National Academy of Engineering

7/24/04 Photo Finish

ANCHOR LEAD:
Sometimes things happen so fast at the Tour de France finish line it's hard to tell who the clear winner is. Ever improving technology takes the guessing out of photo-finishes.

SCRIPT: audio
Doug DeAngelis is a former track and field athlete. Now he's an engineer building a successful business proving winners and losers with a technology he invented as a student at MIT. Giles Norton, spokesperson for Lynx Systems Developers, says DeAngelis' technology is taking 2,000 digital pictures a second along finish lines of the Tour de France. Computer software instantly links those images with a precise race time, and pieces it all together with a crystal clear finish photo that shows a clear winner. With the National Academy of Engineering, Randy Atkins, WTOP Radio.