43 



demonstration project at the Weyerhaeuser paper mill in New Bern, 

 North Carolina. Thermochem has grown from three employees at the 

 time of their first SBIR award (from DOE) to 70 employees today. 



TRI, Inc. (formerly TeleRobotics International) of Knoxville, 

 Tennessee used DOE SBIR funding to develop a remotely operable 

 video camera for security and surveillance applications. The 

 product, "Omniview," is an omni-directional video viewing system 

 that can capture an entire hemispherical (180 degrees) field of 

 view, electronically providing pan, tilt, zoom, rotation, and 

 magnification throughout the image with no moving parts. 

 Omniview offers greater reliability over mechanical systems which 

 require motors, lubricants, and wires, i.e., things that can go 

 wrong. Recognizing the value of this technology. Motorola 

 Corporation has provided a multi-million dollar investment in TRI 

 for the rights to manufacture and market the Omniview product. 

 As a result, the company is valued at $24 million, a tremendous 

 achievement for a firm with only six employees. Further growth 

 is expected: in the next year, employment is anticipated to 

 triple; within three to five years, TRI's partner is expected to 

 increase its investment by 200 percent. TRI claims that it would 

 not have attracted its follow-on investment had it not been for 

 their DOE SBIR awards and their subsequent participation in the 

 DOE Commercialization Assistance Program. 



