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Thermacore was founded in 1970 by G. Yale Eastman and Richard Longsderff to develop and manufacture high performance thermal solutions for the cooling of electronic components and systems. Since Thermacore’s participation at the start of the SBIR program in 1983, it has received over $9.1 million in SBIR awards to develop innovative thermal solutions for the Air Force, BMDO, and NASA. In 1995, Thermacore received the SBIR Technology of the Year award in the Computer/Electronics category for innovative work in the cooling of computers.
There is an ongoing demand from the Department of Defense for technologies involving small, high speed, electronic and computer devices. These devices require compact and innovative cooling systems to help them maintain their integrity and to function reliably in the stressful conditions of a battlefield environment. To solve these electronic cooling problems, Thermacore developed a new heat pipe wick structure that incorporates tiny copper powder particles. This heat pipe with a sintered powder wick structure can accommodate up to 200 watts of power per square centimeter. Previous heat pipe wicks were made of a copper screen and could only accommodate 10 watts per centimeter of power producing heat. The structure of the sintered copper particles significantly enhances heat pipe performance, enabling the electronic device to run hotter and faster than other devices that rely on traditional copper screen wicks.
Thermacore is the leader in heat pipe technology, with over two million heat pipes using powder metal wicks built into computer processors since the SBIR innovation. Thermacore’s technology is found in almost all laptop computers sold today and has been used successfully to cool many other types of electronics, industrial drives, telecommunications equipment, and automotive and consumer electronics. Customers for Thermacore’s innovative heat pipe technology include Intel, the maker of the Pentium II and III processors, and Compaq. Thermacore has also sold copper powder wicks to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin for use in their defense-related products. In February 1998, Thermacore, Inc. opened a subsidiary in Taiwan, and a month later acquired Isoterix, an English based company. In that same year, Thermacore opened a subsidiary in Korea. By branching out, Thermacore hopes to better reach European and Asian markets and anticipates its cumulative sales to rise to $100 million by 2002.
Elaine Risner
Tel. 717/569-6551
Email. risner@thermacore.com
Website. http://www.thermacore.com
