Ask Joe
"You want to know...Ask Joe"
July 3, 2003
As frequent visitors to our SmartGlass.com website know from the "What’s New" page that appears when you visit our home page, there has been a flurry of activity by Research Frontiers and our licensees. I thought that I would take this opportunity to not only respond to many of the emails we received at AskJoe@SmartGlass.com asking for more details about some of these activities, but also to reflect back on the last few months and all that has been accomplished during that time.
To begin with, let me be the first to deny that the State of Pennsylvania is now adding the caption "The SPD State" to the bottom of its license plates. It’s true that many of our recent licensees are headquartered in Pennsylvania such as Custom Glass Corporation which became a licensee in April, Air Products and Chemicals, which became a licensee in May, or TRACO which became a licensee in early June. Even our Paris-based license, Saint-Gobain, which also acquired their license in June, has its US operations as well as its U.S. subsidiary in the window business, CertainTeed Corporation, headquartered in Pennsylvania. While there are still a few companies in Pennsylvania that have not yet adopted SPD technology this year (although the year is only half over!), with all kidding aside, the licensees of Research Frontiers are actually geographically very diverse. We now have 26 licensees based throughout North and South America, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom, with operations throughout the world.
If you are an architect, designer, or builder, or a member of the glass, plastic, automotive, aerospace, or marine industry, you probably have read about us [http://www.smartglass.com/media.cfm] or attended one of the 20 trade shows or conferences around the world where we or our licensees have exhibited SPD-Smart products during the past 18 months. Our SPD-Smart windows are being featured in Popular Science magazine’s Smart Garage which is currently touring the country. Late last month, the Smart Garage debuted at the NASCAR Winston Cup racing series in Sonoma, California. This weekend you can see it in Sonoma, California, and next month in Indianapolis, Indiana. I am also pleased to say that many of you, as well as homeowners and other consumers, have made our interactive web site, SmartGlass.com, the first place to look if you are interested in SPD-Smart windows and other products, or if you are trying to keep on top of the most recent developments with our state-of-the-art SPD light-control technology.
Since my May 11th AskJoe column where I discussed our new licensees Custom Glass Corp. and Air Products and Chemicals, there have been many additional exciting developments.
On May 19, SPD Inc. announced several of the representative projects around the world that have used their SPD-Smart glass as part of their designs. SPD Inc.’s press release gives more details and contains photographs of these projects, as well as interviews with the project designers.
On May 22, 2003, our licensee, Laminated Technologies announced its expansion into an additional 30,000 square foot facility in Lenox, Massachusetts and the formation of a new business division - LTI Smart Glass. The new LTI Smart Glass division and the plant in Lenox are in response to the rapidly growing demand for Laminated Technologies’ products by key customers and to support their aggressive growth plans. The new division, LTI Smart Glass, Inc., was established to draw upon the company’s expertise in the manufacturing of electrified laminations and was formed to serve various industries with "Smart Glass" products. Further information can be found at laminatedtechnologies.com and ltismartglass.com.
On June 6, 2003, UK-based Kerros Ltd. joined our family of licensees smartglass.com. Kerros’s newly-formed IntelliTint division will offer SPD-Smart windows and sunroofs for both the retrofit automotive aftermarket as well as certain UK-based original equipment manufacturers. For more information on IntelliTint, visit their website at intellitint.com
On June 9, 2003, we jointly announced with Pennsylvania-based TRACO Inc. that TRACO has acquired a worldwide, non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell SPD-Smart windows, doors, skylights, and curtainwalls. TRACO’s SPD products will be offered for both commercial and residential architectural applications. Among some of TRACO’s past signature projects was glass for the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Shortly after taking their license, TRACO had already assembled a large team of product development, production, and sales and marketing people, who visited us last week. We are working closely with TRACO, and their national sales force, to help them rapidly launch their SPD window product line. For more information visit TRACO’s website at www.Traco.com.
On June 25, 2003, we announced that Saint-Gobain Glass had acquired a worldwide, non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell various SPD-Smart architectural, automotive, and appliance window products, as well as automotive sun visors and rear-view mirrors. For those of you who are not yet familiar with our newest licensee, Saint-Gobain, their web site notes that they have more than 1,000 consolidated companies, with industrial operations in 46 countries, and employ 170,500 people worldwide. They devote about 300 million euros per year to R&D. They are the largest glass company in Europe and the third largest glass company in the world. They also own approximately 40% of another one of our licensees, Hankuk Glass Industries in Korea, which is the largest glass company in Asia outside of Japan, and whose subsidiary, SPD Inc., supplies SPD film to many of our licensees throughout the world.
Space limitations prevent me from going into greater detail in my column. Many of the activities by Research Frontiers and our licensees during 2002 and 2003 are outlined in the Letter to our Shareholders which is contained in this year’s Annual Report [http://www.smartglass.com/miscreports/RFIAnnualReport2002.pdf], as well as my "Building an Industry" presentation [http://www.smartglass.com/annualmeeting2003/presentation-june12,2003]that was given at our Annual Stockholders Meeting. I also want to thank the many licensees who traveled to be with us at this year’s Annual Stockholders Meeting, and to also thank our shareholders for attending and participating. Before and after the meeting, we and senior executives at many of our licensees got together for a three-day series of highly productive meetings during which stronger relationships among our licensees were forged, and new and improved emulsions and SPD films by several different licensees were introduced.
With some of the largest glass and chemical companies in North America, Europe and Asia now licensed, there can be no doubt that momentum is accelerating, as is the adoption rate for SPD technology throughout the world. This has also made our jobs easier and has helped us to negotiate better license terms. The size of our more recent licensees has also grown and this has vastly expanded the manufacturing and distribution network for SPD-Smart products throughout the world. But size alone does not matter. Research Frontiers is a perfect example of this since with relatively few, but highly motivated and focused, employees, we have been able to accomplish things in the smart window industry that larger companies have tried and failed to do. Many of our smaller licensees are also delivering high-quality innovative products and services to the world’s architects, designers and manufacturers.
As I noted at our Annual Meeting, I became Research Frontiers’ President and Chief Operating Officer last February. It has been an honor, a privilege, and a pleasure to work for our shareholders and for our licensees. Building an industry is not easy, and with licensees all around the world, the sun never sets on our work day. However, there is a Chinese proverb that if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. I am truly fortunate to be associated with the finest employees, directors, licensees and shareholders. This, and the potential to build an industry from the ground up, is one of the most challenging, exhilarating, productive and worthwhile things I have ever done.
Momentum continues to build and I look forward to sharing more exciting developments in future AskJoe columns.
I want to wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday, and to also thank all those who have fought for freedom and independence throughout the world. I also want to wish my father a very happy July 4th birthday, with many more to come.
Joe Harary
smartglass.com
popsci.com |
