Engineering Gnarly Waves
San Diego
'In a crowded shed next to his Solana Beach house, just beyond the lawn mower and the surfboards hanging on the walls, Bruce McFarland tinkered for months trying to create the perfect wave.
The aerospace engineer pumped water through a homemade fiberglass tub about the size of a longboard. He used tin snips to create contours along the tub's bottom to produce a stationary wave. The idea was to develop a better artificial wave technology than the current systems used in water parks – one producing waves that felt more like real surfing.
That was seven years ago. Today, McFarland is president of American Wave Machines. That scale model he toyed with in his shed has evolved into SurfStream, a wave machine for water parks, hotel/resorts and action sports venues...'
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