Cork based inventor Russell Winn demonstrates some of his problem solving prototypes.
Originally from London, inventor Russell Winn is the founder and managing director of Winn Technology Limited. The commercial research and development company has a plant on the grounds of Kilbrittain Castle, near Bandon in County Cork. Winn Technology Limited designs and manufactures prototypes employing 50 people.
Russell Winn demonstrates one of his inventions, a mechanical unit that can climb up an oil tank or the inside of an industrial chimney. He also demonstrates Scamp, an unmanned vehicle which he hopes will play a major role in underwater research, as it can reach depths where divers cannot go.
Scamp has received substantial funding from the European Economic Community (EEC) Council of Energy to provide direct financial support under its Energy Procurement Programme as a means to collect oil from beneath the sea in the continental shelf off the Irish coast.
They look on this as one of the most promising ways of doing it.
The unmanned vehicle is designed to spend three months at the bottom of the sea. Russell Winn has designed a power source to keep the robot tractor operating for the duration.
As an inventor, Russell Winn knows a flash of inspiration is not enough; his ideas must be marketable.
They've got to make money, because if they don’t make money, you can’t develop them, you can’t develop the next invention.
For him inventing is a business, so it is important to find a field where,
There’s got to be a real proven need for something to improve the method of working, make a better article, or something, and something that is obviously going to sell.
He plans to supply his machines worldwide, complete with an Irish operating crew,
Not sell them for other people to make money out, let's bring the money into the country.
Being based in Ireland gives Russell Winn the freedom he could not find in England, which is too industrially established to support small industries.
This episode of 'Eureka' was broadcast on 21 October 1975. The reporter is Pat Casey.
'Eureka' was a science series broadcast on RTÉ during 1975 and 1976. 'Eureka' set out to show the many facets of science and related technologies. Programmes included studio demonstrations and film reports from around the country. 'Eureka' was presented by Jim Sherwin and Caroline Erskine with reporters Jim Fahy and Pat Casey.
