Bionic Power Inc.

The Defence Industrial Research Program Renews Contract With Bionic Power
June 15, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The Department of National Defence has reaffirmed its commitment to an innovative made-in-Canada technology that harvests electricity from the natural movement of walking.

The Defence Industrial Research Program—a Canadian federal-government initiative that funds promising emergent technologies—has renewed and extended its existing development contract with Bionic Power, based just outside Vancouver, B.C.

The company is now testing and refining its prototype Bionic Energy Harvester, an unobtrusive wearable device that resembles a knee brace. The harvester will eventually allow a dismounted soldier to charge a battery while walking with very little additional effort.

"We’re pleased to be able to assist this innovative company as it progresses towards a field-ready product," said Dr. Robert S. Walker, the CEO of Defence Research and Development Canada. "When it comes to the science of human-energy harvesting, this small and impressively motivated team is presently leading the world."

Without adding any noticeable effort on the part of the wearer, a pair of the harvesters working together will passively extract up to 10 watts of power—two minutes of walking will generate about one-and-a-half hour’s worth of talk time on a mobile phone. The power could be used to charge a battery for a radio, GPS or other device.

"As more and more technology works its way into the field, the power needs of soldiers will only escalate," said Walker. "We expect the Bionic Energy Harvester will one day allow those in the service to charge their batteries ‘on the go,’ freeing them from having to carry a heavy load of disposables."

Bionic Power CEO Yad Garcha said that his team will spend the balance of 2009 fine-tuning the Bionic Energy Harvester to make it even lighter, more comfortable and more robust.

"We’re perfecting the technology with the ultimate goal of getting it into the hands of soldiers and first responders for field-testing," Garcha said. Last fall, Time magazine declared the Bionic Energy Harvester one of the Best Inventions of 2008.

Bionic Power Bionic Power is a privately-held technology company located in Burnaby, B.C., Canada. The company’s Bionic Energy Harvester is the culmination of years of biomedical engineering research and is the focus of a growing intellectual-property portfolio. For more, please visit www.bionic-power.com.

About DRDC: Defence R&D Canada (DRDC) is an agency of the Canadian Department of National Defence responding to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces. Its mission is to ensure that the CF remains scientifically and operationally relevant. The agency is made up of nine research centres located across Canada with a corporate office in Ottawa. DRDC has an annual budget of $350 million and employs over 1700 people. With a broad scientific program, DRDC actively collaborates with industry, international allies, academia, other government departments and the national security community. Defence R&D Canada administers research programs that encourage participation from the private sector and academia, such as the Defence Industrial Program. For more information, please visit www.drdc-rddc.gc.ca.