By Daniel Monson
Two Utah inventors are zipping forward in an attempt to win the new inventor reality TV show 'Made in the USA' on the USA network.
Josh Pace, a graduate of BYU, and Justin Marty will continue their TV appearances every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on the USA channel, unless they are voted off. They have currently lasted two episodes, and are one of five remaining teams.
A panel of judges rates invention teams, and one team is booted off each week.
Their revolutionary invention is called the ?Quad Zipper.?
?The Quad Zipper, unlike an ordinary zipper, compartmentalizes clothing,? Pace said. ?You can have a sleeping bag turn into pants, or a jacket turns into a blanket. It has the potential to revolutionize clothing like Velcro did.?
The Quad Zipper looks like four zippers all joined by a single zipper-pull in the center.
Not only is the Quad Zipper team getting praise from the shows judges, they won a viewer vote for favorite weekly team.
?Our main goal with the show has been exposure,? Pace said. ?It?s been great for that, and the experience is priceless.?
Amber Pulley is the team?s publicist. She is known in Utah for representing Sean Nelson and the local LoveSac company.
?Justin Marty got in touch with me,? Pulley said. ?He wanted something done similar to LoveSac.?
Pulley said she has high hopes for the team and the invention is gaining recognition.
?The invention is quite methodical, and it really is ingenious,? Pulley said. ?They are up against a lot of other inventions. This zipper is revolutionary, and there are so many applications to it.?
Pace said the path has not been easy, and the zipper has been long in coming.
Five years ago Marty and his dad were camping in the Sierra Mountains. When he didn?t want to get out of his sleeping bag to get out of his tent ? he started thinking.
Years of studying clothing and zipper designs brought about the Quad Zipper.
?Personally, I came in as the first investor,? Pace said. ?I got my family involved, and we have used other investors. Overall it has been around a couple hundred thousand dollars.?
Pace said a lot of that money goes toward domestic and international patents, and time also becomes a great investment.
?It?s amazing how much time it takes,? Pace said. ?You have to keep going forward with your ideas, and pursue them. I love the Y, and encourage Cougars to pursue their passions.?