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Does every problem have a solution? Alumnus Patrick Sullivan (EngrPhys鈥78) thinks so, and he has dedicated his career to bringing together scientists and engineers from disparate fields to create technological solutions that disrupt our global community for the better.
He calls the approach Intellectual Anarchy鈩, and he鈥檚 spent more than 30 years refining and perfecting it as founder and CEO of Oceanit, a Honolulu-based 鈥渕ind to market鈥 engineering and technology company. In an environment where the only constraints on thinking are legal and moral boundaries, employees step outside their realms of expertise and let curiosity, intuition and humility be their guides.
鈥淎 lot of people are trained in a particular field, which has them looking at problems in their field just like everybody else. However, if we put them in a totally different field to look at a problem, you鈥檒l have fresh eyes on an old problem,鈥 Sullivan said. 鈥淚n fact, it鈥檚 not anarchy at all, but it looks like it from the outside because it鈥檚 a nonclassical approach to innovation. You have to be comfortable with uncertainty and be willing to go on a journey鈥攁sking questions, listening and discovering, more like an explorer than a traditional scientist.鈥
Looking at old problems with fresh eyes has enabled the Oceanit team to develop technologies ranging from nanomaterial-based, graffiti-resistant surface treatments to sensors that detect and 鈥渇ingerprint鈥 hostile fire for the military before troops even hear the gunshot. They鈥檝e developed functional fabrics to produce electricity or dry soaked boots in a fraction of the time, as well as luminescent sprays that instantly detect the Ebola virus on materials.
Their innovations are preventing groundwater contamination in fracking operations through steel-cement hybrid nanomaterials and have saved an estimated 4,000 lives so far via hospital beds that can wirelessly monitor patients鈥 vital signs. They鈥檙e even tinkering with the idea of a prosthetic brain.
Sullivan likes to hire employees, particularly young PhD graduates, and thrust them into areas where they have no formal training. They soon understand that they can apply their training and basic principles to any challenge and that no idea is too outlandish.
Innovations come from 鈥榙ifferences, not sameness.鈥櫬
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where we find the edges of science and technology,鈥 Sullivan said. This transdisciplinary approach has drawn clients and partnerships with local and national government, manufacturing, energy, bioscience and defense and spurred spinoff companies. In 2016, Hawaii Business magazine named Sullivan its CEO of the Year.
Despite his savvy, Sullivan鈥檚 interest in business is rooted in pragmatism. One of five children, he paid his way through college with a summer landscaping and irrigation business and started Oceanit in 1985 with the same practical notion.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I set out thinking I was going to be an entrepreneur,鈥 Sullivan said. 鈥淚 enjoyed physics and engineering but needed to earn a living in Hawaii.鈥
Each year, Oceanit hosts an innovation summit, where employees are invited to bring forward interesting ideas on any topic they find curious. They share the concepts with peers across disciplines, who vote on their favorites.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit unpredictable,鈥 Sullivan said. 鈥淏ut what you can rely on is that from this exercise interesting conversations will happen. You just don鈥檛 know what they are, but they always lead to cool projects in the future.鈥
Embracing ambiguity has allowed Oceanit to pivot into new areas as politics, consumer trends or new discoveries dictate, said Ken Cheung, science and technology director and Oceanit employee for more than 21 years.
鈥淲e want to anticipate where the dust will settle, and we want to be at the forefront,鈥 Cheung said.
So how does a company stay at the forefront when it鈥檚 at least three time zones from the nation鈥檚 financial and business centers?
鈥淲e sort of have a blank slate,鈥 Cheung said. 鈥淚f we were in Silicon Valley, for instance, or in Rochester, there鈥檚 sort of a groupthink that pervades the area, so we feel like we鈥檙e unfettered in the way we can approach problems.鈥
Patrick鈥檚 wife, Jan (Soc鈥79), is an attorney, chief operating officer of Oceanit and a Hawaii native. She says the island location helps draw team members who are as comfortable on the beach as in the boardroom. That鈥檚 important in a family-owned company that values community, where the hierarchy is loose and bonding sometimes happens over evening surfing sessions.
鈥淧eople always ask us, 鈥榃hy are you in Hawaii?鈥欌 she said. 鈥淏ut what makes it unique in Hawaii is there is a diversity there that you don鈥檛 find in a lot of the rest of the country, and there鈥檚 an emphasis on lifestyle, family and community, which sounds old-fashioned, but it鈥檚 actually very important to getting a healthy work environment. Also, we鈥檝e learned that innovations come from 鈥榙ifferences, not sameness.鈥 So, different people from different backgrounds and cultures creates an innovation-rich environment.鈥
Photos by聽Tina Cheng, Oceanit
