POPCORN CLEANS UP
by Muhammad Fayed
Category: Education

Fear and greed play into life in both negative and positive ways. They are also the reason for this book. I have written about the fear and greed I faced in trying to bring my discovery to light. What follows is an account of events that resulted in the decision to write this book. When I made my surprising discovery that popcorn can remove trace contaminants from water and air, I was overwhelmed. I was discreet when speaking with my trusted colleagues, who were senior professors and administrators at my home university. We all thought it would be a good idea to arrange a meeting with the president of the school. In the fall of 1996, we saw this discovery as an opportunity for the university to develop a research program to explore new frontiers on popcorn's ability to clean water and air. Meanwhile, the college could raise funds to support research work based on my discovery. For many reasons, not least of which popcorn is perhaps the most famous American snack, my colleagues and I thought the discovery would generate interest from environmental and industrial communities, as well as from the public. The invention turned out to be a novel discovery. After years of research work and help from individuals and small companies, I had enough data to apply for United States and Canadian patents. During these years, I contacted a few popcorn-processing companies in the USA and Canada to interest them in this discovery. The outcome was one of enthusiastic reinforcement. These companies conducted tests that validated this genuine discovery. At a meeting with senior officers from one of these companies, I was asked "how is it that we who are in the popcorn business did not make this discovery, and you did"? My answer was simply, "I was inspired." As time went by I was granted two US patents based on my breakthrough, in addition to a few patent pending applications. Over the last number of years I have come to feel that the "David and Goliath" story was becoming my own. This struggle is one shared by many independent individual inventors with limited financial resources when their inventions are disclosed to big corporations. Once revealed the great danger becomes infringement, which requires large financial resources and a great amount of time to fight. The big corporations know it, and can afford the resources required to endure litigation. My family and I discussed the merits of continuing negotiations with interested companies, or making my discovery public. My joy of publishing this book are thrice. First, by placing this knowledge in the public domain I hope to preempt any malicious corporate efforts to develop this work. Second, I hope to generate interest by those who would work with me to develop and exploit this breakthrough for the good of our environment. Finally, I wish for my readers to remember the potential health and environmental benefits of popcorn even when it is enjoyed in its popular form as America's favorite snack. It is my personal hope that this book will encourage environmental and health conscious researchers to look deeper into new frontiers and wonders of the great American snack, Popcorn.