Ember Corp. and Honeywell International will collaborate on a $10 million cost-share project co-funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) that will pursue development of energy-saving wireless mesh networking applications for federally designated “industries of the future,” Ember announced today. The project is part of a $61 million national program, announced in November by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, to improve energy efficiency in strategic industries such as petrochemicals, electric power and manufacturing.
Ember, a developer of embedded wireless mesh networking technology, and Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) business will create a new wireless system architecture that minimizes power consumption in heavy industrial facilities. Ember will provide the embedded wireless networking intelligence that ties together sensor, radio communications and security technologies from other team members. Ember’s EmberNet‰ is a resilient mesh networking protocol that creates robust, self-organizing, self-healing, easy-to-deploy networks.
“This highly collaborative project is a bold step toward capturing the potential in emerging wireless and sensing technologies to serve the needs of manufacturers across several industries,” said Dan Sheflin, Honeywell ACS vice president and chief technology officer.. “Honeywell is delighted to work with Ember, whose wireless expertise and communications software will be critical in enabling wireless devices to easily link together in practical, low-cost and highly reliable systems.”
Ember and Honeywell plan to develop monitoring applications to stem energy loss from industrial components like steam traps, electric motors, etc. Honeywell estimates the wireless mesh network monitoring applications can save up to 192 trillion BTUs (British thermal units) of energy per year, with corresponding cost reductions and environmental benefits. That’s nearly as much energy as the entire state of Washington generated by burning natural gas in 2003.
“The Honeywell team will change industrial energy management for the better,” said Ember CEO Jeff Grammer. “Energy efficiency measures were plateaued for years because although there was the will and the technology to conserve energy, it was impossible at any given time to know which parts of an operation were working inefficiently. The advances we’ve made in wireless mesh technology over the last few years change all that. Now, companies can put energy sensing devices everywhere in their operation and tie them together with networks that get energy consumption information in the hands of people who can put it to good use.”
About Honeywell
Honeywell International is a diversified technology and manufacturing leader based in Morris Township, N.J. With 2002 revenues of $22 billion, the company serves customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; specialty chemicals; fibers; and electronic and advanced materials. The company’s shares are traded on the New York, London, Chicago and Pacific Stock Exchanges. Honeywell is one of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average; it is also a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. For additional information, please visit www.honeywell.com. Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) group is a global leader in providing product and service solutions that improve efficiency and profitability, support regulatory compliance, and maintain safe, comfortable environments in homes, buildings and industry. For more information about (SBE/SBU name), access http://www.acs.honeywell.com/.
About Ember Corporation
Ember removes the barriers to embedded networking. Ember’s self-organizing, self-healing, wireless mesh technology is uncompromisingly robust, easy to use, and flexible. The EmberNet networking platform gives forward-thinking companies the means to create products that do more by communicating better. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Ember Corporation is a privately held company focused on enhancing sensing and control products through wireless connectivity for customers such as Sensitech, Tyco Thermal Controls, and Advance Transformer Company, a division of Philips Electronics. For more information, call 617-951-0200 or visit http://www.ember.com.
