Chula engineer has designed bullet-proof polymer for use by Army
Many Thais may not think of their country as a land of technological innovation but Sarawut Rimdusit begs to differ. He thinks the Kingdom is heading in the right direction when it comes to research and development.
"We have lots of ideas and potential," said 39-year-old Sarawut. Both state and private sectors could do more, but increased effort had been seen in research and development, he stressed. "Friends from Asean region think we have achieved a lot."
Those may sound like empty words but Sarawut is no PR man hired to increase the Kingdom's perceived prestige. He is, in fact, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Engineering and a proud inventor of polymer composite bullet-proof sheet, which significantly reduced the ballistic impact of bullets.
With three female research assistants working on master's degrees under him - Somsiri Pathomsab, Pakawan Kamolchai and Chalinee Liewvachiranond, Sarawut took three years to develop the new composite material that, at under Bt10,000 is half the price of conventional imported bullet-proof vests, and lighter to produce than conventional bullet-proof vests made of 50 or 60 layers of different types of paper.
Funding for this came from National Metal and Material Technology Centre (NTECH) and Thai Research Fund (TRF).
Both the Army and the Navy have tested the material to their satisfaction and have attached it to ordinary small pickup trucks to convert them to more maneuverable and cheaper light-armour vehicles.
But the Army now wants Sarawut to produce a thicker bullet-proof waistcoat that would withstand special vest-penetration bullets.
Bringing the euphoria down to earth, Sarawut, who received his doctorate in Macro Molecular Science at Case Western Research University in Cleveland, Ohio, on a Thai government scholarship, admitted that he's still waiting for the new funding. He also said it's not practical for them to expect him to serially produce bullet-proof vests as he's no hi-tech factory owner.
Meanwhile, the time lapse between inventions registered as intellectual property and delay till products are widely produced and put to use is a year now, and he's still waiting.
The whole project began in 2006 when violence in the deep South erupted. Sadly, however, what Sarawut produced has yet yet to be made for extensive practical use.
"They wanted us to manufacture it but we need to produce moulding and so on. I don't know how to find the people [to carry out the task]," he said.
As to whether his patented invention will become widely used or not, Sarawut doesn't think it will be a "silver bullet" (pardon the pun) against the violence in the deep South.
"We must address the problem at the root cause… Bullet-proof vests can only reduce casualties and boost morale. But from what I gather [the Thai-Malay Muslims] were not very fairly treated. We [also] need to have the same standards of treatment and justice [for them] because they're Thai people too."
