JMAR Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:JMAR) and FemtoTrace, Inc. (Pomona, CA) announce the delivery and successful field testing of a commercial prototype of FemtoTrace’s chemical detection instrument for use in underground oil leak detection in high voltage feeder cables. This field-deployable, real-time analytical instrument is presently aimed at pollution problems in the electric, gas, and water utilities. JMAR is FemtoTrace’s exclusive engineering and manufacturing arm for the chemical analytical technology, known as READ, where the basic technology is exclusively licensed by FemtoTrace from NASA and Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The READ instrument can detect underground oil leaks in sealed high voltage feeder cables using harmless tracers added to the oil at the parts per million levels and measured in the air above the ground at much lower concentrations. READ instruments can also be used to detect other environmental and systems performance problems with heat exchangers, transformers, compressor systems, as might occur in the various utilities and processing industries. This will improve utility performance, environmental compliance, safety, and customer service.
FemtoTrace has been working closely with both EDF Energy, the UK arm of the EDF Group, and Con Edison of New York, the largest utility in the Northeastern U.S., to demonstrate the READ technology in various environments. Both Con Edison and EDF Energy are corporate sponsors in funding the early development and commercialization of this major new environmental and security technology for real-time, on-site analysis of trace amounts of certain chemicals, drugs, adulterants, and many other toxic or dangerous materials with unmatched speed and sensitivity.
Dr. Jack L. Herz, President and CEO of FemtoTrace, said, “I am convinced that READ will make a significant and growing contribution to environmental hazard detection and industrial safety practices. We look forward to working closely with JMAR, EDF Energy and Con Edison in the ongoing commercialization of this technology as a major new tool for the electrical utility industry.”
JMAR has been involved in the commercialization of this technology from FemtoTrace’s early developmental stages, and has, together with FemtoTrace, taken a NASA “one of a kind,” complex technology and turned it into a market-ready environmental device which can be operated by technicians with relatively little training. READ presents a significant growth and profitability opportunity for both FemtoTrace and JMAR, with major markets yet untapped.
“The READ organic chemical sensor, to the best of our combined knowledge, is absolutely unique in its specificity, yet mobile, real-time, and field-deployable with mass spectrometric sensitivity,” commented Dr. C. Neil Beer, President and CEO of JMAR.
About EDF
EDF Energy is one of the UK’s largest energy companies. It provides power to a quarter of the UK’s population via its electricity distribution networks in London, the South East and the East of England. It supplies gas and electricity to more than five million customers and generates about 5GW of energy from its coal and gas power stations, as well as combined heat and power plants and wind farms. The company is also a key player in national infrastructure projects, including the electrical upgrading of the London Underground, management of private electricity networks serving four London airports and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the country’s first new railway in 100 years. It employs nearly 13,000 people at locations across the UK. EDF Energy is a core part of EDF Group, one of the world’s largest power companies.
About ConEd
Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED), one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $27 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit Con Edison’s Web site at www.coned.com.
About FemtoTrace
FemtoTrace, Inc. is an innovative, technology based, privately held California corporation with offices and laboratories in Pomona, CA and Weston, CT. FemtoTrace and JMAR have collaborated in the development of commercial versions of the READ instrument. Working with partner companies internationally, FemtoTrace is developing applications for the READ zero energy electron attachment technology, bringing it into commercial practice for a wide variety of industries.
FemtoTrace’s business objective is to be a reliable producer and distributor of unique analytical instruments, while providing technical service to its customers remotely by operating and diagnosing READ instruments at distances of thousands of miles, in real-time.
About JMAR Technologies
JMAR Technologies, Inc. is a leading innovator in the development of laser-based technology and x-ray processes for nano-scale imaging, analysis and fabrication. The Company is leveraging more than a decade of laser and photonics research to develop a portfolio of nanotech products with commercial applications in rapidly growing industries, while continuing to carry out research and development for the U.S. Government.
JMAR’s lead commercialized product, BioSentry™, is a contamination warning system for waterborne microorganisms, using laser-based, multi-angle light scattering technology to provide continuous, on-line, real-time monitoring for harmful microorganisms. JMAR’s pursuit of cutting edge products includes its BriteLight™ laser, a stand-alone product as well as the x-ray light source in nanolithography systems; and the x-ray NanoProbe for enabling nano-scale interaction, analysis and materials modification. In addition, JMAR maintains a key strategic alliance for the prototyping and production of a nanoparticle ultra-thin coating system.
This news release contains certain “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including risks related to the transition of READ prototype units to production units, the failure of the technology to perform as predicted, the ability of JMAR and FemtoTrace to fund the commercialization of the READ products, the ability of JMAR as a contract manufacturer to realize the full benefits of a successful commercialization of the READ product, competition from alternative technologies, uncertainties as to the size of the markets, cost and margins for such products, failure to obtain market acceptance, current or future government regulations affecting the use of such products, the lack of availability of critical components, the degree of protection from future patents, other risks associated with the development or acquisition of new products or technologies and those risks detailed in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 filed with the SEC. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements and no assurances can be given that such statements will be achieved. JMAR Technologies, Inc. does not assume any duty to publicly update or revise the material contained herein.
