Saving Lives on Land and Sea
Tell us a little bit about See Rescue Streamer and how it came to be?
SeeRescueStreamer is a military-approved/adopted emergency signaling technology that locates people when they are lost at sea or on land. It is used all over the world and has saved several lives both in the military and public sectors and is now on board all SpaceX flights to protect the astronauts! I invented SeeRescueStreamer when I was flying with a fellow UH Grad student in a rented plane to Kauai when I looked down during what sounded like engine trouble to me and realized even if we successfully ditched the aircraft in the ocean, no one would be able to see us. The SeeRescueStreamer is a long segmented piece of plastic that gives survivors a long orange tail that can be spotted from far away - all without any batteries, chemicals, or electronics (and it lasts indefinitely)!
How did your time at UH influence your work today?
As a PhD Student at SOEST (first year of PhD graduates) and under my advisor Dr. John Sinton, I was able to attack problems from a variety of angles and apply scientific principles to all technical challenges. UH offered a unique setting to work on problems in deep nature, whether they were volcanoes on the bottom of the ocean or analyzing samples in the laboratory.
As a student in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, what were some of the most fascinating things you did?
I was honored to work on submarine volcanoes off Galapagos and go down 2 miles deep in the ALVIN submersible to retrieve my lava samples for my PhD work. A close second was being able to monitor active Kilauea eruptions on the Big Island in the days when the fountaining lava reached heights of 1000 feet! The laboratory analysis of the samples was very interesting using electron microprobes that lead to further lab work using Laser Mass Spectrometer at NASA Johnson Space Center and the Ion Probe at MIT.
When you think back to the early beginnings of See Rescue Streamer, what advice would you give a UH student hoping to start a business?
Don't quit your day job so you can one day quit your day job. There are 168 hours in the week and if you subtract 40 for sleep and 40 for your job (or school), you still have 88 more hours to work on your invention on the side. Put your phone down and put the work in to follow your passion!
Why do you think it’s important to preserve the creative/innovative spirit of students?
It's critical not only for self-fulfillment but for the betterment of society to contribute unique technology (and art) to the world to solve problems and to continue to inspire the young people following behind you. The world is always in need of solutions to all kinds of problems across the spectrum of life. By staying creative and innovative, you have a better chance of solving those problems on a macro (global) scale and/or on a micro-scale simply to solve your own challenges.
What are your aspirations moving forward (personally or professionally)?
I want to remain creative and continue to inspire people to dig deep within themselves to achieve their goals (or at least go for them)!. On a professional level, I wanted to stay engaged with the global distribution of the SeeRescueStreamer technology (and some of my other inventions) to continue to save lives!