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BURLINGTON, Mass., April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The ZScanner(TM) 700 from Z Corporation has been voted a NASA Tech Briefs' 2006 Readers' Choice Product of the Year, making it one of the most significant new products introduced to the engineering community in 2006, according to the magazine's readers.

NASA Tech Briefs is an official publication of NASA and the largest U.S.- circulation engineering magazine with approximately 190,000 design engineering readers. Z Corporation, maker of the world's fastest 3D printers and uniquely portable scanners, received the award last night at a special reception and dinner in New York City.

"This award comes straight from the engineering community and represents the voting of professionals who understand innovation better than anyone else," said Linda L. Bell, NASA Tech Briefs editorial director. "The ZScanner 700 and all of the winners obviously made a big impression on our readers."

The ZScanner 700 is the first part-referenced 3D scanner, orienting itself to the target object rather than an external device. All other systems require fixed-position tripods, bulky mechanical arms, or external positioning devices that must be within the line of sight of the target surface, making hard-to- reach surfaces nearly impossible to scan. As a result, it is also the first 3D scanner that allows the user to move the target object during scanning. These capabilities plus handheld portability make the ZScanner 700 ideally suited for real-time scanning of complex surfaces and hard-to-reach areas like car interiors. It captures data in one continuous scan rather than in numerous shots from fixed positions, eliminating hours of post processing time.

The ZScanner 700 is ideal for a wide range of applications, including: Reverse Engineering - Design aftermarket products with speed and accuracy. Packaging Design - Create custom packaging by scanning product samples for exact geometry and texture data. Ergonomic Design - Readily scan hand-crafted samples to produce complex designs from scratch. Digital Archiving - Save money by storing tooling, samples and prototypes digitally. Digital Media, Gaming and Animation - Create digital media for computer games and movies from artists' concept models. Arts & Cultural Heritage - Produce high-resolution, low-impact scans for accurate restorations and reconstruction of priceless artwork and architecture. Document, research and even replicate great works for transportation, packaging, museum shops and historical archiving. Medical Education - Create highly detailed reproductions of complex organs and bone structures. Medical Orthosis - Custom-design braces and other devices for precision comfort.

The ZScanner 700 was NASA Tech Briefs Product of the Month for October 2006, because of its "exceptional technical merit and practical value to our 190,000 design engineering readers," according to Bell. Last December, the magazine asked readers to vote for the one product among those 12 Products of the Month that they felt was the most significant new product introduced to the engineering community in 2006. The products with the three highest vote totals were named Products of the Year.

"NASA Tech Briefs is a recognized authority in the engineering community, so we're delighted that its highly informed readership appreciates the value of what the ZScanner 700 offers to the design engineering and manufacturing community and beyond," said Tom Clay, Z Corporation CEO. "The scanner demonstrates the same brand of innovation and quality as our 3D printing technology. Together, they make a powerful combination for any engineering organization that needs to improve its product development capabilities."