Consumer reliance on personal technology devices isn't dwindling any time soon. The average American spends 5.4 hours on their phone daily and that figure trends upwards for younger generations. If phones are nearly a permanent appendage, they should be able to withstand life, argues Zsolt Pulai, Executive Vice President of Technology and Engineering at HZO. He sat down with host Sean Heath for a new episode of the MarketScale Software and Technology Podcast.

"Three hundred million phones are lost each year to water damage and that's costing the industry $100 billion," Pulai said. "Everything from medical devices to automotive, there is a significant need for protecting these devices sensors and circuitry more than ever. Consumers need more protection."

HZO's proprietary nanocoating protects water-vulnerable electronics from moisture. The ultra-thin, nanoscale coating was engineered in-house -- something that sets Salt Lake City-based HZO apart from the competition.

"If we design in-house, we don't rely on other solution providers or vendors," Pulai said. "That makes our work easier and more cost-effective."

In-house engineering and production is part of Pulai's core philosophy.

"We keep everything simple," he said.

"We could not call ourselves engineers if we didn't want to do more innovation," Pulai said. "We are building new optimized machines and optimized processes. Everything is getting faster, smaller, cheaper."