January 9, 2006—Solidica has announced the award of a 12-month project from the National Science Foundation to explore the use of the company’s unique embedded sensor technology for building safety applications.
Driven by NSF’s security technologies thrust area, the STTR Phase I project will seek to validate the applicability of Solidica’s technology to monitor the health status of a wide variety of physical structures, including buildings and bridges.
Ken Johnson, Solidica Vice President of Strategic Development and the Principal Investigator on the project commented that, “the basic premise of this effort is to provide the real-time health status information of a structure which can either predict a potential failure or provide data to first responders if a catastrophic event were to occur. Imagine the value of being able to remotely monitor the progression of a fire throughout a large complex, or map its structural integrity, knowing exactly which areas are safe and which are impassable.”
A key enabler for this program rests in the company’s ability to embed wireless smart sensors directly within the structural components themselves using the company’s Ultrasonic Consolidation technology. In addition to this, Solidica’s proprietary, self-powering electronics design has the ability to communicate between the sensor points, providing a meshed view of the entire environment.
Solidica is a rapidly growing technology company that provides advanced materials, electronics and solid-state fabrication solutions. For more information, visit the company Web site.
