Convergent Ventures and Precision Dynamics Corporation Announce Agreement to Form and Fund ORFID Corporation.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2004 Convergent Ventures, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, and Precision Dynamics Corporation, a leading manufacturer of healthcare and identification management products worldwide, announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement to form a new company called ORFID Corporation. ORFID is based upon patented technology and intellectual property derived from Precision Dynamics' own internal product development efforts in the rapidly expanding field of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) A data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. The tag, also known as an "electronic label," "transponder" or "code plate," is made up of an RFID chip attached to an antenna. (radio frequency identification See RFID. ) technology and from fundamental advancements and inventions in materials science and polymer electronics emerging from the laboratory of Dr. Yang Yang, the scientific founder of ORFID and Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science School of Engineering and Applied Science is the name of several engineering schools at universities in the United States.
UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX ). Convergent Ventures and Precision Dynamics will contribute initial management as well as some members of ORFID's Board of Directors and Science and Engineering Advisory Board (SEAB SEAB Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (DOE) ). Convergent and Precision Dynamics will also provide seed funding for ORFID. Dr. Yang will serve as a member of ORFID's Board of Directors and Chairman of the company's SEAB (Science and Engineering Advisory Board). He will continue as a full-time faculty member at UCLA. Robert Foster, Director of the Center for Management in the Information Economy at UCLA's Anderson School of Business will also join ORFID's Board of Directors. "We are excited to participate in the founding of ORFID Corporation along with Precision Dynamics and Dr. Yang," said Dr. Jonathan Lasch, a Managing Director at Convergent, who will serve as ORFID's founding Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "My colleagues and I at Convergent have established a great working relationship and friendship with our counterparts at Precision Dynamics and Dr. Yang. ORFID will have an outstanding team that combines all the right technical expertise, operating resources and entrepreneurial experience to build a successful new company." Dr. Lasch added, "We are happy to locate ORFID in Los Angeles, near UCLA." Dr. Walter W. Mosher A mosher is a person who is crossed between goth/punk/skater they have long hair and listen to music like slipknot and metal music. Some people call them headbangers. At certain music shows they have something called a mosh pit, basically its a fight pit with loads of people bashing each other. , Jr., co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Precision Dynamics, said, "The formation of ORFID Corporation is an important step in Precision Dynamics' evolution from an established manufacturer and distributor of hospital and patron identification management products to a developer and marketer of next-generation healthcare and identification management products incorporating advanced technologies, such as RFID." Gary Hutchinson, President and CEO of Precision Dynamics, said, "ORFID provides an ideal environment in which to foster further innovations in RFID and new technologies such as organic displays and biosensors that are not presently a part of Precision Dynamics' core business." Precision Dynamics is the developer of the Smart Band(R) identification wristband wristband An identifying bracelet attached to a Pt's wrist at the time of admission to a health care facility, which may be the only identifier used during a person's stay in a hospital system. Smart Band(R) integrates an RFID chip and antenna in a wearable plastic band that can be read by a hand-held reading device or stationery reader. The computer chip on the Smart Band(R) can contain information about the individual wearer that can be used and updated in many applications, including healthcare, patron management, and corrections. Dr. Yang, who has served as a consultant to Precision Dynamics, has invented new methods for producing RFID devices on flexible substrates, using conductive polymers and inkjet printing technology. Precision Dynamics and Dr. Yang (via UCLA) are transferring an impressive array of intellectual property to ORFID that will form the foundation for ORFID's entry into the burgeoning new field of organic semiconductors and flexible electronics. ORFID's technology will enable manufacturing of new products such as electronic "smart labels," flexible displays, intelligent packaging, electronic paper, disposable electronics, electronic textiles, biosensors, and medical devices. Dr. Yang said, "I look forward to guiding the scientific and technical vision of ORFID and to seeing inventions made at UCLA move toward commercialization, and, ultimately, into the hands of manufacturers and even consumers. The possibilities of organic electronics are limited only by the imagination." About Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC (1) (Primary Domain Controller) A Windows NT/2000 service that manages security for its local domain. Every domain has one PDC, which contains a database of usernames, passwords and permissions. ) PDC is a privately held manufacturer with ISO- iso- or is- pref. 1. Equal; uniform: isobar. 2. Isomeric: isopropyl. 3. 9001 certification. The company is a pioneer in automatic identification technology, having introduced the first patient bar code ID wristband system in 1984 and radio frequency identification (RFID) wristband systems in 2000. In addition to its expanding line of identification products, PDC also provides premium healthcare products for labor & delivery, urology urology Medical specialty dealing with the urinary system and male reproductive organs. It traces its origin to medieval lithologists, itinerant healers who specialized in surgical removal of bladder stones. , and other applications. For more information, call 818-897-1111 or visit the company's web site at www.pdcorp.com. About Convergent Ventures Convergent Ventures is a venture investment and development firm whose goal is to create, fund and manage new life science and technology companies in close collaboration with leading scientists from major academic and biomedical research institutions in the Greater Los Angeles area The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is the agglomeration of urbanized area around the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. There are two "official" definitions—the Los Angeles metropolitan area consisting only of the Los Angeles and Orange . Convergent's debut fund, now referred to as CV-I, includes ORFID Corporation and Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a drug discovery company based on neuroscience research from the California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. . Convergent Ventures takes a unique approach to building successful new companies by combining multidisciplinary technical expertise, years of commercial operating experience, and a "hands-on" management approach that helps to ensure the early success of its portfolio companies. For more information, visit www.convergentventures.com. |
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