NASA Langley scientist is bound for Hall of Fame
Williamsburg resident to join group that includes Edison, Bell
WILLIAMSBURG — As a kid, Robert Bryant was endlessly curious about why different objects were made of certain materials, from toys to car paneling. In high school, he built sturdy skateboards out of wood and fiberglass, then sold them to classmates.
Since 1990, the Williamsburg resident has worked as a chemist at NASA Langley Research Center, focused on aerospace technology. He also invented a compound that unexpectedly jumped into medicine as an insulating material in devices for heart failure patients.
That discovery earned Bryant, a 60-year-old research materials engineer, a spot in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He will be one of 16 inducted during an Oct. 26 ceremony in Washington.
“When I got the phone call, I was shocked,” he said. “I could not believe that I was going to be a part of it.”
The NIFH, founded in 1973, will have 624 members with its newest class. They join famed honorees such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Henry Ford. The nonprofit runs a museum at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria and offers a range of educational resources for teachers and families.
Each year, a panel of experts selects inductees based on inventions in widespread use for the benefit of society. The 2023 group includes scientists and engineers who have worked on gene-editing systems, mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines, cancer drugs that stop the production of tumor-fueling hormones, and innovations in wheelchair design.
Nominees are evaluated for perseverance and passion in their fields, said Ken Torisky, an NIHF spokesman.
“They are leaders who understand the importance of developing the next generation of American innovators,” Torisky said.
Bryant discovered his patented substance, a high-performance polymer called Langley Research Center-Soluble Imide (LaRC-SI) as part of a project to develop materials for high-speed civilian aircraft.
LaRC-SI proved special because it is biologically inert, meaning the human body doesn’t recognize it as foreign and therefore attack it. The compound also is resistant to chemical dissolution and can withstand extreme hot or cold temperatures.
Medtronic, a global healthcare technology company, licensed LaRC-SI in 2004. Bryant served as a consultant for a decade as engineers and physicians adapted it for use in cardiac resynchronization therapy, which can improve the heart’s ability to pump blood.
Today, LaRC-SI serves as a coating for the thin leads on implantable pacemakers. The flexible wires carry electrical impulses through a patient’s veins to help the heart’s lower chambers beat in a more coordinated pattern.
For Bryant, the importance of his discovery truly hit home when a co-worker approached him several years ago.
“She said, ‘My husband has that pacemaker, and he’s alive because of it. So, I’d like to thank you,’ ” he recalled. “That was a pretty remarkable moment.”
A Chicago native, Bryant is the son of an engineer father and a librarian mother who encouraged his scientific interests and love of reading. He often took his toys apart to see how they worked and enjoyed exploring the world on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout.
As a student, Bryant had to overcome significant vision challenges due to oculocutaneous albinism type 2, a genetic condition that affects pigmentation of the skin, eyes and hair. He had to record lectures in college and graduate school and still keeps a magnifying glass for reading. His advice to any child, with or without a disability: read as much as possible.
Bryant majored in chemistry at Valparaiso University in Indiana and earned master’s and doctorate degrees in polymer science at the University of Akron, where he was part of NASA’s Graduate Student Research Program.
During his 33-year career at NASA Langley in Hampton, Bryant has won numerous awards for his research and was inducted into the NASA Inventors Hall of Fame and the Space Technology Hall of Fame. As part of research teams, he has received more than 40 patents.
“I’ve gotten to work with so many incredible people,” he said. “It’s important that all of them get credit, too.”
Bryant, a married father of two adult children, counts photography, cooking and world travel among his hobbies. He and his wife, Joy Bryant, a retired patent attorney and former chemist, have journeyed to more than 20 countries.
As he continues to study advanced materials for supersonic civilian aircraft and space exploration, Bryant is still amazed by LaRC-SI’s leap into pacemakers.
“You never know,” he said, “maybe I could save my own life with it one day.”