Amphibious Response Quad

Coastal infrastructure in the Gulf has been pushed past its limits by years of intensifying storms, leaving responders without reliable ways to reach people when it matters most. As I researched how these failures compound during hurricanes, the need for small, fast, amphibious vehicles became increasingly clear. This project grew from that intersection of climate reality, mobility challenges, and my own desire to design a vehicle for a real-world problem.

The idea began with a simple observation: every major Gulf Coast hurricane over the past decade has exposed the same vulnerability: roads disappear first. Flooded highways and washed‑out bridges turn emergency response into a race against rising water and treacherous terrain. Traditional vehicles aren’t built for those kinds of surface. As I dug deeper into how responders navigate these conditions, I realized the gap wasn’t just about power or durability; it was about scale. The region needed something small enough to maneuver through debris, light enough to float or skim through water, and fast enough to matter in the chaotic hours after landfall.

At the same time, I was looking for a way to push my own practice forward. I wanted to work on an automotive project with a more practical application than just a sports car or compact city vehicle, and since my automotive experience is still fairly rudimentary, a quad felt like the right platform to start translating my product design instincts into something that moves and transports. I began by sketching, studying how insects and amphibious animals distribute weight, and researching how responders actually move through flooded environments. The concept evolved from a simple off‑road vehicle into a purpose‑built rescue tool. A tool that blends biological inspiration and climate‑resilient mobility into a single, focused design exploration.