Posted on 09/10/2002 10:23:27 PM PDT by doug from upland
Former Security Chief Of El Al Airlines Says New Technology Will 'Revolutionize Aviation Security'
IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Few people have heard of HiEnergy Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HIET) of Irvine, California, but the company's Founder, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Dr. Bogdan Maglich, has been a key player in global scientific circles for half a century. Soon, both he and his latest discovery will make HiEnergy a dominant player in the high stakes aviation security market, a market that industry research predicts will experience compound annual growth of 47 percent, from $600-million in 2002 to $8-billion by the end of the decade.
With the U.S. government spending billions of dollars on often ineffective and unreliable bomb detection equipment, HiEnergy is moving quickly to demonstrate the superiority of its newly developed technology, which Dr. Maglich says, will be the "ultimate weapon" against terror.
"To the best of our knowledge, HiEnergy has the only stoichiometric technology in the world. That means it can conclusively chemically identify hidden objects and substances, such as explosives, biological weapons and illegal drugs," said Dr. Maglich. "There are several other detection technologies being offered for explosive detection -- such as X-ray technology. However, the HiEnergy stoichiometric explosive detection technology, which is essentially fast neutron scanning, is the only known technology to determine the chemical formula for definite identification of the substance in question."
What sets HiEnergy's solution apart from current technology is its ability to accurately determine the chemical composition of a concealed substance, whether it is explosives, biological weapons or illegal drugs. Today, the most commonly employed detection technology is the X-ray, which can retrieve precise 3D images of the density of objects. But the X-ray is "chemically blind" and thus unable to identify the contents of a suitcase or container without opening it. In contrast, HiEnergy's SuperSenzor and MicroSenzor can detect a concealed substance within the item being scanned.
Several successful demonstrations have been conducted including a Department of Defense funded detection of explosive simulants through 3/4 inches of steel. The technology has also been successfully used to chemically fingerprint an Anthrax stimulant. Hi-Energy says there is no device with comparable performance "on the market or on the drawing board." The company expects to receive a patent for the technology by the end of 2002 and quickly move to commercialize its product line.
"We're going to bring a revolution to aviation security," said Isaac Yeffet, former Director of Global Security for El Al Israel Airlines Ltd., and a consultant to HiEnergy. "Through the eventual commercialization of its systems, HiEnergy will enable security personnel to immediately identify possible safety threats without relying solely on the objective results produced by the X-ray and MRI technology-based systems in place today."
Hi-Energy has developed eight market segments that would potentially benefit from its technology, including the bulk screening of airline baggage.
It believes its systems will significantly reduce false alarm rates and identify a wider variety of substances than current CT scanning systems. The company also expects to market its system to the U.S. Customs Service, which could use it to screen entire trucks for explosives, biological weapons and drugs. HiEnergy's technology has also been proven successful in detecting both metal and plastic cased landmines.
ABOUT HIENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
HiEnergy Technologies, Inc. believes that it has developed the first stoichiometric explosive detection technology that remotely determines the chemical formula of concealed substances, including explosives, biological weapons, and illegal drugs. "Stoichiometric" means detection that deciphers the chemical formula of unknown substances through barriers in a short period of time. HiEnergy's systems may apply to several markets, including airport security screening, bio-weapons detection, landmine detection, and contraband detection, in addition to chemical and petrochemical industry applications.
HiEnergy's technology has been developed through several years of research and under grants from the Department of Defense and the US Customs agency.
Fast neutron scanning --- what is the critical function of the device that does the scanning?
Now that is flat out incredible!!!
What, I wonder, is an anthrax "stimulant"? And was this a specification for the DoD funding?
Could this be an oblique reference to the "surprising additive", thus far unidentified, found in the Leahy-Daschle letters?
Verrrrrry interesting. I wonder if "fast newtron scanning" is meant to imply the rate at which neutrons are scanned or does it imply that "fast" neutrons are used in the process. At any rate, you would want to use some pretty good shielding around a device like that.
Actually, "stoichiometric" is probably the wrong word for the process as it has to do with proportions of various components of chemical reactions, not the identity of the reactants themselves.
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