Even a window of a few short hours could give time to residents and emergency services in the affected areas to evacuate and take the necessary response measures. Science has applied decades of effort to seismic research with frustrating results.

One company, however, has just been recognized for its innovative approach. QuakeFinder, a private research company based in Palo Alto, California, is making inroads in the most promising area of earthquake research, the measurement of the subtle effects in the earth and ionosphere, occurring several hours to days before major earthquakes, which may provide the foundations of short-term forecasts.

The California Space Authority bestows its highest recognition -- the Spot Beam Award -- to leaders who have made extraordinary contributions to "transforming space."

The Spot Beam Award in Space Innovation was presented to QuakeFinder in an award ceremony sponsored by Congressman Ken Clavert, and held in Los Angeles on December 2, 2005. California Space Authority (CSA) is a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's industry, government, academia, and workforce.

"The Space Innovation Award," stated the CSA in its official announcement, "is being presented to QuakeFinder for its pioneering research in the forecasting of earthquakes with the use of space technology. Specifically, QuakeFinder designed, built and launched a satellite -- QuakeSat -- in only 18 months.

Data from that satellite is helping to detect changes in the earth's electromagnetic signatures, which, in turn, signal that an earthquake is imminent." QuakeFinder's pioneering spirit is applied not only in its scientific approach but also in its creative partnerships formed to maximize research and funding opportunities.

From its inception it has formed strategic alliances with Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Purdue, UCLA, NASA, Japan, France, Taiwan, Russia and others and brought space science to schools in their educational outreach program. QuakeFinder not only partners with scientists and researchers but also with members of the general public who contribute directly as sponsors their ground systems.

"We are extremely gratified by the award," says Tom Bleier, President of QuakeFinder, "it certainly adds a spring to our step as we embark on the next phase. We are building and deploying the second generation of ULF monitors - fifteen times more sensitive than their predecessors - to complete the largest network in the world along the major fault lines in California."

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