Department of National Defence / Fullerton Sherwood Division of Carleton Life Support Technologies Limited

FPTT Technology Transfer Award

Department of National Defence /
Fullerton Sherwood Division
of Carleton Life Support Technologies Limited

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Conception, development, transfer and commercialization of diving life-support equipment technology

David Eaton
Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, DND

Ron Nishi
Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, DND

John Sherwood

David Fullerton
Fullerton Sherwood Division
Carleton Life Support Technologies Limited

The Canadian Armed Forces is the envy of nations around the world because of state-of-the-art diving technology developed by National Defence and a Mississauga design engineering firm that produced the finest life-support military equipment on the market. Employed most recently by Canadian Forces divers during recovery operations in support of the Swissair disaster off the coast of Nova Scotia, the sophisticated SIVA technology all but eliminates previous life-threatening health and safety risks of carbon dioxide poisoning, oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis. Previously, divers, often using vintage World War II SCUBA equipment, could only safely reach depths of 55 metres. The technology, which today allows dives as deep as 90 metres, was initially developed by Fullerton Sherwood, in partnership with the Defence & Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine (DCIEM) to meet specific military requirements in mine countermeasures diving, including NATO target depths of 75 metres. The greater depth required a switch to helium as the oxygen diluent and increased the demand for gas supply. To overcome that challenge, the company found a way to reliably mix gases, in proportion to depth, to eliminate the risk of oxygen toxicity while conserving gas supplies without enlarging the dive apparatus. By exceeding NATO targets by a crucial 15-metres, the hyperbaric engineering company rapidly established itself as a world leader of military diving sets, surpassing such international giants as Draegerwerk AB of Germany, La Spirotechnique of France and Sweden?s AGA Spiro AB. Another competitor, Carleton Technologies Inc. thought so highly of Fullerton Sherwood that it kept the subsidiary?s name when it bought the company in 1997 and promoted the SIVA technology as its premier military diving line. Today, navies in eight countries, including New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and the United States, are using the military sets, while navies in France, Japan, Greece and six other countries are evaluating the Canadian-made product.

With annual sales of about $5 million, Fullerton Sherwood has come a long way. It has grown from a one-man shop to 15 people in its expanded design and production facilities near Toronto. Initially, at a time when private sector investment in government R&D was almost unheard of, Fullerton Sherwood had risked $1 million of its own capital to undertake the technical challenges of the SIVA project, without any guarantee of success or sales of future product. The company now re-invests five-per-cent of its annual profits in further R&D directed at product improvement.

The SIVA project has led to an ongoing mutually beneficial relationship between partners and has resulted in the development of shallow-diving rebreather sets for covert diving operations. Moreover, aspects of the rebreather technology are also transferable to the firefighting and mining industries. As well, an inter-related family of military sets with common parts and low-cost maintenance reduces manufacturing and inventory costs and allows Fullerton Sherwood to offer rapid and customized after-sales support and services. As for DCIEM, it enjoys not only royalties of some $200,000 to date for further research, but also a preferred customer status for other hyperbaric engineering work including the technical maintenance of facilities. A model of symbiotic R&D, Fullerton Sherwood contributes design engineering expertise, while the Canadian Forces provide an operational trials capability and DCIEM offers physiological, medical and human factors expertise as well as unique test and evaluation facilities. The tightly knit approach to project management has not only produced a superior product line with reduced risks and increased safety; it has also enhanced Canada?s reputation and created an invigorating climate of international co-operation.

Sponsored by:
VWR Canlab