Hari Shroff    
Interdisciplinary Engineering graduate, 2001

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Conventional aerodynamics theory doesn't explain how bees have the ability to fly. It's one of those nagging mysteries in science. Christina McGraw (a graduate student) and I are testing an approach to calculating the lift and pressure that has had promising results.

Professors at the UW have been experimenting with pressure sensitive paint that is used in testing airplane wings. What if the paint could be applied to bees? This idea presents a couple of challenges – first, the airplane paint is too heavy and stiffens the wings. Second – it is extremely difficult to measure the very tiny pressures generated by a bee in flight. We spent a couple of quarters experimented with paint formulas and eventually settled on a polymer, ironically including beeswax. I spent last summer perfecting a method of applying the paint to sedated honeybees, and we've been successful at getting the right quantity applied and returning the bees to normal. The measurement was another matter. With some help from Professor Khalil, we built a chamber containing sound waves generated by an old speaker. Sound is a pressure wave, and by using the speaker to pump sound through a tube we can tell whether the paint reacts (with luminescence) to the kind of pressures we were talking about. It was pretty crude at first, but the test instrument has since been refined into an invention called the phosphorescence microphone, and Christina and I have applied for a patent. As for the bees, the research is ongoing.

Hari is now pursuing a Master's Degree in Chemistry at University of California - Berkeley