COURTESY WILLIAMS AEROSPACE Poseidon unmanned aerial vehicles are under development by Williams Aerospace, a high-tech company that works with Oceanit, which in turn works with Ambient Micro. CLICK FOR LARGE

Maui firm wins military contract

As Hawaii high-tech companies ride a wave of unprecedented cooperation, a Maui firm has won a $750,000 Air Force contract in part to develop a novel power source for robot aircraft.

The two-year contract to Ambient Micro LLC, based at the Maui Research & Technology Center, also will focus on the development of miniaturized power supplies for aircraft sensors.

"We are pleased to hear about the Ambient Micro contract," Ted Liu, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said yesterday. "We hope that this is one of many contracts that will be coming to Hawaii's high-tech business community."

A stronger local high-tech sector has been a goal stated frequently this year by Gov. Linda Lingle.

Ambient Micro will team up with two other local companies, Oceanit and Williams Aerospace, for the Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract.

"This is a very competitive award and it's one of the biggest government R&D contracts awarded to a Hawaii company so far this year," said Ambient Micro President Scott Weeker, who credited government support and a team approach for his small firm's success. "Teaming is a common way for companies to collaborate on proposals for development contracts."

In an industry once marked by competitive jealousy and suspicion, representatives of about 25 or 30 high-tech companies, part of what's known as the Dual Use Network, have been meeting once a month for breakfast or lunch to swap notes on research and technological requirements. Presentations by two or three companies are typically followed by a report from a supporting organization such as the High Technology Development Corporation or the Maui Economic Development Board.

That show of trust has resulted in several lucrative partnerships.

Ambient Micro recently teamed up as a subcontractor to Oceanit to provide an energy-harvesting power supply for border-monitoring sensors for a proposal to the Department of Homeland Security. And Oceanit will supply a light, heat-resistant material for unmanned aerial vehicles produced by Williams Aerospace.

"All the companies realize that we need to start working closer together to create more competitive proposals," said Ian Kitajima, Oceanit's marketing manager, who will join Weeker and other local execs for a "first Wednesday" lunch today at Sam Choy's on Nimitz Highway.

Ambient Micro specializes in energy harvesting, sometimes called photon harvesting or scavenging, which involves making use of electromagnetic radiation (including light, heat and radio waves) and vibrations in the immediate environment. The combined energy continuously recharges a small battery, making it possible to operate remote devices indefinitely.

The contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory will focus on developing miniature power supplies for aircraft sensors and also larger power systems for UAVs, or drones. Part of the power will come from the heat generated by the UAV's own engine.

The UAVs will be supplied by Williams Aerospace, while Oceanit will help with microchip design and fabrication and study the effects of the heat-harvesting devices on the aircraft's aerodynamics.

"We discovered that we could scale up the technology to not only power microsensors, but also the electrical power required for UAV communications, avionics and sensor payloads," Weeker said. "The goal of this technology is to increase the endurance and survivability of unmanned aircraft."

The Ambient Micro technology was developed under the state Hawaii Technology Development Venture, a project of the Office of Naval Research administered by the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research.