Winners of UMass Technology Challenge, Sponsored by Wolf Greenfield, Propose Warning System to Avert Katrina-Like Floods

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 15, 2007 -- Future New Orleans-style floods could be averted by a high-tech early-warning system for earthen structures proposed by the winners of the 2007 University of Massachusetts Amherst Technology Innovation Challenge, a business plan competition based on technology conceived by UMass Amherst faculty, students, and alumni.

The winners, UMass engineering doctoral student Alaina Hanlon and alumnus Rick Bradshaw, Ph.D., received a $20,000 cash prize. They will be given an additional $25,000 in stages if they turn their proposed company, called Condition Engineering, into a corporation and file for patents.

The competition's primary financial sponsor was Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C., a top Boston-based intellectual property law firm. Two of its senior attorneys, Edmund J. Walsh and Robert E. Hunt, served as judges for the competition.

"Wolf Greenfield has been the major sponsor of this competition for two years now," said Timothy J. Oyer, Wolf Greenfield's managing partner, "and we continue to find the caliber of teams and technology involved to be outstanding."

Condition Engineering would deliver a novel set of thousands of sensor units embedded in the ground, providing a widespread monitoring and early-failure warning system. This technology would be versatile across many markets and applications, including construction sites, railroad beds, flood control systems, landfills and bridges.

Teams are composed of students and consulting faculty members who are experts in technology. Each team conceptualizes a product with regard to its scientific and technological design and then creates a business plan for the product's commercialization.

Wolf Greenfield is the largest law firm in New England devoted exclusively to intellectual property law. The firm counsels clients in the areas of patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs, trade secrets, and related licensing and litigation. Wolf Greenfield clients include companies that make everything from pharmaceuticals to software to polymers to electronics to snowboards, as well as universities and research centers. In 2006, the firm filed 2266 patent applications and 883 trademark applications in over 130 countries. Web: www.wolfgreenfield.com

Contact Information: Contact: Henry Stimpson Stimpson Communications 508-647-0705 HStimpson@StimpsonCommunications.com Sara Crocker Wolf Greenfield 617-646-8231 scrocker@wolfgreenfield.com