LiquiGlide: A coating to help that ketchup slide out

Thumping the back of a ketchup bottle unceremoniously to get its contents out is an experience most of us are familiar with. Dave Smith, a former MIT graduate student, along with his then professor, Kripa Varanasi, came up with a neat solution: a surface coating that can be applied to the inside of the bottle to make the inside slippery, so the ketchup slides out easily. Called LiquiGlide, the product has been tried with other consumer goods too, such as toothpaste and lotions. The first products with the coating are expected next year.

"We are really hoping to get into the Indian market," says Varanasi, adding that it feels like a responsibility to take this to India in order to prevent food wastage. Once we get a few things out, there will be more excitement, he adds.