County native featured in 'Forbes'

Few 23-year-olds can boast about having their picture in a prominent magazine. But, Danny Bush, a 1997 graduate of Lakeside High School, can.

Bush was featured in the Sept. 16 issue of Forbes magazine and is still in disbelief.

"I was mainly shocked," said Bush when he realized he would be interviewed and photographed for an article for the prestigious business magazine. "It's amazing."

Bush was featured in the technology section of the magazine, which highlighted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Sports Innovation. The article focuses on the Center for Sports Innovation's ability to provide testing on new products at a fraction of the cost to manufacturers by using graduate and undergraduate students to conduct the lab research.

Bush applied to participate in a new product testing and was selected based on his online application and several interviews.

"I can imagine that it's pretty popular to do these kinds of projects," said Bush, who spent nearly four months testing a ski boot that its manufacturer said would relieve pressure on the knee.

Bush discovered that the manufacturer's claim of the reduction of force on the knee was greater than first believed.

"It was a pretty cool thesis," said Bush in the Forbes article.

Bush graduated from MIT in June with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and is working at Schlumberger, an oil field services company in Houston - as a design engineer.

Bush said the MIT Center for Sports Innovation was founded about four years ago and gives students who have a passion for researching new athletic equipment an opportunity to do so while earning course credit.

"While at Lakeside, Danny was a varsity letterman in football, wrestling, swimming and track and field," said his parents, Richard and Kathy Bush of Martinez. "While attending MIT, he was a four-year starting linebacker and also wrestled and pole vaulted, so he has always been an athlete interested in effective equipment."