A local company created a device that developers say will be vital in emergency situations.

Scientists and engineers at Oceanit have teamed up with two local companies to create the ePOP, an emergency phone and power network. This device was designed to be used during disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes (June 1st marked the start of this year’s hurricane season). However, it can also be used in situations when cell phone networks go down due to high usage, like April’s Boston Marathon bombings.

“As I started doing research online, I really couldn’t find anything else that would allow a person that had a smartphone to do any kind of communication [in disasters],” Ian Kitajima of Oceanit said.

Greenpath Technologies Inc. provided the foldable PV panels and Concentris Systems supplied mesh communication networks.

Users are able to use this feature by downloading the mobile application (link provided at the bottom), although they can only use the app if they are near a working device. Users are then connected to a server where they can speak to anyone who has also downloaded the app and within server range.

A typical system costs $3,000-4,000. Oceanit has four systems but wishes to increase its supply into the thousands. Getting more systems will allow the company to place the devices in various locations statewide. To cover Waikiki, Kitajima said they will need about 20 systems.

“We’re looking at models anything from spinning it up and going into a totally separate company and going to investors who invest in social enterprises to even doing a kick-starter thing where we would have the community come out and actually invest in order provide themselves with an emergency communication and power system,” Kitajima said.

Eventually the company wishes to add a text messaging and search feature to the mobile application.

To download the app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epop/id604373004?mt=8

Watch the news clip here: 

Copyright 2013 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved

For more information ePoP click here.

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On Oceanit won Pacific Edge Magazine's Commitment to Green 2013 Employer of the Year Award at the May 30 Annual Gala held at the Aloha Tower Marketplace.  

In the nomination, it was noted that Oceanit is an engineering and science business committed to sustainable, green living and providing the community with innovative services and products, promotion of education and training in its community outreach and leading the green endeavor in its own organization.

In 2004, Oceanit was awarded the Surfrider Foundation’s John Kelly Environmental Achievement Award in the Hawaii-based company category, recognizing those who have made the greatest contributions towards protecting or enhancing our coastal community and environment.

One of our green projects includes developing a sustainable Master Plan for the 70-acre Pouhala Marsh State Wildlife Sanctuary for native waterfowl habitat.  Oceanit's Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant, Outfall Monitoring and Modeling project won a Civil Engineering Achievement Award for using an innovative electronic-monitoring system (powered by solar panels) to monitor the outfall.

Oceanit also develops innovative technologies that support alternative/sustainable energy and energy-reduction. Technologies include wave-energy capturing devices, flexible batteries, high-density energy storage, and novel fuel cells.

In February 2013, the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research’s Energy Excelerator program selected Oceanit as the winner. Oceanit’s Intellisocket is an information system that shows business owners how much electricity they are using at the socket level, with the capability to manage thousands of devices, enabling them to make informed decisions about what devices to turn-off and when, resulting in dramatic savings over time.

Oceanit is actively engaged in the community as 1) keynote speakers at conferences, such as the Bienniel Statewide Agriculture Conference, 2) judging green projects at the State Science Fairs, 3) mentoring high-school students at a 3-D design competition to reduce energy consumption; and 4) mentoring students at the local universities on sustainability.

Oceanit is a green office too. Student interns and a project engineer designed and built an aquaponics system on the office lanai to grow vegetables and herbs. Oceanit has also been vermicomposting since 2008; employees keep food waste from landfills and get great compost! 

 

On May 15, 2013, ByteMark's Episode 248: Culture of Innovation radio show, Oceanit was credited for leading Hawaii's Design-Thinking innovative cultural transformation in Hawaii.   Keith Hayashi, Principal at Waipahu High School and John Komeiji Sr. Vice President from Hawaiian Telcom spoke about how design-thinking provided a process for innovation in their organizations.  Upcoming Design Thinking events include a Design-Thinking workshop hosted by HTDC and the Design Thinking Bootcamp on June 18, 2013

Hear the broadcast and learn more about how Design-Thinking can work for you :   

http://www.bytemarkscafe.org/2013/05/15/episode-248-culture-of-innovation-may-15-2013/ 

 

Oceanit and other members of The American Public Works Association (APWA) are celebrating APWA Week by displaying their project posters at Kahala Mall (next to Macy's) from May 19th - May 24th.

Oceanit combines multiple disciplines and innovative thinking in solving challenges in the Oil and Gas Industry.  The goal is to provide its clients with smarter, greener technologies for energy efficiency.  Oceanit’s platform technologies can be custom tailored for various applications in the Oil and Gas industry.

Some of the technologies that could potentially be adopted for the upstream, midstream or downstream applications include:

• Smart coating and surface functionalization
• Sensing cement and stimuli responsive materials
• Large data aggregation, visualization and analysis tools

For more information about our capabilities:

• Hydrophilic & Hydrophobic Coatings - prevents corrosion, running rust and performs consistently under highly corrosive environments. Anhydra has performance capabilities that are beneficial to the oil and gas industries as it provides a fabrication process that results in permanent, high water repellency; a highly scalable method that can be utilized on metallic substrates of any size and shape and stable performance over wide temperature and pressure ranges.
• Smart Concrete Technology - Nanite™ transforms the power and possibilities of cementitious materials when used in design, building, function and maintenance. The integral part of Nanite^TM is a hybrid nanomaterials based additive, which transforms traditional concrete into a highly durable and inherently sensing smart concrete with multifunctional properties. The radiometric and piezometric functions of Nanite™ work together to provide detection of human beings and classification of vehicles. The sensitivity and accuracy of detection are adequate for outdoor and indoor security systems, where low profile, or integrated sensor technology is required.
• Information Analysis for Oil & Gas - LAVA (Large data Aggregation, Visualization and Analysis) is a powerful platform for ingesting, processing, and displaying a variety of data streams, including video and still images. This platform breaks complicated problems down into reusable modules, which are linked to form high-speed processing chains, ideal for the oil and gas industry.

Oceanit's founder and CEO, Dr. Patrick Sullivan was honored as one of five Distinguished Alumni from the University of Hawaii at the May 14th Distinguished Alumni Dinner.  Dr. Sullivan brings more than 35 years of entrepreneurial, business and scientific experience to Oceanit's 'idea factory' business model, which has developed extensive technical infrastructure, such as Hawaii's first and only optical design and fabrication center, and nanotechnology focused on nano-composites and sensors.  Oceanit produces cutting-edge innovations and consulting services in civil/coastal/environmental engineering, informations systems, design-thinking, bio-photonics, neurotoxin detection and opticss, and develops technology for oil and gas, missle defense, aerospace and environmental applications. 

Dr. Sullivan credits the University of Hawaii at Manoa education (MS & Ph.D. in ocean engineering) as the foundation for his success.  Since 2007, he has served on the UH Manoa College of Engineering Dean's Counseil and was a former adjunct faculty member in the Department of Ocean & Resources Engineering.  In addition, Dr. Sullivan has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Ocean Research Advisory Panel, Parker Ranch, the High Technology Development Corporation, Rehabiitation Hospital of the Pacific, Hoana Medical, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii Military Affairs Council and is the honorary consul to the Republic of Indonesia. 

For more information:  http://www.UHalumni.org/sullivan

 

Experts from the offshore energy industry around the world, including Oceanit's Dr. Patrick Sullivan and Dr. Vinod Veedu, came together on May 6-9, 2013 for the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference at Reliant Park in Houston, TX. Attendance at the conference reached a 30-year high of 104,800 attendees from 2,728 companies representing 40 countries. OTC’s Spotlight on New Technology recognized 15 technologies for their innovation in allowing the industry to produce offshore resources.

Governors participated on a panel discussion on offshore energy development and the need for improved cooperation between the states and the Federal government.  U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell discussed her commitment to work with industry leaders to ensure safe and environmentally responsible offshore oil and gas operations.  Energy ministers and national oil company senior executives participated on a panel where they shared their perspectives on how the industry and its partnership models should adjust to address future supply challenges and what role companies and governments should play to shape the energy future.

ABOUT OFFSHORE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is where energy professionals meet to exchange ideas and opinions to advance scientific and technical knowledge for offshore resources and environmental matters. Founded in 1969, OTC’s flagship conference is held annually in Houston. OTC has expanded technically and globally with the Arctic Technology Conference, OTC Brasil, and OTC Asia. For more information, visit www.otcnet.org/2013.

• Conduct scientific simulations in support of defense and advanced material projects.
• Conduct fluid-dynamic, heat transfer, thermodynamics and/or structural analysis on identified problems.
• Technically contribute on the conception, design and implementation of technical solutions for diverse projects.
• Communicate findings and progress in briefings and written documentation.
• Participate in a multi-disciplinary team environment.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• MS or PhD in science, engineering, physics or related area.
• Technical knowledge and experience in computational analyses with compressible/incompressible fluid dynamics codes, finite element structural dynamics codes, heat transfer, or thermodynamics, required.
• Demonstrated knowledge and ability to solve complex problems in  fluid dynamics, structural dynamics simulation, heat transfer, or thermodynamics, or materials, required.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a team environment, required.
• Knowledge and working experience with shock physics, magnetohydrodynamics or related area, preferred.
• Specialist knowledge with multi-phase fluid dynamics or material failure and high-strain rate problems, preferred.
• Experience with code development in finite difference, finite element or particle methods, preferred.
• Experience with code maintenance and installation of computational tools on Unix, Linux or PC problems, preferred.

If you are interested in this position, please send your resume to hr@oceanit.com.

The awards ranged from $1,000 to $5,000 for projects that help expand science, engineering and math education and careers in the county this school year.

Three schools on Molokai - Kaunakakai Elementary, Molokai Middle and Molokai High - received grants totaling $20,000. The money was used for a Google Sketchup class for middle- and high-schoolers and a computer-aided design course for an after-school program.  To date, more than $650,000 in grants have been awarded.

For more information, see the Maui New Article:  Grants-support-math--science-education