Booster Shot

By KAREN KAPLAN

July 20, 1998 12 AM PT

Eight Tech Coast companies have won nearly $2 million in state grants from the California Technology Investment Partnership, a 5-year-old program that matches federal technology awards.

The companies were selected by the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that supports small high-tech firms. Winners include Syagen Technology, a Tustin company that is developing an anti-terrorist airport device to detect explosives and chemical weapons; World-wide Innovative Technology, a Palos Verdes firm that is working on a catalyst to reduce emissions from power plants, factories and cars; and Irvine Sensors, a Costa Mesa concern that is building an ultra-thin monitor to help detect fatigue and sleep disorders.

Other winning companies are: International Computer Power of El Monte, Perceptronics of Woodland Hills, Physical Research of Torrance, Simpex Technologies of Brea, and W. Brandt Goldsworthy & Associates of Torrance.

The money will provide “a shot in the arm for small companies often just below venture capitalists’ radar screens,” said Cliff Numark, alliance program director.

Technology and the Internet Business

Karen Kaplan

Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.

Booster Shot

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