Lacroix Signs with MicroGen Systems as Strategic Advisor

ITHACA, N.Y., Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MicroGen Systems, Inc. (www.microgensystems.com) based at the Cornell Business and Technology Park in Ithaca, NY, has retained well-known Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) executive Didier Lacroix as strategic advisor to the company. MicroGen is developing a MEMS-based Piezoelectric Vibrational Energy Harvester (PZEH) product-line called the BOLT™ for low power electronics and wireless applications. Lacroix comes to MicroGen through his Silicon Valley, CA based management-consulting firm NanoZilla, LLC.

Lacroix, is a veteran of the MEMS and semiconductor industries, most recently as the CEO of Silicon Clocks, Inc. Lacroix re-focused and re-energized the Silicon Clocks raising $10M in new funding in early 2009; generating first product sales in mid-2009 and ultimately selling the MEMS timing leader to Silicon Laboratories (www.silabs.com) for $22M in 2010. Prior to that Lacroix was Senior VP Sales and Marketing for Chipidea where he contributed to the rapid revenue growth of the company leading to its acquisition by MIPS for $147M. In addition, Lacroix was Discera's CEO raising $16M in new funding for the company, VP/GM of MEMSCAP's Wireless Business Unit, as well as held other executive-level positions (www.linkedin.com/pub/didier-lacroix/0/213/374).

Robert Andosca, Founder, President, and CTO of MicroGen commented, "We could not be more pleased to have Didier as strategic advisor. His knowledge, insight, and industry contacts – not to mention his vast experience in bringing MEMS products to market and raising capital, will help propel MicroGen Systems as a commercial force in the Cleantech industry."

Andosca added, "His coming on board and doing so personally is a huge endorsement of our technology and the progress we have made."

Lacroix has been impressed with MicroGen accomplishments to date. He remarked, "MicroGen brings a very novel and needed technology to accelerate the deployment of multi-sensor networks self-powered by energy harvesters. As multiple semiconductor companies compete for providing a complete solution, MicroGen is the first company to offer a robust vibration-based energy harvester." MicroGen recently demonstrated how its BOLT product powered-up a board combining IPS battery, MAXIM power management, and Texas Instruments wireless temperature sensor. MicroGen is now contemplating a range of strategic options as it is exploring joint-product development and funding opportunities with leading semiconductor companies.

About MicroGen

MicroGen is developing a MEMS-based PZEH family of products called BOLT™. This product line is intended to enable low power electronic devices, such as wireless sensor nodes for wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. The product-line consists of BOLT050 and BOLT100, and BOLT060 and BOLT120, which resonate at vibrational frequencies of 50 and 100 Hz, and 60 and 120 Hz, respectively, and are aimed at industrial and building applications. A custom BOLT product can be fabricated for any target frequency between 30 and 1,500 Hz. There are no other commercially available MEMS-based PZEH products on the market today.

MicroGen is an early-stage, self-funded startup that also benefits from the support provided by The University of Vermont, Cornell University's Energy Materials Center (and New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (www.nystar.state.ny.us), the Cleantech Center, High Tech Rochester,  NY State Energy Research and Development Authority (www.nyserda.org), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration This work was performed at the Cornell NanoScale Facility, a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant ECS-0335765).

About NanoZilla LLC

Mr. Lacroix created NanoZilla LLC (www.nanozilla.com) to provide management-consulting services to the MEMS and semiconductor industries.

Media Contact:
Michael Perrotta
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585-683-1430

SOURCE MicroGen Systems, Inc.