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In September, Parc successfully demonstrated this technology at DARPA’s Wait, What? Forum and received significant positive interest from academia, government, military, and commercial organizations. DUST is a technology based on stress-engineered glass that allows electronic devices – chips, sensors and other electronics – to be rapidly and remotely disintegrated on command, leaving small, dispersed particles. The company demonstrated this at the Wait, What? Forum using a standard laser pointer to provide a remote logical signal that triggers a current pulse in a resistive heater, which in turn provides the energy needed to initiate a defect and disintegrate the electronic device within a couple of seconds. “This technology can help commercial organizations as well as individuals to protect personal data,” said Gregory Whiting, DUST principal investigator and Manager of the Novel Electronics Area in Parc's Electronic Materials and Devices Lab. “Our approach is designed to be compatible with off-the-shelf electronic devices and fabrication processes, potentially allowing a wide range of complex transient functionality to be realized.”