2B Technologies

2B Technologies is dedicated to the development and commercialization of new analytical instruments for atmospheric and environmental measurements. We specialize in miniaturized instruments for measurements of ozone (O3), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other chemical species in air. The photo to the right shows the Model 202 Ozone Monitor sitting atop a conventional ozone monitor. Our Model 202 was originally developed out of the need for the University of Colorado research group of co-founder Dr. John Birks to make vertical profiling measurements of ozone on kites and balloons where measurements using conventional ozone monitors are impossible. Our small, light-weight, low-power instruments are now used for atmospheric measurements using balloons, kites, UAVs, research aircraft, and at many remote sites, including Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, the Greenland ice sheet, the summit of Mont Blanc, the Amazon rain forest, on buoys in the Arctic Ocean, on commercial airliners, in many U.S. National Parks and at numerous other locations throughout the world. More than 1,400 of our Model 202 and Model 205 Ozone Monitors and more than 3,800 total instruments have been sold since the year 2000, with about half of our instruments going to researchers outside the U.S. More than 400 scientific papers have been published that cite use of 2B Tech instruments, and those papers have been cited more than 6,000 times by other researchers.

In 2009, 2B Technologies launched the Global Ozone Project for middle and high school students. In the 'GO3 Project', students at schools around the world measure ozone and meteorological parameters outside their schools and continuously upload their data to an overlay in Google Earth. In this project, students are creating the world's first global ozone monitoring network. The GO3 Project is administered by the GO3 Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non profit organization, which raises funds for sponsorship of schools from individuals, small businesses, large corporations and government agencies. Currently, more than 100 schools are supported by the GO3 Foundation. 2B Technologies donates time, including a full-time outreach coordinator, use of facilities, and financial support to the GO3 Foundation. Seven of the schools are directly funded by 2B Technologies. The GO3 Project provides a free, downloadable curriculum on air pollution and climate change to all teachers. On the GO3 Social Network, similar to Facebook, students discuss their data, interact with their international 'sister schools' and discuss ideas for improving the environment.

InDevR (Instrument Development and Research) acquired 2B Technologies in July 2005. InDevR, which is co-located with 2B Tech in Boulder, CO, is carrying out R&D for bioanalytical instruments based on new technologies for rapid identification and quantification of biological agents such as nucleic acids, proteins, bacteria and viruses. Dr. John Birks is a co-founder of InDevR along with Dr. Kathy Rowlen and Dr. Laura Kuck. 2B Tech staff have contributed significantly to the development of InDevR products, especially the Virus Counter®, which was launched as InDevR's first product in 2010 and is now marketed by ViroCyt, a spin-off of InDevR. Other products of InDevR include miPLEX, Videa and ampliPHOX.

Air Pollution Monitoring

Air Pollution MonitoringThe Models 202, 205 and 106-L are all well suited to ambient air measurements where ozone concentrations are typically in the range 0-100 ppb. The EPA air quality standard currently is 75 ppb for as an 8-hour weighted average. The Model 106-M and 106-H are designed for higher concentrations and not suited to this application. The Model 202 continues to be our most popular ozone monitor and is widely used by the U.S. Forest Service, NOAA, the National Park Service and other government agencies. The Model 205 Dual Beam Ozone offers slightly improved precision and better baseline stability than the Model 202. Both the Model 202 and Model 205 have been designated as Federal Equivalent Methods (FEMs) by the EPA, meaning that they may be used for ambient monitoring for enforcement of the Clean Air Act. As discussed below, the Model 205 is preferred for fast measurements on aircraft and balloons. For monitoring at fixed locations, and especially when the data are going to be averaged for 1 minute or longer, the Models 202 and 106-L provide more than adequate precision. The critical components of the Model 106-L are identical to those used in the Models 202 and 205. The Model 106-L is built on a single PCB, making it less expensive to manufacture and more compact. An OEM version without an instrument case is available as the OEM-106-L for those customers who want to repackage the instrument for incorporation into other systems.