We're excited to welcome Kent Frankovich to Sacramento and to the TEDxSacramento stage for TEDxCity2.0. Kent is a bicycle safety revolutionary and co-founder of Revolights, Inc. "Improving safety is critical to increasing bicycle ridership. But the current industry standard style of safety lighting is a bit misguided. We need a smarter approach," says Kent.
Bicycle Safety Required
Kent Frankovich, Co-founder of Revolights, Inc.
As an avid cyclist, Kent Frankovich wants more people to take to two wheels, but understands that lack of visibility is a safety concern for many would-be riders. His desire to increase nighttime bicycle rider safety and visibility, coupled with his electromechanical engineering background, inspired him to co-found Revolights, Inc.
Originally invented as a way to improve on the industry standard for a headlight, the visibility benefits of the patented Revolights bike lighting system quickly catapulted it to national attention through CNN, Mashable, the BBC, WIRED, the New York Times and numerous other media outlets.
“Improving safety is critical to increasing bicycle ridership. But the current industry standard style of safety lighting is a bit misguided. We need a smarter approach.”
While at NASA-JPL, Frankovich provided electromechanical design support to Mars rover Curiosity’s mission. He also worked to improve GI Tract Diagnostics as a researcher at the Stanford BioRobotics Laboratory. Kent now hopes to use his unique perspective to shed new light on the issue of bicycle safety, ensuring a better future for urbanites in the City2.0.
Kent enjoys traveling and practicing Spanish and Mandarin. He currently lives in San Francisco, and celebrated his 30th birthday with a 400 mile ride down the California coast.
About TEDxCity2.0
TEDxSacramento presents TEDxCity2.0, an independently organized TED event for urban innovators, organizers, stewards and builders - with live speakers, streamed speakers from TEDCity2.0 in New York City, live performances, and the ability to coalesce around specific calls to action for our city. We invite you to join us.
Numerous cities around the globe, including Sacramento, have been selected to be a part of TED's City 2.0 Day, a global event during which cities from around the world will be sharing ideas around the theme of the future of our cities. On September 20, we will be bringing in great thinkers and doers who are making great things happen in cities around the globe to share their ideas and stories. Such topics as Art, Education, Food, Housing, Play, Public Spaces, Urban Design, Health, Safety, Technology and Transportation will be discussed as well as a series of calls to action for our city by local change-makers who are trying to make a difference.
Expect to be challenged. Expect to be inspired. Expect to change the world.