Booster Shot

Eight Tech Coast companies have won nearly $2 million in state grants from the California Technology Investment Partnership, a 5-year-old program that matches federal technology awards.

The companies were selected by the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that supports small high-tech firms. Winners include Syagen Technology, a Tustin company that is developing an anti-terrorist airport device to detect explosives and chemical weapons; World-wide Innovative Technology, a Palos Verdes firm that is working on a catalyst to reduce emissions from power plants, factories and cars; and Irvine Sensors, a Costa Mesa concern that is building an ultra-thin monitor to help detect fatigue and sleep disorders.

Other winning companies are: International Computer Power of El Monte, Perceptronics of Woodland Hills, Physical Research of Torrance, Simpex Technologies of Brea, and W. Brandt Goldsworthy & Associates of Torrance.

The money will provide “a shot in the arm for small companies often just below venture capitalists’ radar screens,” said Cliff Numark, alliance program director.