Marine Industries
Trendsetters - Aug. 2006
Clean Team
Sophie Mastriano
Water Management Technologies
President, Fort Lauderdale
Like Jimmy Buffett's "mother ocean," the Miami River has seen it all -- Henry Flagler and the homeless, worn freighters serving Caribbean islands and pollution, decay and condo towers. Since 2000, it has seen something different, an oddball boat that destroys fecal bacteria and scoops rotted meat, chicken carcasses and other repugnant items from the river while pumping in life-giving oxygen.
The Scavenger is the creation of a father and daughter originally from Montreal, Jacques DesAulniers, an inventor who died in March, and daughter Sophie Mastriano. A patented, floating water treatment system, the Scavenger was launched as a pilot program funded by four entities, including the Miami River Commission.
Mastriano, 33, enjoyed mechanics as a child and as an adult worked as a sea freight agent and then as a boat builder before joining her father in 1995 when he founded Water Management Technologies, the entity that makes the boat and has the river contract. Last year, she formed Water Management Technologies II, with herself as managing director, to be the sole distributor of the boat and market it more heavily.
She recently sold two boats to Nigeria, but her plan is to retain ownership of boats and sell their services. Annual revenue is $1.5 million. Mastriano says that after a period of quiet building, she's ready for a bigger operation. "It takes time to build a strong background," she says.
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