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Albuquerque Journal

Eighteen years ago, Albuquerque postal worker Gerald Olona realized his former mother-in-law was missing the best part of her favorite hobby.

Sure, she could cast the fishing line and hold the rod, but when a fish struck, she asked him to land it.

"She had arthritis; it was just too painful for her, so I reeled it in," Olona said.

It was then that he struck upon an idea he hopes will let disabled anglers get back into their sport. With a little help from NASA, Sandia National Laboratories and a local tech firm with connections in China, Olona Inc. is now seeking a distributor for the Olona Auto Reel, a fishing reel powered by a powerful electric motor and a small battery.

"The whole fun part of fishing is the fight -- the reeling it in," Olona said. "I started feeling bad for these people."

Olona recently demonstrated the 4-ounce reel, attached to a collapsible travel fishing rod.

Shaped similar to a regular spinning reel, the device has two buttons. One releases the line for casting, the other engages the tiny motor connected to a Sandia-designed transmission of micro- gears to pull in the line.

Like any invention, the current prototype was slowly developed over more than a decade of fits and starts.

Olona began tinkering with motorized drills in the late 1980s, just as those devices were coming on the market. A NASA outreach program later connected him with a Las Cruces company, which proved in 1998 that such a concept was feasible. Later, the Air Force Research Lab in Albuquerque, then known as Phillips Lab, took a look at the reel, and suggested a switch from common nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries to longer-lasting lithium power sources like those used in satellites.

Meanwhile, Olona set up a company with a partner, his father, brother and wife, Vina. They received a patent on the design -- which allowed use by people with one arm or limited strength -- in 2000. That effort lacked torque, quickly drained batteries and at one pound, was far too heavy.

Enter Sandia National Laboratories.

Through its Small Business Assistance Program, which uses tax breaks from the state to offer grants of free help to inventors and tech firms, lab scientists annually help more than 250 small businesses overcome their most vexing hurdles.

Lab scientist Herman Molina helped devise a motor and gear combination that reduced weight and battery use while maximizing power. The labs also made Olona's current prototype.

"It works; I've got two fish in the freezer to prove it," Olona said.

Through a family connection, the company contacted Tony Tenorio, president of Albuquerque-based Applied Technology Associates, a maker of sensors, measurement tools and other components for military and other customers.

"I thought it was a pretty snazzy idea," Tenorio said.

An adviser to ATA helped Olona find a Chinese manufacturer willing to make a few Olona Auto Reels to help the fledgling company determine cost of production.

"Once we get that, we can go right into manufacturing," Olona says.

The reel would likely cost between $50 and $70.

He estimates there are 43 million Americans with disabilities that would limit their use of a conventional reel.

Charlie Domenici, of Albuquerque's Charlie's Sporting Goods, says to his knowledge, no one makes motorized fishing reels for shore fishing, though some larger electric reels for use on boats do exist. His store also sells special vests that hold fishing rods for people who have lost the use of an arm.

"It's maybe just a few people that might need it, but for those people it would sure be nice," Domenici says.

The only thing holding the firm back now is finding someone to distribute the reels, Olona says, adding that he has talked with officials from several large sporting goods supply companies, such as Maurice and Sports Authority. Though he's received enthusiastic responses from reel-makers, he hasn't had any bites.

"That's the challenge," he says, adding that he's considering a common fallback plan for small inventors -- the infomercial.

"No one knows who we are."

Meanwhile, Sandia is still kicking the idea around, Olona says. Besides also trying to help him find a distributor, researchers are exploring a small portable solar panel that could be used to recharge the battery, which can run the reel's motor nonstop for about 20 minutes.

Given the time it's taken to germinate, this may be Olona's last invention for a while.

LOCAL FIRM MAY SOMEDAY FUEL HYDROGEN BIKE:

The unveiling of the first fuel cell-powered motorcycle two weeks ago brought a lot of attention to its British developer, Intelligent Energy.

Newspapers, motorcycle enthusiast publications and other media around the world have since speculated widely on the ramifications of the virtually silent, 50-mile-per-hour bikes -- even going so far as to speculate that they could endanger pedestrians because of their lack of noise.

For now, the detachable fuel cell that powers the bikes has to be refueled with hydrogen at a pumping station, very few of which exist.

However, future iterations of the bike, with which the company hopes to attract the attention of large vehicle manufacturers, could employ the hydrogen-generation devices developed by Intelligent Energy's Albuquerque subsidiary, MesoFuel, says Dr. Anand Chellappa, director of operations here.

MesoFuel makes equipment that strips hydrogen from common hydrocarbon fuels, like natural gas, thereby creating the ability to supply hydrogen where it's needed, rather than store it.

For instance, he says, owners could have such a reformer in their home, with which they make hydrogen for vehicles, home appliance power or other uses.

"That will be in follow-on stages of the bike and other projects," he says.

NEW PRESIDENT AT MESOSYSTEMS: Speaking of MesoFuel, its former relative, air sampling device developer MesoSystems, has a new president.

Bill Hartman, a native of Roswell and retired Naval captain who has led San Diego tech firms, recently took the helm from interim president Bob Spears, who was recruited to lead the company by its primary investor, Michigan-based Ardesta.

"I love the mission of trying to do something against terrorism and making a nice business out of it at the same time," he says.

MesoSystems, which employs about 30, makes hand-held and stationary devices used to detect the presence of biological threats, such as anthrax.

Hartman learned about the company after attending a networking event sponsored by Coronado Ventures Forum, a consortium of northern New Mexico investors and entrepreneurs.