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FROM THE EDITOR: SMITHS DETECTION ILLUSTRATES KEY INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL SENSOR DEVELOPMENT.

Article Excerpt
Since sensors are vital components in products and systems used in a wide range of very significant established and emerging applications, there are always opportunities for developing and successfully commercializing new, innovative sensor technologies. However, the process of shepherding and transforming an innovative sensor technology into a successful and viable sensor company requires considerable skills in identifying, targeting, and making inroads in key markets/applications for the technology and in cultivating and capturing key sources of resources and funding for the new technology to germinate and thrive.

Cyrano Sciences (www.cyranosciences.com), which now operates as Smiths Detection-Pasadena, Inc. (Pasadena, CA, 626-744-1700)(www.smithsdetection.com), illustrates how a company with a sensor technology that provides a lower-cost yet elegant solution for a range of key markets/applications is able to gain the resources required to realize the key potential of its sensing technology and to significantly grow its business.

Moreover, Smiths Detection-Pasadena, Inc.'s management has been a key factor in driving the development and commercialization of the company's e-nose chemical sensor technology (i.e., chemical sensing devices that use an array of non-specific sensors coupled with some form of pattern recognition software to analyze the response patterns from the substance of interest). Management has skillfully and flexibly guided the company (established in 1997) to target particularly promising applications; and they have had the insight to identify homeland security and defense as having particularly significant opportunities for the company's chemical sensing arrays and data interpretation software.

Smiths Detection, one of four operating divisions of Smiths Group plc, (www.smiths-group.com) acquired Cyrano Sciences, Inc. in March for $15 million plus an earn-out (future consideration based on sales performance over several years). Smiths Detection-Pasadena, Inc. reports to Smith Detection's US Defense Group (Edgewood, Maryland, 410-510-9100). This group is focused on meeting the goals of the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence communities.

Steven Sunshine, president of Smiths Detection-Pasadena, Inc., and Cyrano Sciences' president and CEO prior to the acquisition, explained that key factors contributing to Smiths Detection's success include its very talented team of scientists and engineers and its strategy of focusing on developing a flexible e-nose platform that is capable of addressing a breadth of applications and of being used in different market segments.

Sunshine noted that Smiths Detection-Pasadena, Inc. is primarily focusing on developing small, low-cost, easier to use chemical sensors for homeland security (e.g., first responders, counter terrorism) and defense applications. Such sensors can, moreover, address multiple markets. He added that the acquisition allows the former Cyrano Sciences to partner with a larger player with significant resources, thereby optimizing its opportunities in...

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