TITUSVILLE, Fla. (July 1, 2004) – Fishing lure inventor Bruce Young has received assistance from the NASA-funded Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP) to perfect his unique product, Laser Lure, which utilizes laser light to entice fish.

Young conceived of the device after observing the behavior of the fish in a large tank at his place of business. When Young pointed a laser light at the tank, the fish hit on the light as though they were going after a juicy worm.

“I subsequently learned that about 80 percent of everything in the ocean gives off luminescence, so light is a fish attractor,” Young said. “The laser light is attractive because it is highly coherent and concentrated, and to fish that looks like a glowing piece of food.”

Young designed and patented a two-piece lure that screwed together in the middle and contained the laser light and batteries. Unfortunately, after selling several hundred of the lures, all were returned by consumers who complained that the laser light had stopped working. Young discovered that the lures were leaking and the water was shorting the circuit. He needed to find a way to solve the leak if the Laser Lure was to be successful.

Young turned to SATOP for help. SATOP provides free engineering assistance to small businesses with technical challenges through donations of time and expertise from 49 Space Alliance Partners throughout the country. Young’s request for technical assistance (RTA) was paired with Ernie Banks, materials and processes engineer scientist with The Boeing Company. Banks immediately identified an O-ring as the cause of the leak.

“The O-ring was not in the proper seat and was not expanding to fill the cavity when it was compressed by screwing the two halves of the lure together,” Banks said. “The O-ring wasn’t forming a watertight seal and the resulting leakage caused the battery to short and lose power to the laser emitter.”

Banks proceeded to determine the size of the sealing groove for the O-ring and ordered several sizes and thicknesses of rings to test. He also lubricated the O-ring with a waterproof grease to aid in sealing. When he felt he had the correct O-ring fit, Banks tested the seal by submerging the lure in water for eight hours. The seal passed the test.

Young has gone on to further perfect the lure design and currently is receiving help from SATOP on a circuit that will cause the laser to emit only when the lure is in the water. The rate of blinking also will be modified, thus allowing the lure to have a longer life. Young also is planning to expand his product line to include a top water lure and three diver lure designs.

“SATOP really has helped save Laser Lure,” Young said. “I don’t know where I’d be now without SATOP’s assistance. It is the most amazing program for small businesses with technical challenges.”