Now president of a custom engineering and fabrication company (from desalinization pumps to incubation chambers for marine algae) in Lewes, Del., Hicks virtually makes his living from the sea.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in oceanography from Rutgers University, Hicks enrolled in graduate school at UD to work on designing an ocean wave-powered desalinization system. His research, conducted with his adviser, Charles Michael “Mic” Pleass, then a professor of marine studies, ultimately led to the formation of Hicks’ company, known as Composite High Pressure Technologies (CHPT).

Hicks says he and Pleass shared a propensity for thinking “out of the box,” for looking at problems with fresh eyes. A quote by John Maynard Keynes that Hicks has on his office bulletin board sums up his philosophy: “The real difficulty in changing any enterprise lies not in developing new ideas, but in escaping from old ones.”

Throughout his years in graduate school, Hicks collaborated on many projects with Pleass, obtaining six patents jointly. One of their projects, which earned a $2,000 Versacad/Design News Award in 1989, was the DelbuoyTM, a wave-driven reverse osmosis system that filters seawater at the ionic level, producing fresh water cheaply. While working on the hardware and empirical testing for the DelbuoyTM, Hicks wrote his doctoral dissertation on the underlying physics that enables the system to operate efficiently. Then, he set out to commercialize the technology.

Over the next four years, he worked on a start-up company intent on commercializing both the wave-driven pump and a conventional, motor-driven pump for land-based backup desalinization systems. The original research and development funding was provided by UD’s Sea Grant College Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development. In 1986, Hicks and Pleass received $50,000 from a research partnership fund with the state for developing a more corrosion-resistant conventional desalinization pump technology, based on some of their already developed hardware, called DelpumpTM.

By 1989, the DelbuoyTM was ready for extensive commercial testing in St. Croix, V.I. When Hurricane Hugo roared over the islands and wiped out everything, the team was devastated, Hicks says. Whatever wasn’t destroyed in the hurricane was lost to the looters who followed. This setback, coupled with a lessening interest in alternative energy systems, meant that the DelbuoyTM had to be shelved, Hicks says, and soon after, their company ceased operations.

But, the idea for DelpumpTM, the backup desalinization system, was still salvageable, Hicks says. A patent had just been issued and the new technology looked promising. In 1990, Hicks partnered with machinist John Protack and a capable manufacturing engineer in an effort to move DelpumpTM into the marketplace.

Starting a company from scratch without a product ready for sale is not easy. “I went without a paycheck for a year,” says Hicks, “and then worked for the equivalent of minimum wage for another year.” Hicks’ company, CHPT, soon found an unexpected customer. Because of a desire to decrease shipping weights for its 1,500 portable desalinization systems, the U.S. Army asked the company if it could develop a DelpumpTM to replace the metal pumps currently in use.

“We said sure,” Hicks says. “We already had a smaller version of the pump under test, so we figured out how to make a larger one to meet their requirements.”

According to Hicks, most high-pressure pumps are made of metal, which corrodes quickly in seawater. DelpumpTM is built with strong polymers and composite materials, making it lighter and less prone to corrosion. Because the plastics used in the pump’s construction are slippery, water is used as the transmission fluid, solving the possible problem of transmission oil contamination. By eliminating the oil, fewer parts are needed, and the pump is half the size, but just as efficient, as conventional pumps.

Soon after the company completed tests on the pumps developed for the U.S. Army, the Canadian military became interested. FMC, which has been manufacturing pumps since 1884, licensed the Delpump’s technology and is now building and distributing it as the renamed Aqua Pump™ all over the world.

The scientists and crew of the College of Marine Studies research vessel, Cape Henlopen, for example, use the Aqua PumpTM. “They say that it’s the most reliable piece of equipment on board,” says Hicks. And, since drinking water doesn’t have to be carried, there’s more room for research equipment on board.

Hicks’ company has worked with scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of California at San Diego, University of Maryland, Oxford University, the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory and others.

Researchers at UD’s College of Marine Sciences also frequently contract with Hicks for help on their projects. Hicks helped develop a non-metallic rainwater sampling system to aid Prof. Thomas Church and senior scientist Joseph Scudlark with acid rain studies. CHPT also designed and built four 2,000 psi aquariums to sustain deep ocean thermal vent animals that Craig Cary and Chuck Epifanio collected with the deep-sea submersible, Alvin. When John Boyer, UD’s E.I. du Pont Professor of Marine Biochemistry and Biophysics, needed a better way to collect uniform samples of leaves and study them in a controlled environment, CHPT designed and built a leaf punch, helping Boyer develop the sample chambers as part of his research on how plants control water at the cellular level.

The company also helped develop a device called the Photosynthetron, which is an incubation chamber with a controlled environment used to study cultures of marine algae. The system was a collaborative effort with Hugh MacIntyre, MS ’96PhD. CHPT has since built about 20 of the Photosynthetrons for institutions around the country.

Hicks says that although he and his staff enjoy the research instrumentation work, their engineering and production contracts pay most of the bills. Industrial jobs include designing a packaging dispensing system for L.D. Caulk, a manufacturer of dental supplies located in Milford, Del., and various projects for Intervet, whose branch in Millsboro, Del., researches and develops veterinary supplies for the poultry industry. They are working with another former UD student, Douglas Newberg, MS ’86M, and his company, NL Technologies, to commercialize a line of patented valves designed for use in the pharmaceutical industry.

One of the company’s projects is seen by millions of visitors to the Delaware shore. Four years ago, the owner of Ad-Boats came to CHPT with a big problem. On windy days, the 20x7-foot signs on deck caused the boats to flip. The heavy signs were also pounding right through the decks of the boats. Hicks and his staff redesigned the entire structure in the form of a lightweight sheet metal “skin.” The new box construction eliminated the heavy 500 lb. steel frame and large “windows” were added to the top of the signs to reduce their windage.

Hicks, who grew up on the Jersey shore, enjoys surfing and windsurfing and his hobbies led to a product to keep the company’s machines busy during off-times. Several years ago, he designed, patented and marketed a windsurfing rigging tool. To date, more than 5,000 of them have been sold, with 2,000 going to Japan.

With the licensing of the DelpumpTM patent, Hicks had fewer day-to-day demands on his time. In 1997, he accepted a position at Delaware Technical & Community College’s Owens Campus as department chairperson for engineering technology. “I’m enjoying teaching students and managing the department,” he says, although this new career direction has left him less time on his surfboard.

Hicks’ wife, Doris, is a seafood technology specialist with the UD’s Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service. Their daughters, Jennifer and Betsy, are both distance runners and swimmers in the Cape Henlopen School District.

Reflecting on his career so far, Hicks says he’s satisfied with his efforts. “I have six patents and I’ve made stuff that people buy,” he says. “It’s enjoyable designing things, but it’s even better if someone wants to buy what you’ve designed.”