Electrotechnologies for Home and Business

New Products for Business, Industry on View at Electrotechnology Expo

Technologies that are improving the competitiveness of businesses and industries as diverse as fast food and graphic arts, were on display June 2 and 3, 1997 at the first Electrotechnology Expo, held in the East Wing Rotunda of the Pennsylvania State Capitol.
The Electrotechnology Expo was sponsored by the Energy Association of Pennsylvania (EAPA), in cooperation with the Commonwealth.

Technologies on display included:

• A flash-bake oven that can turn out a pizza in 90 seconds. The flash-bake oven could revolutionize the pizza business. One major company's guarantee of a delivered pizza within 30 minutes could be altered dramatically.
  
  

• Ultra-violet curing equipment designed to quick-cure inks, coatings, adhesives and sealants for graphic arts firms, electronics, medical equipment suppliers and even automotive painting. The ultra-violet curing equipment could reduce drying and curing times at reduced energy cost and in an environmentally-friendly process.
  
  

• Solid State Heatmodules that provide radiant heating as primary or supplementary heating for homes or businesses
  
  

• Geothermal heating and cooling for homes and businesses, the most efficient and environmentally-friendly heating and cooling system currently available
  
  

• Induction heating and melting systems.
  
  

The Electrotechnology Expo, free to the public,   included demonstrations of several products. A seminar on electrotechnologies, with explanations of the advantages of particular technologies and their economic significance for the Commonwealth, was conducted by a representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and by Mark Mills, a physicist and president of Mills-McCarthy & Associates, a strategic marketing and technology firm.

Innovative Electric Vehicle on Display at  Electrotechnology Expo

The BOMBARDIER "Neighborhood Electric Vehicle" (NEV), a golf-cart-size, two-passenger vehicle, was one of the new products on display at the Electrotechnology Expo.

Although electric vehicles are not new in the sense that many of the products and processes on display at the Expo represent the leading edge of electrotechnology, the BOMBARDIER NEV embodied a different concept than does the current generation of electrically-powered vehicles. The NEV, as its name denotes, is designed for neighborhood, short-hop driving, not for the highway. The little vehicle has a maximum speed of 25 miles-per-hour and a range of about 30 miles on a single charge. Both California and Florida have enacted laws permitting the use of slow-moving vehicles in specially-designated lanes on public roads with 25-mph speed limits. The BOMBARDIER NEV has already won fans in retirement communities in Arizona, where shopping, medical services and entertainment centers are located short distances from all residents.

Electrotechnology Expo Highlights Innovative Use of Electricity

A walking, talking robot, a convection-style oven that cooks in seconds instead of minutes or hours, a microwave clothes dryer, and super-efficient industrial products all were on display at Pennsylvania's Electrotechnology Expo. The Electrotechnology Expo was sponsored by the Energy Association of Pennsylvania (EAPA) in cooperation with the government of the Commonwealth. EAPA is the trade association of the 11 investor-owned electric utilities that provide electric service to the people, businesses, industries and institutions in the State.

"The Ridge Administration is cooperating with the electric utility industry in the Expo because its purpose blends perfectly with 'Technology 21', Governor Ridge's initiative to develop an industry-led technology policy for the Commonwealth," said Charles Zogby, the Governor's Policy Director. The Expo featured exhibits and demonstrations of products and processes that can make Pennsylvania business more energy efficient and competitive, while reducing pollution and creating new employment. Other products provide consumers with greater leisure and a more comfortable lifestyle.

Among other things, visitors to the Expo, which was free to the public, saw and experienced:

• Laser technology from The Pennsylvania State University;
  
  

• FlashBake ovens that turn out a pizza in 90 seconds;
  
  

• Microwave clothes dryers that dry faster, use less electricity than conventional dryers, and dry fabrics that would otherwise have to be dry cleaned;
  
  

• Home-comfort systems for primary or supplemental heating;
  
  

• Geothermal heating and cooling systems for homes and businesses;
  
  

• Economical and pollution-free medical waste disposal systems;
  
  

• Electric vehicles, including a specially designed "Neighborhood Electric Vehicle" already seeing service in retirement communities.

A seminar on electrotechnologies featured Public Utility Commission Chairman John Quain; Department of Environmental Protection Secretary James Seif; Executive Deputy Secretary for Community and Economic Development Robert Benko; and Dr. Mark S. Mills, a physicist and president of Mills-McCarthy & Associates, a strategic marketing and technology assessment firm.

"What we're trying to demonstrate to the people and the government of the Commonwealth," said Jim Cunningham, president of EAPA, "is that the technologies we have on exhibit provide tangible benefits economically and environmentally. From electric lawnmowers and barbecue grills to electric arc furnaces and ultraviolet curing processes, the utilization of electrotechnologies are not only more efficient but are far more environmentally benign than the same processes utilizing fossil fuels.

"The technologies we are exhibiting will be taking Pennsylvania's homes, businesses and industries into the 21st century," he continued. "We have come a long way from the day when electricity simply lighted the darkness. It now makes industry and their employees more productive, contributes to increased health and safety, and enhances the quality of our lives in a variety of ways."