“At Silentium, one of our key goals is to to improve the overall health and quality of life for people by offering noise and vibration control to Chilean companies,” says Hector Fuentes CEO of Silentium. The company manufactures vibration and noise reduction products which greatly reduces the problems faced with hearing loss, noise pollution, and excessive vibrations (think earthquakes).
So, where did the idea come from? “We are crazy, that’s why we are in this business,” laughs Hector of himself and his fellow cofounder, Christopher Rooke. “We both studied acoustic engineering in university, but we didn’t really understand what kind of impact we would make by studying such a strange subject.”
That all changed when Hector and Christopher attended a noise control conference in Brazil during their university studies. “That’s when we saw what kind of an impact we could make on health through noise control.” Noise is a health problem which not only affects hearing loss, but also affects how you sleep and concentrate throughout the day.
The business conference had Hector and Christopher daydreaming on acoustic engineering and how they could help alleviate health problems related to noise control. After college, they both went to work for a company that made acoustic solutions in an "artistic way" but soon decided to try to form their own business.
“It was REALLY difficult to get started,” explains Christopher. “We had to convince people to believe in our engineering and had to convince people of the need for the products.” But, once they reeled in their first customer, prospects gained faith in our business. “Today the thing that makes us different from the competition is our experience. We design the technologies, products and solutions and that makes us an expert and trusted advisor on the subject of noise and vibration control.”