University of Portsmouth Alumni Magazine 1 1 | Page 3

about the environment. The idea for
Jetsam was sparked by two events. First,
a news story about a plastic toy washed
up on a Portsmouth beach. The toy was
found to date from the middle of the last
century - and was still absolutely pristine
(illustrating the danger of plastic waste
in our seas, where it takes hundreds of
years to break down into microplastic
pieces). Closer to home, Louis recalls
walking past a street one morning
where a bin had been knocked over:
Louis Capitanchik
BSc (Hons) ‘16
‘The entire road was covered in plastic
waste, just absolutely filthy and I didn’t
really know what I could do. Jetsam
is a personal crusade to make sure
there is a tool available for that sort of
thing. I want to enact change and help
others enact change as well. Because
no one person can change everything,
so if you build a tool everyone can
use, together you can do some good.’
Louis’ can-do attitude was influenced
by his experience studying BSc (Hons)
Software Engineering at Portsmouth,
which he describes as ‘a very practical
approach to the stuff I wanted to
learn.’ He recalls a lecturer bringing in
a pickaxe and weaving a ‘wonderful
analogy about gardening and how that
relates to how you build software.’
Now Jetsam Tech is collaborating with
the University of Portsmouth. They
spend some time working at one of
the University’s Innovation Connect
spaces, and are working closely with
the Revolution Plastics team, which has
an ambitious goal to turn the city of
Portsmouth into a global showcase for a
sustainable plastics future. To play your
part, download the app or learn more at
jetsam.tech.
‘I WANT TO ENACT
CHANGE AND
HELP OTHERS
ENACT CHANGE
AS WELL.’