Oh buoy!

Cliched as it sounds, ask any inventor and they’ll probably be able to trace their invention back to its ‘eureka’ moment.

For Blair Gotell, his idea of a stackable, eco-friendly ocean buoy came from talking with those who work in the fishing industry.

“I’ve lived in fishing communities all my life, and it came about just in my general inquiries into what sort of problems they were having,” says the Arichat-based inventor. “One of the things I heard was about how much space buoys take up in the off-season. I knew there had to be a better way.”

Dal's help

Marcel Boudreau was also inspired by what he saw out on the ocean; in his case, years as a diver allowed him to see the devastation caused by traditional scallop fishing.

“I’ve always been a diver and interested in scallops. And I’ve seen the damage being done-first hand, the footprint we’re leaving on the sea floor,” says the Antigonish-based welder. “I had a bit of knowledge, and my background in welding and fabrication, so I just starting looking at different concepts.”

Today, Mr. Gotell’s Stack-A-Buoy is on-market, and Mr. Boudreau’s eco-friendly scallop drag has US and Canadian patents and being refined through further testing.

But taking these passion projects and turning them into ready-for-market ventures takes more than just a good idea and some ingenuity. That’s where Dalhousie comes in. Whether through direct engagement, or by connecting with offices like Industry Liaison and Innovation, the university often works to bring together businesspeople with commercialization funding opportunities and university researchers who can add their expertise to the project.

In both Mr. Gotell and Mr. Boudreau’s cases, they connected with the same Dalhousie team: the Advanced Manufacturing Group, led by Robert Warner and based in the Faculty of Engineering. From developing CAD (computer-aided design) drawings through project and design research, the group works to advance business projects and provide invaluable opportunities to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

“It was more than just giving us a hand — it was crucial,” says Mr. Boudreau, who had a series of CAD drawings done up to help build new prototypes of his eco-friendly scallop drag that uses a ‘vortex’ system that can lift scallops off the ocean floor, leaving the sea bed intact.

'Almost there'

“It provided incredible value,” says Mr. Gotell, who worked with Mr. Warner on his design and manufacturing process. “Without those kinds of services, inventors like myself would have a hard time getting anything off the ground – let alone in the water.”

His Stack-A-Buoy allows fishers to choose their own colours and avoids using environmentally-damaging styrofoam. But even though it’s on market, R&D continues: he’s constantly looking to evolve the manufacturing process to be quicker and more efficient. And Mr. Boudreau’s scallop drag continues to move closer to market; right now, he’s looking for funding to support some final testing.

“I’ve tested everywhere from my bathtub to a larger test tank with a one-foot model, but when you reach this stage, it’s not cheap,” he says, but adds that he’s still excited about where his project is headed after all this time. “I’m going on nine, 10 years on this. It’s been a long time, but we’re almost there.”