Summarised by Centrist

Dr Stella Clarke, Ngāti Porou engineer and lead of BMW’s e-ink technology team, is revolutionising the car industry with colour-changing cars. Demonstrated at CES 2023, Clarke’s innovation covers vehicles with e-ink cells that shift colours in seconds through a smartphone app. 

She explained, “In the morning, you can choose the colour of your car… it remains that colour without consuming energy all day.” This bistable tech needs only a brief burst of energy to change and doesn’t drain battery life—a big bonus for EVs.

However, Clarke, an Australian-born engineer of East Coast Māori, and Chinese/Indonesian descent, admits, “We still have challenges to overcome, particularly in robustness… testing takes years.”

Clarke joined BMW in 2007 and says her interest in e-ink technology “started with a fascination for how e-ink holds a colour with no power.” 

As for advice for young women in engineering, Clarke said, “If you enjoy building ideas and the sciences, engineering can be incredibly fulfilling… my favourite photos aren’t of the cars but people’s faces when they see them.”

Proud of her Ngāti Porou heritage, Clarke recalled summers in New Zealand with her large family: “Ko Hikurangi taku maunga; Ko Ngatiporou taku iwi (“Hikurangi is my mountain; Ngāti Porou is my tribe”). I’m very proud of my Māori and multicultural heritage.”

Read more over at The NZ Herald 

Image: CNN