The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Development Center are sponsoring a $255,000 multi-phase prize competition. They are seeking concepts and solutions that help make it easier to find people in the water.
This competition challenges companies, universities, students, and citizen innovators to develop effective and affordable concepts for a new or updated lifejacket or personal flotation device (PFD), an attachment to a lifejacket/PFD, or something recreational mariners and boaters use in addition to wearing their lifejacket/PFD.
New recreational mariner safety solutions have the potential to greatly improve the chances of a successful rescue. Current technologies, such as dyes, personal locators, and reflective materials in lifejackets/PFDs, can help the Coast Guard better find people and are shown to improve rescue rates. However, adoption of these technologies remain low, due to factors like cost, comfort, style, and awareness.
With the Coast Guard Ready for Rescue Challenge, the USCG and DHS S&T call upon innovators from a wide variety of fields--from public safety, maritime safety, recreational sports, consumer goods and materials, wearables, texteiles, smart technologies, and the Internet of Things--to develop concepts for a new or updated lifejacket/PFD, attachment to a lifejacket/PFD, or something recreational mariners and boaters use in addition to wearing their lifejacket/PFD that will enable search and rescue personnel to more readily find a person in the water. The USCG and DHS S&T intend for this work to be the first step in the design of new, improved or adapted technologies that can be leveraged by current USCG Search and Rescue assets to make it easier to locate a person lost in the water.
This is a three-phase prize competition, with a total cash prize purse of $255,000. These phases pay as follows:
* Phase 1: $25,000
* Phase II: 120,000
* Phase III: $110,000
To learn more about this challenge, rules, terms and conditions, and to register to participate, visit the official challenge website at https://www.dhs.gov/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Freadyforrescuechallenge.com%2F.
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