ON THE RIGHT SCENT; FIRM'S `SNIFFER' UNITS FRAGRANT WITH POTENTIAL.Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer Five years ago, over frankfurters and beer at a hot dog stand A hot dog stand is a food business stand that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter on a public thoroughfare such as a road, street, mall or food court. on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. , aerospace consultants David Haberman and David Walker David Walker may refer to:
The pair had learned of a technology developed at Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). and available for commercialization that used an air-sniffing computer chip to detect hydrogen gas. Believing hydrogen would play a growing role in industry, and that existing sensors were too expensive and bulky to keep pace, Walker and Haberman created DCH DCH Department of Community Health DCH Diploma in Child Health DCH Defend Council Housing (UK) DCH Data Channel DCH Dil Chahta Hai (movie) DCH Dhaka Community Hospital Technology Inc. to bring the technology to market. The rest, as they say, is history. Well, not quite. After five years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Valencia-based company's three standard-bearer products are starting to gain acceptance. But so far, DCH has generated little in the way of sales, with 1998 revenues of $215,000 and a net loss of more than $4 million. The company's stock, which peaked as high $8.25 following its initial public offering in 1996, closed Friday at $1. Still, Walker and Haberman say they are confident of the firm's prospects. ``We have no debt, the founders remain in control of the company and our products are quite good,'' said Haberman, DCH's chairman and vice president of planning. At least a few others agree. James Stock's Stock Tips, a Las Vegas-based investor newsletter, declared the company was ``farther along than they've ever been to meeting their corporate goals'' and said it may be one of the market's best-kept secrets. At the heart of the DCH game plan is the sensor chip itself. Developed at Sandia, a U.S. Department of Energy research lab, it consists of a thin layer of palladium nickel alloy Noun 1. nickel alloy - an alloy whose main constituent is nickel nickel-base alloy alloy, metal - a mixture containing two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements usually fused together or dissolving into each other when molten; "brass sandwiched on top of an integrated circuit integrated circuit (IC), electronic circuit built on a semiconductor substrate, usually one of single-crystal silicon. The circuit, often called a chip, is packaged in a hermetically sealed case or a nonhermetic plastic capsule, with leads extending from it for . When it comes into contact with hydrogen atoms, even at minute levels, the alloy spits protons directly into the integrated circuit's logic cells. Using that same basic technology, DCH has developed a hand-held device for hunting down leaks, a model for installation on hydrogen-powered devices, and a version for use in permanent locales where hydrogen might seep out, such as at a nuclear power plant or waste-treatment center. Together, the three applications have a potential market of $200 million, the company estimates. By outsourcing the manufacturing of the sensors to industrial giant Allied Signal, DCH has managed to keep its staff and capital investments down. The company's staff of 11 consists primarily of engineers working to refine the sensor and develop new applications. Haberman and Walker, meanwhile, have been working to establishing relationships with a bevy bevy a flock of birds. of blue chip names they hope will result in 1999 sales of between $3 million and $4 million. A DCH sensor flew aboard a NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. mission last year to test the device's extraterrestrial applications. Westinghouse recently certified the technology for use at a Russian nuclear power plant it is retrofitting. And Northrup Grumman Corp. is using DCH products in its metallurgy division. Other customers include Ford Motor Co., Lockheed Martin Defense Systems and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute. Still, the fact remains that demand for hydrogen sensors of any sort is limited. While the element is a key ingredient in the fuel cells that environmentalists believe will one day power cars, hydrogen sensor sales currently total in the thousands worldwide, not millions. But if just two or three companies opted to include DCH devices on a broad basis - say, in every fuel-cell car Ford produces - it would mean a windfall for the company, Haberman said. With increased sniffing of DCH by investors and customers alike, Haberman said things look positive. ``We've been distinctly poor at communications . . . but the neat part is the phone keeps ringing'' from potential customers, he said. ``It just seems like everything's clicking and coming together.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) From left, DCH Vice President David Walker, Chairman David Haberman and President William Firestone hold DCH components. (2--Color) At the heart of DCH's game plan is the sensor chip itself. Hans Gutknecht/Daily News |
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