When Morgan Gendel walks into a cavernous room at Old Dominion University, it looks nothing like a television set. A thick, rubber-like shell sits on the floor, surrounded by engineers, pendulums, and measuring devices. To anyone else, it might seem like a strange science experiment. For Gendel, it’s the latest chapter in a career defined by curiosity, bold bets, and the kind of storytelling that transforms imagination into reality.

Raised in New England and spending four decades in Los Angeles, Gendel never expected he’d return to the East Coast to launch his first real business. Yet here he is, in the heart of Hampton Roads, translating years of creative experience into something tangible: Habolith shelters, innovative, deployable structures designed to protect service members from traumatic brain injuries and, potentially, to provide safe housing for displaced communities worldwide.

The path to this point has been unconventional. Gendel’s early career was rooted in television. He wrote for Star Trek: The Next Generation, crafting episodes that won acclaim and connected him to engineers, NASA scientists, and thinkers who shared his fascination with what’s possible. Writing taught him more than narrative structure—it reinforced a way of thinking: pitch five times if you have to, believe in your ideas even when others doubt them, and surround yourself with people whose talents challenge and elevate your own.

It was a phone call that led Gendel to Old Dominion University, where he now teaches screenwriting as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Communication & Theatre Arts. But teaching wasn’t the end—it was the bridge. Conversations with engineers and researchers sparked an idea: what if the principles of storytelling—visualizing a world that doesn’t yet exist—could guide the creation of physical structures?

That insight became Planetary Shelter. Drawing inspiration from 3D printing concepts for lunar bases and unconventional techniques for construction, Gendel devised a method to create shelters using flexible shells filled with local soil or sand. Granular compression locks the particles into a concrete-like structure, forming igloo-shaped bunkers capable of absorbing shocks from blasts while remaining lightweight and deployable. Unlike traditional construction, these Haboliths require no heavy machinery—an innovation born from the simple question, “What if we tried it differently?”

The collaboration with ODU turned that idea into experimentation. Faculty and students in the Engineering Technology Department test materials, calculate load tolerances, and iterate designs—all within the framework of an integrated team. The process mirrors Gendel’s experience in television: each iteration is a scene, each prototype a rehearsal, and every challenge an opportunity for creativity to meet practicality.

For Gendel, the work is personal as much as it is technical. He envisions a future where these shelters reduce brain injuries for thousands of military service members, provide resilient housing for vulnerable populations, and one day even support human habitats on other planets. Every fold of the flexible shell, every carefully packed layer of sand, is part of a story that began with a single decision to try something new—and to believe that he could.

The broader impact of this partnership extends beyond the laboratory. Students gain hands-on experience in applied research, learning how to transform ideas into prototypes, while engineers tackle problems that challenge conventional thinking. In a region eager to expand its innovation footprint, the collaboration illustrates how imagination and technical expertise can converge to address real-world challenges.

In many ways, Gendel’s journey is a reminder that innovation is as much about mindset as it is about materials or machinery. It’s about curiosity, the willingness to raise your hand, and the courage to keep pitching an idea until it takes shape. It’s about recognizing that storytelling doesn’t stop at the page—it can guide the design of solutions that protect lives and open doors to new possibilities.

From the scripts of science fiction to shelters for the frontlines and beyond, Morgan Gendel’s story demonstrates that Hampton Roads can be a place where daring ideas, creative thinking, and cross-disciplinary collaboration intersect—and that the act of believing in yourself might just be the most important blueprint of all.

 

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