EX-PROP
Computer
To illustrate our Direct Development efforts, when the Company was
originally founded in 1982, it developed and manufactured its own single-purpose
portable computer. Shown is one layer of the printed circuit board of our EX-PROP Computer. This tool was used to performed energy balances and
reduced test data using high accuracy water/steam properties. EX-PROP was completely self-contained, sold to support power plant testing and
used by several dozen utilities throughout the 1980s. When initially produced,
the EX-PROP Computer, was more powerful than the then current PC: 1 Mb of
on-board memory, 32-bit address, a RPL calculator with an 8-deep stack,
self-contained printer, LED display, etc. EX-PROP employed a
functional mode for energy balances or a calculational mode, U.S. Customary or
S.I. units, etc.
Although the single-purpose EX-PROP was not patented, we remain proud
of its creation. As with many of our products, this computer represented the
state-of-the-art (in 1982), but it also represented the spirit of innovation and
what a few engineers can do who are dedicated to Directed Development.
