SRI International Receives Honors for Novel Magnetic Levitation Technology

MENLO PARK, Calif. (May 23, 2000) - Silicon Valley-based SRI International received both "Best of Show" awards at the Sensors and Motion Control Expositions (May 9 to 11, 2000) for its passive diamagnetic levitation system. SRI's entry won against dozens of other entries for top honors at the events, reaffirming the organization's role as a leading technology innovator. The passive diamagnetic levitation system makes non-contact suspension and transportation possible without the use of electromagnets, control systems or power.

The Sensors and Motion Control Expositions are the only events dedicated to the utilization of sensor and motion technologies and their related applications. This year's expositions, held concurrently at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, and sponsored by Sensors Magazine and the American Institute of Motion Engineers respectively, brought together over 325 companies displaying a full range of related technologies.

Diamagnetism is a property of some materials such as graphite that causes them to levitate in a stable manner in a magnetic field without power. SRI has studied this phenomenon and has recently developed passive diamagnetic levitation system technologies for several useful devices. Passive diamagnetic levitation system technology has a broad range of applications, from precise seismic sensors to frictionless micromotors, and is particularly valuable for use in clean room transport to eliminate particulate contaminants.

SRI's passive diamagnetic levitation system has created groundbreaking advances that have resulted in several patents and inventions. SRI holds the world's record for the largest diamagnetically levitated mass - 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms), which formed the basis of a revolutionary ultra-clean, low-friction transport system. This technology has proven itself ideal for combinatorial chemistry, suspending and manipulating multiple bead-sized objects to produce chemical reactions. It can also be used to create inertial, gas flow, and chemical sensors, and in the suspension of micro-robots to test semiconductors. Further information on the passive diamagnetic levitation system can be found at http://www.sri.com/esd/automation/diamagnetic.html.

About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world’s largest independent research, technology development and consulting organizations. Founded in 1946 as the Stanford Research Institute, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of global markets for more than 50 years. As part of its strategy to bring its technologies to the marketplace, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

Visit SRI on the web at http://www.sri.com/