Long-lasting supplies win polar award

Emco High Voltage Corp has been honoured by principals from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a 'key partner award', recognising Emco as a key supplier to Project Icecube. Project Icecube is currently under construction at the South Pole and will be the world's largest scientific instrument when completed in 2008. The award recognises Emco's exceptional design, reliability, and delivery.

Executives, guests and Emco employees attended the award presentation luncheon on 14th August 2006 Jim Haugen, Instrumentation Engineering Manager, and Mike Zernick, Quality Manager of Project IceCube presented the award to Emco executives Mike Doherty, Chief Operating Officer; Mike Janto, Senior Program Manager; and David Blair, Engineering Manager.

Emco was selected for the award because of the company's design and manufacture of the high voltage DC power supplies used in 5000 digital optical modules buried 2km deep in the Antarctic polar ice at the South Pole.

Emco's custom devices must survive for more than 20 years in the South Pole's harsh environment.

There, they are buried in deep ice at -40C, with no opportunity for repair.

As only a three-month work window exists at the South Pole each year, on-time delivery was vital, and the manufacturing team at Emco successfully met this challenge.

Project Icecube is currently under construction at the South Pole.

Funded by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it will be available for astrophysicists and other scientists around the world to conduct research on heavy neutrinos.

These elusive messengers from deep space hold many answers to the origins of the universe and the big bang theory according to scientific experts.