ABSTRACT
Which activities should be the R&D priority? How can we compare the potentials of dissimilar opportunities? What is the right balance of projects in the portfolio?
Edwin Land developed two completely different processes for making polarized filters in the 1930s before he achieved fame with instant photography. The name Polaroid derived from the company’s original technology. Land’s first process employed a crystalline form of iodoquinine sulfate, which was known to act as a polarizer. Earlier researchers had tried and failed to grow crystals large enough for optical work. Instead, Land employed a multitude of tiny crystal needles. He mixed them with binders to form a thick colloidal dispersion. By forcing this mixture through a narrow slit, the crystals became uniformly oriented in one direction, creating the first polarized sheet.
