. | . |
Winner Of DoD Wearable Power Prize Competition Announced
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 14, 2008 The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced that the DuPont/Smart Fuel Cell (SFC) Team was awarded a $1 million top prize for winning the Wearable Power Prize competition. Designed to spur innovation, the competition was launched in July 2007 by the DoD's Research and Engineering Directorate to help develop a long-endurance, lightweight power pack for warfighters in the field. After beginning with 169 registered entries, the ultimate testing concluded on Oct. 4 when the final six teams met at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., to determine the winner. DuPont/SFC won the competition by building the lightest wearable system that provided an average of 20 watts of power for more than 96 hours and weighed less than 4,000 grams, or 8.8 pounds. AMI of Ann Arbor, Mich., was awarded $500,000 for second place, and Jenny 600S of Middleburg, Va., won the $250,000 third place prize. All of the finalists used either fuel-cell or battery technologies or a combination of both to meet the rigorous standards set by the DoD. "The winners, and really all the teams that competed, have moved wearable power technology forward," said William Rees Jr., the deputy under secretary for defense laboratories and basic sciences. "But the real winners from this competition are our ground warfighters, as these systems show great promise to reduce the weight of batteries they have to carry while performing their critical missions." Rees, who sponsored the DoD Wearable Power Prize, also hopes this competition will inspire scientists and engineers. "The rules we developed for this DoD competition attracted small businesses, individual inventors, and large companies alike," said Rees. "Our nation has tremendous capacity for innovation, so we hope that this and future competitions also motivates the scientific community to continue important advancements in technology." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com
Outside View: Russia helo plans -- Part 1 Moscow (UPI) Oct 13, 2008 A hundred years ago, the two Breguet brothers from France, taking a leaf out of the book of the two Wright brothers from across the Channel, lifted off in their flying apparatus for the first time. This marked the birth of a vertical ascent plane. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |