LAU Technologies selected in major immigration and naturalization service contract for state-of-the-art automated card production system.

ACTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 1995--LAU Technologies announced today that it was selected as the primary subcontractor in a technology program, which was introduced by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to help deter document fraud and upgrade document processing.

According to INS officials, the new state-of-the-art equipment will create more sophisticated counterfeit-resistant documents and allow the INS to centralize and accelerate card-production.

As the systems integrator, LAU Technologies will provide the "brains and intellectual know-how," bringing together the most advanced technologies available for the new production system, including LAU's patented Vision Inspection System. The prime contractor is Information Spectrum Inc. of Annandale, Va. As primary subcontractor, the value of the INS contract to LAU is $7 to $10 million.

"This contract is not only good news for LAU, but it also demonstrates once again that Massachusetts remains at the forefront of technology innovation," said Robert Hughes, president of LAU's Identifications Systems Division. "For LAU, this contract represents the company's successful conversion from primarily a defense contractor to a company focused on commerical applications. We have also strengthended our position as a national leader in creating customized identification solutions with digital imaging technology, providing the brains and intellectual know-how in an important new technology."

The first card to be produced by the new technology is the Employment Authorization Document (EAD), issued to aliens who are not legal permanent residents but who have been granted temporary permission to work in the United States. The equipment, termed Integrated Card Production System (ICPS), will product more durable, tamper-resistent, credit card-like documents with security features that are not readily observable. It also will provide INS the capability to progressively expand security features by incorporating new technologies as needed, thereby making the cards increasingly more difficult to counterfeit. The new system will substantially expedite the card issuance process.

LAU will install equipment at four sites across the United States, in California, Texas, Vermont and Nebraska. A fifth site at LAU headquarters in Acton, Mass. will serve as a real-time "hot" back-up system for the nationwide network. If any system fails anywhere in the United States, the Acton facility will pick up production.

The INS contract comes less than one week after LAU announced $1.6 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop an innovative facial-recognition automated access control system to protect U.S Government facilities. LAU is also currently providing new digital imaging drivers license systems in Massachusetts, Arizona and Ohio; a firearms permit identification system and welfare benefits identification card system in Connecticut; a facial recognition imaging capture system for the Auburn, Mass. police department; and a medical assistance identification system for the New York Department of Social Services.

Production of new EAD cards is scheduled to begin early next year and will be consolidated at INS Service Center locations. Following production of the new EADs, the ICPS can be expanded to produce Border Crossing Cards, which are issued to Mexicans and Canadians who are frequent border crossers and Alien Registration Cards (Green Cards), which are issued to legal permanent residents.

Headquartered in Acton, Mass., LAU Technologies is an electronics manufacturer that designs, produces and tests sophisticated high-quality electronics for commercial and military applications. LAU Technologies has won numerous awards including the Army's Contractor Excellence Award in recognition of their exceptional quality and accomplishments during Operation Desert Storm in 1991; the First Annual Leadership Award to Women in Business given by the New England Council in 1993; and Ernst & Young's New England Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1995. Approximately 240 people work at LAU.

CONTACT: LAU Technologies, Acton

Geri Denterlein or Judy Glasser, 617/227-2600