cnm /pursuit dynamics

posters will recall cnm tie up with this AIM listed coy, when the possibility was touted of cnm holders being allocated pdx shares on flotation -- was all hot air of course (noalls or some such of perth were the ones pushing this ). anyway shares were allocated to a few favourites at 50p , many sold and ran of course , now sub 35p

but the pcx idea /technology is worth a look . see following from www.iii.co.uk

begins .......INSIDE TRACK ENTERPRISE: Primed for licensing
By Peter Marsh
Financial Times; Nov 21, 2002


A pump without moving parts sounds suspiciously like a perpetual motion machine: hardly the type of project to receive backing in an economic downturn.

Yet John Heathcote, chief executive of Pursuit Dynamics, a company listed since May last year on the Alternative Investment Market, is confident that his company's novel pump is so promising it could take a significant share of the $20bn (£13bn) a year world market for pumps, used in industries from chemicals to cement.

"Hardly anyone who has seen these pumps has not been excited," says Mr Heathcote.

An important qualification is that the pumps under construction by the 12-strong company have yet to see service. Mr Heathcote plans to sign licensing deals with engineering businesses - the first of which he hopes will come next year - under which they will use Pursuit Dynamics' ideas to make or apply pumps. From such deals would come royalty payments that could give the Royston, Hertfordshire-based company - which will not make its own pumps - annual revenues of several million pounds within a few years from about 10 licence partners.

While Mr Heathcote is unwilling to spell out who he has been talking to, it is believed Pursuit Dynamics has had talks with representatives of large pump-makers, such as ITT of the US, KSB of Germany and Britain's Weir, as well as groups not involved directly with the pumping industry.

Mr Heathcote's story could serve as a case study of how to get a difficult-sounding technology project started.

Importantly, he has been quick on his feet. Mr Heathcote, whose background is in the City rather than engineering, encountered the basic invention behind the pump in Australia less than three years ago.

Also, while the original aim was to commercialise the invention in the marine industry by providing a novel way to propel boats, Mr Heathcote has changed tack to use the same basic idea in the pumping industry, where immediate applications appear to be more promising.

Pursuit Dynamics pumps use steam to provide energy. The principle is that used in James Watt's 18th-century steam engines but with a twist. In Pursuit Dynamics' pumps, steam under pressure is passed through tubes to create a shock wave. This is caused by the momentum of the steam and also, crucially, the extra propulsive force caused by the sudden contraction of the steam as it condenses.

The energy from the two-step process can be directed to drive other fluids through a limited space. That is the principle behind the hundreds of millions of pumps in countless industries, nearly all of which use moving parts.

Doing away with these mechanisms, at least in sectors such as water treatment or sewerage, where the new pumps seem to have the biggest potential, could lead to savings in capital and running costs of up to 20 per cent compared with existing pumps, says the company.

It has used computerised techniques to develop prototypes. These look like nothing more advanced than collections of metal tubes, which, in volume production, would probably sell for a few hundred pounds each. "The physics behind our ideas is simple but the engineering is extremely complicated," says Mr Heathcote.

Some of the savings are linked to the relatively high efficiencies that should be possible. This is partly because steam generation is more energy-efficient than many other ways of producing power.

Mr Heathcote has worked for City firms including James Capel and SG Warburg, at one time running James Capel's operations in Hong Kong. He later became chief executive of Consolidated African Mining.

In early 2000 his travels took him to Australia, where he met Alan Burns, a prolific inventor who had developed a new approach to use steam to provide power.

Using his City connections, Mr Heathcote set up Pursuit Dynamics in late 2000 with £400,000 from private sources, including some of his own money, buying the rights to Mr Burns's technology. The 2001 flotation raised £3m for the company, which, because of development expenses, has dwindled to £1.1m.

With the company spending £80,000 a month, the crunch will come next year, when Pursuit Dynamics hopes to sign its first licensing deals to provide income.

Within 12 months, then, Mr Heathcote should find out whether his company has a chance of revolutionising an important industry - or looks more like becoming just one more promising business that has run out of steam.

INSIDE TRACK ENTERPRISE: Primed for licensing
By Peter Marsh
Financial Times; Nov 21, 2002


A pump without moving parts sounds suspiciously like a perpetual motion machine: hardly the type of project to receive backing in an economic downturn.

Yet John Heathcote, chief executive of Pursuit Dynamics, a company listed since May last year on the Alternative Investment Market, is confident that his company's novel pump is so promising it could take a significant share of the $20bn (£13bn) a year world market for pumps, used in industries from chemicals to cement.

"Hardly anyone who has seen these pumps has not been excited," says Mr Heathcote.

An important qualification is that the pumps under construction by the 12-strong company have yet to see service. Mr Heathcote plans to sign licensing deals with engineering businesses - the first of which he hopes will come next year - under which they will use Pursuit Dynamics' ideas to make or apply pumps. From such deals would come royalty payments that could give the Royston, Hertfordshire-based company - which will not make its own pumps - annual revenues of several million pounds within a few years from about 10 licence partners.

While Mr Heathcote is unwilling to spell out who he has been talking to, it is believed Pursuit Dynamics has had talks with representatives of large pump-makers, such as ITT of the US, KSB of Germany and Britain's Weir, as well as groups not involved directly with the pumping industry.

Mr Heathcote's story could serve as a case study of how to get a difficult-sounding technology project started.

Importantly, he has been quick on his feet. Mr Heathcote, whose background is in the City rather than engineering, encountered the basic invention behind the pump in Australia less than three years ago.

Also, while the original aim was to commercialise the invention in the marine industry by providing a novel way to propel boats, Mr Heathcote has changed tack to use the same basic idea in the pumping industry, where immediate applications appear to be more promising.

Pursuit Dynamics pumps use steam to provide energy. The principle is that used in James Watt's 18th-century steam engines but with a twist. In Pursuit Dynamics' pumps, steam under pressure is passed through tubes to create a shock wave. This is caused by the momentum of the steam and also, crucially, the extra propulsive force caused by the sudden contraction of the steam as it condenses.

The energy from the two-step process can be directed to drive other fluids through a limited space. That is the principle behind the hundreds of millions of pumps in countless industries, nearly all of which use moving parts.

Doing away with these mechanisms, at least in sectors such as water treatment or sewerage, where the new pumps seem to have the biggest potential, could lead to savings in capital and running costs of up to 20 per cent compared with existing pumps, says the company.

It has used computerised techniques to develop prototypes. These look like nothing more advanced than collections of metal tubes, which, in volume production, would probably sell for a few hundred pounds each. "The physics behind our ideas is simple but the engineering is extremely complicated," says Mr Heathcote.

Some of the savings are linked to the relatively high efficiencies that should be possible. This is partly because steam generation is more energy-efficient than many other ways of producing power.

Mr Heathcote has worked for City firms including James Capel and SG Warburg, at one time running James Capel's operations in Hong Kong. He later became chief executive of Consolidated African Mining.

In early 2000 his travels took him to Australia, where he met Alan Burns, a prolific inventor who had developed a new approach to use steam to provide power.

Using his City connections, Mr Heathcote set up Pursuit Dynamics in late 2000 with £400,000 from private sources, including some of his own money, buying the rights to Mr Burns's technology. The 2001 flotation raised £3m for the company, which, because of development expenses, has dwindled to £1.1m.

With the company spending £80,000 a month, the crunch will come next year, when Pursuit Dynamics hopes to sign its first licensing deals to provide income.

Within 12 months, then, Mr Heathcote should find out whether his company has a chance of revolutionising an important industry - or looks more like becoming just one more promising business that has run out of steam........ ends