Manteca Bulletin
October 12, 1998

IN THE TREES OR UNDER GROUND, ANIMALS CAN'T HIDE FROM MANTECA COUPLE

(Photo caption)  Inventors Ann and John Christensen, owners of Manteca's Christensen Designs, 
will be profiled on tonight's edition of KVIE's "Central Valley Chronicles" at 7:30 on 
Channel 6.

When it comes to inventing things, Ann and John Christensen are whizzes--as the overwhelming 
success of their wildlife research equipment company, Christensen Designs, has demonstrated.  
Their greatest invention, however, wasn't the "TreeTop" nest inspection tool or the "Theseus" 
remote controlled probe, but the company itself.  In a society that's forcing couples to spend 
more and more time apart due to commuting and odd shifts, the Christensens have built an 
out-of-the-home enterprise that has allowed them to merge their complementary talents, as well 
as their schedules. "We respect each other and we enjoy each other's company," says Ann, 
"which is a good thing because we spend so much time together. "And we love our clientele--we 
love working with wildlife biologists and we love building new things, new gizmos, new 
devices." The Manteca company, which specializes in high-tech video systems was a dream of 
theirs since they married in 1988. "Right off the bat, we started working together on 
different inventions," says Ann, 43.

Those first efforts had little to do with what would become their specialty.  Their first 
invention introduced at Modesto's Innovation Expo in 1989, was a windless windchime. It was 
during John's 12-year tenure as a design engineer for Lawrence Livermore National 
Laboratory that he first became aware of the peculiar needs of wildlife biologists. To prevent 
the possible disruption of the habitats of burrowing owls, San Joaquin kit foxes and American 
badgers by the Lab's weapon tests, John and Lawrence Livermore wildlife biologist Jim Woollett 
invented the Miniature Optical Lair Explorer.  The MOLE, a sophisticated miniature video 
camera coupled with some odd toy parts, could make house calls on the burrowing animals to see 
if anybody was home.  If the residences were occupied, the Lab would move their experiments 
elsewhere. "The MOLE actually created quite a bit of publicity for the Lab," says Ann, "with 
visits from CNN and documentary folks from Germany and Britain.  Much of our product line has 
stemmed from contacts made during that time." By the time John retired from Lawrence Livermore 
in December 1996, he and Ann had a direction is which to point their new enterprise, and a 
clientele more than ready for some unique innovations. Since then, the company has made some 
very strong inroads with federal and state agencies, colleges that are doing research in 
wildlife biology and wildlife consultants, says Ann. "In fact, the TreeTop is in every single 
national forest that has a species called the red-cockaded woodpecker." While neither Ann nor 
John have a biology background (Ann degreed in journalism and spent time in publishing; John 
spent 11 years in the nuclear navy and later designed two-man submarines), Ann says the pair 
have a strong interest in the environment and have learned to "ask the right questions" of 
their clients. "They're the ones who teach us," she says.

The couple, who will be profiled on tonight's edition of KVIE's "Central Valley Chronicles" 
(7:30 p.m., Channel 6), has received increasing media attention since going full-time with 
their operation in January 1997. From their rather unique product line, to their status as 
partners in both business and life, the Christensens make for good copy--as such publications 
as National Geographic, Business Start-Ups and Entrepreneur Illustrated have demonstrated. 
Credit Ann for much of this high-profile exposure.  As the company's marketing and 
administration chief, she's responsible for all aspects of the firm's public relations. 
"Someone has to let people know what is out there and how to get it," she says.

If a client needs to order one of the dozen or so products listed in their catalog, he calls 
Ann.  If that client needs a technical question answered, John's waiting by the phone. While 
she demures to John, 52, in the electronics department and vice versa, both share in the 
initial brain-storming sessions. "A lot of inventing is seeing that there's a need for 
something and figuring how to fill it," says Ann.  "We have our business meetings in our yard, 
and we say to ourselves, "Wouldn't it be great if this or that were available?"

Most of the work the duo does comes under the heading of contract manufacturing, in which the 
parts are machined or made off-site and shipped to the Christensens for final inspection and 
assembly. Calling John a "good integrator," she described Christensen Designs as a "value-added 
design firm" that adds to existing technology and, in the process, comes up with new 
patentable features.  "Most of our work is done on computers," says Ann.  "I do all of the 
administrative and marketing work on them, and John designs his circuit boards and actual 
prototypes on computers." Among the latest products that they've developed are an underwater 
camera with a head-mounted video display designed to study amphibians and the "Sol-R-Caddy," 
which can recharge 12-volt batteries in the field with very compact solar cells. The 
Christensen' inventions, which are essentially designed to spy on animals, are finding a 
favor with agencies more interested in keeping a discrete eye on homo sapiens, says Ann. "There 
are some security applications for our line, and we're just beginning to branch out in 
that direction," she says, noting the sensitivity of their near-infrared, remote-controlled 
video cameras.  "We are seeing an increase in orders from security specialists and federal and 
state agencies who specialize in security issues, like the border patrol and search and rescue."
In an effort to help fellow inventors achieve the success they've found, the Christensen 
founded the Manteca-based Central Valley Inventors' Association. "You have a lot of folks--many 
of which actually have good ideas--(that) can't get to the first base.  That's who the Central 
Valley Inventors' Association is designed to help," explains John in tonight's "Central Valley 
Chronicles" segment. The nonprofit group meets from 10 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of 
each month at the Manteca Library, 320 West Center. Though Ann and John have kept busy in their 
enterprise, they haven't forgotten the reason why they went into business for themselves in t
he first place: to do what they want, when they want. As she says, "That is the idea."

Written by Barry Wisdom
Copyright The Manteca Bulletin 1998