Telling the stories of builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. Jeffrey Stern is a NYC transplant, entrepreneur (co-founder @ Axuall; founding team @ Votem), product manager, investor, and optimist who believes telling the stories of those most inspiring builders around us is one of the best ways to learn and to inspire more to build.
Lay of The Land #203: Geoff Bruder (Sonic Fire Tech) — Fighting Fires with Sound and Acoustic Waves
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👋 Hello – My conversation today is with Geoff Bruder, co-founder of GhostWorks Engineering and Sonic Fire Tech—a company redefining fire suppression by fighting fires with acoustic wave technology.
Geoff's journey is rooted in his work at NASA Glenn Research Center here in Cleveland, where he focused as a Research Engineer on projects like the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG), thermoacoustic stirling heat engine designs, and led the design for the Glenn Extreme Environment Rig (GEER) — the largest chamber on earth able to recreate surface conditions on planet Venus, so they could, amidst many other things, extend the useful life of power and cooling systems there from 10 hours to nearly 243 days. Since 2019, Geoff has been building Sonic Fire Tech applying this expertise to develop fire suppression systems that use acoustics — silent infrasound waves — instead of water or chemicals— to extinguish wood and chemical fires from a significant distance away from the fire itself. This approach offers a safer, more sustainable solution for wildfire prevention, home protection, industrial, and other applications where traditional fire suppression methods fall short. I'd encourage anyone curious what this actually looks like in practice to reference the link to a youtube video in our show notes that demonstrates how Geoff is putting out fire with sound… the video is worth thousands of words. With over 15 patents, 3 publications, a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, graduate work at Case Western Reserve University, Geoff's journey from innovating at NASA to his own entrepreneurial ventures is one of ingenuity and impact, and I'm thrilled to share our fascinating conversation about his vision to transforming firefighting — please enjoy. With Love, Jeffrey |
Lay of The Land
Telling the stories of builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. Jeffrey Stern is a NYC transplant, entrepreneur (co-founder @ Axuall; founding team @ Votem), product manager, investor, and optimist who believes telling the stories of those most inspiring builders around us is one of the best ways to learn and to inspire more to build.
👋 Hello – My conversation today is with DJ Eidson, President and Co-founder of Limitless Minds, where he spearheads efforts to make elite mindset coaching accessible to everyone. Through their digital platform and programs, Limitless Minds has empowered hundreds of individuals and teams across organizations like Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Chick-fil-A, Bristol Myers Squibb, Goldman Sachs, Harvard Business School, and many others to enhance their performance and gain a competitive edge—just...
👋 Hello – My conversation today is with Blake Squires. The Journey of Blake is a Lay of the Land of the Lay of the Land. Listen to The Episode Blake began his journey in the mid-90s in Los Angeles, capitalizing early on the convergence of technology and media. He soon returned to his hometown of Cleveland to co-found Everstream with Steve McHale (episode 196) and Charlie Lougheed (episode 42, and also my co-founder at Axuall). Blake served as COO until Everstream’s acquisition by Concurrent...
👋 Hello – “The road to the Moon and Mars runs through Ohio” as Dr. Jimmy Kenyon says — from the Wright Brothers to Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Don Thomas, Ron Sega, Mike Foreman, Gene Kranz, — Carl Walz carries this brave adventurous spirit and like so many astronauts, I believe represents the best of us! Listen to The Episode On Lay of The Land’s 205th episode, I had the privilege of meeting Carl—astronaut, space pioneer, and proud Clevelander who’s a veteran of four spaceflights, spending...