The document summarizes an aquaLink project that aims to create a wearable device for monitoring the health and safety of U.S. Navy divers. The device would record critical data like vitals and make it actionable through real-time alerts and post-dive analytics. A team of four is working on the project, with expertise in hardware engineering, mechatronics, international policy, and product design. The project is sponsored by the U.S. Navy Special Warfare Group 3 and aims to protect both the short- and long-term health of divers through collecting and analyzing dive data.

1. aquaLink
Fitbit for America’s Divers
Navy divers perform challenging tasks under difficult conditions that have long-lasting health impacts.
How might we protect both the short- and long-term physical health of our nation’s divers?
aquaLink is a wearable device that records data critical to diver health and safety,
and makes it actionable through real-time alerts and post-usage analytics.
TEAM
Dave Ahern: International Policy/Defense Acquisition
Hong En Chew: Hardware Engineering
Rachel Olney: Product Design
Samir Patel: Mechatronics/Finance
SPONSOR
Brian Ferguson & U.S. Navy Special Warfare Group 3
U.S. Special Operations Command
aquaLink
Support
MILITARY LIAISONS
Todd Cimicata
Chris Conley
Scott Maytan
Jameson Darby
ADVISORS
Ray Dick
Mike Hard
Adrian Mantoiu
Sean Murphy
Booze Allen Hamilton
Progress
Customer
Interviews
10
This Week
10
All Time

2. Team members Hong En Chew Samir Patel Dave Ahern Rachel Olney
Academic program
B.S. Electrical Engineering,
M.S. Aeronautics and Astronautics
M.S. Mechanical Engineering M.A. International Policy Studies B.S. Product Design
M.S. Mechanical Engineering
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hongenchew www.linkedin.com/in/davidahern1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/
rachelolney
Subject matter expert?
Hardware Design and Integration Finance, Mechatronics, Design Military Operations, Military Innovation Needfinding, Hardware Design
How does your expertise fit the
problem?
- Experience with programming, printed
circuit board design, power electronics
- Recreational scuba diver
-Developing wearable prototypes
-Needfinding
-Business Model Viability
-Data Science/Database Architecture
-Embedded Computing
-Familiar with DoD procurement and
organizational culture
-Successful implementation of lean
launchpad-esque principles to solve
several defense related problems
- Needfinding
- Rapid and final prototyping
-Created a wearable light for Army pilots
-Creation of products that are used in
situations with many constraints
Experience solving a problem
that seemed impossible
Led a team of five undergraduates to
build a prototype SMS-based remote
monitoring system for small-scale
hydropower plants for an Indonesian
nonprofit
Implemented Systematic Trading
System for Illiquid Emerging Market
Debt by Coordinating with Operations
and Sell-side Brokers
Leveraged commercial off the shelf
technology to facilitate evidence
collection through a surrogate Afghan
Counter Terrorism Force without US
forces actually present on a mission
Overcame many constraints in creating a
wearable for military pilots, from safety
considerations to Army regulations and
economic viability.
Team Details

3. Minimum Viable Product
Testing Goals
● What data do divers need?
● How do they want it conveyed?
● What do they want it to do?
Hypothesis
Navy Divers need an integrated
platform that acquires and displays
important real-time data in an easy-
to-read manner.
Data Expected
● Good, but what do I need to
support this device?
● I don’t think it will survive under
the operating conditions.
● Can we add XYZ variables and
communicate with other divers?

4. Customer Discovery
Hypotheses Experiments Results Actions
Dive health concerns are a top
priority for both divers and the
administration/researchers
Talk to both Admin and Divers
about their view of the problem
Admin/commanders are focused
on long-term medical issues while
divers are focused on short-term
mission success
View of the problem as both
chronic (long term health) and
acute (short term safety and
communication)
The vitals specifically requested
through the requisition are the
only vitals desired/needed
Talk to Navy Medical Dive Officers Pending Scheduled interview with Dr.
Karen Kelly, physiologist at the
Naval Health Research Center
The Dive Computer’s (a) location
of placement and (b) display size
are the points of largest concern
to the operators
Create a Smartphone Display with
Requested Vitals and Dive-
Specific Data
Pending Pending
Communication and geolocation
will be secondary to diver health
concerns and will not be a major
focus/priority.
Ask divers (military/academic)
about what they saw as the main
problems that divers are
concerned about.
Communication is more important
to the divers than the long-term
health concerns, they are focused
on short-term mission success.
Ensure that we are catering to the
end user’s needs and not just the
dive physicians or HPRC. Find
experts in this field to interview.
Geolocation is a big problem in
terms of reliability, accuracy, and
user ergonomics. Potentially a
tactical problem as well.
Find experts to interview and
learn in detail about the logistics
and difficulties with geolocation
underwater.

5. Mission Model
- Need funding from
sponsors for further
R&D/manufacturing
- Need evaluation/
certification by NEDU
before field deployment
- Early adopters
- Secondary I:
Commercial saturation
divers (in particular the
offshore oil/gas industry)
-The broader
technical/scientific diving
community
KEY PARTNERS KEY ACTIVITIES
KEY RESOURCES
VALUE PROPOSITION BUY-IN / SUPPORT
DEPLOYMENT
BENEFICIARIES
MISSION BUDGET MISSION ACHIEVEMENT FACTORS
- Problem sponsors: Navy
Special Warfare Group 3
(NSWG 3), U.S. Special
Operations Command
(SOCOM)
- Military diver-related
research organizations:
Navy Experimental Diving
Unit (NEDU), SOCOM
Human Performance
Resource Center, Naval
Underwater Medical Institute
(NUMI)
- Commercial partners:
medical device/wearables
companies, mil-spec dive
equipment manufacturers
- Fundamental cycle:
hypotheses -> MVP (rapid
prototyping of hardware/
software) -> stakeholder
interviews to evaluate
MVP -> pivot and repeat
- Defence procurement
expertise: course staff,
sponsors, DIUX, liaisons
- User expertise: military
divers, scientific divers
- Medical expertise: med
sch, SOCOM HPRC
- Hardware/software prototyping costs
- Purchase of existing products on the market for evaluation
1. Feasibility: At the end of the quarter, NSWG3/SOCOM decide
that our proposal merits further development and initiates their
internal processes for funding/pilot testing/field deployment
2. Performance: Our prototype should demonstrate that all critical
features can be integrated within given size/weight/cost specs
3. User satisfaction: Divers are excited about the efficiency it
delivers and Medical Staff are excited about forecasting health
- Obtain device validation
and approval from NEDU
- Pilot test with a select
group of users in NSWG3
- Scale up to many units in
and beyond NSWG3
- Medical Staff: Create the
Navy’s first long-term
repository of diver health
data: detailed dataset to
improve training/operation
protocols and predict and
prevent long-term injuries
Direct users in NSWG3
and other military divers
Military diver-related
research organizations
e.g. NEDU, SOCOM
HPRC, NUMI
- Divers: Seamless
integration of real-time
vital monitoring,
geolocation, and
communication with
conventional dive computer
capabilities: alerts protect
diver from short-term injuries