Laura Oliphant | Serendibite Partners

Join Andrea Pesce of UCSC and Laura Oliphant of Serendibite Partners talking about Investor Topics for October 19-23 DART Symposium.

Dr. Laura Oliphant is an accomplished technology executive, venture investor, and board member.  She spent 25 years with Intel, 15 of which was in Intel Capital, where she received Intel’s highest award in recognition of the strategic impact of her investments.  Immediately after leaving Intel, Laura served as the CEO of Translarity, an investor backed semiconductor test startup that focused on RF test applications. Laura currently serves on the Board of Directors for Novelda AS and Numascale AS, both based in Oslo, Norway.  Numascale is a maker of chips that enable high performance, scale up computing, and Novelda enables presence sensing with their ultra-high-resolution radar technology.  Laura is also on the boards of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR), a maker of burn in systems, and Feasible, a pioneer in battery intelligence systems.  In addition to her boards, she is very active in the startup community.  Laura received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where her thesis research was centered on candidate batteries for electric cars.

Tommy Hall @ Island Conservation – Drone Innovation RFP

Join Chris Bley and Tommy Hall of Island Conservation discussing the new Drone Innovation RFP currently out from Island Conservation to address invasive rats on remote islands.

Island Conservation is releasing a request for proposals for a heavy-lift drone with advanced capabilities to improve technology and methodology for the removal of invasive rats from the Ulong Island group in Palau’s Rock Island Southern Lagoon.

Contact: Emily Heber, Island Conservation, emily.heber@islandconservation.org, +1 (661) 332-1652
Resources: Drone Request For ProposalsPhotos and B-roll, Interviews available

Released: July 1st, 2020 at 9am PST

Island Conservation announces their request for proposals (RFP) for a drones-for-conservation breakthrough. Island Conservation and our partners are seeking proposals for the development and operation of a heavy-lift drone and bait dispersal system with capabilities including lifting at least 25kg (55lbs), aerial mapping, and autonomous terrain-following for precision distribution. These advancements are necessary to remove damaging, invasive rats from the steep rocky terrain, complex coastline, and dense forests of the Ulong Islands, Palau, in early 2022. Additionally, similar advancements are already being pursued by come drone developers for their have potential applications for other markets such as agriculture and firefighting.

Innovation and increasing accessibility to technology are transforming our world and the ways in which we conserve and sustain it. As leaders in invasive species eradication, Island Conservation has spent the past 26 years developing, implementing, adapting, and refining the processes and methods necessary to protect endangered island wildlife and benefit island communities. Today, Island Conservation is partnering with Palau’s Koror State Government Department of Conservation and Law Enforcement (DCLE) to use drones to remove invasive rats from the Ulong Islands. Restoration of Ulong will protect the islands’ native terrestrial species and nearshore marine ecosystems, as well as the community’s cultural heritage, livelihoods, and food security.