T&S Brass
Founded in 1947, the company introduced its full line of foodservice plumbing products and established T&S as the premiere manufacturer in the industry a mere three years later. T&S is among the first commercial plumbing manufacturers to be registered by UL to ISO 9001 certification.

Within the plumbing/foodservice industry, the spray valve is used in conjunction with a pre-rinse unit to prepare food, clean dishes, etc. Because of the heavy use of water in these environments, water conservation is the primary concern. Additionally, specific laws have been established to regulate the acceptable gpm (gallons per minute) a pre-rinse unit can use in these facilities.

With the B-0108 JetSpray, T&S Brass has developed a product that gives the user a device that is legally acceptable, environmentally friendly and can operate as a low-flow unit without sacrificing performance.

http://www.tsbrass.com

Upstate Forever
Founded in 1998 Upstate Forever has over 3,500 members and a staff of 21. The membership-based, nonprofit organization covers ten counties (Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, and Union) with three main programs: Land Trust, Sustainable Communities, and Clean Air and Water.

In 2007, Upstate Forever purchased a 1916 single family home for “Green Renovations.” The house had deteriorated badly and contained asbestos, termite damage, rotted woodwork, and fire damage, all of which had to be addressed before it could begin the actual renovation work. After several regulatory hurdles (City of Greenville’s Design and Preservation Commission) construction and renovation work began in early 2008. The staff moved in to its completed workspace on October 1, 2008.

http://www.upstateforever.org

Techtronic Industries North America

Founded in 1985, TTI has a long history of world-famous brands stretching back at least one hundred and fifty years.

TTI’s entry is a RIDGID® R3400 Fiber Cement Saw. This entire tool is designed to keep the user safe from harmful dust particles while maintaining tool-less bevel adjustment and superior cutting speeds. Features of the RIDGID R3400 include

• active dust extraction system
• 33% smaller than the competition (11.7 lbs)
• Less than 8 amps are drawn
• Additives in the body and handles sufficiently protect the user from static electric shock
• New blade design

KEMET Electronics Corporation
KEMET Corporation applies world-class service and quality to deliver industry-leading, high-performance capacitance solutions to its customers around the world. KEMET offers the world's most complete line of surface-mount and through-hole capacitor technologies including Tantalum, Ceramic, Film, Aluminum, Electrolytic, and Paper types.

KEMET capacitors – some smaller than a grain of salt – are fundamental components that store, filter, and regulate electrical energy and current flow. They are found in virtually all electronic applications and products used today, including those in the computer, telecommunication, automotive, military and aerospace, medical, industrial/instrumentation (including lighting), and consumer market segments. "High Reliability" (Hi-Rel) versions of KEMET capacitors have shared in every important military/aerospace effort from the first Telstar to Viking, the Apollo moon landing, the Patriot missile, and the Mir and International Space Stations. KEMET capacitors were also present in both the Pathfinder probe and the Sojourner rover during their historic explorations of Mars.

The company markets its capacitors to a large and diverse group of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers, and electronics distributors around the world. Production is measured in the billions of pieces per year.

Tantalum pentoxide is a highly-preferred dielectric for capacitors due to its reliability and high capacitance capability in a small package. The first Tantalum capacitors employed a wet electrolyte as the cathode and were introduced around 1940. These devices are well-suited to high-voltage applications but are not surface-mountable (i.e., they cannot be mounted to circuit boards using high-speed, automated “pick-and-place” machines) and have high equivalent series resistance (ESR). In the 1950’s, the technology made a major leap forward with the introduction of solid electrolyte Tantalum capacitors based on manganese dioxide (MnO2) as the cathode. These devices could be surface mounted, were more volumetrically efficient, and exhibited greatly reduced ESR compared to the wet Tantalum devices. In the late 1990’s, the introduction of intrinsically conductive polymer (ICP) as a replacement for the MnO2 cathode again revolutionized the capacitance landscape. The use of conductive polymer offered a new cathode material set – one a thousand times more conductive than MnO2 – with a more benign failure mode (non-burning). These improvements allowed Tantalum-polymer capacitors to rapidly gain popularity throughout the design community as engineers quickly took advantage of this new technology to replace Tantalum-MnO2 and ceramic capacitors in various applications. These devices exhibited excellent reliability at low working voltages (less than or equal to 10 Volts); however, reliability suffered at higher working voltages and no products were offered for applications exceeding 19 Volts. The development of Tantalum capacitors utilizing pre-polymerized conductive polymer dispersions has enabled KEMET to overcome the previous voltage restrictions. Similar to the revolutionary changes in capacitance landscape when Tantalum capacitors moved from wet to MnO2 and subsequently to polymer cathode systems, this new polymer-based cathode system greatly expands the applications in which capacitors based on Tantalum pentoxide dielectric will be the component of choice. In order to bring this new cathode to market, the development team had to overcome multiple problems with surface wetting and interfacial adhesion, as well as the unique properties of the dispersion itself. The team worked with suppliers to develop ancillary materials compatible with the new cathode system. Advanced analytical techniques such as thermal gravimetric analysis-mass spectroscopy (TGA-MS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and stress-strain curves enabled the team to better understand the properties of and interactions within the new material set and ultimately develop innovative processing methods to harness the potential of conductive polymer dispersions. Marketed as the T521 series, these 1st-to-market products are currently capable of functioning in 25-Volt applications with higher voltage ratings now in the late stages of development. The T521 series will also offer higher capacitance values when compared to conventional Tantalum-polymer capacitors in all voltage applications exceeding 16 Volts.

http://www.kemet.com

CQ Media Networks
CQ Media Networks was launched as a division of Cynergi Systems, an award-winning AV technology integrator in South Carolina. CQ Media Networks services include:

• Application design & development
• Web-based programming & engineering li>H.264 streaming IPTV systems
• Dynamic Digital Signage
• HD video conferencing bridging services

SensorTech
SensorTech is an advanced materials company commercializing a “smart” polymer technology (smart plastics) originally developed at Clemson University’s Department of Bioengineering. This technology transforms ordinary plastic polymers into electrically conductive sensors that can measure pressure, force, torque, and vibration. Dr. Andrew Clark, the Company’s Chief Technology Officer, led the research to develop this new material and method to directly measure contact between two surfaces. In 2005 Dr. Clark and Dr. Martine LaBerge, Professor of Bioengineering at Clemson University, were named co-inventors of this patent pending sensing material. In May, 2007 Chuck Pringle and Dr. Clark founded SensorTech and located temporary offices for the Company at the Clemson University incubator facility in Pendleton, S.C. In July, 2007 SensorTech was admitted into the S.C. Launch! Program and received a University Startup Assistance Grant. The Company moved from Pendleton, SC to Greenville, SC in January, 2008. In June, 2008 SensorTech became the exclusive licensee for the foundational patent with the Clemson University Research Foundation (CURF). It includes 37 broad claims based on the invention of a conductive composite material formed of a polymer and conductive filler. The first commercially available product will launch in late 2009.

SensorTech’s patent pending technology converts polymers into “smart plastics” to help make other company’s products and processes more intelligent. The material itself can be used as a sensor or it can be used as a component in other sensors in a wide variety of applications to measure contact force because of its durability, formability, accuracy, cost effectiveness and wide range of measurement. The electrical properties of our smart polymer sensors draw as much as 100 times less current than traditional sensors making them ideal for wireless/battery applications and energy conservation. The formability of our smart polymer sensors enables measurement of 3-D surfaces. Our technology can be developed into load cells and transducers which measure single points of force or pressure distribution sensors which measure multiple points of force. Smart polymer sensors increase productivity and improve performance.

http://www.sensortechllc.com

Dr. Tom Strange

Michelin Americas Research Company
Michelin Americas Research Company is a Division of Michelin North America, located on a 100-acre site in southern Greenville County and with approximately 900 employees.
The Energy Saver A/S tire is Michelin North America’s most fuel-efficient All-Season Passenger car tire developed for the drivers of hybrid and fuel-efficient passenger cars that want to exploit their vehicle’s fuel economy without abandoning dry, wet and wintertime traction.
Representing the forefront of Michelin Green X technology, Energy Saver A/S tires can enhance vehicle operating efficiency and environmental impact by reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions while delivering year-round traction, even in light snow.

http://www.michelin-us.com/