Development of
such high-tech:
products as the
Truckalyser and
-VICASS have built —
global inroads for —
Sidney’s Sigma
‘Technologies I Inc.

By lames Clarke
‘Peninsula News Review

igma Technologies may

not be the biggest busi-

ness on the block, but: .
it’s reputation has global i im
plications. oe
_.. “We've got some’ great.
products coming out of -
~~“ here,” company tiesident”
“and CEO Jim Thomson said

“recently from the busy con-: ay

. fines of his office on Henry
~~ Avenue, the unmistakable
ring of enthusiasm i in his

: “They asked me if I could
- make up about 20 of them,
and that’s where we started
* Today there are more
~ than 400 of the cabinets,
“called Sigma 8s, scattered
- throughout the province
_-» Sigma Technologies has >
“ grown from a two-man opera:
_ tion to a full-time staff of 15 i
"with annual sales of more
’ than $2 million, and has, de-
veloped a keen eye for | pr
jects with potential.

While Sierra has become ye

~~ an industry leader in ad-
“vanced fibre optic technology,
and mechanical designs re-
lated to traffic flow, “through.
all that, we've developed ©
- other, often entirely. unrelated,
_ new products that have global.
potential,” says Thomson,
“ adding the company is putting»
the final touches to two, new
high-tech products —- the:
“‘Truckalyser and VICASS, -

Designed in Australia, the. a

Truckalyser, a trailer-.
mounted “roller brake dy-:
namometer,” is capable of dor.

~ ing acomplete vehicle brake.
- analysis and steering suspen”
«ston check in less than 10...
nS minutes, from the side of the:

road, ina shop or aka the yi. °

p Nearest weigh-in station, Ki
“. Orders for the 4,000:
pound unit, which sells ior

‘ around 1817, 000, a are carte 2.

in the world and a not-so-sim-
ple solution to the problem of

how to measure the response.

National Research Council of

anada floated the idea of an

electronic fish-sizing system °)

developed at UBC. Thomson -
did some market research,

-\ gaw the demand was there
~ and the end result was VI-
- CASS, a video camera fish-siz-

—ingsystem. mi el
~ “What UBC had was a pro:

- totype, What we've done is.
_ take the idea and made it
work, come up with the design.

elements that will make it sim

“ple to operate and capable of

; ‘withstanding harsh elements.”

- VICASS feeds images from ©
underwater stereo cameras to:

an onshore pentium com: -

~ puter, where a liquid crystal
“display shows the fish farm-.

ers images of their stock, By

“being able to calculate the”

size, weight and swimming

‘ ‘apeed of each fish, farmers.
ve ean better determine how
“their stock is doing, VICASS
has. taken a nob, that used to

to mn li fig lt
fii ra

: “take four peo the better

ay and made i it into

ing connections.”*
~ Operating out of their
4,000-square-foot facility i in:

a “Sidney's industrial area, these

"days Thomson said he's try-

ing to “stick handle” his way

_ through the problem of too.
-_ Many projects and not
enough space.

‘As for the tiusinesa climate: “

“in Sidney, Sigma’s operations

-TMhanager Eddy Butler, a fifth-

” generation Peninsulite, says
most people don't realize the
amount of expertise operating,
in the area.”

“Sidney is very much

home to high-tech, 1 think a
Jot of people would be amazed:
at what goes on here, For us,’
(he infrastructure is such that
_ if we don't have the technol-

~ ogy on hand, it’s close by, and i)

that’s definitely abig help.”

; Rp ‘oth Thomson and But-,

pO ler agree that with.
fh.” companies such as,

MG Viking Air and Power
Measurement making ine. f

yoads internationally, Saniey
‘has the potential of Califor.

~ nla's Silicone Valley,

“It's adifferent market

“mche, but the same ingredi
ents are here," aye Thom

ay m6

PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW 22

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