EMBARGO: FOR RELEASE ON FEBRUARY 16, 2006

IMAGES AVAILABLE at http://www.BoatUS.com/Foundation/Lifejacketdesign
Press Contact: Scott Croft, 703-461-2864,

GRAD STUDENT WINS LIFE JACKET DESIGN COMPETITION

Innovative Designs Throw Away the "Rule" Book
182 Entries Received From Around The Globe

Adam Malcom, a graduate student in the University of Virginia's
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program, was awarded the $5,000
grand prize in the first Innovations in Life Jacket Design Competition
sponsored by the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and the
Personal Flotation Device Manufacturers Association (PFDMA). The award
was presented during ceremonies at the Miami Boat Show on February 16.

"Boaters complain that life jackets are uncomfortable, restrict
movement, or make you hot. So we decided to sponsor a competition to
encourage innovative ideas to design a life jacket that more boaters
might wear," said BoatU.S. Foundation President Ruth Wood.

Competition criteria included wearability; reliability; cost; and
innovation. What was notably absent from this list was the need to
adhere to any of the established life jacket design regulations.

"We received 182 submissions from armchair inventors, average boaters
and students from as far away places as China and Australia," said
PFDMA Executive Director Bernice McArdle. "Some designs focused on
improving existing life jacket models with new technology or style
enhancements. Other designs were completely outside the box with little
or no regard to current design guidelines, while others blended the
two. Two design elements emerged as judges' favorites: the use of
high-tech fabrics that could improve upon current designs, and devices
that were the least obtrusive," she said.

Malcom's winning entry was essentially the latter - a slender belt worn
around the waist. The unit would stay out of the way and not retain
body heat. When activated either manually with a ripcord or
automatically via a CO2 gas cylinder, slender, symmetrically-arranged
air bladders stored inside the belt inflate rising up to surround the
wearer on all sides. No secondary action, such as sliding flotation
over the head, is necessary. You simply float much like you would in an
inner tube.

Born into a boating family, Malcom owns both a fishing boat and
sailboat and plans to use the $5,000 to jump-start a career as an
independent inventor. "We frequently don't wear our life jackets aboard
for the same reason as everyone else - they are uncomfortable and
restrict movement. But I know how important they are so my design
focused on remedying those aspects," he said.

The five Honorable Mentions went to:

· Sean Denham, a student at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA,
majoring in Industrial Design proposed a T-shirt life jacket that
blended a thin layer of kapok sandwiched between layers of neoprene
built into a nylon/spandex shirt that also provided UVA sun protection.

· Lisa Ma, Wayne Chang and Peter Tong of I3 Design in Pittsburgh,
PA proposed a series of stylish "shirts" made with an inflatable fabric
and a transferable C02 inflation kit that kept costs down.

· Another student, Nicholas Weigel who attends Kendall College of
Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI, proposed using a two-part foam that
expanded to fill clear a buoyancy tube that went around the wearer's
neck.

· The "High Tide PFD" designed by Andrew Valentine, another
Virginia Tech student and classmate of Honorable Mention winner, Sean
Denham, had a sleek, stylish buoyant vest design. High-tech fabrics
would keep the body cool and earth-friendly recycled styrene beads were
used for flotation and body-conforming comfort.

· "Aqua-Aid," designed by inventor Mario DiForte, Jr. of Baltimore,
MD. A press of a button inflates a 12" x 13" brightly colored vinyl
float that's packed into a small, wrist-worn case.

In addition to Wood, competition Judges included Virgil Chambers of the
National Safe Boating Council; Tim Smalley of the Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources; West Marine's Chuck Hawley; Norm Lemley of the
U.S. Marine Safety Association; and John Adey of the American Boat &
Yacht Council.

For more information or to see the winning entry as well as the
Honorable Mentions, go to
http://www.BoatUS.com/Foundation/Lifejacketdesign.

The BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is a
national 501(c)(3) nonprofit education and research organization
primarily funded by the contributions of 630,000 members of BoatU.S.,
the nation's largest recreational boat owners association. The
Personal Flotation Device Manufacturers Association is an affiliate of
the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), a leading trade
organization representing the recreational boating industry. NMMA
member companies produce more that 80% of the boats, engines, trailers,
accessories and gear used by boaters and anglers in the U.S.