SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 13, 2006
SONEX RESEARCH, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in Charter)
Maryland 000-14465 52-1188993
(State or other (Commision file (IRS employer
jurisdiction of number) identification no.)
incorporation)
23 Hudson Street, Annapolis, MD 21401
(Address of principal executive offices)
(410) 266-5556
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the
following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act
(17 CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
ITEM 8.01 - OTHER EVENTS
On March 13, 2006, the Registrant issued the following announcement over the
newswire and posted it on its website (www.sonexresearch.com):
SONEX RECEIVES $235,000 FOLLOW-ON PROJECT FOR UAV HEAVY FUEL ENGINE DESIGN
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, March 13, 2006 - SONEX RESEARCH, INC. (OTC SONX), a leader
in the field of combustion technology, announced that it has been awarded a
follow-on project worth approximately $235,000 to continue development and
pre-production qualification of a heavy fuel engine (HFE) conversion process for
a small, commercially available, gasoline engine to start and operate on
standard military kerosene-based fuels (also referred to as "heavy fuels") for
planned use in a production unmanned aerial veh icle (UAV).
In October 2005 Sonex entered into an agreement with an unnamed customer worth
approximately $113,000 to develop a combustion system to convert this
two-stroke, spark-ignited (SI) gasoline engine to heavy fuel operation based on
the patented Sonex Combustion System (SCS) modified combustion chamber design
and proprietary starting system for two-stroke SI engines. This Phase 2
follow-on award resulted from the successful demonstration to the customer in
February 2006 of a "Proof of Concept" SCS HFE prototype operating on JP-5
heavy fuel. In Phase 2 Sonex will use its best efforts to develop, fabricate and
qualify pre-production, flight ready engines.
If Phase 2 is successful, additional contemplated phases are for SCS HFE
flight certification testing and production introduction. The agreement between
the companies grants the customer sole use rights to the SCS HFE conversion
design for this model engine, tied to a potential production supply agreement
with Sonex, and return of the design rights to Sonex under certain conditions in
the event the parties do not enter into a production supply agreement.
The Department of Defense (DoD) now requires engines used in UAVs and other
military applications for which gasoline storage and use are undesirable, to
operate on less volatile, heavy fuels to reduce the hazard associated with
gasoline. In recent years, most of the Company's revenue has been derived from
development and demonstration contracts issued by DoD activities or DoD
contractors for SCS HFE conversion. In January 2006 Sonex announced a $272,700
contract with a large international defense contr actor to develop an SCS HFE
design to convert another small gasoline engine to start and operate on heavy
fuels for potential use in a military UAV.
Contact: George E. Ponticas, CFO, Sonex Research, Inc., tel: 410-266-5556,
email: george.ponticas@sonex-na.com, website: www.sonexresearch.com.
About Sonex
Sonex Research, Inc., a leader in the field of combustion technology, is
developing its patented Sonex Combustion System (SCS) piston-based technology
for in-cylinder control of ignition and combustion, designed to increase fuel
mileage and reduce emissions of internal combustion engines. Sonex plans to
complete development, commercialize and market its Sonex Controlled Auto
Ignition (SCAI) combustion process to the automotive industry to improve fuel
efficiency of gasoline powered vehicles. Additionally, independent third-party
testing has confirmed the potential of the SCS application for direct-injected
diesel engines to significantly reduce harmful soot in-cylinder without
increasing fuel consumption. Other SCS designs are being used to convert
gasoline engines of various sizes to operate on safer, diesel-type "heavy fuels"
for use in military and commercial applications requiring light weight and safe
handling and storage of fuel, such as in UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
"Forward-looking" statements contained in this report, as well as all publicly
disseminated material about the Company, are made pursuant to the "safe harbor"
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Act. Such statements are based
on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions by management
with respect to matters such as commercial acceptance of the SCS technology, the
impact of competition, and the Company's financial condition or results of
operations. Readers are cautioned tha t such statements are not guarantees of
future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking
statements.
Additional information regarding the risks faced by Sonex is provided in the
Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
under the heading "Risk Factors". Such filings are available upon request from
the Company or online in the SEC's EDGAR database at www.sec.gov. The Company,
however, is delinquent in its filings with the SEC. It has not filed its Annual
Reports on Form 10-KSB for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2005 because it
lacks the financial resources to eng age its independent accountants to conduct
audits of the December 31, 2004 and 2005 financial statements, and because it
lacks the staffing to prepare the Form 10-KSB itself due in large part to the
amount of time management has spent in responding to litigation. For the same
reasons, the Company has been unable to file its Quarterly Reports on Form
10-QSB for March 31, 2005, June 30, 2005 and September 30, 2005. The Company is
unable to predict when it will be able to make these filings and there can be no
assurance that the filings will be made at all. In addition, there can be no
assurance that a public market for the Company's Common Stock will continue to
exist.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
March 13, 2006
SONEX RESEARCH, INC.
Registrant
/s/ George E. Ponticas
----------------------
George E. Ponticas
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary