The three have created a training system that uses ultrasonic waves and real flames to show people how to operate fire extinguishers.
An extinguisher seems easy enough to use: Get extinguisher. Aim it at fire. Kill fire. But Paul Darois, who is leading the school's Bullex Digital Safety Equipment project, says that's a common misconception.
Some people forget to pull the pin on their extinguisher, while others don't aim at the base of the fire, he said. Many people also stand too close, pushing the fire around instead of knocking it down, Darois added.
"Probably most of the people out there don't know how to use them," said Peter Lattanzio, Colonie's assistant chief fire inspector. "You can actually make it worse."
It all adds up to a need for more training, Darois said.
"Every second you don't know what you're doing is a second you're not going to get a handle on it," he said.
The Bullex crew was one of 15 picked nationwide to show off its invention at the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, which was recently held in San Jose, Calif. Another RPI team, which is working on a wireless tether to keep firefighters together in smoky rooms, also attended the event.
Bullex's work, though, is closer to fruition. It already has built several prototype devices. The latest is a specially rigged fire extinguisher that interacts with a propane-fed flame maker that looks like a camping stove.
The extinguisher, which is filled with compressed air and water vapor but has no fire-quenching capability, is connected to an ultrasonic transmitter. Receivers at the base of the flame-dispensing nozzles pick up the ultrasonic waves.
A computer attached to the stove uses an algorithm to determine where the extinguisher is aimed based on the strength of the ultrasonic signal. If the would-be firefighter is aiming properly, the computer kills the fire. If not, it gets bigger.
"I'm encouraging them to start taking orders," said Burt Swersey, an RPI lecturer who leads the school's Inventor's Studio. "This thing has it hands (down) over what's being done at the moment."
Existing trainers largely involve real extinguishers, which are a mess to operate and need to be recharged.
Darois and his partners, Steve Galonska and John Blackburn, hope to start selling the devices to fire departments, which can set up the units at events like county fairs. A setup, which includes two or three units, might cost $2,000 to $3,000.
Before hitting the market, Bullex wants to make sure the devices are robust enough to last. In the meantime, Bullex has set up an office at RPI's incubator center and has a patent pending on the device.
"It's a niche market that can save lives; it can save money," Swersey said. "Nothing out there exists like this."
