Press Release: Potenco wins POPULAR MECHANICS Breakthrough Award
On October 15th, POPULAR MECHANICS announced that Potenco was one of the winners of its fourth annual Breakthrough Awards at a ceremony in New York City. The Breakthrough Awards celebrate innovations poised to change the world, and the personalities behind them.
From POPULAR MECHANICS:
“This year’s roster of winners is especially diverse, from high-tech winners such as the 300-mpg Aptera vehicle of the future, to low-tech innovations like rugged wheelchairs for the developing world,” said James B. Meigs, editor-in-chief of POPULAR MECHANICS. “With the energy crisis escalating and the increased focus on climate change and the need for conservation, it is especially rewarding to showcase winners who are making breakthrough contributions in these fields. These winners are applying brilliant design and engineering to improve the lives of others.”
Potenco won a Breakthrough Product Award for the PCG1, a pull-cord power generator that creates electricity for portable gadgets with far greater efficiency than hand-cranked devices. Learn more about the PCG1 at http://www.potenco.com/products/. Watch a video at Popular Mechanics.com.
Some of the other award winners include:
- Aptera for their ultra-high mileage plug in hybrid cars
- Amazon for their Kindle e-book reader featuring digital paper.
- Dr. Mehmet Toner for his circulating tumor cell detector. Dr. Toner is a biomedical engineer at Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
http://www.popularmechanics.com/breakthrough08
Press Release: Worldbike & Potenco @ Interbike
Potenco teams with worldbike to prototype the Worldbike Mobile Power Station – A cargo bicycle capable of charging cellphones, lighting homes and many other uses
Potenco is proud to announce an exciting new product partnership with worldbike, an international association of folks committed to transportiation solutions for the world’s poor.
Coupling Potenco’s expertise in human power technology and Worldbike’s innovative longbikes for the developing world, this partnership aims to launch a product that can create job opportunities in rural communities throughout the developing world.
Worldbike lead, Andrew Hall (presently in Kenya), describes the opportunity as such: “ The Worldbike…brings portability and cargo capacity to the rural setting. I’ve imagined a bicycle based water purifying station, cell phone charger, a knife sharpener, battery charger for running home lighting systems, food grinder (like peanuts), a lathe and/or drill press that can travel to the work
site.”
In addition to a Worldbike specific human power generator, Potenco is engineering an inexpensive yet flexible bicycle power accessory which will allow anyone with a bicycle to produce 70-100W of continuous power. For an entrepreneur in Rural Africa, this would translate into the ability to charge approximately 18 phones for every hour of bicycling and provide a payback time for the investment
in a matter of weeks, if not days.
Potenco and Worldbike will be demonstrating a mobile power station at the Worldbike Booth (#7027) at this year’s Interbike Expo in Las Vegas, on September 25th, 2008.
By bringing together the utility and mobility of low-cost longbikes and the high demand value-add of electricity generation, Worldbike and Potenco intend to initially micro-finance these set-ups to entrepreneurs in the developing world who would earn their living using their mobile power station to charge their neighborhood cell phones, provide power for home lighting at night, purify water, and other health and well being related services. Worldbike’s Andrew Hall will be leading tests of these products in the field in months to come.
More on Worldbike
Worldbike is an international network of bicycle designers, industry leaders, and international development professionals, working together to provide transportation solutions and create income-generating opportunities for the world’s poor.
More on Potenco
In 2009, Potenco will release a 30W generator for powering 12V deep cycle batteries in off-grid areas. Both products feature a pull-cord and eliminate the failure prone gears found in all crank-based generators. Sophisticated electronics efficiently gather the energy, making sure a person’s strength and time are not wasted. The Potenco solutions offer better cost per watt than hand-cranks and solar cells.
Click here to watch Potenco Intern Jonas Ketterle demo a prototype bike powered generator.
Worldbike
Kristna Evans, Executive Director
Kristna is a self-proclaimed nonprofit organizational development enthusiast. She brings years of
experience in a variety of nonprofit settings, as well as a long history of supporting innovative
bicycle solutions for the world.
Andrew Hall, Kenya-based Project Manager and Technical Lead
Andrew is a bicycle designer and fabricator, as well as a non-profit and small business founder. His
work has focused in the areas of sustainability and a business model and software program for
bicycle lending programs.
Potenco
Mike Frandsen, CEO
Mike has an extensive background in general management with an emphasis on supply chain
management. Mike has over 25 years of experience working with companies in the U.S, U.K.
and Canada. Prior to joining Potenco, Mike was the CEO of TradePoint Solutions (now part of
DemandTec). From 1995 – 2002 he was responsible for the Supply Chain Management Division
at PeopleSoft. Mike began his career with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) with a focus on
installing systems for small to medium manufacturing and distribution companies. Mike has a B.S.
in Finance/Information Systems from the University of Colorado – Boulder. He is also certified in
Inventory Management (CPIM) and in Resource Management (CIRM) from the American Production
and Inventory Control Society.
Colin Bulthaup, CTO/Founder
Colin is an electrical engineer with a strong background in robotics, manufacturing, and nanotech. In
2003 he co-founded Squid Labs, a Venture Technology firm which developed in-house technologies
which were then spun-off as separate companies. The spun-off companies included Instructables,
Makani Power, OptiOpia, Howtoons, and Potenco. Prior to Squid Labs, Colin founded Kovio, Inc.
a Silicon Valley company that uses very high-resolution printing techniques to create low-cost
circuits. Colin earned his Masters degree from MIT and was awarded the Collegiate Inventors
Award by the US Patent Office. He has also won numerous electrical and mechanical engineering
competitions, including the International Design Competition. Colin was recognized by Technology
Review Magazine as one of the top 100 innovators under the age of 35.
Brian Warshawsky, VP of Operations/Founder
Brian is an engineer and operations manager with experience in fast growth high volume consumer
electronics manufacturing. Brian was an early member of the Apple iPod operations team, and was
the operations lead for the development and introduction of the iPod mini. Brian went on to manage
the introduction of a number of iPod products and manufacturing processes, and was responsible
for evaluating and bringing up new production facilities in Taiwan, China, and Europe. Brian earned
a M.S. from MIT in Materials Engineering, and worked at startups in Boston and San Francisco prior
to joining Apple.