Ontario invests in ACS technology
Alcohol Countermeasure Systems Corp. received a $3.15-million boost from the Ontario government for its breath alcohol testing technology.
By Noelle Stapinsky, Features Editor | September 16, 2009
Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello visited Alcohol Countermeasure Systems Corp. (ACS), a designer and manufacturer of breath alcohol testing technology, to award the Mississauga-based company with a $3.15 million grant from the Ontario Next Generation of Jobs Fund to further the development of newest technology.
For innovative companies investing in research and development that meet the fund criteria, the government will kick in up to 15 per cent of the project costs.
The grant augments ACS’s four-year, $18-million investment in its facility which will generate 105 new jobs and create learning opportunities—some of the research will be conducted at Ontario universities such as University of Toronto, Trent University, University of Ontario Institute of Technology and University of Waterloo.
Photo: Noelle Stapinsky.
Photo: Noelle Stapinsky.
“The goal of the Next Generation of Jobs Fund is to support innovative and new technology that can be sold globally,” says Pupatello.
ACS’s interlock alcohol detection systems prevent a vehicle from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol concentration exceeds a predetermined level. The company’s products is used worldwide by governments, police forces and commercial fleets.
“Our breath alcohol testing products are dependent upon alcohol sensing methodologies that we’ve developed over the past 40 years,” says Felix Comeau, ACS chairman and CEO. “While these sensors have enabled ACS to remain in the forefront of our market, we recognize that the emerging OEM and commercial markets will be more demanding.”
ACS now supplies Volvo cars, commercial trucks and buses, making it the first company to integrate this technology into a motor vehicle that can be purchased from a dealership.
Attracting a lot of commercial vehicle business from Europe—especially in Sweden—Comeau says ACS will soon join with the French government to install alcohol interlocks in all buses that carry children.
“It will be a mandatory regulation,” says Comeau. “And we’re seeing more European companies bring forth the same regulations.”
The company is also developing fuel cell sensors, commercializing infrared sensing technology to detect alcohol in the presence of interfering substances, implementing biometric identification systems and developing a strategy to efficiently transmit the interlock data to a host computer.
“The need for biometric identification comes from the compliance monitoring or judicial market for convicted drinking and driving offenders,” says Comeau. “Biometric identification will provide enhanced certainty that the test results from the interlock are from the intended participant.”
And according to Comeau, the interest in this market is growing substantially. Some jurisdictions are even considering regulations that will require biometric ID.
“The challenge is to adapt this technology to work within a small device in the vehicle,” says Comeau.
Although similar to the breathalyzers used by police departments, Comeau says that for vehicle applications the device must operate between -45 degrees C and 85 degrees C, while withstanding vibrations and environmental conditions such as humidity and electromagnetic interference.
ACS plans to launch the next generation of alcohol interlocks with enhanced sensing capabilities and its first stage of biometrics by early 2010.
