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PART I
Item 1: Business
Unless the context requires otherwise in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Mechanical Technology, Incorporated, “MTI Instruments” refers to MTI Instruments, Inc., and “MTI Micro” refers to MTI MicroFuel Cells, Inc. We have a registered trademark in the United States for “Mobion”. Other trademarks, trade names, and service marks used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective owners.
Mechanical Technology, Incorporated, (MTI or the Company), a New York corporation, was incorporated in 1961. MTI operates in two segments: the Test and Measurement Instrumentation segment, which is conducted through MTI Instruments, Inc. (MTI Instruments), a wholly-owned subsidiary, and the New Energy segment, which is conducted through MTI MicroFuel Cells, Inc. (MTI Micro), a variable interest entity (VIE) as of December 31, 2011.
MTI Instruments was incorporated in New York on March 8, 2000 and is a worldwide supplier of precision non-contact physical measurement solutions, portable balance equipment and wafer inspection tools. MTI Instrument’s products use a comprehensive array of technologies to solve complex, real world applications in numerous industries including manufacturing, semiconductor, solar, commercial and military aviation, automotive and data storage. MTI Instruments’ products consist of electronic gauging instruments for position, displacement and vibration application within the design, manufacturing/production, test and research market; wafer characterization of semi-insulating and semi-conducting wafers within both the semiconductor and solar industries; tensile stage systems for materials testing at academic and industrial settings; and engine vibration analysis systems for both military and commercial aircraft.
MTI Micro was incorporated in Delaware on March 26, 2001, and has been developing Mobion®, a handheld energy-generating device to replace current lithium-ion and similar rechargeable battery systems in many handheld electronic devices for the military and consumer markets. Mobion® handheld generators are based on direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology, which has been recognized as enabling technology for advanced portable power sources by the scientific community and industry analysts. As the need for advancements in portable power increases, MTI Micro has been developing Mobion® as a solution for advancing current and future electronic device power needs of the portable electronics market. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned approximately 47.6% of MTI Micro’s outstanding common stock. Although MTI Micro continues to believe in the potential of its Mobion® based power solutions, operations have been suspended at MTI Micro until such time as market demand and other deciding factors, including obtaining additional external financing, the successful completion of customer trials, a new development program with a government agency, and/or a customer order, come to fruition. Currently, MTI Micro has no employees and projects to spend between $5 and $10 thousand per month for operating activities including rent, preparing prototypes for customer demonstrations, minimal sales efforts, patent fees to keep its patent portfolio current and minimal consultant costs to perform these initiatives. MTI Micro will continue to seek additional capital from external sources to resume operations and fund future development, if any. If MTI Micro is unable to secure additional financing, a new development program or customer order, the MTI Micro board of directors will assess other options for MTI Micro, including the sale of MTI Micro’s intellectual property portfolio and other assets.
The Test and Measurement Instrumentation Segment
MTI Instruments is a worldwide supplier of metrology, portable balancing equipment and inspection systems. Our products use state-of-the-art technology to solve complex real world applications in numerous industries including automotive, semiconductor, solar cell manufacturing, material testing, commercial and military aviation and data storage. We are continuously working on ways to expand our sales reach, including expanded sales coverage throughout Europe and Asia, as well as a focus on internet marketing.
Products
Our test and measurement segment has three product groups: Precision Instruments, Semiconductor and Solar Metrology Systems and Aviation Balancing Systems. Our products consist of electronic, computerized gauging instruments for position, displacement and vibration applications for the design, manufacturing/production and test and research markets; metrology tools for wafer characterization of semiconductor and solar wafers; tensile stage systems for materials testing in research and industrial settings; and engine balancing and vibration analysis systems for both military and commercial aircraft.
Precision Instruments: The Precision Instruments group employs capacitance, laser and fiber optic technologies to make nano-accurate measurements. These advanced sensing and physical measurement technologies are used to produce products that range from basic sensors to complete, fully integrated measurement systems, and are available as single sensors for integration into existing data acquisition systems or as complete system level solutions that can be further integrated into a facility wide communication backbone.
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Listed below are selected MTI Instruments’ Precision Instruments product offerings & technologies:
Accumeasure Family:
The Accumeasure family of products is designed to address the needs of product developers, process engineers, researchers, designers, and others who need precise, reliable, non-contact measurements.
Microtrak Family:
MTI Instrument's Microtrak family of laser triangulation sensors offers high speed, high resolution displacement, position and vibration measurements. The Microtrak features state-of-the-art complementary metal oxide semiconductors with charged coupled device (CMOS – CCD) laser triangulation technology, which is ideal for solving tough in-process, production and quality control sensing applications. The large variety of laser triangulation sensors provides operating distances to 300mm, measurement ranges to 200mm and measurement resolution to less than 1 micron. Our Laser triangulation sensors contain a solid-state laser light source and a CMOS detector.
Microtrak II Series:
The Microtrak II comes standard with an interface controller that provides a convenient digital display of the target position, alarm set points and connections for analog and RS-485 outputs.
Microtrak Pro-2D:
In the summer of 2011, MTII launched its new Microtrak PRO-2D laser triangulation scanners, which provide high speed profile, displacement and dimensional information in real time.