Ten years ago when Deborah Chung began her research on radio frequency and radiation shielding for electronics, the term "cell phone etiquette" had not yet been coined.
But now cell phones are everywhere, they are ringing everywhere, and people are answering them and talking on them everywhere.
Chung, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and a Niagara Mohawk Chair Professor of Materials Research at UB, is now developing her radio frequency materials for the purpose of blocking cell phone use in buildings.
Chung said her blocking materials could be used in any building where people want to prohibit cell phone use while still leaving the building structurally sound. She gave the examples of movie theatres, concert halls, churches, offices or anywhere in a building where people would not want to be bothered by cellular phones.
"Cell phones operate with radio frequency waves," she said, "and the mechanism is simply to allow a reflection of the radiation to take place."
The material she has developed can be mixed into concrete, she said. At a construction site, the material can be mixed into directly into the cement to create cell phone-proof walls.
In building construction, she said, the product would basically just be the "throwing in of some additives," after which cell phones would not be able to receive or make calls.
The material does not have to be used just in concrete, she said.
"It could be used in paint, and the paint could be applied to a wall, or even in curtains," she said. "We have developed metal fiber mats which could be placed over curtains."
In addition to creating awkward and annoying social situations, she said, cell phones and other radio frequency devices can interfere with computer technology. In certain places such as hospital and airports, when computers are endangered it could endanger society.
When she began the work, she said, it did not involve cell phone blocking. She developed her materials because all electronics that emit radiation need to be shielded.
The products have passed the laboratory stage, she said, but have yet to be field-tested due to liability issues.
Her materials do not need to be used to block cell phone use in whole buildings, she said. Buildings could be constructed with her materials, she said, in which "certain regions allow cell phone use, and certain regions do not - like smoking areas and non-smoking areas."
A negative effect of her technology, she said, would be that television signals could not be received in any building area reinforced with her materials.
Another downside of the technology, according to Chung, is that the material blocks all cellular signals indiscriminately, meaning it would disable a doctor's phone like it would the phone of the person who wants to chat during a movie.
Jamming cell phones, which is blocking the use of cell phones by electronic means, is illegal, she said. Her materials are not illegal because they are not electronic.
Some UB students said they recognized the annoyance of cell phones.
"I hate when I'm eating with someone and they answer their phone and talk on it," said Frank Sicari, an English major. "Once I was in a test and a girl's cell phone rang three different times. She didn't shut it off after any of the times; she just let it keep ringing."
But Sicari said does not feel that cell phone proof buildings are necessary. "Everyone should just keep their phones on vibrate, like I do," he said. "I mean, we have them for emergencies. They shouldn't be blocked."
"I hate when they go off in social places like restaurants," said Joe Silvent, a junior English major.
Silvent said he did not feel that blocking phones from use in certain buildings would be a bad idea, but the weather might put a damper on talking outside.
"It would be pretty annoying in Buffalo in the winter," he said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
