Exergen Corporation, a world-leading manufacturer of infrared sensing systems, was formed originally as a consulting company by Francesco Pompei in Boston in 1979 to develop new methods of reducing energy use for institutional and industrial clients.

With undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees earned at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Mr. Pompei was engaged by clients such as Harvard University to find ways to solve difficult energy related problems. The Harvard work further led to the most successful institutional energy conservation program in the country, saving Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences alone upwards of $10 million in the first years of the program.

Of course in order to save the energy, one had to find it; and Exergen developed the world’s first pocket sized infrared scanners to do just that.

Many other industrial models followed, including instruments established as standards for electrical systems inspection by AT&T, PG&E, GTE and others; and standards for process inspection by Kodak, DuPont, Ford, GM, Chrysler, and others; with a customer list that includes all Fortune 1000 companies.

A most significant new product introduced in 1992, the IRt/c™ Infrared Thermocouple is the first sensor in history capable of providing a true thermocouple signal measuring temperature without contact and without any power source whatsoever, and has produced a paradigm shift in non-contact temperature control.

IR devices accuracy and reliability has made it possible for it to be used in routine factory automation tasks where IR would not have been considered due to cost and unreliability.

With nearly 300 models, the IRt/c is being used in such diverse applications as blood gas analyzers, printing machinery, packaging machinery, racing cars, climate control, and agriculture.

Exergen also recently introduced the IRt/c-WP sensor dedicated to controlling temperatures in waterless printing.

With the largest installed base of IR monitoring sensors in the world, Exergen products are relied upon daily for literally millions of fast and accurate, non-invasive temperatures across industry and medicine. Employing approximately 100, the company remains privately held, with Mr. Pompei, who has served continuously as President and CEO, the majority shareholder.