Uncle Sam just the beginning of new market for Linde Canada

Industrial gas company Linde Canada Ltd said Thursday a recent sale to the United States Army has allowed it to enter a new market of supplying forensic science organizations.

“We think this is a $30-million market,” Chris Ebeling, Linde’s head of North American cylinder operations and customer service, told YourMississaugaBiz. “And I think the amenable market is increasing.”

The company recently sold their first locally developed Adroit FC-300 fingerprint system to the United States Army’s Criminal Investigation Laboratory. Ebeling has also had conversations with a number of contacts from other security agencies around the world.

“However, we’d really like to see some more local involvement,” he said, emphasizing the system’s status as a Canadian invention. “We’re hopeful the work and development being done here will stimulate more local agencies dealing with forensic science to further the technology.”

Ebeling said the work and sale of the Adroit FC-300 was unusual for the company division as they primarily deal with applied development. “Normally our job is to take technologies, change them for the local market and promote them commercially,” he explained.

The gases in the new fingerprinting system by Linde Canada eliminate the need for industrial solvents and the dipping, spraying, brushing and drying steps found in the current standard procedure. “Our intention is to turn this process into a much greener process,” Ebeling explained.

The Adroit FC-300 fingerprint technology project was led by technology marketing manager Calvin Knaggs, who Ebeling said is continuing to work on innovation.

Financial terms of the sale to the U.S. Army were not disclosed.

Linde Canada is located in Mississauga on Chedworth Way. The subsidiary is an affiliate of The Linde Group, a European-based global gases and engineering firm with 62,000 employees in more than 100 countries.

In 2011, Linde’s multinational parent generated revenues of more than US$18 billion.

Ebeling has been with the company for 23 years, including application sales, project management, marketing, general management and vice-president of engineered solutions.