In April 2011, Clever Fellows Innovation Consortium, doing business as Qdrive, was acquired by Chart Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: GTLS) . Since 2001, the firm has operated as the cryogenic cooler development and manufacturing arm of the Clever Fellows Innovation Consortium (CFIC), Inc. Qdrive's mission is to provide quiet, low-vibration, no-maintenance, cryogenic cooling. The firm's acoustic Stirling (pulse-tube) cryocooler line is the industry's widest capacity range of unitary coolers and are available in standard and custom configurations. Additionally, the firm offers oil-free compressors to drive Gifford-McMahon and Joule-Thompson coldheads; and its TwinSTAR pressure wave generators and STAR resonant linear reciprocating motors/alternators, for researchers and equipment developers. Praxair, Inc. - the largest cryogenic air separation and industrial gas company in the Americas - has a non-exclusive license for large cryocooler uses of CFIC Technology (above 4 kW electrical). Brooks Automation has partnered with CFIC to make and sell Qdrive coolers for the demanding fields of semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturing. The CTI-Cryogenics division of Brooks is the global leader in cryogenic high-vacuum products (cryopumps) where reliability and low-vibration are paramount. Development collaborators include Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University, both global leaders in thermoacoustics, as well as leading superconducting products companies, major international refrigeration manufacturers, NASA, DoE, DoD, and national laboratory and university researchers globally. CFIC is commercializing advanced thermal-to-electrical energy systems (including both fossil and renewable - solar, biomass) technologies for a variety of promising market segments. The principals at the firm have also pursued free-piston Stirling engine (FPSE) and reciprocating alternator/motor development as internally funded research. CFIC was on the team of Cummins and Sandia addressing development of a new DOE sponsored solar power system combining reflective dishes with advanced CFIC-designed FPSEs driving reciprocating alternators.
