Mark Tonkin

Mark Tonkin studied Naval Architecture and worked in the field with a number of ship and boat builders before his career path turned to Inventing and Intellectual Property. He invented the Intelligent Differentiated Braking & Stopped - iDBS™ - vehicle collision avoidance system, working in association with International Automotive Design, Lotus Cars & the Ford Motor Company (incidentally, long before the iMac, iPhone and i-everything else). Mark set-up Design Technology & Innovation - DTI - in the mid 80’s and has a number of patents to his name. His inventions range from Oil Spill reclamation from the ocean, Evaporators, the WaterFactory™ and extreme collision survivability external air bags for vehicles. He invented and developed the Dutyion™ Root Hydration System over a number of years, culminating in successful field trials in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 2009. He was given an award for his work by Global Water Intelligence & the International Desalination Association in 2009.

Mark was also lucky enough to be invited to present the irrigation technology to the inaugural Launch event, Launch:Water, which resulted in the Dutyion™ irrigation technology being licenced globally to DuPont in 2010. NASA is currently testing the technology for use in low gravity applications, in association with DTI. Mark is now working with a multinational group developing waste systems which profitably take any kind of waste stream and convert it, sustainably, environmentally and without emissions, to valuable products with a virtually zero waste element.

Mark was extremely pleased to receive the invitation to become a Launch Council Member, having benefited hugely from the Launch platform and follow-up support himself. He very much welcomes the opportunity to help fellow innovators by passing on his experiences of the rare opportunity which is presented by being invited to become a Launch Innovator.

Organization: Design Technology & Innovation (DTI)

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