Bergen County—Stanley Rutta is a Federal Aviation Administration-qualified engineer who has worked in the computer field for some of the world’s largest corporations. However, what makes him unique is his pioneering work in developing a new way to produce electricity using ocean waves.

After initial work, Rutta was awarded a patent for the ocean wave energy conversion system he invented (the Electricity Generating Wave Pipe or EGWaP for short) which uses the dense power inherent in ocean waves to produce clean, renewable electric power. Then Stanley and his wife Linda formed Able Technologies, LLC to develop the patented system. After theoretical and mathematical studies were completed, a bench scale prototype was created. The couple was invited to present their findings at the First Wave Energy Conference hosted by EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) in Palo Alto, California.  EPRI is the trade association for most domestic and some foreign utility companies. The design was considered superior for its ability to withstand and self-clean in a harsh marine environment.

More recently, the United States Department of the Interior granted the company a laboratory test on a 12- foot-tall working prototype. The test was successfully completed under the auspices of Navy and government agency personnel. Later, a paper on their work was presented at the New England Marine Renewable Energy Consortium (MREC), a meeting of industry, academia, government agencies, municipalities and public interest groups.

Today, Able Technologies is part of a community that is interested in its accomplishments and given a supportive environment as the company moves forward. Its goal to create a product in a nascent industry that can be added to the electric power grid as a clean, renewable, safe, very cost-effective source of electric power. Able Technologies looks forward to the next step in bringing this technology toward demonstration and commercialization.