{"id":84078,"date":"2016-02-04T09:12:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T07:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/a-breath-of-innovation\/"},"modified":"2016-02-04T09:12:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T07:12:24","slug":"a-breath-of-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/a-breath-of-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Breath of Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Omer Arad, a student in the Faculty of Computer Science at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, was on a routine dive when he had one of the most terrifying experiences of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than 80 feet below sea level, a malfunction prevented the airflow from the tank to the regulator in my mouth,\u201d said Arad. \u201cIn an instant one of my favorite hobbies turned into a genuine nightmare. I tried to signal my buddy, but he was far away and wasn\u2019t looking in my direction. Luckily, I came out of it alive.\u201d<\/p>\n The experience led Arad to conceptualize a wearable panic bracelet that lets the diver call his partner even when there is no eye contact between them. The idea earned his team first place at this year\u2019s \u201c3-Day Startup (3DS)\u201d competition, held at the Technion, and organized by the university\u2019s Bronica Entrepreneurship Center.<\/p>\n Dubbed \u201cBLU,\u201d the wearable distress bracelet would be sold in pairs, to be worn by the diver and his diving buddy. A simple press of a button immediately transmits a distress signal \u2013 via light and vibration \u2013 to the other diver.<\/p>\n \u201cOur mission was to make the diving world safer,\u201d said Arad. \u201cHundreds of divers die in diving accidents every year, and the currently available solutions for transmitting a distress signal are inadequate, very expensive and designed for professional divers.\u201d<\/p>\n Other members of the BLU team were Aviv Tahar and Oz Meir from the Technion; Manik Arora and Bernadette Che, from Johns Hopkins University; Orit Dolev, a graduate of Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s 3DS competition included 45 students from various faculties, selected through a rigorous screening process. Divided into nine teams (\u201cstartups\u201d), the students worked with mentors from industry – venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, marketing and business development professionals \u2013 and each team presented their concept to a panel of professional investors from leading venture capital funds, including Glilot Capital, AfterDox and the Alon Incubator. The first- and second-place teams earned entries to BizTEC, the Technion\u2019s renowned national student entrepreneurship competition.<\/p>\n Near-death experience gives rise to idea for divers\u2019 distress bracelet; concept takes top prize in 3-Day Startup (3DS) entrepreneurship contest Omer Arad, a student in the Faculty of Computer Science at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, was on a routine dive when he had one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. \u201cMore than… Continue Reading A Breath of Innovation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>
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