Alert Diver Lite September 2022

LESSONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Gregory Norris is not square, at least not yet.

Small businesses in South Africa were responsible for generating R2,3 trillion (or 22%) of the R10,5 trillion total turnover of the formal business sector in the 2019 financial year. According to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) statistics, 510,000 new companies were registered in 2020. One such new company was 3 Square Digital Design & Fabrication. We caught up with the intrepid business owner, designer, scuba diver and creator, Gregory Norris.

According to Greg, the origins of 3Square Digital Design & Fabrication (3Square) were accidental, and Covid was the catalyst for this business. "After returning to South Africa in the middle of 2020, I found myself desk-bound for the first time in decades during the pandemic. My 9-to-5 job (if you can call it that) is as a remote site medical manager.

My duties are to set up and manage medical programs in hostile and remote environments such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, "said Greg.

Being back home in Cape Town, South Africa, allowed him to dive far more frequently, which meant that he could utilise the dive time to use his GoPro action camera more often. Over the years, he battled to get satisfactory results from his action cameras while taking underwater videos and imaging. Having more time to dive, he was in the ideal position to learn why an otherwise excellent camera performed so poorly underwater.

"This year will be my 32nd year of diving, and I am currently qualified as an OC Trimix diver and CCR technical diver," said Greg. His career in electronic engineering progressed to electromechanical engineering. This field was unfortunately not quite as exciting as he had hoped, leading him to pursue a career in emergency medicine, which is still his primary employment.

The turning point in his quest to produce quality imaging with his action camera came while speaking to several underwater film and photo experts who informed him that "lighting was everything." The decision to start 3Square Digital Design & Fabrication was due to frustration. He embarked on a mission to find good quality, affordable lighting solutions and to develop the means to attach the lights to work effectively while using an action camera such as the GoPro. The available stabilisation products manufactured explicitly for action cameras are not exceptionally budget-friendly. Greg provides customised stabilisation and lighting solutions for any underwater camera setup. He also designs and fabricates customised internal gearing for some of the larger camera housings. These include both focus and zoom gearing interfaces fitted inside underwater camera housings.

Greg completed the PADI Open Water course and was a certified diver at thirteen. "This year will be my 32nd year of diving, and I am currently qualified as an OC Trimix diver and CCR technical diver," said Greg.

His career in electronic engineering progressed to electromechanical engineering. This field was unfortunately not quite as exciting as he had hoped, leading him to pursue a career in emergency medicine, which is still his primary employment.

The turning point in his quest to produce quality imaging with his action camera came while speaking to several underwater film and photo experts who informed him that "lighting was everything." The decision to start 3Square Digital Design & Fabrication was due to frustration. He embarked on a mission to find good quality, affordable lighting solutions and to develop the means to attach the lights to work effectively while using an action camera such as the GoPro. The available stabilisation products manufactured explicitly for action cameras are not exceptionally budget-friendly.

Greg provides customised stabilisation and lighting solutions for any underwater camera setup. He also designs and fabricates customised internal gearing for some of the larger camera housings. These include both focus and zoom gearing interfaces fitted inside underwater camera housings.

Although other businesses provide services and products for the action camera market, they do not offer the same services that 3Square does. "We tend not to focus on potential competition and instead invest this time into product development," said Greg.

When he started his business, the most significant expense was investing in the printers. Finding the right quality 3D printing setups and the software to run them was financially draining. Currently, the main ongoing expense is the maintenance of the printers. Another cost-saving endeavour is that he uses solar energy to power the printers while printing his products. "The rising cost of electricity and the lack of availability are not particularly concerning,” said Greg.

Almost everything that they fabricate is quite unique. Some of the more exciting items Greg had to design and produce were gearing solutions for his high-end videography clients. His most unusual product is the "Aqua Stick." The Aqua stick provides the user a single adaptable platform to mount their GoPro and lighting on an extendable rod. Other products include flexible rubber bands for hose management. These are used for stage and bail-out cylinder hose management. Stage cylinders are cylinders filled with extra air or a breathable gas mix used by technical divers.

Although other businesses provide services and products for the action camera market, they do not offer the same services that 3Square does. "We tend not to focus on potential competition and instead invest this time into product development," said Greg. When he started his business, the most significant expense was investing in the printers. Finding the right quality 3D printing setups and the software to run them was financially draining. Currently, the main ongoing expense is the maintenance of the printers. Another cost-saving endeavour is that he uses solar energy to power the printers while printing his products. "The rising cost of electricity and the lack of availability are not particularly concerning,” said Greg. Almost everything that they fabricate is quite unique. Some of the more exciting items Greg had to design and produce were gearing solutions for his high-end videography clients. His most unusual product is the "Aqua Stick." The Aqua stick provides the user a single adaptable platform to mount their GoPro and lighting on an extendable rod. Other products include flexible rubber bands for hose management. These are used for stage and bail-out cylinder hose management. Stage cylinders are cylinders filled with extra air or a breathable gas mix used by technical divers.