Adam Malcom |
Growing up in Ohio near Lake Erie, Adam Malcom enjoyed spending time on the water. What he didn’t enjoy was the traditional orange life jacket that his parents made him wear. “They’re uncomfortable, extremely hot, dorky-looking, and significantly lack maneuverability,” Malcom says of the jackets.
Now a mechanical engineering graduate student, Malcom has invented a new style of life jacket that is comfortable and unobtrusive. His design—a slender belt from which inflatable bladders deploy when needed—was the winner from among 182 entries in an international competition sponsored by the Boat U.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and the Personal Flotation Device Manufacturers Association.
“There are two ways to trigger the bladders,” Malcom explains. “One is manually with a ripcord; the other is with a pressure-operated sensor in existence that will activate the CO2 cylinders when the user is fully submerged in the water. This is vital for those who might potentially fall into the water, already unconscious due to an accident.”
Because they will be so easy to wear, these life vests could contribute greatly to boating safety. Coast Guard studies indicate that boaters’ failure to wear life vests results in as many as 400 deaths a year.
Malcom is now filing for a patent and making plans for a working prototype of his award-winning design. He hopes the device will retail for less than $30.
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