The Department of Homeland Security‘s Science and Technology Directorate is working with the U.S. Coast Guard‘s Research and Development Center to administer a boater safety competition.Participants in the U.S. Coast Guard Ready for Rescue Challenge are tasked with developing concepts to help the USCG locate people in bodies of water, DHS said Wednesday.
The $255K prize competition will be divided into three phases.
The first phase calls for concepts on life jackets, floatation devices or supplementary items for boater safety. Winners will receive a combined total of $25K.
Qualifying entries will advance to the second phase wherein participants will pitch proposed technologies at a Piranha pool. Winners who succeed in this phase will receive a combined total of $120K that they may use to create prototypes.
In the final phase, USCG will field qualifying prototypes with standard safety equipment and award a total of $110K for winning entries.
“Partnering with DHS S&T allows us to increase the Coast Guard’s access to innovations that make people in the water more detectable,” said Bert Macesker, executive director at USCG RDC.
