A HISTORY
Best known for their “outside the box” thinking Geoff and Michael Howe are inventors, military contractors, actors, and entrepreneurial businessmen famous for their philanthropic drive to give back to their community. The brothers first gained notoriety in 2001 with the development of the Ripsaw, an unmanned ground vehicle designed for the U.S. military and the worlds fastest tank. At the age of 31 the brothers Howe became the youngest duo to ever receive and prime a U.S. Military contract, working with the U.S. Army developing a weaponized version of Ripsaw capable of manned and unmanned operation. In 2009, Popular Science Magazine named Ripsaw MS1 “Invention of the Year” and in 2010 the Guinness Book of World Records awarded Howe and Howe Tech another record breaker as developers of the World’s Smallest Armored Vehicle, the Badger.
Mike and Geoff are no strangers to the entertainment world. They quickly amassed a cult like following after starring in their own reality television show titled “Howe and Howe Tech: Black Ops Brothers” and have custom built prop vehicles for several production companies. Howe and Howe Technologies is accustomed to creating vehicles that were never thought possible making them the obvious choice to develop prop vehicles for major
motion pictures. From extreme robots to extreme vehicles Howe and Howe Technologies is where “Badass” meets form “AND” function.
When Geoff and Mike were just six years old they were known as “Howe and Howe Construction”. Although, at this stage they were disassembling, not constructing. The experiments started with taking apart the toaster and trying to blow up things in the wood-stove. At the age of 8, Mike and Geoff built their own one room log cabin with the power tools their mom had given them for their birthday. At 16 years old they started tinkering with vehicles, when they purchased their first car, a 1974 Nova Super Sport before they even had their driver’s licenses. Mike and Geoff graduated from Kent's Hill School with high honors and advanced placement in 1992.
After graduating college in 1996, Geoff and Mike started their own rock and roll band“Two Much Trouble”. They did not want to play in normal venues, so they made their own mobile stage. They took a full size school bus and with hydraulics they made one wall lower for a stage. While working on a commercial fishing boat and continuing with their band, off road buggies were also becoming a hobby of Geoff’s and Mike’s. The first creations were wheeled
buggies, T-Rex and Godzilla. The vision of building the world’s fastest tracked vehicle began.
In 2001 Ripsaw was born. Soon they realized the potential of their vehicle and decided to enter it into the 2005 Darpa Grand Challenge.
Unfortunately, funding became an issue and Ripsaw achieved semi-finalist standing. In 2006, 3 teams out of 168 from the Darpa Grand Challenge were chosen to attend the Washington, D.C. Auto Show to display their technology. Ripsaw and the Command Center were a main attraction. In 2006, ARDEC (Army Research Development Engineering Center) showed interest in Ripsaw and Geoff’s and Mike’s company Howe and Howe Technologies, Inc. acquired a contract with the support of Senator Collins and Snowe to build Ripsaw prototypes for the United States government. Ripsaw MS1 (mil-spec), an unmanned ground vehicle was built for ARDEC to weaponize in 2008. The Ripsaw program was a success and passed characterization test at Aberdeen Testing Centerin Maryland. The Ripsaw program continued in 2009 with the build of a second, manned and unmanned version of the tracked vehicle. Ripsaw MS1 was featured in the June 2009 issue of Popular Science magazine as invention of the
year. Ripsaw MS1 and MS2 are going to opened a race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio for an event called “Prelude to the Dream” on September 9th, 2009. This was a charity event for fallen or injured soldiers and their families.
In 2007, a procurement company called CPS (Civil Protection Services) contacted H&H about building a vehicle that would be a manned, be 32 inches wide, have tracks, and be bullet proof. After a week of preliminary design, H&H stated it could be done. H&H designed, engineered, fabricated, tested and rolled out the door, the first of its kind prototype called “PAV1 The Badger”. In 2009 Howe and Howe Technologies, Inc. completed a second Badger PAV1.2. The Badger was featured in the 2010 Guinness Book of Work Records as the world’s smallest tank.
SR1 (Subterranean Rover) was completed in 2009, commissioned by Shoal Creek Mine of Alabama, SR1 is an extremely rugged all terrain vehicle designed to withstand the harsh environment of coal mines, while offering a safe, comfortable ride to its users. Shoal Creek Mine was so pleased with SR1 that they ordered several more.
In 2008 The Military Channel produced a show called “Backyard to Battlefield”which included Howe and Howe Technologies preparing their Ripsaw MS1 prototype for its first demonstration for ARDEC.
Geoff and Mike did a radio interview with Dick Gordon’s “The Story” in 2008 and 2010.
In 2010 H&H completed three new vehicles. First was Thermite which enters the UGV market as the world's first Fire Fighting Unmanned Ground
Vehicle. The second vehicle was Ripchair.Howe and Howe Technologies have received countless requests for the development of an off-road wheelchair for those that have become disabled and are unable to walk. Many of these people have fought for our freedom and in turn lost much of their own. As a result, Howe and Howe Technologies, through painstaking research, built the most capable off-road wheelchair the world has ever seen. The third vehicle was Riptide, the amphibious version of the well know Ripsaws.
Howe and Howe Technologies, Inc. has been the subject of several Fox News stories, the most recent of which highlighting the new RS1-T2 Thermite firefighting robot.
Geoff and Mike have completed two seasons of their own reality TV show "Black Ops Brothers, Howe and Howe Tech" which aired Wednesday nights at 8pm est. on the Discovery Channel.
In 2012 Howe and Howe Technologies was featured in an episode of Modern Marvels, entitled 'Tiny Weapons' which included H&H's PAV1 Badger.
Also in 2012 Howe and Howe Technologies established the non-profit Outdoors Again dedicated to the construction of the world's first non-profit outdoor recreation park for disabled individuals and their families. Complete with fishing, hunting, canoeing, kayaking, golfing and other activities. Check out the webpage for Outdoors Again here.
2012 also saw the creation of RS1-RBS1 Robotic Ballistic Shield, a mobile remotely operated SWAT shield developed for the Massachusetts State Police. The creation of the "SWAT BOT" comes at a time when domestic stand-offs and public mass shootings are at an all time high and the need to protect civilians and law enforcement personal alike is paramount. RS1-RBS1 is available only to law enforcement personnel.
From the years 2013-2017, Howe and Howe Technologies developed the highly successful Bulldog Extreme 4x4 Firefighting truck, engineered the world famous Ripsaw EV2, and successful brought to market the Thermite RS1-T3 and RS2-T1.
