Travis Conrad

Travis Conrad

Lead Engineer at Iunu. Plastics Engineering/Vehicle Design BS from Western Washington University. 6 years experience with hydroponics, 4 years experience with electronic systems. Big picture seeker, aiming to invoke change through technology.

Seattle, Washington, United States
Member since August 15, 2014
  • About

I am a(n):

Aspiring entrepreneur

Full bio

I have been with Iunu since its inception and have been instrumental in the transition from simply reselling a product to the design and manufacture of a ground up re-design. Following graduation from Western Washington University in June of 2013, I returned from commercial fishing in Alaska and was approached by a friend to join the Iunu team. At the time we weren’t sure where the design would go, but we knew that the product we were about to sell was not designed with the user in mind. Through my experience growing, it became clear that the product needed to be redesigned before anyone would even consider putting it to use. It was this realization that began what has become Iunu, an aspiring leader in the field of sustainable urban agriculture.

Prior to Iunu, I gained experience by working on various projects at Western including the X-Prize competition and Hybrid Bus Project, both of which were hugely successful. In X-Prize, we beat out elite schools such as Cornell and made it to the finals surpassing many companies who make cars. We were eliminated based on an avoidance maneuver test, however we did achieve an MPG equivalent of 143 MPG. The Hybrid Bus Project was just finished this year and was debuted at SAMPE. It took over three years, but design of an all composite low floor transit bus was completed. The entire body as well as structural components are made of Twintex; a polypropylene / fiberglass thermoplastic weave that is processed under vacuum at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The bus is powered by a turbo diesel hybrid powertrain to achieve better fuel economy without sacrifice of power. These projects have taught me well and I look forward to putting skills to use to further our vision as an innovator in this exciting, quickly evolving space.