Latest news with #NathanCohen
Otago Daily Times
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
‘A lot of emotions' as late ride organiser honoured
Olympic Gold medal winner Nathan Cohen, from Southland, Westpac regional manager Otago/Southland Phil Taylor and former All Black captain Richie McCaw will always remember the 2025 ride which honoured Reece McDonald, who dedicated years to organising the annual Queenstown to Invercargill Westpac Rescue Helicopter trust fundraiser. PHOTO: TONI MCDONALD Fat raindrops disguised the tears streaking riders' faces on the Queenstown to Invercargill Westpac Rescue Helicopter fundraiser. Westpac regional manager Otago/Southland Phil Taylor said his 14th ride was a challenging day for everyone involved. Riders experienced exceptionally wet and cold conditions until they reached northern Southland. Riders wore black armbands emblazoned with "Reece" to honour former ride organiser Reece McDonald, who died unexpectedly in late 2024. "We missed him. He's certainly in our hearts and he was such a key part. We want to do his legacy proud ... he helped to build this. There are a lot of emotions around it. But we want that too, because we want to keep his memory there and its OK to be a wee bit tearful about it." Wensley Cycles owner Rob McMurdo, who provided mechanical support for the day, loved the camaraderie the ride had developed over the years. "I love being part of this group." While there were plenty of tears, "that's good because it helps [to] heal. It makes it special. It brings us together better. It's a really strong group." A pair of cleats and 20 punctures were the only casualties of the day. Media personality Paddy Gower joined the ride for a second time. "It was wet. It was dark. It was extremely cold ... all the way through Kingston and beyond. "I thought I was in for a hell of a day and then of course it just fined up, which is awesome. "There was so much energy in the ride today because of Reece McDonald ... It was fantastic to honour him: a man of the South who came up with solutions for the South." Gower used a drink bottle branded with Reece's name and company logo. "I was thinking about him the whole time. He was the one who got me into this." Former All Black captain and annual rider Richie McCaw said he was happy to join the ride again. "It's a great bunch of people ... and obviously for a great cause. "I've got to say, the first two or three hours in the rain and cold this morning, I was starting to question how good of an idea it was, but it came right. "The highlight is always going to and stopping at the schools — they were excited to see the bunch [of riders] come in." Olympic gold medal rower Nathan Cohen also joined the ride for a second time. After being raised in the South he appreciated the importance of the role the rescue helicopter played and was happy to help raise funds for the vital link to the region. "There's obviously a great bunch of people ... it's hard not to enjoy it just because of the enthusiasm and the energy that it brings," he said. He particularly loved the connection the ride had with the rural communities. "They're just real down to earth people ... everyone's very genuine." Messrs Cohen, McCaw, Gower, Taylor and McMurdo all expressed an interest in riding the event again in 2026. Mr Taylor expected the final fundraising effort to come to more than $100,000. By Toni McDonald
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sound-Based Drone Disabling Breakthrough Announced by Fractal Antenna Systems
BEDFORD, Mass., March 27, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc. ("FRACTAL") has unveiled Acoustic Resonance Mitigation (ARM), a pioneering technology that disables drones using directed acoustic energy. ARM works by emitting sonic, ultrasonic, and/or subsonic waves at a drone, thereby inducing vibrations and /or Prandtl layer instability that will lead to flight failure. Propeller blades are especially vulnerable to ARM's power, either by causing turbulence or transmitting vibrations to the IMU. CEO Nathan Cohen and a colleague invented ARM technology, and it is backed by U.S. patents and pending patents licensed to FRACTAL. Cohen, an astrophysicist with 55 years of experience and 94 U.S. patents, was a professor in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering department at Boston University and is a subject matter expert in ultrasound and phased RF and acoustic arrays. Leveraging decades of multidisciplinary experience, Cohen foresaw the need, over a decade ago, for ARM, as quadcopter drones became both prevalent and a growing issue. Cohen notes, "The propellor blades become a driven oscillator from ARM, and even isolating the MEMS at the IMU from these oscillations is impractical, especially in smaller drones. The result is flight disruption." FRACTAL has led in RF jamming and antenna systems well over two decades. However, RF jamming is heavily restricted in the U.S., creating a legal gap in defense from drones. Cohen explains, "You can't legally shoot a drone or zap it with microwaves outside military settings. Lasers are costly and affected by humidity. ARM offers an effective alternative for government and enterprise security." With its antenna and array expertise, FRACTAL produced ARM's acoustic arrays to target drones, especially at ultrasonic frequencies—inaudible to humans but highly disruptive to drones. ARM technology's effectiveness has been demonstrated by foreign groups. "ARM has a patent priority of a decade, but ignoring that, foreign groups have claimed its creation and taken the technology successfully into the 'prove out' phase. We are, here in the US, beyond that stage; no surprise since we invented it." Cohen stresses that the U.S. patents pre-date these efforts and ARM patent licensing is unavailable to foreign firms for U.S. markets. ARM can be a cost-effective countermeasure for drones ranging from microdrones to pizza box-sized devices. Costing pennies per use, it is portable with a viable range. Cohen adds: "ARM is designed to disable drones. And drones only. This is not a system for crowd or animal control and we are not using inefficient, parametric arrays to achieve our spectrum." In addition, in the battlefield, ARM can be attached to an attack drone or aerial support to help shut down adversarial drone swarms. Dubbed DRONE BLASTR™, the patent pending in situ approach, also licensed to FRACTAL, promises to be an important new method for drone-swarm kills. ARM is anticipated to be an important tool in the battlefield for friendly forces. And with rising concerns over drone use in illegal surveillance and drug smuggling, Cohen sees ARM as a vital tool to keep drones out of restricted areas and borders. "ARM is a major facet of FRACTAL's journey into drone defense and counter defense. It is a perfect complement to the fractal-based antenna and metamaterial products we are rolling out in these markets in the coming weeks. Government, public safety agencies, and related enterprises should explore partnering with FRACTAL as ARM moves towards product stages," Cohen concluded. ABOUT FRACTAL Fractal Antenna Systems provides off-the-shelf and custom antenna and electromagnetic cutting edge solutions to a wide range of end markets and applications. FRACTAL deploys high performance antennas for aerospace, IoT, medical, public safety, telecom, and government/military applications, among others. For questions about FRACTAL's capabilities, products, or custom solutions – visit FRACTAL's website at or contact directly at sales@ View source version on Contacts Nathan Cohenncohen@ Sign in to access your portfolio
