David Lang is the cofounder and CEO of OpenROV, designing and manufacturing underwater drones.
Why you should listen
David Lang is a maker whose craving for adventure turned him into an amateur ocean explorer. He is the cofounder of Open Explorer, a digital field journal for researchers, citizen scientists and explorers.
in 2010, Lang and NASA engineer Eric Stackpole went looking for lost gold (literally) in an underwater cave in the foothills of the Sierra Navada. But they weren't quite sure how to go about it. Without much expertise (or money), the two put initial designs for an underwater robot explorer online. Soon OpenROV was born: a community of citizen ocean explorers who build and constantly improve upon these small remote operated underwater robots.
Lang is also the author of Zero to Maker and a 2013 TED Fellow. He lives on a sailboat in the San Francisco Bay.
David Lang’s TED Talks
More news and ideas from David Lang
Live from TED2019
Anyone can be an underwater explorer: Trident underwater drone at TED2019
April 19, 2019
Throughout the week, attendees used Trident underwater drones throughout the world to explore kelp fields in Monterey Bay, meet reef fish in Indonesia and even glimpse a sea turtle in Oahu.
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How regular people can help shape science
March 23, 2016
Not a scientist? As David Lang shows, you can still play a meaningful role in solving science's hardest problems.
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4 ways to get people to care about the ocean
November 17, 2015
Human beings have created a whole load of problems in the oceans. Sadly, though, they usually don’t want to hear about them. Last month, a group of ocean scientists and activists brainstormed ways to make the seas sound as amazing as they are. Check out new tools, studies and discoveries that could spark positive curiosity and empathy.
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