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The Innovation Awards program recognizes the industry’s most pioneering products of the year that have the potential to transform EMS care. An independent panel of judges evaluated each entry at the EMS World Expo in Atlanta, Georgia on its innovation, features and applicability to EMS delivery.

Automotive lighting has come a long way since being first introduced nearly 125 years ago! For much of history, the outermost lens or cover of automotive lighting was based on glass, a material durable against sunlight exposure but fragile against impacts and bumps. And then came plastics – color fading, yellowing and hazing are common with plastics.

mpower silicone lighting is a breakthrough clear, optical-grade silicone rubber that remains flexible over a wide temperature range, is highly resistant to chemicals, nearly impervious to UV and thermal aging, and resilient to compression set. Silicone offers unique molding advantages over plastics, with flexible parts that can be “stretched’ out of a complex tool shape without damage.

Our innovation team at SoundOff Signal partnered with DOW material scientists to find a new approach to environmentally robust signal lighting options that could offer complex optics to improve lighting output. We combined traditional warning lights into a single, optical grade, ruggedized and weatherproof silicone component. The resulting silicone solution, called Clear Duty technology, has enabled unique, industry-leading lighting concepts without the limitations of plastic lens-based designs. After rugged SAE and ASTM testing, the silicone-lensed lights emerged fully operational with minimal damage.

Over the history of automotive lighting, we have now moved from old, “rigid glass” lenses to new, “flexible glass” lenses. This changes everything, enabling the next generation of advanced optics while offering tremendous advantages for design, manufacturing, mobility, and automation needs. For mission critical safety where signal lighting is a key element, the innovators at SoundOff Signal have moved the bar. Because reliability and safety are important, SoundOff Signal’s Clear Duty Silicone lights the path forward for responder safety.