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Faces of Technology A “Novel” Approach to Engineering Within its irst two weeks, any remote-controlled or electronic toy Christopher Marot received would be completely disassembled and put back together with a new functionality. “I often still joke that I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up,” said Marot, president and COO of Novel Engineering, located in Satellite Beach. “But in hindsight, engineering is absolutely the right path for me.” Marot’s curiosity and desire for a challenge set him on the path toward a technology career. After graduating from the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), he passed on job offers from well-known corporations for the opportunity to join an engineering irm with just three employees. The small business environment sparked his passion for entrepreneurship and he later had a hand in the launch of six startup companies, including Novel Engineering. Christopher Marot President/COO Novel Engineering | www.novel.engineering Today, Marot leads the company’s engineering team in the construction of next-generation solutions for aerospace, transportation, controls and government applications. Novel Engineering’s embedded software and electronics are similar to the computer found in a car. Its signature Internet of Things product, Remora, uses sensor technology to collect and report on a range of real-time environmental data, with uses ranging from water quality monitoring to biometric identiication. Marot also leads the research and development of a virtual reality project, Envision. Far from traditional 3-D glasses, Envision simulates the same bird’s-eye view of a 360-degree camera for users sitting in a humansize bubble. He describes the technology as “something you would see in a movie.” In addition to these projects, Marot is excited about Novel Engineering’s joint effort with Cape Canaveral-based Craig Technologies to compete in NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge. In NASA’s irst in-space competition to create an advanced cube satellite and send it into orbit, Marot’s team has advanced past the irst round of the competition and will continue to Education: B.S., Applied Mathematics, Florida Institute of Technology Company: Novel Engineering is a woman-owned small business that offers the highest quality and most reliable software, embedded electronics, and systems engineering services for aerospace, transportation, controls and government/ DoD markets. With expert knowledge in the complete development lifecycle, Novel can help companies achieve product actualization beginning at any stage of involvement. compete in 2016 for the grand prize of $5 million. The team’s goal is to place the satellite in lunar orbit, and eventually demonstrate its communication ability and durability at nearly 2.5 million miles into deep space. Marot’s passion for projects like the NASA challenge stems partly from his love of team competition. A competitive rower for nearly 10 years, Marot was a crew member at FIT where his former coach shared valuable lessons about co