Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Paulie Harraka
Temporary Tattoo For A Sporting Edge

Paulie Harraka, driver of the #5 Wauters Motorsports Ford,
at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 24, 2012 in
Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton/AFP)


Hydration is incredibly important. In sport dehydration can affect your performance and decision making abilities but by the time you get thirsty you're already dehydrated. This Saturday, NASCAR racer Paulie Harraka* will be using a device based on John Rogers work at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign to monitor his hydration levels as he races.

Rogers' device is an extension of his work presented in his Science paper last year, and consists of a 'temporary tattoo' of flexible electronics in direct contact with the skin. He gave the update on his work to delegates at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in San Diego, US.

The device on Harraka will be used to monitor hydration, temperature and physical strain during the race. However, Rogers says that his epidermal electronics can be used for much more, such as measuring skin hydration for the cosmetics industry or even, a bit further down the line, controlling an external device like a prosthetic limb by tracking muscle movements.

Rogers' electronic tattoos could one day
be used to control prosthetic limbs


*Paulie Harraka is the driver of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series #5 Wauters Motorsports Ford. He is a K&N Pro Series West Alumni.

Click Here to read the complete article.

**NASCAR hasn't approved a working model of the new MC10 skin for a race.

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