BATTELLE SELLS RADIO FREQUENCY TAG SPINOFF COMPANY TO ALIEN TECHNOLOGY

Wave ID, a Battelle spinoff company specializing in radio frequency identification, has been acquired by Alien Technology, a high-tech electronics manufacturing company based in Silicon Valley.

Wave ID is based on proprietary radio frequency identification (RFID) technology developed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is operated by Battelle. Wave ID was established to develop products that could provide item location, remote data collection and control solutions for supply chain and asset management applications.

RFID is used in a number of ways today, including automatic toll collection and building security. However, it has not achieved deep market penetration in logistics, supply chain and many other potential large applications because of its relatively high cost at 30 to 50 cents per tag.

Alien Technology has developed a nano-technology based manufacturing system that is expected to dramatically reduce the manufacturing cost of many kinds of electronic products-and specifically the miniature RF tags that Wave ID specializes in. Alien's proprietary Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA) process helps to addresses key problems facing manufacturers of RF tags including the high cost and limits to production capacity.

"The combination of the unique capabilities of our two companies should allow us to break some constraints in cost and system performance that have kept the RFID business from truly taking off," said Tom Pounds, CEO of Wave ID who is now VP of RFID Products at Alien. "This nano-based manufacturing innovation has the potential to fundamentally re-shape this industry and help accelerate its growth over the next decade."

"Wave ID brings a wealth of RFID system engineering capability and important intellectual property to Alien," said Jeff Jacobsen, Alien President and CEO. "This addition of world-class talent to the strong team we have already assembled provides mission-critical resources to realize our vision."

Alien, a privately held company, has developed a core manufacturing technology that permits the highly efficient assembly of tiny integrated circuits, called NanoBlock ICs, into rolls of plastic film. For more information see www.alientechnology.com.

Battelle is a global leader in technology development and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle has annual revenues of $1 billion. It also serves as manager of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Battelle counts as its successes the development of the office copier machine (Xerox), pioneering work on the compact disc, new technology for telecommunications and medical product breakthroughs. To learn more, visit www.battelle.org.

For more information contact Battelle Media Relations Manager Katy Delaney at (614) 424-5544 or at delanyk@battelle.org.