and observe fish in their natural environment. Less enjoyable, however, were the fins, the weight belt, the wetsuit, air tank, mask and all the other equipment. “I was very keenly aware of the fact that I had about 50kg strapped to me and getting into the water was quite foreign when you are used to trying to keep yourself at the surface. It was a very surreal experience,” he says. “The real problem is that it is very limiting as to what you can do. Although it allows you to stay underwater for longer, you have to plan your whole day around it. You have 20kg to 50kg of gear with you – you can’t be walking on the beach and decide you want to go in. Planning is a very big part of it. It demands a lot. There is a lot of relearning required.” It was during a final-year project for his product design degree at the University of Limerick that Redmond produced the Express Dive. The device has two main parts. When above the surface, the unit uses a fan to suck in air via a vent in the mouthpiece. The air, accelerated around the motor-driven turbine, is compressed through a series of valves and stored in the attached tank, which has a display light that flashes green when it is full. When air is no longer being taken in, the vent shuts off and, as the user dives, air is fed back via the mouthpiece. That display, which is in the user’s eyeline, then acts as a health bar