10-14-01

Newport, RI and Stuttgart, Germany - An affordable new science kit offers teachers, students, inventors and other tech-savvy learners the opportunity to build a model car fueled by hydrogen. Introduced by Thames & Kosmos, a new company, the Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit features a unique reversible fuel cell powering a model car that actually runs on water.

"The reversible fuel cell both splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and then becomes the car's engine. It is truly unique," said Jane A. Holdsworth, founder and president of Thames & Kosmos, a new company based in Newport, RI.

The customer base for such smart products is growing, Ms. Holdsworth noted. "We see a rise in home-schooling families, parents seeking intelligent toys, and teachers interested in bringing cutting-edge technologies into the classroom. In addition, there are a growing number of people, age 20 and up, who spend their free time experimenting with science toys, especially those that use intriguing technologies."

"It's important for students, as well as the lay public, to become familiar with state-of-the-art technologies. With the Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit users learn how fuel cells, which use no fossil fuel, can help solve critical problems in the world's energy supply. It gets everybody thinking about the possibilities. In the process of doing something relevant to the real world, they learn the basic concepts in physics and chemistry," Ms. Holdsworth said.

"Users can experiment with the operation of a pollution-free vehicle and understand how fuel cells can make a significant contribution to improving the environment. Children and adults appreciate the significance of a car that uses water and sunlight and yields no toxic pollutants," she added.

Here's how it works: Fill the fuel cell and storage tanks with water; charge a solar panel with sunlight (or a lamp) to activate electrolysis and watch the water separate into hydrogen and oxygen. When the gas tanks are full, detach the solar panel, and use the hydrogen and oxygen to power the model car.

Although it requires solar energy initially, the Thames & Kosmos Fuel Cell Car, unlike strictly solar model cars, can store energy for use at a later time. The kit also includes a digital multi-meter to measure current and voltage and a 100-page manual with 30 experiments and demonstrations.

The name Thames & Kosmos is a combination of the 53-year-old Thames Science Center, formerly a non-profit museum of Newport, Rhode Island and Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, the 175-year-old publisher of nature guides, books, science kits and games in Stuttgart, Germany. Thames & Kosmos has purchased the name and now also does business as the Thames Science Center. The museum has been renamed the Thames Museum. The new company will operate the museum's former science store as well as its program of informal science education where the new Thames & Kosmos products will be tested.

"We were attracted to Kosmos because of its reputation for serious content and high quality materials," said Ms. Holdsworth. "Our partnership with Kosmos evolved as we discovered how our combined strengths can help meet the science education needs of the global marketplace."

The new venture makes good sense to Kosmos as well. "We are very pleased to be working with Thames & Kosmos to help them introduce our line of science kits to the English speaking markets worldwide," said Axel Meffert, Managing Director at Kosmos, in a combined press release issued today. "Some will be kits, such as the Fuel Cell Car, that we have introduced successfully in Germany. As we go forward we plan to collaborate with Thames & Kosmos to develop new content. It is a combination of great strength and much potential," said Mr. Meffert.

"Many companies have approached us with an interest in bringing our kits to the English speaking markets. Thames & Kosmos brings a unique understanding, experience and proven commitment to science education," said Andrea Ahlers, Director of Foreign Rights at Kosmos. "When we visited Newport this summer, we discovered that our alliance not only looked good on paper, but that we shared similar goals in enhancing formal education and, very importantly, that we work very well together."

The alliance was triggered by Victor Niederhoffer, the well-known speculator and national squash champion. "Vic has a penchant for experimenting with electronics and gadgets in his spare time. He is one of our best customers, one of a group of involved parents who continually encourage us to stock more challenging science kits for their children, as well as for their own amusement and experimentation. We have helped him literally fill a couple of rooms at his home with science kits and toys,” Ms. Holdsworth said.

The author of "The Education of A Speculator," published by Wiley in 1997 and the founder of a highly successful mergers and acquisition business, Mr. Niederhoffer has a reputation as a fierce competitor whose ups and downs have inspired many entrepreneurs. "For several years I didn't know who he was or why he was buying all those kits and toys. I only knew that he really cared about science and technology education and we shared some fundamental philosophical views about free enterprise. I feel incredibly lucky to have his support in this new venture," Ms. Holdsworth said.

Mr. Niederhoffer has been a user of Kosmos products, which he purchases in Europe, for many years. “I consider them by far the best science kits I have ever seen. As an electronic and chemistry hobbyist, I wanted to share these great products with my six children. It was on one of my trips to Newport, visiting my daughter Rand at St. George’s School, that I walked into Thames Science Center. I immediately saw the extra touch they put on their retail operation and how they were making science come alive for kids. I felt an alliance between Thames and Kosmos was a natural. I told Jane at our first meeting, ‘You have to bring these products to America. Translate them into English and enable American children to have the same benefits as European children.’”

Both Ms. Holdsworth and Mr. Niederhoffer share the view that technological innovation is the linchpin of economic growth. “Future inventions and breakthroughs depend on the knowledge we provide to the next generation,” said Holdsworth. “This may look like play, and indeed it is fun, but it is also serious business,” she said.

Ms. Holdsworth has more than 20 years experience in science education project development and museum administration, including 18 years as director, president and chief executive officer of the Thames Science Center, now Thames Museum. In the 1980’s she led several award-winning exhibit and educational materials development projects funded by the National Science Foundation. These include Project RobotACTS, a technology education program that pioneered the first computer driven LEGO robots; ThamesNET, the first museum computer bulletin board network; and Watershed Worlds, a ground breaking, multidisciplinary exhibition and educational program melding the cultural and natural history of watersheds. In the early 1990’s funding dried up and she moved the financially strapped museum from New London, CT to Newport, RI in 1993. In 1995 she started an experiential science and learning store on the waterfront in downtown Newport. Prior to joining the Thames Science Center in 1979 she was a freelance journalist and political speechwriter specializing in science and technology issues. Founding Thames & Kosmos “has been a dream come true,” Ms. Holdsworth said, noting that the business plan for developing kits and other educational materials was first developed in 1990. “It took me longer than it would most people and I could never have envisaged that it would happen this way.”

The Thames & Kosmos kits will be translated and prepared for English speaking markets in the U.S. and manufactured in Germany and China. The Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit was translated for Thames & Kosmos by Lutz Huwel, Ph.D., a professor of physics at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and Jens Kure-Jensen, P.E., a professional engineer who has worked for more than 40 years in the power generation industry. Ted McGuire, director of media and design at Thames & Kosmos, developed the new packaging and manual. David Gamon, Ph.D., a cognitive scientist from the University of California, Berkeley, and author of several books on neuroscience, memory and learning, will be representing Thames & Kosmos in introducing the product to science schools and other national accounts.

"The technology that powers this car couldn't be more timely, or more important," said Mr. Gamon. "This is the same kind of technology that can not only move us out of the fossil-fuel age here on earth, but even provide us with fuel sources for colonies on the moon and any planets discovered that have water. It's a smart and sophisticated kit with substance, and great for stoking the fires of imagination."

Shipping, freight and other worldwide distribution logistics will be managed by Exel, a world leader with more than 55,000 employees helping companies move and manage their supplies globally.

"This is an ideal time to start this new international venture, both internally and externally," Ms. Holdsworth said. "Sophisticated database systems can help us manage the supply and global freight companies such as Exel make it possible to distribute the kits worldwide efficiently and economically."

The Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit is one 60 science kits under development by Thames & Kosmos. About a dozen more in the new line of kits will be available at International Toy Fairs in New York and Nuremberg, Germany early next year, she said.

The Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit retails for around $150. It is available at the Thames Science Center in Newport and in select science, toy and hobby stores, and catalogs, including Chicago-based Hammacher Schlemmer.

“The Hammacher Schlemmer catalog is the nation’s oldest catalog company offering the latest innovations. The Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit and its ability to demonstrate in a fun, hands-on way, why fuel cells are widely believed to be the energy source of the future, intrigued us. We selected this unique item for its high quality, as well as its ability to stimulate creativity. The kit helps teach new skills, encourages self-expression, motivates discovery, and shows youngsters and adults alike how inspiring, productive, and fun play can be,” said Sabrina Balthazar, new product specialist for Hammacher Schlemmer. Ms. Balthazar said the product will also be available in Hammacher’s flagship store in Chicago as well as at its New York store in Manhattan.

More information on the Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit is available at www.thamesandkosmos.com