News
IET DiveTrack Competition won by Jeff Neasham of EECE & Tritech International
Newcastle University and Tritech’s innovative design ensured them success in the IET DiveTrack competition in September.
DiveTrack was started by friends and family in memory of Penny Glover who died with her dive buddy Jacques Filippi in a tragic diving accident in 2005. The aim of the competition was to develop a device that would track divers, indicate when they are in distress and allow rapid rescue or recovery, ensuring that families of missing divers do not have to endure the pain that comes with waiting for news.
The competition was supported by the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the UK governing body for the sport the British Sub Aqua Club (www.bsac.com). The weekend of the 15/16th September saw its culmination with BSAC divers putting the prototype through a series of trials. Of the four finalists only Team NU-Tritech, represented by Jeff Neasham and Mike Broadbent (Tritech), made it through to the test weekend. The outcome was not a foregone conclusion however. The competition specified the device should be capable of locating divers over 400 metres away and to depths of 200 metres and that it should cost less than £150 per unit to produce.
BSAC divers led by the BSAC National Expedition Officer Andy Hunt assessed the DiveTrack device in real diving conditions in Ardmucknish Bay and Loch Etive near Oban, Scotland. Following close scrutiny by the dive team, Fiona Denny (Penny Glover’s sister), Jon Denny and Colin Foote (IET) it was agreed by all that the NU/Tritech prototype had met the competition requirements and was a worthy winner.
It was also felt that if this product had been available a couple of years ago, even in its current prototype form, Penny and her buddy Jacques would have been located within hours rather than after weeks. Given that the device can also transmit an emergency signal to the surface to alert boat crew to an incident underwater, the tragedy might even have been averted.
There are plans for the winning design to be on display at the Birmingham Dive Show in October and at the BSAC Diving Officers Conference in December. The award and £5000 prize will be presented to the winners at the IET Awards Ceremony in London on 13th November.
The equipment in use (circled) and on dry land.
Published: 29th October 2007
