US develops gizmos to combat terrorism

The agency is providing $ 105,000 to JP laboratoris of Middlesex, New Jersey, an NRI company headed by Gordhan Patel, to develop the sensor.

The agency required that the device work in a range of temperatures, so that it could be used by emergency workers from Alaska to Arizona.

Patel told the newspaper: ‘‘My initial reaction was ‘I cannot’.’’ However, he promised to try. Patel shelved all of his small company’s other projects. His son quit his job as a marketing vice president at Sun mircrosystems to take over the administration and licensing of his father’s business.

Since 9/11, the agency has received 16,000 proposals for anti-terrorism gadgets. Out of that, it has chosen 120. The agency expects this week to issue its first public call for such gadgets. The Department of Homeland Security has promised to give $ 30 million to the agency. Other projects under development include undershirts that will cool a person clad in armour.

Another gadget is the chemical biological response aid, or cobra, a rugged laptop computer with wireless communication, a digital camera, and a scanner that can be used to disseminate information at disaster scenes. The agency subsidised development of the device with a half million dollar grant in 1998. The manufacturer, Defence Group Inc, of Alexandria, Virginia, has signed a $ 14 million contract to supply laptops to FBI bomb squads.