Kayson is a geography buff who likes to travel. He acts in a community theater group and creates animated videos on the side. Kayson hopes to become a NASA engineer someday because "engineering sounds like a lot of fun."
Kayson became interested in ways that electromagnetic devices might improve communications, particularly for military uses. The central puzzle he approached was how to make outgoing and incoming messages transmittable through an electromagnetically secure building without allowing the enemy to intercept them. Kayson hypothesized that if ferromagnetic flakes were suspended in fluid contained within a nonmagnetic well, a magnet could be used to turn the flakes and create a communications "window" effect much like Venetian blinds, depending on whether the flakes were flat (blocking signals) or on edge (permeable to signals).
Kayson used a scanning electron microscope to determine the best aspect ratio of three types of nickel particles, finding that nickel plate worked best. Then he tested fluids to calculate the optimal nickel-plate-to-oil-carrier concentration, watching to see how flakes rotated when a magnet was passed underneath. The best oil was safflower. Next, Kayson tested various washers to use as windows and determined how the nickel plates could optimally cover the window by using magnets placed in various positions. The best concentration was a layer one flake in thickness, and the best washer had a 7-millimeter opening. This combination created a window that allowed nearly two-thirds of the light to pass when open and blocked 100 percent when closed.
