You may recall my recent article about how, at my recent visit to Chicago’s Navy Pier, the Philip K. Dick robot at NextFest completely surpassed the “time travel ride” robot host that was also featured.

Likewise, I’ve written about how Dr. Cynthia Kenyon, Herbert Boyer Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at the University of California-San Francisco, seriously believes she may have unlocked the keys to a Methuselah-like life.

You say ALON, I say Transparent Aluminum

Did you see the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home? In it, the team traveled back to the 20th century to keep whales from going extinct in order to protect the future.

Chief Engineer Mr. Scott (“Scottie”) helped a researcher “discover” a marvelous substance called transparent aluminum. Lighter and stronger than steel, it was also transparent.

Pundits called it the stuff of science fiction (a truism at the time).  Well, guess what?

It’s here now.

The Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground reports that they have successfully prototyped a new kind of armor that’s both stronger and lighter than traditional materials. It also happens to be transparent.

It has the potential to stop armor-piercing projectiles. This is especially attractive as a replacement for traditional types of windows in armored vehicles.

The technical name of the material is aluminum oxynitride. However, they’ve come up with the catchy name ALON™. (I expect we will soon see licensing of commercial applications into private companies. If a small public company obtains the rights and is well managed, we’ll be looking to invest.)

ALON is ceramic and, according to lead researcher 1st Lt. Joseph La Monica, “is light years ahead of glass.” (Don’t you find it interesting that he chose this metaphor?)

It’s apparently about as scratch resistant as diamonds, yet offers better resistance to shattering under impact. On the other hand, it’s just half the weight and thickness of traditional glass.

It stops both .30 caliber and .50 caliber armor-piercing bullets. It is apparently capable of withstanding anti-aircraft fire.

Another exciting benefit is that, unlike glass, just a few additional millimeters of thickness provide significant additional protection. This will add little to vehicular weight, and the limits of the material’s defensive properties have apparently yet to be established.

It’s also incredibly durable: The material will be virtually impervious to sandstorms and other forms of environmental degradation that damage glass, weakening its defensive properties and impeding vision.

The Army plans to use this for windows in ground vehicles, while the Air Force is looking at deploying it in slow-flying aircraft.

Although the commercial possibilities are exciting, currently cost is going to limit the range of these applications (unlike military, for which cost is apparently no longer any concern whatsoever).

Lieutenant La Monica stated that conventional glass armor cost roughly $3 per square inch, while ALON will be at least $10 and possibly as much as $15 per square inch.

The additional cost is reportedly due to difficulties with heating and polishing processes. However, the lieutenant is optimistic that these costs can be reduced. Further, changes in the procedures seem capable of significantly increasing strength of the material even further.

Additional opportunities to reduce costs include reducing the size of pieces and using a lower grade of ceramic material, both of which appear to be feasible.

While the lieutenant is obviously a talented researcher, he’s probably not knowledgeable about production, engineering or business operations. I’m confident that when people with expertise in these areas begin to study this material, they will find ways to cut manufacturing costs tenfold.

When that happens, “transparent aluminum” will win hands down over glass for many applications. Expect to see it in private planes, helicopters, and even standard automobile windows within 10 years.

Flying stones will no longer crack your windshield, and windows in homes will become a lot safer and more durable. Iron security gratings may even become a thing of the past.

Going a little further into the future, assuming that ALON proves capable of withstanding extremely high velocity projectiles, it will be an ideal window material for the private space stations and orbital hotels soon-to-be built by companies like Bigelow Aerospace.

Imagine taking a private rocket ship ride in Virgin Galactic’s successor to SpaceShipOne. (The engines should be provided by our Transformational Technologies Portfolio holding company SpaceDev.) You debark in an orbital hotel operated by Bigelow Aerospace. Shown to your room, you are stunned by an enormous bay window made of transparent aluminum looking out onto the solar system — your private panorama on the heavens.

Once again, it’s not science fiction — it’s on the drawing boards, and the well heeled amongst us should be able to enjoy such excursions circa 2010. Keep investing with us for the long term, and you could be one of those who “boldly goes where no one has gone before.” I’ll see you in the sky!

(Speaking of the sky… As I pen these words, I am marveling at something else. I am on the verge of investing in a film project starring Nichelle Nichols — Lieutenant Uhura of Star Trek fame. Coincidence?)

To your profitable future,
Jonathan Kolber
November 22, 2006

P.S.: As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday, let’s be grateful that we have the opportunity to not only witness such marvels, but also participate in and even make money from them.

Investing in Metals was originally featured in the Penny Sleuth.