New Company Develops Technology to Make Land Mine Detection Safer, Faster, Cheaper; Scientist at Stevens Institute Makes the Breakthrough.

WASHINGTON, DC--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 1999--

The pain and suffering that land mines have visited on people around the world may have a technical solution.

That's because Land Mine Detection Systems, Inc. (LMDS), a new company, is developing a revolutionary technology for land mine detection. It is based on reading nonlinear acoustic signals (see following page) and was developed by Dr. Dimitri M. Donskoy, a scientist who won the USSR National Prize and is now an Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, NJ.

"Dr. Donskoy's breakthrough in land mine detection is truly a milestone achievement and Stevens is proud to host his research," said Harold J. Raveche, president of Stevens. "Land mines kill 70 people a day, cost $300 to $3000 per removal and cannot be easily identified by existing detection methods. The Donskoy technology will provide the world much needed detection capabilities that are both effective and inexpensive."

Rather than the classic "metal detector" method of mine detection, Dr. Donskoy's technology uses nonlinear acoustics to measure the differences in sound waves reflected by mines. Non-linear acoustics makes it possible to differentiate mines from other objects that tend to give false positive results under other detection methods. It also avoids the problems inherent in detecting explosive materials -- the most common of which, TNT, is difficult to detect using common methods.

Land mines are composed of three basic parts: a container, an explosive charge and a detonation device. By design, containers are acoustically compliant. Compliant articles reflect acoustic waves at a different frequency from the soil in which they are buried and at a different frequency from solid objects, such as stones or tree roots. Nevertheless, compliant articles create a distinct acoustic irrespective to their material composition, thus permitting detection of plastic, metal and wooden mines.

Dr. Donskoy created a bench model incorporating this methodology, which has proven highly successful in initial tests at Stevens Institute. LMDS's next step is to fabricate a working prototype, which will be completed in the early part of 2000, after which field tests will begin at a number of sites to be determined.

"Our technology promises to be fast, inexpensive and reliable," said Charles A. Cannon, Chief Executive Officer of LMDS. "Plus, the prototype we are developing is light, easy to maneuver and designed to maximize safety for individual soldiers and humanitarian removal work."

Land Mine Detection Systems is headquartered in Washington, DC, where Mr. Cannon is recognized as an expert in technology transfer and commercialization. It was organized and funded by the New Product Development Consortium, a New York-based international network of sophisticated investors dedicated to identifying and funding products and companies in their formative stages. NPDC negotiated terms of access to the new technology through Technology Holdings LLC, a company organized to facilitate commercialization of Stevens-developed technology.

Land Mine Detection Systems may be reached directly at 202/296-9811. Vaud Massarsky, President of the New Product Development Consortium, may be reached at 212/809-4372.