http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/gcaptain-exclusive-shellbacked-ipod-touch-video/#more-1872

1. Who developed this coating?
a. Northeast Maritime Institute in Fairhaven, MA USA has an engineering group under its sister company Transportation Security Logistics. This group worked to solve a problem of splash proofing and water proofing a man overboard system. This coating evolved out of that product and the need to make the device work when exposed to water.

2. What is Northeast Maritime Institute?
a. The Northeast Maritime Institute is an educational facility for mariners. The Institute’s creed is to Honor the Mariner. We expect that this process will help to keep mariners safe.

3. Where is the process currently performed?
a. The process is currently performed in our laboratory in Fairhaven, MA. The lab has the ability to perform coating in small volume exists in this facility.

4. Can a camera be coated?
a. There is no reason a camera would not be able to be coated but it does have challenges that make it different then some other electronic items. We’re currently looking at the optics and how they’ll be handled, also there are some small moving parts that we’ll have to consider.

5. Were there other reasons this product was developed?
a. Like many people we’ve had our own phones drop into water. After Skiing one of the inventors managed to wash two of his daughter’s cell phones. That drove him to want to find a coating that would prevent this problem.

6. Can I get specific answers to my individual questions.
a. Yes, subscribe to the newsletter and we’ll contact you to see if you have questions.

7. When will this process be available to the public?
a. We can provide the process now, but we need to set up the distribution system and regionalize the process. The availability is measured in months and we expect that it will be 4-6 months before we can say we’re fully on line. We’ll update the website on how we can do it sooner.

8. What’s your favorite thing you’ve coated so far?
a. We had lots of fun coating a 100W speaker and blasting some country music in the 5 gallon bucket.

9. What aspects confuse people most about this process:
a. People get confused and think this is a spray. It isn’t, the coating needs to be applied in a piece of equipment.
b. People seem to wonder a lot about the contacts and how they’re sealed. The contacts aren’t, the surfaces are sealed. So, water can run in and out.

10. Why haven’t you coated any cameras?
a. We’ve been researching the cameras and the best way to handle the lenses and shutters. We’ll be coating some digital cameras soon.

Michael