Awards Recognition For Syft Technologies

12 August 2005

Awards Recognition For Syft Technologies

Press release, 12-August-05, Syft Technologies Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand: Syft Technologies, known as one of Christchurch's most innovative companies, was this week announced as a finalist in the upcoming Champion Canterbury awards. The company has been recognised for its leading edge manufacturing capability in the category of Global Manufacturer.

Syft was also recently named Canterbury Emerging Exporter of the Year by Export New Zealand.

This week's honours follow a year of international expansion initiatives by Syft: appointing a European Sales Manager and a U.S. Representative, securing and delivering its first major export contract with the Australian Customs Service, and exhibiting at Pittcon USA, where attendees displayed keen interest in Syft's Voice100 machine.

The company is eager to tap into the U.S. market and has been invited to submit a formal proposal to the Department of Homeland Security following acceptance of an earlier white paper submission on further research into chemical warfare agent detection.

Closer to home, Christchurch Hospital recently installed a research-specific Syft machine, which is being used in ground-breaking research for non-invasive medical diagnoses. The tangible outcome of the research will be the ability of doctors to diagnose a wide range of diseases and conditions from a simple breath test, including diabetes, asthma, and kidney failure.

Geoff Peck, Chief Operating Officer of Syft Technologies, is thrilled with the company's string of successes. "We couldn't be more pleased by this recognition. The international implications of this technology are tremendous, and we're so proud that it's a Kiwi company spearheading this innovation."

The Syft Voice100's technology platform uses Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry, commonly referred to as SIFT-MS, which can instantly and accurately detect minute traces of substances (Volatile Organic Compounds) to a few parts per billion. Originally developed through collaborative research at the University of Canterbury, the technology was designed to determine the composition of interstellar gas clouds.

Today, the Voice100 can be used for a wide variety of commercial applications, including healthcare and medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, indoor air quality, fumigant detection, homeland security, agricultural pest and pathogen contamination and petroleum exploration. The technology won Syft the Most Innovative Product Award Category at last year's NZ Hi Tech Awards.

Through a range of funding, including grants, private investors, and Canterprise (the commercial arm of the University), Syft has grown into a company that is now able to compete on an international scale.

The winners of the Champion Canterbury Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Christchurch on 22 September.

About Syft Technologies

Syft Technologies is a private enterprise formed out of Canterbury University, New Zealand in 2002 to commercialise SIFT-MS technology (Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry) - a scientific breakthrough previously confined to specialist research labs for identification of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

The company successfully honed the technique into an ingenious device called the Voice100 that can instantly and accurately identify trace level VOCs to a few parts per billion. For more information visit www.syft.com.

About the Awards

Export New Zealand Emerging Exporter Awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of newcomers to the export market place, who make a name for themselves by looking for a gap in the market place, cultivating a point of difference and producing quality goods and marketing them effectively. For more information visit www.exportnewzealand.org.nz.

The Champion Canterbury Awards celebrate the excellence and enterprise of business in the Canterbury Region. For more information visit www.championcanterbury.org.nz.

ENDS

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