{"663769":{"#nid":"663769","#data":{"type":"news","title":"ZipString to Appear on \u2018Shark Tank\u2019","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStephen Fazio was looking to create a Christmas present for his father. Instead, the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Eelectrical and computer engineering\u003C\/a\u003E student ended up creating the first ZipString prototype in his dorm room.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EZipString is a toy that floats a seemingly standard loop of string in the air, carefully balancing\u0026nbsp;the forces of gravity, lift, tension, and drag.\u0026nbsp;With any movement the user makes, the string follows.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFazio first met Austin Hillam at a metro Atlanta\u0026nbsp;church, and this now-dynamic duo was off and running \u0026ndash;\u0026ndash; creating a new prototype together after just 12 days of knowing each other. They posted a video of the new prototype to TikTok and received more than 20 million views in one night.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHillam, from Johns Creek, Georgia, is\u0026nbsp;an engineering student at Brigham Young University with a passion for creating and fixing things. He attributes it to growing up in a household with a father who loves working with tools.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;My father and I never called anybody to fix anything at our house. We would just look things up and figure it out ourselves,\u0026rdquo; Hillam says. His father enjoys mentoring the pair, bringing his expertise and the same figure-it-out mentality to the ZipString team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFazio grew up with a love for all things electronic. When he arrived on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s campus, he was focused on learning as much as he could in this area, joining RoboJackets and participating in multiple hackathons. The skills he developed at Tech have now culminated in ZipString.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, working from the Hillam family basement, the ZipString team aims to improve ZipString, fulfill orders, and, of course, drum up more business.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EZipString will be featured on Friday, Dec. 9, on ABC\u0026rsquo;s \u003Cem\u003EShark Tank\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EElectrical and computer engineering major Stephen Fazio and his business partner Austin Hillam\u0026nbsp;pitch their invention ZipString\u0026nbsp;on Friday, Dec. 9, on ABC\u0026rsquo;s \u003Cem\u003EShark Tank\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"ECE major Stephen Fazio and his business partner Austin Hillam\u00a0pitch their invention ZipString\u00a0on ABC\u2019s Shark Tank."}],"uid":"34973","created_gmt":"2022-12-09 13:35:28","changed_gmt":"2022-12-09 15:53:40","author":"Evan Atkinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-12-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-12-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"663770":{"id":"663770","type":"image","title":"ZipString 01","body":null,"created":"1670593340","gmt_created":"2022-12-09 13:42:20","changed":"1670593396","gmt_changed":"2022-12-09 13:43:16","alt":"Stephen Fazio and Austin Hillam pitch ZipString on ABC\u0027s \u0027Shark Tank\u0027","file":{"fid":"251251","name":"1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1_10.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1_10.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":584734,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1_10.jpg?itok=eS33ekwc"}},"663771":{"id":"663771","type":"image","title":"ZipString 02","body":null,"created":"1670593418","gmt_created":"2022-12-09 13:43:38","changed":"1670593439","gmt_changed":"2022-12-09 13:43:59","alt":"Stephen Fazio and Austin Hillam pitch ZipString on ABC\u0027s \u0027Shark Tank\u0027","file":{"fid":"251252","name":"2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2_5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2_5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":589856,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2_5.jpg?itok=l1jCzxzh"}},"663772":{"id":"663772","type":"image","title":"ZipString 03","body":null,"created":"1670593462","gmt_created":"2022-12-09 13:44:22","changed":"1670593536","gmt_changed":"2022-12-09 13:45:36","alt":"The Sharks try using ZipString on ABC\u0027s \u0027Shark Tank\u0027","file":{"fid":"251253","name":"3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3_5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3_5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":667959,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/3_5.jpg?itok=jBOLhLnK"}}},"media_ids":["663770","663771","663772"],"groups":[],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/eatkinson6@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EEvan Atkinson\u003C\/a\u003E, Institute Social Media Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["eatkinson6@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}