Argon at the Joint CBRN Conference and Exhibition, Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. USA

Argon has attended the annual Joint CBRN Conference and Exhibition for many years, back to the days when it was known as the World Wide Chemical conference, and this year was no exception.

Ably assisted by Jerry Leurs of JGW Group, Steven Pike demonstrated the PlumeSIM system in full Field Exercise mode to a steady stream of visitors, who showed a high level of interest in the next generation of advanced interactive CBRN detection instrument training provision throughout this 1.5 day event.

Despite the high humidity and 100 degree heat at the US Army's Chemical Corps HQ, products such as the JCAD-SIM simulator continued to attract attention from a broad range of personnel who recognise the importance of ensuring comprehensive responder competence without the risk of harm or damage to trainees, the public, expensive critical operational equipment or the environment.

Argon simulators at the 2nd NBC Defence Congress in Madrid

The AP4C-SIM and LCD3.2e-SIM were on display at the Nortech exhibition stand at the 2nd NBC Defence Congress, which was held at the Auditorium Hotel in Madrid, 22-23 June 2010.

With delegate numbers higher than originally expected, Nortech, Argon's long standing representative in Spain, provided attending civilian and military NBC response personnel with the chance to view at first hand the features and training benefits of these innovative simulators.

The Nortech (Northern Technologies) exhibition stand at the 2nd NBC Congress in Madrid.

AP4C-SIM and LCD3.2e-SIM on display for Spanish CBRN specialists.

Argon at the Third European IRPA Congress,Helsinki, Finland

Working on the principle that you can either innovate or irradiate, and in reflection of the fact that our range of radiation detector simulation systems has been growing exponentially in response to interest from both the civil nuclear industry and increasingly concerned international proliferation control and emergency response organisations,  Argon exhibited a selected sample of our latest RADSIM portfolio with the RADPlumeSIM system at the Third European IRPA Congress, in Helsinki, Finland, 14-18 June 2010.

Although this 'broad-brush' academic event inevitably suffered by comparison with the level of informed end-user interest in training at CBW 2010, a number of delegates were surprised to find the degree of innovative opportunity being offered by Argon.  The positive responses to demonstration of the EPD-Mk2-SIM dosimeter simulator and the RDS-200-SIM survey meter simulator (with the complementary GMP-11-SIM contamination probe simulator) proved to be telling in respect of how little appreciation there is of alternatives to live radioactive source use. 

Given the reported trend towards stricter control, if not elimination, of radioactive sources for training purposes, the features and benefits of Argon RADSIM systems provide a huge incentive to further investment in this arena.

Argon at CBW 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

From 8-11 June 2010 Argon could be found at the 10th International Symposium on Protection against Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents in at Kistamässan, Stockholm, Sweden.
Such is the perceived importance of this triennial event in the CBRN exhibitions calendar that we reserved our stand almost a year ago, and having secured a good spot, we weren't disappointed when we received an impressively high level of visitors from more than 20 countries (some even showed the foresight to pre-book appointment times!).

More importantly, Argon was able to confirm the positive status of a number of important new programmes, discuss the next stages of system provision with some of our existing customers, representatives and partner companies, and impress potential new customers with a demonstration of our integrated simulation product range, as well as find a new potential representative in the process.

As if all this wasn't enough to make it a excellent show for Argon, the final highlight was when Steven found a great place for good quality Indian food within two minutes of his hotel room! 

Thanks to everyone who came to see us - too numerous to list individually here - all of your time and consideration were most appreciated.

Brigadier General Jess Scarborough (JPEO CBD), Andrew Wilson (JGW Group), and Steven Pike (Argon) on the Argon stand at CBW 2010.

New Argon branding for 2010

The "Training without risk..." message that heads up this blog is just the first part of a new-style branding theme that will be rolled out in the coming months to help highlight the benefits of Argon simulation training systems.

The first piece of new product literature features the JCAD-SIM system, and will shortly be followed by our other existing and new product data sheets.

JCAD-SIM features and benefits are highlighted in the new-style Argon literature.  

Our most recent print media advertisement in the summer edition of CBRNe World strikingly illustrates the point in the preceeding article that "training must be practical"[1], whilst visitors to the Argon stand at CBW 2010 two weeks ago were met with complementary integrated display materials that emphasised this message.  All of this has been achieved with the creative help of Helen Nelson at Jet The Dog, and she has even refreshed the Argon logo!

JCAD-SIM advert from the Summer 2010 issue of CBRN World - can you spot a theme developing here?


[1] See "False readings" by Col. (retd.) Rick Whitman in CBRNe World, Vol. 5 Issue 2, Summer 2010, p.32-36.

APVL expand Argon product representation

Having successfully sold Argon radiation detector simulators into the civil nuclear market for several years, APVL ingénierie has now extended it's exclusive representation of Argon in France with the inclusion of the chemical detector simulator portfolio.

As APVL is based in St.-Cyr-sur-Loire, near Tours in the heart of the Loire Valley, there was really no choice when it came to a decision on where to carry out initial product training, which was provided on the 25th May.

We look forward to working closely with APVL in the development of these new opportunities!

[L-R] Vivien Godfroi, Carole Meme, Franck Daumain and Etienne Gaultier of APVL.

JCAD-SIM to help USAF CBRN training

It's not really news now, but, just in case you missed it the first time round, the following press release was approved on the 22nd April 2010.

"The United States Air Force Air Education Training Command has awarded Argon Electronics a substantial contract to equip nine primary and Silver Flag USAF CBRN training facilities with 145 JCAD-SIM training simulator systems. The simulators will enable USAF personnel to train how to use the new M4-JCAD detector in any environment without the need to use any form of chemical simulant and provide significant cost savings during training. JCAD-SIM accurately simulates detection of CW, blood and choking agents as well as toxic industrial substances using Argon’s patented simulation technology, which also reports any student errors during training. The high fidelity simulator includes a simulation confidence tester and training sieve pack change system. The JCAD-SIMs are capable of upgrade to operate with Argon’s PlumeSIM, a portable instrumented CBRN training system capable of rapid deployment for home station CBRN training and are also compatible with all other Argon CBRN simulators permitting multiple detector, multiple substance training to take place within the same exercise."

Note: This Press Release has been approved by the United States Air Force and may not be modified in any way without their prior consent.