Primary Job Title Project Lead Primary Organization 
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Location Berkeley, California, United States Regions San Francisco Bay Area, West Coast, Western US Gender Male
Website cyclotronroad.org/polyspectra LinkedIn View on LinkedIn X (Twitter) View on X
Replacing millions of porous windows with energy-efficient versions in older buildings and homes can be prohibitively expensive. Berkeley Lab’s Raymond Weitekamp, a Caltech PhD, has a new approach: an inexpensive, paint-on, energy-efficient coating that can be applied simply and evenly without the help of a professional—while the windows are still
in place. The paintable, clear material contains photonic crystals, developed by his startup company PolySpectra.
The polySpectra team has been recognized with numerous awards, including a 2016 grant from ARPA-E to improve the energy efficiency of single pane windows via paintable photonic crystals. Their chemistry was also recognized in 2013 by the Resnick Sustainability Institute and Dow Chemical, as the runner-up in Dow’s Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge Award. That year, Raymond was also selected as a finalist in the Department of Energy’s First Look West business plan competition.
Raymond has focused on the interactions of light with polymeric materials with the goal of applying fundamental scientific insights to challenges in sustainability and energy. He is currently part of Berkeley Lab's Cyclotron Road cohort. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech an A.B. in chemistry from Princeton University.
