[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 7 (Thursday, January 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S118-S119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING APPLIED THERMAL SCIENCES

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, as our country seeks a sustained 
recovery, we will be looking to innovative small businesses to 
jumpstart the Nation's economy. My home State of Maine is home to 
hundreds of such firms that display the stellar ingenuity and 
creativity of the American people. Today I recognize one of these 
businesses, Applied Thermal Sciences of Sanford, which has been at the 
cutting edge of engineering for over two decades.
  Founded as a sole-proprietorship in 1989, Applied Thermal Sciences, 
or ATS, is rooted in the promotion of thermal, structural and fluid 
sciences. Specifically, ATS, which was later incorporated in 1998, 
focuses on the research and development of fuel-efficient engines and 
propulsion systems. The company's high-skilled and diligent employees 
regularly work on a number of contracts for both government and 
industry, and their solutions are often recognized as groundbreaking. 
They fabricate prototypes in-house for testing, using computer modeling 
and simulations to ensure that these archetypes are of the highest 
quality.
  The research facilities at ATS house critical engineering 
workstations, high-tech supercomputers, various analytical tools, and 
significant experimental lab space. Additionally, the fabrication 
facilities include a machine shop and laser welding equipment, giving 
them a leg up when competing for contracts and customers.
  ATS employs a unique system that combines laser welding with a gas-
metal arc weld, thereby enabling customers to manufacture products with 
improved metallurgical properties at higher speeds and with greater 
reliability and repeatability than typically possible. Utilizing this 
distinctive method, ATS is able to provide its clients the most 
advanced and state-of-the-art technology available. Indeed, because of 
this exceptional technology, ATS recently won a major multi-year award 
from Bath Iron Works to produce hybrid laser welded panels for the 
Navy's DDG 1000 destroyer, and later earned the 2008 Department of 
Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award.
  One of ATS's most impressive prototypes is the high-performance 
toroidal engine concept, or HiPerTEC, engine. This inventive 
technology, which is hundreds of pounds lighter than a traditional 
engine of similar power, provides an unprecedented power-to-weight 
ratio in an internal combustion engine. Additionally, HiPerTEC's 
combustion processes are extraordinarily fuel efficient, a crucial 
concern for ATS's numerous clients. Another of

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ATS's ground-breaking projects is its low-cost flight test platform 
which seeks to acquire knowledge in the operation of ramjet and 
scramjet engines. Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the platform 
provides a cost savings of 90 to 95 percent, bridging the gap between 
ground testing and traditional, high-cost flight testing.
  Leading the way in accelerating remarkable technological advances, 
Applied Thermal Sciences has earned the trust of its public and private 
clients by consistently providing them with cost-effective and forward-
looking solutions. I thank Karl Hoose, the firm's president and owner, 
ATS's vice president Fred Webber, and everyone at the company for their 
remarkable work, and wish them continued success in the future.

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