Andrea Dunlap Multimedia Archivist Makani at X 2175 Monarch St Alameda, CA 94501 U.S.A. dunsnap@x.team x.company/makani
Pulling Power From the Sky: Makani and the Collective Ideal of Airborne Wind
Andrea Dunlap, Kate Stirr
Makani / X The Airborne Wind community is composed of people who are dreaming up and actualizing diverse ideas for new technology that harnesses the power of the wind to provide additional, economically significant, renewable energy options for the globe.
As individuals, many of us are drawn to the field of Air-borne Wind for the engineering, design, and social chal-lenges presented by working on wild new technologies. Often beautifully simple in concept and equally so in exe-cution, Airborne Wind offers the opportunity to creatively tackle complexity across multiple spheres of expertise. It is a field that brings together engineers, communicators, analysts, strategists, and artists. This interdisciplinary ef-fort is underwritten by a collective drive to generate dis-ruptive new technology that will combat climate change by increasing access to cheap, renewable energy. Just as the Airborne Wind community is a subset of a broader global initiative to create technological solutions to climate change, Makani represents a microcosm of the creative technologists that make up the Airborne Wind field. From our scrappy beginnings experimenting with
soft kiteboarding kites, through eight rigid kite designs, to our present 600kW prototype, Makani’s ability to learn and grow has always been tied to our ability to aggre-gate and synthesize diverse perspectives while working towards a common goal.
Within our team at Makani, we endeavor to be actively curious, making data-based decisions, while remaining playful and seeking substantive results. Beyond solving the immediate challenges that face us as we continue to test our current energy kite, we are striving to do mean-ingful work alongside others in the Airborne Wind com-munity knowing that it is our collective efforts that will make the world a better place.
Drawing from Makani’s archive of flight testing footage and from interviews with Makani team members, this video seeks to communicate the common challenges and passions that underlay the development of Airborne Wind technology.
