Mountain Optech, Inc. of Longmont, CO, has been recognized as one of the Top Preferred Suppliers for 2006 by Rockwell Collins.

Mountain Optech, Inc., producer of ruggedized data storage, was cited for performance in meeting delivery schedules and product quality. Mountain Optech, Inc. was also recognized for design and engineering support and the teamwork demonstrated with Rockwell Collins.

A recognition plaque was presented at the recent Rockwell Collins Annual Supplier Conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Rockwell Collins is a worldwide leader in the design, production, and support of communication and aviation electronics for commercial and government customers. The company's 17,000 employees in 27 countries deliver industry-leading communication, navigation, surveillance, display, flight control, in-flight entertainment, information management, and maintenance, training and simulation solutions. Additional information is available at www.rockwellcollins.com.

Mountain Optech, Inc (MOI) has been selected by Sandia National Laboratories to design and manufacture rugged mass-data storage modules for Sandia’s Tactical Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (TacIFSAR) System.

MOI will provide a complete environmental protection solution for high-performance Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) fibre channel hard disk drives that will be used for storing raw and processed radar data. In addition, MOI will provide follow-on system acquisition for an orderable product from a Government chosen contractor. The system will be flown on the Predator-B Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). TacIFSAR is an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) for the purpose of moving a new technology into the field for evaluation sooner than would be possible by traditional means.

“We certainly understand the importance of reliable data storage on these programs,” said Mark Poling, MOI’s General Manager. “MOI has successfully designed and manufactured “rugged” storage solutions for fixed and rotary wing aircraft, space exploration, shipboard and underwater systems.”

In order for TacISFAR to be successful, the data storage modules must survive harsh, remote field and flight environments involving extreme temperature swings, dust, fog, salt spray, shock and vibration. This project will incorporate many of Mountain Optech’s field proven, harsh environment design techniques to develop a state of the art data storage module.

MOI’s Director of Operations, Rod Copeland, noted other benefits for the military. “Our sealed/rugged disk drives can be used for the high capacity and performance data storage requirements in other UAV’s. Size, weight, power, and price are all advantages of sealed/rugged disk drives vs. a solid-state solution. We are looking forward to working with Sandia National Lab’s to design and manufacture the best storage solutions available for today and tomorrow”.

Mountain Optech Inc. (MOI), a recognized leader in Rugged Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) Mass Memory for Military and Commercial markets, announced today that it is adding Rugged Solid State Memory (SSM) devices to its product line. MOI will begin offering SCSI, IDE/ ATA and Fibre Channel Flash based drives in capacities from 256 MB up to 200 GB from their Longmont Colorado facility. The new SSM devices are intended to compliment MOI’s already extensive offerings of Rugged Sealed Hard Disc Drives (RSHDD’s) for both stand-alone Mass Memory, and complete JBOD storage systems.

“While RSHDD’s are able to compete against SSM in most extreme environments by providing higher capacities at exponentially lower costs,” states Mark Poling, MOI General Manager, “some customers critical requirements, such as secure data destruct, may dictate the use of Flash based memory.” Mountain Optech is responding to customers that are looking for complete rugged memory solutions, and both Rugged Sealed Hard Disc Drives and Packaged Solid State memory have a place in many systems.

“RSHDD and SSM each have their own strengths, and by offering both we can now help our customers pick the best solution for today and the long term,” remarks Rod Copeland, MOI’s Director of Operations. As programs mature, MOI customers expect a seamless transition to the current technology that best fits their memory needs. For example, for some programs that started with Rugged Magneto Optical products, and whose capacity requirements have not increased, the price of Flash memory has come down to the point where it now makes sense to consider a Solid State solution. “Our customers still have many systems that need to accommodate new technologies without major system hardware or software changes, and that’s one reason we are now supplying packaged Solid State Memory” adds Copeland.

Mountain Optech, Inc, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries

Mountain Optech, Inc (MOI), a subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries, Inc., has been selected by Rockwell Collins, Airshow Systems as their “rugged” storage solutions supplier for the Airshow 4000 Digital Media Unit. MOI’s SES-40000 (“sealed/rugged” 40GB IDE/ATA) Hard Drive was selected because of its durability, performance and reliability for which MOI products are well known.

MOI’s success with IFE (DO-160) storage solutions include “Rugged” Sealed Hard Disk Drives, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM and other peripherals. The MOI engineering team was challenged with designing “rugged” COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) products to withstand demanding FAA environmental requirements that are reliable and also cost effective. “We’ve taken our harsh environment expertise from the military to the commercial market” said Mike Balancier, Regional Sales Manager for MOI.

MOI and Airshow Systems started this program two years ago. The efforts of both companies enabled the Collins Airshow 4000 to have the best storage solution available for today and tomorrow. Airshow’s requirement for their next generation moving map application required high-performance, large-capacity storage solutions. MOI has met those requirements.

Mountain Optech designs and manufactures “rugged” storage solutions for harsh environments for military and commercial markets.

Mountain Optech, Inc. announced today that it has been certified by Perry & Johnson Registrations, Inc. as fully compliant with ISO:AS9100 Rev. A requirements. Mountain Optech, Inc. has been registered ISO 9001 compliant since October 2000, but was driven by customer requirements to the higher ISO:AS9100 Rev. A Aerospace standard. Perry & Johnson has found that Mountain Optech's quality systems meet all the requirements of the International Organization for Standards' ISO:AS9100 Rev. A Quality System Standard. This standard ensures that Mountain Optech has the procedures and work processes in place to consistently supply high-quality conforming products built to established designs.

ISO:AS9100 Rev. A is an international set of standards for establishing, documenting and maintaining quality in all aspects of a company's processes for conducting business. ISO:AS9100 Rev. A registration is an increasingly essential element for competing in worldwide aerospace markets and can be awarded only after the successful completion of a rigorous third party audit of a facility's quality policies and procedures by an accredited registrar.

In April of 2003, Mountain Optech moved from its offices of seventeen years, to a new, significantly larger custom-designed manufacturing facility at Vista View Commercial Center, 1567 Skyway, Longmont, Colorado.

“This move was required in order to provide for the increase in demand for manufacturing space,” said Rod Copeland, Director of Operations at Mountain Optech. “Our upturn in rugged sealed hard drive sales coupled with some recent contract wins in the In-Flight Entertainment Industry have created a demand for a larger facility with state-of-the-art production capabilities” says Copeland. Mountain Optech continues to serve the military community for their rugged mass storage requirements, but has added several new product lines that are quickly being accepted in any commercial marketplace where severe environments are a concern.

The new facility has specifically designed areas to accommodate MOI’s environmental testing capabilities for altitude, temperature, shock and vibration. The size of the manufacturing floor has been significantly increased to accommodate large volume production, and allows for many improvements in efficiency and quality control.

Mountain Optech Inc. (MOI), in order to meet increasing demand for sales support, announces the promotion of Tom Connor to U.S Eastern Regional & European Sales Manager. Tom was primarily brought on board, according to General Manager Mark Poling, to optimize opportunities in the U.S. military market. Tom’s 22 years of Government related sales experience has given him insight into how to best utilize MOI’s assets to penetrate and win business in this sector. “Tom Connor has the flexibility to provide full sales service to our military clientele, while still pursuing commercial applications,” remarked Poling.

Along with servicing the Eastern United States, Tom will be working closely with representatives in Europe, such as Aspid communications in Spain, to supply non-military customers with special data storage needs. “By offering Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products, MOI can accommodate customers whose data storage needs could be met by inexpensive commercial equipment, but have specifications for ruggedness not met by unaltered products,” according to Tom Connor. “I believe we are poised to capture a good portion of the rotating disc market with our hermetically sealed hard drives,” says Tom, “especially since MOI is willing to provide solutions for customer requirements, rather than insisting on conformity to rigid specifications. This attitude is establishing us as a leader in ruggedized data storage.”

Mark Poling, General Manager of Mountain Optech, Inc.(MOI), announced the Promotion of Mike Balancier today to Western U.S. and Pacific Regional Sales Manager. The addition was merited, according to Poling, because of Mike’s ability to serve MOI’s increasing In Flight Entertainment (IFE) customer base in California and Washington. “IFE business, particularly sealed hard drives and rugged optical products, is becoming a large part of our revenue,” said Poling, “so we felt we needed someone with a background in commercial data storage, and Mike fits that bill perfectly.”

Mike has successfully sold storage solutions to the computer industry for over 17 years. He has a thorough understanding of storage requirements with emphasis on optical, disk and tape products. Mike's past experience includes sales development and penetration of major OEM's in the mainframe, midrange and network industries with Philips LMS. Mike is an E.E. from San Jose State University.

In addition to IFE, Mike is facilitating MOI’s increasing military customer base in Southern California and the Seattle area, as well as customers on the Pacific Rim such as Australia and Japan.

Mountain Optech, Inc. recently announced that it has successfully completed and delivered a series of tests, run in conjunction with Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems, for DO-160D qualification of their rugged CD/DVD-ROM drive. The initial order of drives will be used as part of a commercial IFE (In Flight Entertainment) Systems.

The CD/DVD-ROM operates as an integral part of Rockwell Collins' Total Entertainment System (TES) aboard commercial aircraft. The scope of Rockwell Collins' system realizes a significant technological advance in IFE equipment. MOI's CD/DVD-ROM should make possible a new level of dependability for IFE.

"This is an exciting landmark for us," said Mason Fein, Director of International Sales & Marketing at Mountain Optech. "Although Mountain Optech has years of experience designing to Military Standards, working with Rockwell Collins on this project has allowed us to expand our capabilities to include the commercial airline industry."

Mountain Optech utilized many of its existing proven ruggedization technologies, expanding on those capabilities to include a full DO-160D qualified CD/DVD-ROM with enhanced shock, vibration, EMI & humidity protection. The drive also includes a BIT Controller circuit board, which provides extreme intelligence to the drive. This feature allows for such benefits as continuous monitoring of temperature, AC/DC power, high/low temperature warnings, and Elapsed Time Indication for preventative maintenance.

Mountain Optech, Inc. today announced their family of extremely rugged, hermetically sealed hard drives. Offered as a lower cost, greater throughput alternative to Solid State Memory products, these drives are currently available from the Boulder, Colorado facility. The new drives are designed to be compliant to the soon to be released NATO STANAG 4575 specification.

Because hard drive technology continues to expand so quickly, Mountain Optech works closely with their OEMs to ensure the next generation is fully backwards compatible. Currently, the sealed hard drive is available as either a SCSI drive, (up to 36 gigabytes) or IDE (up to 30 gigabytes), and will soon be available with a Fibre Channel interface. The sealed drives have been engineered for functional flexibility and full upgradeability; a 73 gigabyte drive will be available in the 2nd quarter of 2001. The drives are impervious to rapid changes in altitude, which is known to cause severe condensation. They are sealed for altitude in excess of 70,000 feet and for 100% condensing humidity, with proprietary packaging techniques which greatly extend the operational temperature range.

Because it meets such harsh environmental extremes, the sealed hard drive is being offered as a functional alternative to solid state memory, at less than 10% the cost per storage capacity. The SCSI hard drive currently meets standards such as MIL-STD 810E and DO-160D.

With drives in environments as varied as mobile backpack radios to F-16s, from ocean floor seismic recording to helicopter data recorders, Mountain Optech has spent years increasing the boundaries of ruggedization technology. With many years experience, and a significant investment in test equipment and technical expertise, every drive is tested before being shipped. "Since ruggedizing data storage is our core business," says Mason F. Fein, Director of Sales & Marketing, "we are constantly figuring out new techniques to more efficiently isolate and protect the storage media, from CD-ROM to solid state. Solid state is a good, inherently rugged storage platform, but it is still pretty expensive. One of our target markets for this product will be worldwide Reconnaissance aircraft. Another is the Inflight Entertainment industry. It's nice to be able to offer a cost effective alternative to solid state."

Test data is available from Mountain Optech, including vibration curves and temperature tests. The drives are available as "standard" rugged sealed hard drives; engineers are currently completing enhancements for "Extreme" rugged sealed drives.

Mountain Optech, Inc. announced today that it has been certified by Excalibur Registrations, Inc. to be fully compliant with ISO 9001: 94 requirements.

Mountain Optech is primarily involved in the design, manufacture and market - worldwide - of cost-effective solutions for environmentally tough applications. Excalibur has certified that Mountain Optech's quality systems meets all the requirements of the International Organization for Standards' ISO 9001: 94 Quality System Standard. This standard ensures that Mountain Optech has the procedures and work processes in place to consistently supply high-quality conforming products built to established designs.

Mountain Optech, Inc. announced today their truly removable rugged magnetic hard drives. The removable drive is available in a 1.63" high form factor with a 9 gigabyte capacity. 18 or 36 gigabyte drives are available as non-removable drives, in a 5.25" full-height form factor (3.25" high). The 18 gigabyte drive is expected to be available in the 1.63" high removable form factor by Q4 '99.

The STR-9000 HD/HH is designed for harsh applications and operates under severe shock and vibration in all attitudes. The removable drive module itself is ruggedized, with shock & vibration system, fans, active heaters and conformal coating of electronics. The removable drive mounts into a docking bay, locking into place with manual locking thumbscrews. Although it is intended for optimal operation in a docking bay, the drive can also be operated outside the docking bay, since it is designed with standard PC-style interconnects for SCSI & power on the removable module.

These drives can function in a wide variety of environments, including military and space mission control logging, commercial and military aircraft applications, transport of "on-the-move" operational systems, and field deployable logistics support systems.

Mountain Optech, Inc. was delighted to learn that one of their WORM drives will soon be a part of the Smithsonian Institution's collection. The Smithsonian is currently building a new facility outside Washington, DC, to house their expanded Air & Space Museum.

Mountain Optech's SEL-2 SAMS drives have flown on at least 16 SAMS (Space Acceleration Measurement System) missions since its inception in 1991. The drive to be included in the materials being sent to the Smithsonian was resident on the MIR Space Station, in the module damaged by the collision with the space shuttle in June of 1997. According to a Program Manager, when the SEL-2 SAMS was retrieved from MIR, after months of exposure to the unprotected temperatures of outer space, it still worked perfectly, unquestionably proving the viability of optical technology in harsh environments. Although WORM technology has long since made way for rewritable optical drives, the optical technology ruggedization techniques used by Mountain Optech are still essentially the same.