DOD dishes $3.3M for Block Engineering sensors

By Mass High Tech staff

Video Gallery

MHT's Efrain Viscarolasaga: Soldier tech heads to Afghanistan

MHT's Galen Moore: Military snipers aid accuracy with iPhone

Raytheon BBN's translation system attract $5.5M Army deal [January 17, 2012]

Blog: Sci-fi war boat is real, hiding in Portsmouth [January 11, 2012]

Mercury Computer paying $70M for KOR Electronics [December 23, 2011]

RemoteReality follows money to new Connecticut HQ [December 22, 2011]

Block Engineering LLC reports it has landed $3.3 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop miniature infrared sensors.

The funding is comprised of several contracts from undisclosed Department of Defense agencies.

Under the deals, Marlborough-based Block will develop ultra-miniaturized infrared spectrometers. The company plans to base the technology on its microelectromechanical (MEMS) and quantum cascade laser technologies.

For more than 50 years, privately held Block has been well-known in the niche space of spectrometry -- the use of light and radiation to identify and research matter. The company has worked with organizations including the Department of Defense and NASA, using refrigerator-sized spectrometers to identify substances. But in 2005, the need for smaller types of equipment caused the company to move from refrigerator-sized units to handheld and smaller units.

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.