Colorado company earns a spot on “Forbes 30 Under 30” list

BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- A Colorado company has just been recognized as one of this year's 'Forbes 30 Under 30' winners, after creating a product that stabilizes rescue gurneys during helicopter rescues.

Caleb Carr, CEO and founder of Vita Inclinata, and Derek Sikora, co-founder and chief technology officer, are both 25 years old. They came up with two different stability systems: one for cargo and another for rescue missions.

"We have a set of fans on top and a set of fans on the bottom. We have an onboard sensory suite in the center of the device that sends all sorts of motion data to our algorithms. And our algorithms compute the proper action to either stop a load from swinging or swaying or both, " said Sikora.

Carr came up with the idea after suffering the loss of a friend who went into cardiac arrest.

"The Oregon National Guard showed up, but as they were trying to lower the basket to us below, the basket kept swinging back and forth. After multiple attempts, the pilot called off the mission, and we called time of death a couple of minutes later," said Carr.

But from that tough loss, came an opportunity to ensure it never happens again.

The team is already testing their system right here at home.

"We spent a good amount of time at Buckley Air Force Base working on their aircraft and collaborating with them," said Carr. “We have now received a copious amount of military and civilian agencies saying, 'I want your tech and I want it now.'"

It's a model that's predicted to save thousands of live in the future, something to be incredibly proud of, with the 'Forbes 30 Under 30' serving as the cherry on top.

"It's just nice to have the recognition but it doesn't really change our mission and our path," said Sikora.

Vita Inclinata also plans for their systems to be used on cranes during construction. They expect to have solutions in fighters' hands next year.