ICx Science & Technology Advisor Receives High Honor for Chemical Sensor Inventions
Professor Timothy M. Swager Awarded $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for Inventions, Including Sensors for Explosives Detection
ICx Technologies, a provider of advanced technology solutions for homeland and military security, announced today that Professor Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry at MIT and member of the ICx Science & Technology Advisory Board, has received the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, the most-prestigious cash prize for invention in the United States.
Professor Swager was awarded the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for his body of inventive work, including an amplified chemical sensor that uses molecular wires to detect the presence of vapors from explosives, which can also be used in healthcare and environmental applications.
"We congratulate Professor Swager on receiving this well-deserved and highly prestigious award from the Lemelson-MIT Program," said Hans Kobler, ICx Technologies CEO. "Professor Swager is a true pioneer in developing chemical sensing technologies that make the world a much safer place. From protecting troops on the battlefield to securing public events, the impact of his work is immeasurable and will continue to benefit how we live in the future."
The $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize is a high honor bestowed upon outstanding mid-career inventors who have developed a patented product or process that provides significant value to society. It is designed to spur inventive careers and provide role models for future generations of inventors.
In 2001, the polymer technology developed by Professor Swager was licensed by MIT to ICx Nomadics, a business unit of ICx Technologies, for use in the company’s Fido® Explosives Detector.
Inspired by the ability of bomb sniffing dogs to detect explosives, the Fido Explosives Detector has the advantage of being both ultra-sensitive and capable of quickly screening packages, facilities, people and vehicles for traces of explosives. The breakthrough sensing technology behind the Fido detector supports both particle and vapor detection and allows operators the versatility and portability necessary for diverse detection and screening scenarios.
About FLIR Systems
FLIR Systems, Inc. is a world leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of sensor systems that enhance perception and awareness. The Company’s advanced thermal imaging and threat detection systems are used for a wide variety of imaging, thermography, and security applications, including airborne and ground-based surveillance, condition monitoring, research and development, manufacturing process control, search and rescue, drug interdiction, navigation, transportation safety, border and maritime patrol, environmental monitoring, and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) detection. Visit the Company's web site at www.FLIR.com.
The statements in this release by Earl R. Lewis, and the other statements in this release about the award described above, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including the following: the ability to manufacture and deliver the systems referenced in this release, changes in demand for the Company's products, product mix, the timing of deliveries under the award discussed above, the impact of competitive products and pricing, constraints on supplies of critical components, excess or shortage of production capacity, the ability of the Company to manufacture and ship products in the time period required, actual purchases under agreements, the Company's continuing compliance with U.S. export control laws and regulations, the timely receipt of export licenses for international shipments, the continuing eligibility of the Company to act as a federal contractor, and other risks discussed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports. In addition, such statements could be affected by general industry and market conditions and growth rates, and general domestic and international economic conditions. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release, or for changes made to this document by wire services or Internet service providers.
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FLIR, Systems, Inc.
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