attey.co is a portfolio of technology projects developed by Graeme Attey.
GRAEME ATTEY, Summary Business CV, May 2021
Industrial Designer / Inventor / Company founder with 40 years of experience in engineering, scientific research, product development, prototyping and 3D CAD. Applied for 132 different technology patents to date with design registrations, patents and Trade Marks granted in most countries.
Responsible for founding a wide range of start-up technology companies including green technology refrigeration, cooling, wind power, desalination, footwear, helmets and a range of leisure and consumer products. Has licensed technology to companies as large asPanasonic.
Brief Summary of Career and Achievements :
2020
Designed the CatFoil Stand-Up Paddleboard which now holds the SUP world record flatwater paddling speed of 20.4 kph.
2020
Featured as a prominent West Australian Innovator at the New West Australian Museum, opened November 2020.
2015
International release of the second application of Elastoweb™ technology, being a range of shoes incorporating suspended mesh under foot. The production launch was at the Magic Show in Las Vegas, USA, August 17-19th, 2015.
2015
HIVAP selected on August 7th 2015 as a Semi-Finalist in the NOVA Innovation Competition, run by Saint-Gobain (one of the world’s top 100 companies) for innovative solutions energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
2015
Industry representative in the WA Round Table Discussion with the Chief Scientist of Western Australia, 10 February 2015, Dumas House, 2 Havelock Street, West Perth.
2013
Industry representative on the Australian Federal Government’s ‘Advisory Council on Intellectual Property‘ (ACIP).
2012
Winner of the West Australian Government’s prestigious Innovator of the Year Award (Emerging Innovation Category) for the HIVAP evaporative cooling process.
2012
Developed Elastoweb™ technology and issued first license to DDK of Taiwan (one of the World’s three largest bicycle seat manufacturers, making 20 million seats per year) to manufacture and sell the Elastoweb Mesh Bicycle Seat.
2011
Developed and patented the HIVAP evaporative cooling process and formed HIVAP Pty Ltd.
2007-2011
R&D Manager, Director, Design Licensing International Pty Ltd. Developed and manufactured the patented Windpods, modular, silent wind turbine system. First production units shipped from factory in China in January 2011 and have had a steady rollout since, particularly in China, including installation of 270 Windpods in the crown of the Shanghai Tower (the world’s second tallest building).
2009 – 2010
Lecturer/Tutor of Industrial Design students at Curtin University.
2005
Licensed the giant toy company HASBRO to sell the Dirtsurfer Action Man toy.
2000
Dirtsurfer selected by IP Australia (Australian Patent Office) to feature on their website as a showcase example of patented Australian technology to display to the world.
2000
Dirtsurfer Won Best Ancillary New Product at the UK Cycle & Leisure Show.
1999 – 2007
Managing Director, Design Science Pty Ltd.
Developed and manufactured the patented Dirtsurfer all-terrain, two wheeled skateboard and accessories. Business included export sales, overseas licensing, research, development and design.
1998
Won Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Thermoelectrics in Nagoya Japan.
1990 – 1999
General Manager/R & D Manager, Hydrocool Pty Ltd.
Developed and patented Hydrocool thermoelectric cooling system and sold the technology to Matsushita Refrigeration Company (National/Panasonic) of Japan.
1983 – 1990
Managing Director, Hydrodynamix Pty Ltd. Start-up company that went on to establish an international market via 15 overseas distributors for innovative, patented Windsurfing equipment.
1982
Licensed Multi-Fin Systems Pty Ltd of Byron Bay to manufacture and sell worldwide the ‘Strata Fin’ fin design for windsurfing.

CARBONDYNAMIX
CarbonDynamix stringed musical instruments may look something like a science fiction version of a banjo but they produce a very unique sound.

It’s not very often a unique new instrument is invented, particularly one aimed at the world’s largest stringed music market but the Buke is just that. Designed by Graeme Attey from Fremantle, Western Australia, the Buke may look something like a science fiction version of a banjo but it produces a very unique sound.
The Buke is 8 strings (4 x pairs) and sounds like equal parts guitar, banjo, dobro and sitar and there’s a very long sustain too. It’s an instrument that will make you naturally play with more subtlety, just so you can listen more intently to the beautiful tone it produces.
Oh, and Uke players can play a Buke immediately without having to learn anything !

The Buke is protected internationally via Australian Provisional Patent application numbers 2021901571, 2021902790, 2021903725 and 2022900707.
THE CATFOIL
The twin-hull ‘CatFoil’ is a new type of Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP) and/or sit-down kayak designed for flatwater and touring, fishing, all-round use and racing. It has huge mass market appeal from beginners to pros, offering stability, lightweight design, amazing speed, excellent upwind performance and great versatility with the option of a click-on seat for kayaking.
The recent worldwide explosion in hydrofoils has a common design thread; they are either ‘ON the foil’ or ‘OFF the foil’. And the difference is chalk and cheese. If the board is not ‘on the foil’ it is super-slow and downright unwieldly. In addition, there is the issue of ‘pitch’ as foils can nose dive in an instant.
‘CatFoils’ use traditional foil theory but with a completely new approach to how they are designed and used. Effectively, they don’t need foils to be deep down in the water like conventional foils. CatFoils have shallow water foils that can achieve 100% lift at very shallow depths. And instead of lifting the hulls well clear of the water, ‘CatFoils’ are designed to lift the hull upwards enough to reduce the overall drag but not necessarily lift the craft completely out of the water. The intent is to significantly increase board speed as a result of reduced hull drag. However, the base of the hull is either just clear of the water or lightly maintaining contact with the water to provide stability via natural pitch control and not result in the ‘light-switch’ situation of conventional foils being either ON or OFF.
It is important to appreciate that paddling a ‘CatFoil’ feels as natural as paddling a traditional SUP, it’s just that you’re travelling significantly faster with improved stability. The hull automatically lifts gently and progressively in response to the paddling input and the rider does not have to think about whether it’s actually ‘foiling’ or not.
There are many production avenues for CatFoils, from light-weight composites to low cost roto-moulding and anything in-between, with the design well suited to incorporate a break-down system for shipping and transport. From a sales accessory point of view, the foils are interchangeable and customers could select foils that suit their requirements. Also part of the design is a new ‘fin-box’ arrangement that allows the foils to be removed or changed in seconds.
In summary, ‘Cat-Foils’ have the following characteristics:
- Super light-weight. i.e. the ratio of stability to weight is very high.
- Exceptional stability. Extremely easy to ride, even for beginners.
- Amazing speed. The previous SUP paddling speed world record of 15 kph was achieved by a ridiculously fit, elite athlete on a board that is very difficult to ride. The easily ridden CatFoil has smashed that record, achieving 20.4 kph.
- Upwind performance. The ‘CatFoil’ carves upwind like there’s no wind at all. Really.
- Versatility. Simply by clicking-on a seat it can also become a kayak/surf-ski/sit-down-paddleboard.
- Mass-Market Appeal. All of the above factors result in great commercial potential from beginners through to pros. The CatFoil also has the potential to start a new class of SUP course racing. For the first time, SUPs could ‘fly’ around a course on the foil in fast, exciting racing that could attract a large potential audience. This opportunity could never have been realized previously.
Further, the CatFoil offers an exceptionally low drag yet super-stable hull that would make an ideal electric fishing platform.


n.b. The CatFoil is available to license via international PCT Patent application PCT/AU2020/051229, Australian Design Registration 202012387, USA Design Patent Application Number 29/754,739 and European Community Design Application Number 008203301.
THE HIVAP EVAPORATIVE COOLING PROCESS
HIVAP (short for ‘High Velocity Evaporation’) is an internationally patented, unique new evaporation PROCESS that can greatly reduce power consumption in cooling applications at very low cost. Being a process, it has a huge range of new and existing applications and opportunities including solar powered air conditioning, pre-cooling air conditioning and refrigeration condensers, data centre cooling, outdoor cooling (bars, restaurants, stadiums etc), industrial evaporation, greenhouses, cooling towers, heat transfer, desalination and even snow making machines.
HIVAP utilizes the principle of evaporative cooling but with an innovative, elegantly simple approach to how the evaporation occurs, using the velocity of the fan blades to rapidly evaporate mist ejected into the opposite direction airstream.


More Information About How Hivap Works
ELASTOWEB™ TECHNOLOGY
Elastoweb™ is a patented elastomer mesh technology that has application to a wide range of products. The first two products developed are :
THE ELASTOWEB™ MESH SHOE
Another ‘Elastoweb™ application has been developed jointly by Cadmus Lin and Graeme Attey. This features a new concept in shoes, also based on the elastomer mesh principle, reversing the normal compression cushioning of standard sole designs and transferring the load into Elastoweb tension.
The result is supreme comfort, superb ventilation and reduced pressure on limbs, ankles and knees. Most importantly, it also offers weight dispersion and rebound.
It is possible to incorporate many different combinations of the Elastoweb™ mesh concept to suit the market. For example, sandals, traditional shoes, thongs/flip-flops, boots etc. The design principles can be applied to virtually any form of shoe type and can be either a unique visual feature in itself or hidden to look like a normal shoe.

The Elastoweb™ shoe concept is Patented internationally and the Trade Mark is also protected. An independent test report was completed by the Taiwan ‘Footwear and Recreation Technical Research Institute’ (see below).

The base numbers of our test results are listed in the table below. Also shown in the table are a typical range of results for conventional recent shoes (also supplied by the Institute) :
SHOE TYPE | g Value | Energy Return % |
Running Shoe | 9-15 | 30-45 |
Trainers and Sports Shoes | 12-21 | 25-48 |
Casual Shoes | 12-19 | 30-38 |
Town Shoes – Hard Heels | 28-42 | 22-41 |
Elastoweb™ prototype | 11.5 | 67 |
As can be seen above, the Elastoweb™ prototype is nearly the softest but the exceptional property is Energy Return or rebound. It has long been a dream of shoe manufacturers to have Energy Return reach 50%. The Elastoweb™ shoe was 67% !
Initial limited production began in March 2016 by Attey & Lin and future prototypes based on different concepts (but the same principles) are currently being trialed. Elastoweb offers prospective licensees a new way of providing more comfortable and energy efficient shoes. Further, it offers completely new aesthetic possibilities to open new markets. Please contact the Taiwan headquarters :
Attey & Lin Sportek Co Ltd
No.281 Zhenxing Rd. East Dist. Taichung City 401 Taiwan ( R.O.C. )
Phone: 886-4-2215-2262
Email: atteylin@atteylin.com
Web : http://www.atteylin.com/
THE ELASTOWEB™ BICYCLE SADDLE
Conventional bicycle seats or saddles are all based on the principle of compression cushioning.
The Elastoweb bicycle saddle takes a completely new structural approach to bicycle seats based on utilizing a suspended, trampoline style flexible mesh under tension to create a more comfortable seat with better air circulation.


When a rider sits on the mesh, tension is increased and the mesh flexes down under rider weight (as above), providing a wonderfully smooth, soft, suspension-like ride.
WINDPODS
A patented new modular wind turbine system for on-site power generation in urban environments. Low production and mounting cost, ability to operate efficiently and quietly in fluctuating residential wind conditions and combining the best characteristics of high torque, low wind speed start-up drag devices with higher tip speed ratio (TSR) lift devices for efficient electricity production via grid feed-in.

DIRTSURFER
1999 – 2007 DIRTSURFER
HYDROCOOL

1990 – 1999 HYDROCOOL Pty Ltd : General Manager and R & D Manager of Hydrocool Pty Ltd, a company established via a joint venture with Poseidon Scientific Instruments Pty Ltd. Attracted the interest and investment of the Australian Technology Group (ATG) in 1994 and issued a major licensing deal with the world’s largest manufacturer of refrigeration compressors, Matsushita (National Panasonic) of Japan in 1997 to manufacture and sell the technology.
Won Best Paper award at the 1998 ‘International Conference on Thermoelectrics’ in Nagoya
Technical skills developed over 10 years at Hydrocool include scientific testing and analysis, CAD, thermoelectric principles and computer modelling, thermal design and heat transfer, vacuum panel insulation, low power DC pump development, fan design and heat exchanger performance. Sold interest in Hydrocool in 1999.
Matsushita’s introduction onto the world market of the first Hydrocool system refrigerators in July 1997 has been followed up by a steady roll-out of products utilising Hydrocool technology, including hotel mini-bar refrigerators, portable refrigerators and wine coolers.
Carried out R&D on vacuum panel insulation using injection moulded plastic panels with novel coating and sealing techniques.
Technical skills developed over 10 years at Hydrocool include scientific testing and analysis, CAD, thermoelectric principles and computer modelling, thermal design and heat transfer, vacuum panel insulation, low power DC pump development, fan design and heat exchanger performance. Sold interest in Hydrocool in 1999.


HYDRODYNAMIX

1983-1990 HYDRODYNAMIX Pty Ltd Founded the start-up company Hydrodynamix Pty Ltd in 1983, based on innovative design, manufacture, marketing and export of internationally patented and marketed sailboard/windsurfing products. The best known of these were the breakthrough ‘Z Boom’ and ‘Lock-Jaw’ boom system.
Designed a multitude of innovative injection moulded plastic components included the Lock-Jaw (no-ropes) mast fitting, splitting lightweight clew fitting, seals, plastic sping clips (replaced stainless steel), No-Boltz mast base and ergonomic moulded EVA footpads and footstraps.
In 1984 I developed a wide-tip sailboard sail for Elvstrom Sails Western Australia which was designed to flex and twist in gusts to improve the speed and the wind range of a windsurfing sail. This design gradually became copied in the later 80’s and by the 90’s had become the industry standard. It is now used in every production sailboard sail in the world and also in most of the latest racing yacht sails.
MISCELLANEOUS
CREATURES OF LEISURE
2003 (Contract Design for CREATURES OF LEISURE) : Designed the ‘Revolution’ surfboard leg-rope swivel. Now recognized internationally as the best surfing leg-rope system available.
1994 (Contract Design for CREATURES OF LEISURE) : Designed the breakthrough ‘Over-Mould’ surfboard leg-rope end system for Creatures of Leisure. Internationally recognized as the strongest system available and since copied by every major manufacturer worldwide.

CORTRAN
1992 Contract Design SART : Designed & manufactured an injection moulded SART & EPIRB housing for marine positioning.

ALUMINUM FURNITURE DESIGNS
Designed & manufactured a range of marine grade alloy furniture for outdoors in 1988.

SURFBOARD COMPOSITE DESIGNS
SURFBOARD COMPOSITE DESIGNS : Development of lightweight, super-tough and very beautiful surfboard composite structures since 1970 using materials unique to the industry such as epoxy, polystyrene, balsa, carbon-fibre and Kevlar.
ATTEY.CO
PO Box 1777
Fremantle WA 6959 Australia
ga@attey.co