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Amulaire Is Targeting Future Military Tankers With Cool Technology

BY AMY YARNALL

The success of one small San Diego startup may rest on the success of combat vehicles of the future.

The U.S. military is considering installing Amulaire Thermal Technology’s liquid cooling device in the motor drives of advanced “hybrid” vehicles, or those designed to carry ammunition and water to troops under wartime conditions.

The hybrid combat vehicle will have a diesel engine that generates electricity as it turns.

After generating energy, the power runs to each part of the hybrid through an intricate wiring system.

Wilsonville, Ore.’s Rinehart Motion Systems LLC is developing a motor for the Army’s Future Combat Systems’ family of ground combat vehicles.

The advantages of the military moving to hybrid vehicles are increased horsepower, fuel efficiency and little wasted energy.

Future Combat Systems is responsible for research and development for the U.S. military and has been working on changing military vehicles over to hybrid.

The Army’s Future Combat Systems division that is putting together the hybrid combat vehicle did not return repeated phone calls.


Look Ma, No Machines

Memo Romero, co-founder of Rinehart Motion Systems, said Amulaire’s technology is really cool, because it uses molded copper, a difficult material to work with.

“We started working with them, doing research on advanced materials for motor control devices,” Romero said. “They are one of the few companies that can successfully mold copper. I’ve only found four companies worldwide that can do that.”

Romero said liquid-cooling devices made of copper can reduce heat in a motor more effectively than aluminum and steel.

By taking advantage of proprietary metal injection molding manufacturing technologies, the company can mold cold plates out of copper in essentially any shape conceivable, without machining, and produce them in high volume.

“Amulaire is taking liquid-cooled cold plates to a new generation because we can place injection mold in copper, in high volume, essentially any shape or design that can be created in plastic , without machining or soldering,” said Paul Hoffman, Amulaire’s chief executive officer. “By increasing both the fin density and the complexity of the cold plate design, Amulaire enables even higher thermal performance from liquid cooling systems. Designers can now choose cold plates with the optimal shapes, pin and fin configurations, materials and thermal performance to achieve their specific design goals.”


The Ground’s The Limit

If Rinehart’s motor drive design is selected for the ground combat vehicle design then the company’s liquid cooling plates will be in every ground vehicle of the future.

“It’s not a done deal,” according to Hoffman. Amulaire’s liquid cooling plates range in price from $30 to $500.

He said the startup is on course to grow 40 percent in 2007, depending on whether or not the military selects its technology.

Hoffman declined to disclose revenue figures, but said part of the reason for its projected growth rests with projects such as the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems hybrid combat vehicle.

Transitioning from one market to the next and maintaining a profit is a challenge for Amulaire, according to Hoffman.


A Time Of Transition

The transition from servicing computer PCs with liquid cooling devices, to a possible deal with the military hybrids, to now putting the product out on the commercial market is something Hoffman’s company is up for.

Amulaire began as Advanced Thermal Technology, primarily focused on air cooling for PCs and the semiconductor industry.

Hoffman, an analyst at Tallwood Venture Capital in Silicon Valley, which invested in the business in 2004, became the CEO.

Hoffman, who did not disclose the amount of Tallwood’s investment, said Amulaire was down to its last million dollars before Tallwood provided additional backing.

“I was intrigued with the company, I looked at companies all day for a living and I saw there was a place for (the) company to be really successful,” Hoffman said.

The technology is well suited for the upscale heat market (where cooling technology is used) and Hoffman says Amulaire can be successful.

The company has eight employees in San Diego and 85 in Taiwan.

Besides Tallwood, the firm is backed by InveStar Capital, iD TechVentures and AsiaVest Partners.

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