Venezuelan plays key role in the rescue of children in Thailand
It was a long Friday for Arcata-based Wing Inflatables employees. In fewer than 24 hours the team designed, built, tested and shipped off five rescue devices with the hopes that they can be used to rescue the members and coach of a youth soccer team that has been trapped by water in a cave in Thailand for the past two weeks.
A Venezuelan industrial engineer, graduated from the University of Carabobo, collaborated in the design of the capsules for the rescue of children trapped.
María Giovanna Castro Salas left Venezuela in 2014 and is currently working as Quality Manager at the company Wing Inflatables, which manufactures equipment and boats for the US Navy and other major companies.
The Venezuelan was contacted by the owner of the company Tesla and Spacex, who requested the design and manufacture of 13 capsules that would be used for rescue work.
Castro was assigned along with a large team on the project of the capsules. She was in charge of documenting the prototype tests, the quality checks and the logistical assignments.
The pod is made of the same polyurethane the company uses on its boats and pontoons. It’s orange and black and about 7 feet long and 4 feet wide. On one end is a metal ring ropes can be tied to and the other end opens up with Velcro to allow for someone to scoot in with a SCUBA tank. It’s covered in handles to give rescue divers lots of places to grab onto it. On the top, it has four holes that allow for air from the breathing apparatus to escape the pod if less buoyancy is required. The pod has two black pontoons on either side that can be inflated using air from a SCUBA tank for additional buoyancy if needed.
