Ideas change everything

A novel idea for cleaning up oil spills

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Cesar Harada |

TEDxSummit

• June 2012

When TED Senior Fellow Cesar Harada heard about the devastating effects of the BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, he quit his dream job and moved to New Orleans to develop a more efficient way to soak up the oil. He designed a highly maneuverable, flexible boat capable of cleaning large tracts quickly. But rather than turn a profit, he has opted to open-source the design.

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Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

When TED Senior Fellow Cesar Harada heard about the devastating effects of the BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, he quit his dream job and moved to New Orleans to develop a more efficient way to soak up the oil. He designed a highly maneuverable, flexible boat capable of cleaning large tracts quickly. But rather than turn a profit, he has opted to open-source the design.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxSummit, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

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About the speaker

Inventor, environmentalist, educator

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TED Senior Fellow Cesar Harada aims to harness the forces of nature as he invents innovative remedies for man-made problems like oil spills and radioactive leaks.

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Dive into Cesar Harada's sailing drone

Get nerdy over how the sailboat got made, and track its evolution and many improvements.

About TEDx

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxSummit, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.