Maxwell Technologies' Capacitor to be Inducted Into Space Technology Hall of Fame.SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 1999--Maxwell Technologies Inc. today announced that its heart defibrillator defibrillator, device that delivers an electrical shock to the heart in order to stop certain forms of rapid heart rhythm disturbances (arrhythmias). The shock changes a fibrillation to an organized rhythm or changes a very rapid and ineffective cardiac rhythm to a capacitor, initially developed for space-based electromagnetic guns, is being inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. Thursday, April 8. Established in 1988 by the U.S. Space Foundation in cooperation with NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. , the Space Technology Hall of Fame recognizes technologies originally developed for space that are making significant, positive impacts in commercial applications. To date, 25 technologies have been inducted. The Maxwell capacitor stores electrical power in portable heart defibrillators and then discharges energy to heart attack victims to re-establish a normal heartbeat. The survival rate of heart attack victims declines by 10 percent for each passing minute unless there is an effective re-start of a normal heartbeat. While available to emergency paramedics for several years, portable defibrillators have begun to be installed on airplanes and in airports, sports stadiums and arenas, shopping malls, health clubs and other public areas to increase the survival rate of people who suffer heart attacks. "This is a wonderful recognition of the achievement by our Maxwell engineering teams past and present," said Tom Horgan, interim chief executive officer of Maxwell Technologies. "With this prestigious honor, we are encouraged to continue transforming our space technology research and development into commercial products that enhance the quality of life." Four individuals from Maxwell who contributed to the capacitor's development -- Joel Ennis, John E. Gilbert, Kurt Haskell and Joseph A. Sevigny -- will be honored at a ceremony and banquet. Other 1999 inductees include the Debakey blood pump by MicroMed Technology, a miniature accelerometer accelerometer Instrument that measures acceleration. Because it is difficult to measure acceleration directly, the device measures the force exerted by restraints placed on a reference mass to hold its position fixed in an accelerating body. by Silicon Designs, and the active pixel sensor An active-pixel sensor (APS), also commonly written active pixel sensor, is an image sensor consisting of an integrated circuit containing an array of pixel sensors, each containing a photodetector and connecting to an active transistor reset and readout circuit. by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. and Photobit Corp. It was in the mid-1980s when Maxwell Laboratories, as it was formerly known, was contracted by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization Noun 1. Ballistic Missile Defense Organization - an agency in the Department of Defense that is responsible for making ballistic missile defense a reality BMDO to develop a high energy-density, thin-film capacitor to provide a "pulse" of power for space-based electromagnetic guns and accelerators. Maxwell later re-designed and marketed the capacitor for portable heart defibrillators. Other applications of the capacitor cited by the Space Technology Hall of Fame include powering Maxwell's "pulsed light" water purification and advanced sterilization systems for medical and pharmaceutical products and packaging. Called PureBright(R), the technology can destroy bacteria such as cryptosporidium cryptosporidium (krĭp'tōspərĭd`ēəm), genus of protozoans having at least four species; they are waterborne parasites that cause the disease cryptosporidiosis. and giardia Giardia /Gi·ar·dia/ (je-ahr´de-ah) a genus of flagellate protozoa parasitic in the intestinal tract of humans and other animals, which may cause giardiasis; G. lam´blia (G. intestina´lis) is the species found in humans. with a quick pulse of broad-spectrum light that is approximately 90,000 times brighter than sunlight. The PureBright systems offer advantages in speed, effectiveness and safety in commercial, municipal, industrial and scientific applications. Each year, space technologies are inducted into the Hall of Fame during the U.S. Space Foundation's National Space Symposium, a week-long, annual gathering of space policy leaders. A selection committee of nationally prominent citizens reviews each nomination against a strict criteria. Previous technologies inducted into the Hall of Fame have included global positioning systems, physiological monitoring instrumentation, stereotactic stereotactic /ster·eo·tac·tic/ (-tak´tik) 1. characterized by precise positioning in space; said especially of discrete areas of the brain that control specific functions. 2. pertaining to stereotactic surgery. breast biopsy Breast Biopsy Definition A breast biopsy is removal of breast tissue for examination by a pathologist. This can be accomplished surgically, or by withdrawing tissue through a needle. devices, excimer laser A gas laser in which a very short electrical pulse excites a mixture containing a halogen such as fluorine and a rare gas such as argon or krypton. It produces a brief, intense pulse of ultraviolet light. angioplasty, and digital imaging processing for medical applications. Maxwell Technologies is a leader in pulsed power technologies, providing pulsed power based systems and components for a wide range of commercial applications and research and development for both commercial customers and the U.S. government. The company's advanced technology solutions address diverse markets such as utilities, telecommunications, medical equipment and products, water purification, food processing and packaging, and transportation. The company also offers industrial computers and subsystems, primarily to OEMs in computer telephony and other markets, and software products and services, both for government research and for various commercial applications. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion