Montreux, January 21st, 2011 - CSEM and its French partners, CEA-Leti, CEA-Liten, Mind, Cetim and Thésame, as well as the Seb group, Somfy and NTN-SNR, have been awarded the Industry & Technologies Prize. This achievement is for the excellence of the technical results that have led to three autonomous and communicating device prototypes that each matches the requirements of the industrial partners participating in this collaborative project.

The "Trophées du commerce franco-suisse" awards have been organized each year, by the French-Suisse Chamber of Commerce and Industry, since 1988. The 22nd edition of this event, which took place under the patronage of the French ambassador to Switzerland, rewarded companies and other organizations whose performance is distinguished by the dynamism of French-Swiss cooperation, on the level of economics, tradition and know-how, as well as that of science.

On Friday 21st January, CSEM and its French partners were awarded the Industry and Technologies Prize for the Captaucom project (acronym for capteurs autonomes et communicants) certified by the competence center Arve Industries Haute Savoie Mont-Blanc for the benefit of industry. CSEM's partners comprised the three industrial concerns based in the Haute Savoie region (the Seb group, Somfy, NTN-SNR), plus the Mind and Cetim centers of competence and the Thésame technology network.

Distinction for excellence in relation to inventions, as well as scientific and technological innovation

The Seb group, Somfy and NTN-SNR have benefited from recent technological advances in relation to miniaturization and the reduction in the energy consumption of electronic components, as well as the emergence of devices enabling the micro-recuperation of energy. These innovations are paving the way for new autonomous and communicating industrial systems. To achieve these objectives, the project leveraged the know-how of each of the partners.

• CSEM for the study of the transmission protocols and antennas, signal processing, and the recuperation and management of mechanical energy
• CEA-Leti for the optimization and development of energy recuperation systems and RFID devices
• CEA-Liten for the optimization and development of storage units for electrical energy
• Mind for the design, optimization and development of the antennas, for its participation in the study of bricks for the recuperation of energy, as well as for the integration of the final prototypes
• Cetim for its resources in mechanical testing, its know-how in relation to sensors, and the communication of technological results to mechanical engneering companies
• Thésame for the project management of the whole study, and for the communication of the principal results