Author: Jukka Perttu

Jukka Perttu wrote:

Chemically fueled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are one of the deadliest hazards to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and incidents like the Oklahoma City bombing and the Sarin gas attack in Tokyo have demonstrated that civilians, too, can be the targets of chemicals and explosives. Now two organizations with Massachusetts roots are collaborating to offer a tool to protect professionals trying to identify explosives and other hazardous and toxic substances.

The Wilmington, MA-based Ahura sensor division of Thermo Fisher Scientific and the mobile robot division of QinetiQ North America, acquired in 2004 from Waltham, MA-based Foster-Miller, are equipping QinetiQ’s Talon robots with a powerful chemical detector. Ahura developed the laser-based instrument, called “FirstDefender RMX,” as a handheld device, and appropriately enough, the Talon robot carries the sensor on its gripper arm.

Sold to military organizations, bomb squads, police, hazmat specialists, and fire departments, the robot-sensor combination can quickly identify suspicious chemicals from a library of more than 10,000 substances, including explosives, toxic industrial materials, and chemical-warfare agents, according to the companies.

Foster-Miller introduced the Talon in 2000. The model, which carries the FirstDefender RMX, costs about $100,000, with options such as a gas and radiation detector kit adding to the cost; the Ahura sensor package costs an additional $50,000 to $65,000.

But despite the serious price tag, demand for the combined product is strong, especially because of the growing IED threat, says Duane Sword, vice president of marketing and international sales at Thermo Fisher Scientific. The total cost of $200,000 to $250,000 for a FirstDefender-equipped Talon is “a small price to pay for saving just one soldier from getting injured or worse,” Sword says.

The companies won’t talk much about exactly who buys the robots. These are sensitive devices, not sold to suspicious customers or countries.

Ahura’s FirstDefender sensor proved itself in the field last Christmas Day, when it was used by the Warren, MI, fire department at Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport to confirm that the substance that the notorious “underwear bomber” had attempted to ignite on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was a chemical called PETN.

Founded in 2002, Ahura specializes in the development of rugged, ultra-compact, field-enabled optical systems for the immediate identification and verification of liquid and solid chemicals. Using a “point and shoot” laser, the FirstDefender RMX system can identify chemicals through sealed glass or plastic containers, protecting personnel from exposure to harmful substances. If you can see the substance with your eyes, Sword says, the instrument can identify it.

To develop its technology, Ahura raised venture funding totaling $29.5 million from venture capital firms that include Arch Venture Partners, Castile Ventures, Fuse Capital and …Next Page »

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Jukka Perttu wrote:

Terrafugia, the Woburn, MA-based company out to produce the first practical flying car—or street legal airplane, to use the company’s term— said today it plans to build its first commercial vehicle next year in the Bay State. But CEO Carl Dietrich also said that while the company hopes to stay in Massachusetts and create hundreds of new jobs, it is considering moving production to other states like Ohio, Kentucky, or Michigan.

The skies were mostly clear, the weather unseasonably warm, and the crowd upbeat as the MIT spinoff, which was a runner-up in the school’s $100K business plan competition in 2006, hosted about 20 politicians, press, and other guests at its headquarters for a much-sought-after update on its plans. Dietrich used the occasion to deliver an optimistic picture of Terrafugia’s future, while also issuing what sounded like part warning, part plea to the politicians present, who included state Senators Steven Baddour (D-Methuen) and Ken Donnelly (D-Arlington).

Here are some highlights from the afternoon:

—Terrafugia will deliver its first commercial car, called Transition, by the end of 2011.

—About 70 customers, mostly private persons, have already reserved Transitions.

—The vehicles will sell for a base price of $194,000.

—Dietrich told the crowd that Terrafugia plans to ramp up production gradually over the next five years, with plans to eventually churn out between 300 and 400 craft annually.

—That level of output has the potential to support in excess of 400 skilled manufacturing jobs and high-tech engineering positions while passing approximately $150 million through to its workforce and suppliers each year, Dietrich said.

Richard Gersh, vice president of business development for Terrafugia, told Xconomy after the event that the whole point of the gathering was to raise the company’s visibility among local stakeholders who could help the startup find ways to keep its manufacturing operations in Massachusetts. (Whether Terrafugia is pursuing tax breaks, grants, loans, or other incentives, the company isn’t saying yet.)

“We understand that the economy is a challenge for everybody, but these are opportunities that we don’t want to slip by, and we just wanted to make sure that we have covered all the bases,” Gersh says. “I think we met with the right people today.”

Gersh says that Senator Baddour is a relative of one of Terrafugia’s investors; the North Andover airport where Terrafugia conducts test flights also happens to be in Baddour’s district. Senator Donnelly’s district, meanwhile, includes Terrafugia’s Woburn headquarters.

“Senator Donnelly is from our district, so he is certainly looking not to lose jobs in our state but to grow the work base,” says Gersh. “Without reaching out to them, they may not have known about the opportunity that exists.”

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