Hardware Accelerator Team Spotlight: Advection

Meet Advection, a #HardwareAccelerator19 team finding more accessible ways to capture clean water. Team leader Jason Chen, along with members Jeremy Kline, Ethan Liu, and Samik Shrotriya are evolving current research from water producing technologies into tangible solutions. 

What problem do you solve for the market? 

The lack of clean water in the world. Fog mesh is expensive to maintain and often does not last long. Conventional horizontal mesh also lacks the ability to collect water from all directions.  

Who is your customer? 

Anyone who needs clean water.  

What is your innovation or solution? 

A device that can collect water from the air using vertical mesh that will be easier to maintain. Conventional horizontal mesh is harder and more expensive to maintain. Vertical mesh relies on gravity to pull down water without horizontal friction. This mesh will allow for one wire to be fixed at a time instead of the entire mesh needing to be replaced. With the conical shape, water collection can occur if the wind is blowing on the mesh from any direction.   

How did you come up with this idea? 

By analyzing the problems that people have with current water producing technologies.  

What has been the biggest surprise? What has been the most eye-opening experience so far? 

That a fine water industry exists.