I recently made contact via email with Sean McCarthy, Steorn’s CEO, and was very pleased that he was willing to answer some questions I put to him about Steorn and the upcoming launch of the company’s Orbo technology.
Here is a transcript of the email exchange which took place; Sean McCarthy’s responses were sent to me on September 22, 2009
FreeEnergyTimes: First of all, thanks so much Sean, for providing the opportunity for this interview. I know there are many people around the world who have been following Steorn since you first went public, and who are interested in the progress of your company and technology.
You have said several times that there would be a public launch of your Orbo technology before the end of 2009. Is Steorn still on track to meet that timeline?
Sean McCarthy: Yes
FET: Can you provide any information about what will be involved in the public launch – what can people expect to see?
SM: The demonstration will involve a public display of various Orbo systems, there will be a live video-stream from the location that people can watch via our website.
FET: On Steorn’s web site, Orbo is described as “Free, Clean and Constant Energy”. Some of the brightest minds on earth are trying to figure out ways to deal with our energy crises, and no one else is making a claim like yours. We are often reminded that if something is too good to be true, it probably is. How can convince the public to take you seriously when you make such a bold statement?
SM: Convincing people that Orbo does what we claim it does is a process. We do not see any one event that will convince everyone, however you also need to remember that customers for Orbo are product developers, and the emphasis for our launch efforts will be on getting as many product developers as possible engaged in the process of engineering Orbo into products that will then be made available to the general public.
FET: In a statement made earlier this year you stated that before 2009, “Implementing Orbo in a reliable and consistent manner had remained a challenge for the organization” but that this year you had “had resolved the key technical problems related to the implementation of Orbo”. Can you say anything regarding the technical breakthroughs you have made?
SM: One of the key problems that we have always faced in implementing Orbo are bearings. The reason is that a typical Orbo interaction involves very strong radial forces that change direction in very small angular displacements. Hence an Orbo system built using traditional bearings is like driving you car at high speed over speed bumps – you can do it, but after a small distance you car will simply break down. The key technical advance that we have made with respect to implementation is a move away from the use of traditional bearing technologies to the use of our own passive magnetic bearing technology, ZeroF.
FET: How much technological progress has Steorn made since your first discovery of the “orbo effect”?
SM: Steorn never set out to develop an overunity technology, this project started with a lab experiment that made no sense to us. Most of our time since then has been focused on understanding what is really going on, then taking this understanding and engineering better interactions.
FET: Can the orbo effect be reconciled to currently known laws of science – or have you discovered something previously unknown that will require science textbooks to be rewritten, and old theories to be discarded?
SM: As strange as many people find this, every single part of an Orbo interaction can be explained using classical physics, except the net result.
FET: How difficult do you think it will it be for third party developers to incorporate Orbo into useful products? Does the technology have the potential for kinds of power output required for such things as transportation, construction and agriculture?
SM: Perhaps one of the most misunderstood part of Orbo is power output. In an Orbo system the power output is simply a function of the rotational speed of the system. Hence power output is scalable. There are no theoretical limits to the power output that can be produced, however there will be a significant amount of engineering work.
FET: What kinds of products do you think will be the first to incorporate Orbo technology?
SM: That really is not for us to say. The way that we are launching Orbo is a model of open access, i.e. any company or individual can purchase a license agreement. Hence we have no real control over what products will make it to market first.
FET: Since Orbo is a technology that comes from magnetic interactions, should we expect to see a “magnet rush” after the public launch, with an explosion in the mining and exploration of rare earth magnets?
SM: Again this is difficult for us to judge, the rate of adoption of Orbo by developers, the rate of product development and the rate of product adoption by the general public is pretty much beyond our control.
FET: On Steorn’s web site you state that “Every aspect of society from finance, economics and business to education, science and politics will have to adjust to the new opportunities being created by Orbo technology”. Why do think Orbo technology is going to have such a widespread impact?
SM: The availability of free energy will change everything, the availability of free energy in the form of Orbo is even more significant since it can be engineered directly into devices, i.e. no grid connections are required. So Orbo will impact every aspect of our lives.
FET: What has it been like to be the CEO of a company that has essentially been working in secret for the last three years, having to deal with some extremely negative sentiments, especially since the failed public demo in 2007, and the negative jury result earlier this year?
SM: When we went public with this claim we really had no illusions about what the reaction would be, we went into the public domain with this eyes wide open. We tend to understand the negative response far more than the limited positive response, I guess because we would have a negative view of a claim like this where we not involved in it ourselves. All the public response aside working in Steorn is a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun – we have developed a range of great technologies in addition to Orbo and pretty soon, Orbo and all the other technologies will be in the market – what more could any company want?
FET: How do you think your life, and Steorn’s life will change once the public launch has taken place?
SM: There is no doubt that once Orbo is in the market, Steorn will need to evolve into a different type of organization, from one that is involved almost exclusively in product development and research to one that will be focused on the commercial exploitation of Orbo.
FET: What would you say to individuals and companies who are very intrigued by your technology and who are eager to develop products that use Orbo?
SM: I would say that launch is not far away, that access to Orbo will be low cost and readily available. And finally I would say never let anyone do your thinking for you – get involved!
FET: Once again Sean, I’d like to thank you for this chance to ask these questions, and for the time you have taken to provide your responses. I know Steorn has been hard at work lately, and I wish you all the best as you continue in your endeavours.
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