
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 1, 1994                   TAG: 9404010232
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

RESEARCHER INTO STICKY MATTERS NAMED STATE'S TOP SCIENTIST

When it comes to Jim Wightman's line of work, you could say it's a sticky subject. Wightman, alumni distinguished professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech, has been named 1994 Outstanding Scientist of the Year for advancing the understanding and use of adhesives. He received the award Monday at the Virginia Museum of Science in Richmond.

A surface chemist and a Tech faculty member since 1962, his work in adhesives began in 1973 as an outgrowth of research he was doing with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He once had a large NASA grant to work on the heat shield for space capsules.

Wightman became head of the Center for Adhesive and Sealant Science at Tech 1n 1988. By the time he stepped down last year, he had earned worldwide acclaim for his research.

Still, he says, many of the hows and whys of adhesive science remain something of a mystery.

"When you glue the handle back on your coffee cup, you don't know how long it will last," he said. "Something as simple as that, we can't predict."

With other materials, though, scientists have had better success in predicting how well things will stay stuck, he said.

Given the ubiquitous nature of glues and adhesives in the modern world, Wightman's research has focused on practical spinoffs, though they're not always obvious at first glance. For example, he once worked on a project to develop a surface for aircraft that bugs would not stick to. Keeping squashed bugs from the wings meant lower fuel consumption at takeoff.

The research project itself never left the ground. Wightman, instead, installed a mock airplane wing atop his car - which he frequently drove between Blacksburg and NASA's Langley Field - to test various surfaces.

Wightman also has a reputation as a talented and sometimes colorful and creative teacher who can - among other things - put out a fire with a few molecules of ear wax to demonstrate the workings of surface chemistry. He's also been known to dress up as Ben Franklin to re-enact a1760 demonstration of surface chemistry in which Franklin poured oil on a pond.

"I pour vegetable oil on the Duck Pond - it doesn't hurt the ducks," he explains. "We do it on a windy day, and it smoothes the water until it produces a perfect reflection."

Reflecting on receiving the Outstanding Scientist award, however, Wightman expressed surprise. "Me, out of the 1,500 faculty and Virginia Tech and the caliber of their research - and all the scientists across the state doing wonderful things."

by CNB