Senator Patrick Leahy, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee announced today major federal funding for MicroStrain and Triosyn, both of Williston, for a total of $3.2 million. MicroStrain produces sensors used to provide crucial data on the safety of US Navy aircraft. MicroStrain has doubled its employment since 2007, from 25 to now 50 employees. The new $2.4 million Department of Defense contract for the company to will allow it to continue to develop independently powered wireless sensors to help the Navy monitor wear and tear on its helicopters.
Since 2006, Leahy has secured $8.1 million worth of contracts for the firm to develop a system of state-of-the-art sensors, power systems and processing equipment that will help the Navy reduce repair costs, reduce the number of equipment-related failures and ensure the safety of those flying the aircraft. MicroStrain recently moved to a new building in Williston
Triosyn is also the beneficiary of a Defense contract and has seen even greater growth. Leahy announced $800,000 in funding for Triosyn, which only had eight employees as recently as July, and now has 75. It will hire another 75 in January. If business continues to grow, company officials said they could hire another 75 beyond that by adding a third production line.
Triosyn develops antimicrobial products such as surgical masks. The new funding will help the company develop antimicrobial wound dressings. The company’s technology is also used in tents to screen out microbs without the use of expensive and bulky devices requiring an energy source. Leahy said the wound dressings will significantly reduce infections.
Triosyn, originally founded in Montreal but now based in Vermont, has grown significantly this year due to sales of its antimicrobial masks. The H1N1 pandemic has increased demand for the masks enough that production employment at Triosyn by the end of the year will be about 2 million masks. The goal for 2010 is 10 million masks, according to the company.
Triosyn is running three shifts, six days to keep up with demand. If the third line is ordered, the company would have to expand out of its existing facility, officials said, but likely remain in Williston. Along with defense contracts, Triosyn has large commercial accounts and is a major supplier to Japan.
During a tour of MicroStrain’s new virtual helicopter -- a high-tech lab featuring key components of the Navy’s Seahawk HH-60 helicopter – Leahy announced that the new contract will allow the company to continue its work developing independently powered wireless sensors to help the Navy monitor wear and tear on its helicopters. Since 2006 Leahy has secured $8.1 million in contracts for the firm to develop a system of state-of-the-art sensors, power systems and processing equipment that will help the Navy reduce repair costs, reduce the number of equipment-related failures and ensure the safety of those flying the aircraft. Since Leahy began working with MicroStrain, the company has more than doubled in size and recently completed a move into a new facility.
“We’re proud of our many breakthroughs in advanced wireless sensor networks,” said MicroStrain’s President and CEO, Steve Arms. “We’ve created autonomous structural monitoring systems that operate perpetually using only the ambient energies of operation for power. This clearly shows the potential of using energy harvesting and wireless sensors to collect data from areas that have previously been impossible to monitor. We’re looking forward to the next phase of this project which is taking the system onto real helicopters in flight and we thank the US Navy and Senator Leahy for their continued support.”
MicroStrain is a manufacturer of inertial measurement systems, micro‐displacement transducers, and wireless sensing networks. MicroStrain’s sensing systems are used in a wide variety of applications, including testing new designs, controlling critical processes, navigating unmanned vehicles, and monitoring the health of structures and machines. Recognized as an innovator in the sensors industry, MicroStrain has received ten Best of Sensors Expo Gold awards for its new products. www.microstrain.com
The Department of Defense contract for Triosyn will allow the company to develop an antimicrobial wound dressing to help reduce deadly infections. This most recent contract comes on the heels of more than $15 million in Leahy-secured federal investments that helped develop an antimicrobial mask for the military that kills on contact 99.9 percent of viruses. According to Leahy, these contracts helped Triosyn develop a similar commercially available mask that has been a vital key to Triosyn’s success and expansion in Vermont.
“Triosyn’s new contract with the Department of Defense is another critical step in the continued development of our cutting-edge, antimicrobial technology, and it was made possible by the foresight and sustained commitment of Senator Leahy,” said Triosyn President and CEO Pierre-Jean Messier. “Senator Leahy understands the vital importance of the work Triosyn is doing, and with his support, we have made significant strides in 2009, greatly increasing production capacity at our Williston-based manufacturing facility and in the process bringing important jobs to the state of Vermont.”
“The men and women who serve in our armed forced depend upon the men and women working in companies like MicroStrain and Triosyn for state of the art equipment to help them succeed in their missions and to help keep them safe,” said Leahy. “The leadership, engineers, and many employees working at these two companies are on the leading edge of science. MicroStrain’s sensors and Triosyn’s antimicrobial products will revolutionize how the military protects our troops – by keeping helicopters and airplanes flying more safely and by reducing the risk of infection to injured troops.”
Triosyn Corp is the engineering and US production facility of Safe Life Corp of San Diego, a company dedicated to developing novel, antimicrobial technologies and products that help prevent the spread of infection and disease. Founded in 2006, the company has developed a family of next-generation, NIOSH-certified respirators, including the Safe Life A400 Series N95 Respirator and the Safe Life T5000 Series P95 Respirator. With more than 100 patents and patents pending, the company’s antimicrobial is an EPA-registered, solid-state antimicrobial that successfully harnesses the power of iodine, which has a nearly 200-year track record for being effective against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. The company has garnered regulatory approvals, licenses, clearances registrations and certifications from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), INSPEC (EU) and Health Canada.
Source: Leahy's office. Vermont Business Magazine. 11.16.2009
Leahy announces $3.2 million in contracts to two Vermont firms
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