Mainstream Engineering Awarded Contract to Provide U.S. Army and Air Force with Refrigerated Container System

Five-year contract valued at $40M calls for delivery of Next-Gen Refrigerated Tricon Containers

ROCKLEDGE, FL – July 8th, 2011 – Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a leader in the development and commercialization of advanced thermal, chemical, energy and materials-based technologies, has been awarded a sole-source contract to provide both the U.S. Army and Air Force with the next-generation, multi-functional Tricon Refrigerated Container System (TRCS).

With a potential value of $40M, the five-year contract calls for the delivery of insulated Tricon containers (both Army and Air Force versions) equipped with Mainstream’s new high-performance/energy-efficient Modular Refrigeration Unit (MRU). The TRCS requirements and solicitation were led by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Contracting Center, Natick Contracting Division.

“The contract award represents the culmination of the many advancements that we have achieved in the development of thermal control technologies with compact form factors,” said Robert P. Scaringe, Ph.D., president of Mainstream Engineering. “The outstanding dedication our Mainstream team put forth in this effort is to be commended.”

This contract, along with an earlier award for the development and manufacture of Improved Environmental Controls Units (IECUs), represents more than $100M in new production contracts awarded to Mainstream in the last nine months. These commercial-off-the-shelf products are a result of Mainstream’s successful commercialization of an earlier Army Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant. Mainstream leads the Department of Defense in SBIR commercialization with a 100 percent rating on the Commercialization Index.

“We look at the SBIR program as a joint effort by Mainstream and the government to develop dual-use products for both military and civilian applications that result in superior products at lower cost,” said Scaringe. “This is yet another Mainstream Engineering success story that began in the SBIR program.”

Tricons are much-relied on transportable storage units that offer a wide range of options for medical, field kitchens, electronics, and equipment applications. These highly versatile shipping containers can be configured so that three units secured together occupy the identical footprint as a standard 20 ft ISO intermodal container. TRCS units are also ideal for disaster relief and third-world humanitarian operations.

The new military requirements for the TRCS—which operates as an expeditionary field refrigerator providing safe storage and temperature control for perishable items—address a variety of capabilities such as energy efficiency, performance, maintenance, and durability.

Mainstream’s MRU was specifically designed to meet the new DoD size, weight, and efficiency requirements as well as operate environmentally safe refrigerants. The units were engineered to provide precise temperature control, high reliability, ruggedness, and ease of maintenance. Units delivered through the contract also meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/U.S. Department of Energy ENERGY STAR rating requirements.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation
Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development, and manufacturing small business founded in 1986. Their mission is to transition advanced thermal control, energy storage, and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel/JP8-fueled engines (including generators and hybrid vehicle drivetrains), advanced thermal control units, advanced biomass conversion technologies, advanced batteries and ultracapacitors, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers, and the QwikProduct™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of advanced research include thermal control, energy conversion, the combustion engine, and emissions research, turbomachinery, chemical technology, and materials science.
For More Information
Brandon Scheckel Director of Business Development, Mainstream Engineering
321-305-5343
bscheckel@10.0.0.66