Accessing the inaccessible

Southampton Science Park resident, Maverick Aviation has recently developed a personal aerial mobility system that allows specialist personnel to reach otherwise inaccessible remote communities, places and infrastructure over land and water. Its innovative lightweight jetpack will enable specialists, such as disaster relief rescue teams, offshore engineers and defence and security personnel, to fly precisely where they are needed safely and rapidly under semi-autonomous hands-free control.

This innovative lightweight aviation system is aimed at getting trained experts to where they are needed quickly with Maverick’s jetpack has enormous potential to save lives because it costs less and can be deployed more quickly than conventional methods. This is becoming increasingly important at a time when natural disasters pose escalating risks to lives.

Maverick’s Founder, Antony Quinn, explains: “Over-consumption of natural resources has resulted in environmental degradation. There are nearly three times more earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, and forest fires than there were 50 years ago. In such scenarios, even communities in developed areas can immediately become inaccessible to conventional mobility solutions.”

In another market, the exponential growth in onshore and offshore wind turbines for power generation has created a staggering maintenance demand - approximately 350,000 turbines globally, each requiring up to three preventative maintenance checks per year. Only the largest turbines are fitted with service lifts, so ladders are the primary method for engineers to reach their worksite meaning that this essential work is slow, and expensive. Maverick’s technology will realise huge reductions in maintenance costs and, more importantly, increase renewable wind energy output.

Maverick Aviation joined Southampton Science Park’s Catalyst business accelerator programme in the autumn. “The Catalyst programme and business mentoring are a fantastic opportunity to ensure that we make the most of investments and grants we receive.” Antony commented on hearing that his company had made it onto the programme. “Bringing a disruptive solution to market brings a unique challenge when the concept has existed for so long in science fiction; there is a skepticism hurdle that has to be overcome to allow meaningful conversations with end users. However, the greatest challenge is balancing the time spent between developing the business and developing our technology. Both are equally important, but one is more fun!”