Our Purpose
Working to make the world more habitable for all of us critters.
We are two semi-retired boomers who would like to see if our candidate solutions to established needs or problems can be developed and applied to help reduce environmental pollution and also help reduce causes and effects of climate change. We intend to assemble the tools, workforce, and partnerships to develop and implement our candidate solutions where they continue to make sense, and .......... have fun doing it!
Our Backgrounds
Who are we?
One of us is a practical entrepreneur and technologist who co-founded a company that pioneered the development of KVM switch technology and oversaw the company's growth to a successful IPO. He has also assisted many other entrepreneurs.
The other is an engineer with many years of systems development experience who has a habit of looking at problems in the news and thinking "there ought to be a better way." He also goes by the name "Constant Dreamer" on some websites.
We both want to have some FUN and make some money as we work on our candidate solutions and respective bucket lists!
Some of our targeted problems
Weed Control
Present methods of weed control typically involve cultivation and/or extensive use of chemical herbicides, especially on crops genetically modified to resist chemical herbicides, which can lead to environmental pollution and damage to non-targeted plants. These methods generally produce carbon dioxide from fossil fuels during cultivation and in the recurring manufacture, transport, and application of herbicides. Furthermore, weeds often develop resistance to chemical herbicides. We are integrating several technologies to use only concentrated sunlight to kill weeds and to power manual and robotic applicators.
Plastic Bags
Plastic shopping bags and packaging bags are generally made of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE, Symbol 2) or Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE, Symbol 4). Both are highly recyclable into other useful products but are nuisances when emptied and tossed into garbage or recycling bins, often becoming tangled in conveyor belts or other equipment, or when they end up in fields, rivers, or oceans. We are working on a simple solution that will capture bags as soon as emptied and lead to a separate, efficient recycling stream for the bags.
Wildfires
Fires in rough terrain near populated areas are becoming more common as some places become dryer and as people build and move into wooded areas. Such terrain and wind conditions can lead to rapid fire spread, putting homes and firefighters at great risk. We are working on technologies to permit more rapid application of water and/or environmentally safe firefighting materials in such areas in all weather conditions, especially where weather conditions preclude flight operations and air drops of water or other retardants.
Flooding
Excessive rainfalls are occurring more frequently, leading to more flooding. We see people on the news frantically filling sandbags, when they could be making other preparations or preparing to evacuate. We are working on a concept that will allow rapid construction of small emergency levees, or reinforcement of existing levees, for those predictable events, such as rising rivers, where there is at least a little time to prepare.
Insect pests
Nope, this isn't an insect pest. This is one we would like to protect while dealing with the pest insects that inflict millions of dollars of damage to our crops each year. Unfortunately, the insecticides sprayed on crops also kill many beneficial species, and the pests are developing resistance to applied insecticides as well as toxins genetically engineered into plant tissues. We are working on concepts that can distinguish flying insect pests from beneficials, selectively eliminating only the pests of crops or animals, including humans.
What else?
We are constantly seeing other problems in need of better solutions. We never know when a possible solution may come to mind for a particular need or problem. We intend to assemble the tools and teams needed to work on potential solutions as they arise, so we can help reduce environmental pollution and help deal with the causes and effects of climate change.
Now, if we could only figure out something better than those annoying coat hangers, which are always getting tangled up in our closets.
Where are we?
We are starting up near Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is home to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and many Department of Defense and other government organizations. It is also home to the second largest research park in the U.S. and the Huntsville area has one of the highest concentrations of scientists and engineers in the U.S., so we have a large pool of talent and resources to draw from for the solutions we want to develop. We expect to set up other locations as we work on solutions for problems noted above and find other interesting problems to solve.
So what's next?
We will be expanding this website to say and show more about our potential solutions as we file additional patents and intellectual property protections, and after we spin up on Fusion 360®, which is some great design, engineering, and manufacturing software that, in addition to supporting 3D drawings and images of products, can also produce excellent line drawings for patent applications. Fusion 360® has been graciously provided by AutoDesk® through their startup license program. Check back occasionally to see what we are up to!
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