While working as a search and rescue technician in 2009, Caleb Carr’s friend went into cardiac arrest. The team called a search and rescue helicopter to save him, but when the helicopter arrived, they were unable to lower the rescue basket through the trees due to the high winds that day.
After the tragic loss of his friend, Carr investigated the issue of rescue baskets swinging in this manner and found that it is a problem that endangers people every day. He set out to solve this chronic aviation problem in 2015 by launching Vita Inclinata Technologies, an aerospace and aviation firm.
“For the last 70 years, the aviation community has strived, to no avail, to mitigate the chaotic motion that endangers search and rescue missions like the one that cost me my friend,” said Carr. “Vita’s Load Stability System is the first solution to that chaotic motion that endangers thousands of people every year.”
As Vita has developed the Load Stability System over time, Carr and his team have discovered applications for the technology in many other industries, including construction and oil and gas. The company, with two main offices in Denver and Seattle, is comprised of young innovators and drivers in the aerospace industry with backgrounds from UBER, Microsoft, NASA and many other industries. The primary mission, said Carr, is to save lives.
According to his colleagues, Carr’s exceptional leadership has driven Vita to change the conversation around rotorcraft safety. “My vision for Vita has always been that we build technology that brings people home, every time,” Carr said. “Vita is working to deliver this life-saving technology to the warfighter, enabling them to continue in excellence and bring patients safely home, every time.”
His work has led Vita to be awarded two Small Business Innovation and Research grants from the U.S. Air Force and two partnerships for Cooperative Research and Development agreements with the U.S. Army. Carr, specifically, was named to Forbes 30 under 30 list as the leader in the manufacturing and industry category in 2020.
According to Carr, his greatest lesson learned from being a leader is to understand that it’s not about the leader; it’s about the team. For his unending commitment to saving lives through innovative technology, Carr has earned a spot as a Titan of Industry.
