Held in conjunction with the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, the SXSW Innovation Awards highlight groundbreaking technological achievements in the connected world.

As a finalist, ECM earns an exhibit at the SXSW Innovation Awards Finalist Showcase, March 9 – 12. ECM will also participate in the corresponding gala awards ceremony, held March 11 at the Austin Convention Center.

“ECM is honored to receive SXSW award recognition for our PrintStator Motor CAD platform. In a world that will require over a billion optimized and sustainable electric motors a year, PrintStator offers both a market and environmental solution,” ECM CEO Brian Casey said.

Motor as Software

As a company, ECM pairs PrintStator Motor CAD to patented PCB Stator innovation to create next generation electric machines that are smaller, quieter, and more energy and space efficient. In January 2024, ECM launched PrintStator as public SaaS product at CES.

As an innovation tool, PrintStator fundamentally transforms the way electric motors are designed and manufactured. From the cloud-based interface, users can dial-in precise performance and dimensional specs to create optimized motor solutions for multiple verticals: Consumer Electronics, HVAC, E-Mobility, Medical, Robotics, Aerospace, and more.

“PrintStator offers innovators unparalleled design optimization. If a global electronics manufacturer needs a 1.62 horsepower appliance motor that achieves 94% efficiency, conforms to an exact form factor, and complies with US or EU ecodesign requirements, PrintStator can design that,” said ECM CEO Brian Casey.

ECM’s PrintStator is also an advanced design-to-manufacture tool. As a SaaS offering, the Motor CAD platform allows companies with manufacturing capacity to advance designs immediately to production. PrintStator users without manufacturing capability can leverage the global capacity of the printed-circuit board industry to enable rapid production of optimized electric motors.

“With PrintStator, ECM aims to positively disrupt an electric motor space that hasn’t seen transformative innovation for eons. PrintStator enables any innovator in any sector to become a designer and producer of highly-efficient electric motors for any application,” said ECM CEO Brian Casey.

Scalability and Sustainability

In addition to delivering performance and cost advantages to electrically powered industries, PrintStator offers significant benefits to energy sustainability.

Research underscores that conventional electric motor systems account for over 50% of global electricity consumption and require substantial raw materials to produce. The US and EU project that converting to next generation electric motor technology could eliminate over 100 million tons of CO2 emissions and save over $30 billion in energy costs.

PCB Stator motors designed via PrintStator are up to 70% lighter than conventional options, while achieving efficiencies in excess of 90% and requiring 80% less raw materials (namely, copper).

ECM is working with several global manufacturing companies to incorporate PrintStator, PCB Stator solutions into commercial and industrial devices compliant with Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPs).

Award Winning IP

PrintStator and ECM’s integrated PCB Stator technology have earned 12 US patents. This list has grown (and will continue to grow) based on persistent R&D and upgrades shaped by PrintStator user input worldwide.

ECM has structured PrintStator for constant product improvement via a PrintStator user-group program. Member feedback funnels into consistent updates of the Motor CAD platform to propel the global adoption and evolution of PrintStator as a disruptive technology.

ECM’s SXSW Innovation Awards distinction adds to a tally of recent technology competition accolades for the US startup. ECM was announced a 2024 CES Innovation Awards Honoree and a winner in the 2023 Industrial Design, Engineering & Automation (IDEA) Awards for PrintStator. In September, ECM took top honors in The 2023 SaaS Awards for PrintStator—winning four awards (including Bespoke SaaS Solution of The Year). In October, ECM won the Design World LEAP Awards’ Software category.

Infinite Use Cases

PrintStator has been leveraged to integrate ECM’s advanced PCB Stator electric motor technology into numerous applications. That includes collaborating with partners to design smaller, lighter, and more efficient electric motors for consumer appliances, defense and aerospace vehicles, e-bicycles, robotic medical devices, and gaming consoles.

ECM believes the release of its advanced MotorCAD platform as SaaS will serve accelerating demand for optimized PCB Stator machines.

“The need for specialized electric motors is an overlooked technology trend. The world will require billions of specialized motors annually—in every vertical imaginable—designed precisely to specs for performance, efficiency, and size. In ECM’s view, the best way to serve that electric motor future is to offer PrintStator Motor CAD to the public as SaaS,” said ECM CEO Brian Casey.