Returning home to Ohio, Tom spoke to personal friend and soon to be co-founder Mike Tripplet about the problem. Mike is a former Director of Battelle, the innovation company that leads a significant number of the United States’ national laboratories. Tom and Mike soon found that available stick-on lenses were excessively bulky and had poor adhesion when exposed to water or high humidity. Working with a material scientist at Battelle, Tom and Mike developed a material with excellent optical properties that also adhered strongly to plastic and glass under almost any conditions. Tom and Mike applied for and were granted patents for both the unique material engineering and its application for eyeglasses.