for eyeglasses, earbuds, game controllers, and other devices directly to consumers since 2020. Like the underlying technology, the brand name Setex is also inspired by the gecko’s setae.
The goal of the transition to Setex Technologies for the corporate and B2B name is to share and leverage the equity on the Setex B2C name, maintaining a stronger and more coherent brand architecture to better serve both business models. The firm has also introduced a new tagline, “Stay in control.” “Our product solves everyday issues of keeping things in place, where they are intended to be,” explains Kuhn, “therefore helping people stay in control of their daily tasks which can range from improving your game all the way to safety at work.” The new branding was the work of Pittsburgh-based brand consultancy, The Machine.
The company has relaunched two new websites reflecting the B2B brand at setextechnologies.com and the B2C brand at setexgrip.com.
About nanoGriptech, Inc. a.k.a. Setex Technologies, Inc.
Setex Technologies, Inc. is a privately-held developer and manufacturer of gecko-inspired dry adhesive technology used in applications ranging from wearable consumer goods to semiconductor and glass handling to automotive upholstery fastening. The company was spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2009 by its founder, Dr. Metin Sitti. It occupies over 12,000 square feet of space in a former chocolate factory in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. For more information about nanoGriptech™ and Setex™ gecko-inspired adhesives, contact John Kearney at 412.224.2136 or jkearney@setextechnologies.com or visit setextechnologies.com
A specific fibril tip shape design is the key to achieving elastic dry fibril adhesives with super liquid repellency. This new bioinspired material opens up many possibilities for use, as it prevents any form of liquid droplet or layer from hindering or degrading its adhesion.
“Our material effectively repels not only water, but any liquid. Oils, for example, which easily wet surfaces due to their low surface tension, would normally spread on and between the fibrils – the fine hairs – causing them to clump together and lose adhesion. But because of the specific tip structure we have created, our fibrils can fend off all liquids, including oils,” Ville Liimatainen explains, highlighting the key feature of the adhesive. Liimatainen is a postdoctoral researcher in the Physical Intelligence Department at the MPI-IS and lead author of the publication “Liquid-Superrepellent Bioinspired Fibrillar Adhesives”, which was recently published in Advanced Materials. The senior author is Metin Sitti, a Director at MPI-IS and head of the Physical Intelligence Department. Sitti is a pioneer in the research field of gecko-inspired dry adhesives. He is also the founder of nanoGriptech Inc., a start-up that commercialized several nature-inspired dry adhesives.
For more information about nanoGriptech and Setex™ gecko-inspired adhesives, contact Nicholas Kuhn at 412.224.2136 or nkuhn@nanogriptech.com or visit www.nanogriptech.com
