Here is news item forwarded to me by quote.com service. I didn't see it on my "Company News" feature in my brokerage account.
*BCAM INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPS WHAT MAY BE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MICROVALVE FOR
"INTELLIGENT" CONSUMER PRODUCT APPLICATIONS [PR Newswire,959 words]
Technology Breakthrough has Indefinite Number of Commercial
Possibilities, Including "Smart" Athletic and Medical Footwear
MELVILLE, N.Y., March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- BCAM International Inc.
(NASDAQ:BCAM) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, BCAM Technologies Inc., in cooperation with MCNC of Research Triangle Park, N.C.,has successfully developed a working prototype of a very powerful and tinymicrovalve -- about the size of a fingernail, using sophisticated MEMS(microelectromechanical systems) technology -- whose air flow rate is at least one order of magnitude more forceful than any existing microvalve.
The result of BCAM's nearly three-year-long research and development effort is a novel and patented microvalve assembly that resides on a single microchip and meets the specifications necessary to implement BCAM's patented Intelligent Surface Technology (IST) in a plethora of consumer products, including athletic and medical footwear.
"This is perhaps the single, most important milestone in the history of
BCAM International. It is now possible to apply our Intelligent Surface
Technology to virtually any product that comes into contact with the human body. In addition, we now can rapidly proceed with our commercialization partners to introduce the next generation of IST products," said Michael Strauss, BCAM's chairman and chief executive officer.
"Since mid-1995, BCAM has been exploring a promising new technology called MEMS, which are tiny devices that look very similar to computer chips -- except that, in addition to their electrical functions, MEMS devices also have moving mechanical parts. Using MEMS technology, BCAM Technologies and MCNC were able to fabricate a valve smaller and more efficient than anything else
available in the world today. The most exciting impact for BCAM is that the possible applications for IST with the micovalve component will expand into more markets than we have ever contemplated before," said Strauss.
BCAM's proprietary Intelligent Surface Technology (IST), protected by eight issued patents and eight pending patents, empowers the surfaces of medical and consumer footwear -- as well as many other products, such as automobile seats, recliners, bedding and hand tools -- to measure the pressure distribution of any part of the body touching those surfaces and then to adjust themselves in real time to conform to that particular body for the utmost comfort and/or fit. Such a surface is considered "intelligent" because it is able to learn about the user and recognize patterns of the user's
activities through its sophisticated proprietary software.
Intelligent Surface Technology (IST) is a concept invented and patented by BCAM International to empower products that come into contact with human users to have the ability to sense and respond to individuals in order to maximize comfort, fit, and performance and minimize fatigue and stress. The IST system can be customized to the specific needs of a particular product in order to provide activity-based feedback and adjustment, including the provision for
intelligent massage. BCAM's first IST product was introduced on September 9, 1997, in the 1998 Cadillac Seville STS driver and passenger car seats.
BCAM will utilize MEMS technology as a strategic element of its
Intelligent Surface Tecnology (IST). The typical IST system from BCAM can be divided into several components, including bladders, sensors, a pump, a valve assembly, electronic control circuitry, and software. To enable IST to achieve its full potential in products such as athletic and medical footwear, the IST system components needed to be miniaturized and manufactured in the most cost-efficient manner possible. Since mid-1995, the target component for microminiaturization has been the valve assembly. Traditional valves,
including solenoid types, simply are too heavy, power-hungry and costly.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) -- tiny devices about the width of a human hair -- are an offshoot of the technology developed to fabricate integrated circuits on silicon chips. MEMS is one of today's fastest-growing technologies. Advantages of a MEMS device over traditional devices are size, weight, power consumption, durability, and cost in large-volume production.
MCNC is a microfabrication, computing and networking company located in Research Triangle Park, N.C. It is home of the MEMS Technology Applications Center, which provides development and manufacturing services to industry and government.
BCAM International Inc., one of the nation's leading software technology companies, specializes in the "ergonomic" design of products, tools, and manufacturing processes that are better suited to be more compatible with the human body. |
