Arizona Technology Roundup

According to the Arizona Republic, Freescale Semiconductor in Tempe has developed faster chips using gallium arsenide instead of silicon. How much faster?

...GaAs, or gallium arsenide MOSFETs are said to conduct electrons up to 20 times faster than traditional silicon MOSFETs.

Don't rush down to Fry's Electronics just yet though. It's going to be a while.

Another problem with gallium arsenide MOSFETs is cost: Gallium arsenide tends to be more expensive since it's less abundant than silicon.

It may be a technical milestone for the semiconductor industry, but it could be years before consumers reap the benefits.

Darn right it's expensive. You never see gallium arsenide in the discount bin at Walgreen's. I hear some Paradise Valley residents bathe in it though.

News item courtesy of Martin Martinez of Engineering Science Analysis Corporation (ESA):

An ASU senior-level course is using ESA's SBIR win as a case study:

Professor Layton
MGT 405
Project Scope:

The ASU Team will define the process for winning Phase Three. This will be accomplished by documenting the general SBA process, modified to fit the specific characteristics of the ESA initiative. This work will include examining successful projects as well as those that failed. The plan will include timing, dependencies, "gates", and most important, a "stub" of required functions.

No word yet as to whether the Psychology department has chosen to use Martin himself as a case study (I can say that; he's a friend of mine).

Or at least remaining stable. So sez the East Valley Tribune.

Two major corporations — Intel and General Dynamics — dramatically increased their employment, but Freescale Semiconductor and Motorola Inc. experienced small drops. Other top 40 high-tech employers including Boeing, Insight Enterprises, Honeywell International, Microchip Technology and ON Semiconductor, are at about the same level of employment as last year.

"Hey, we have a sun. We should use it!"

Thus formed one of the main topics of discussion at a recent Valley Forward luncheon, according to the Business Journal of Phoenix.

"There's no silver bullet for energy future," [APS Vice President Ed Fox] said. "But I think it will end up like the telephone industry and all the options you can choose like land line or wireless. Down the road you could choose between solar roof panels or a fuel cell. Americans will choose in the future."

From the East Valley Tribune: ASU Forum to Focus on Nanotechnology.

The Center for Nanotechnology in Society will be launched with a public forum on ethical, personal privacy and other issues raised by nanotechnology from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at the College of Law at ASU’s Tempe campus.

This part is kind of cool:

But nanodevices too small to be seen by the human eye also have potentially malevolent uses such as controlling human brains or recording and transmitting private conversations, raising questions of how nanotechnology should be regulated. Proponents of firmer controls say the dangers could lead to a crisis of public confidence of the type that has afflicted nuclear power and genetically modified foods. (my bold)

I question whether these concerns are legitimate or just paranoid rantings, along the lines of the hysteria surrounding genetically modified foods. Let's hope nanotechnology doesn't get smothered by overregulation.

Boeing's Restructuring Not Expected to Afffect Mesa Plant

Boeing's going through some consolidation in the defense sector, but Mesa's not expected to feel too much impact from that. There could be some layoffs between the Longbow contract expiring in July and the next generation of Apaches ramping up in '08 though.

From the Arizona Department of Commerce website:

The FAST grant program (Federal and State Technology Partnership Program), equally funded by the US Small Business Administration and the Arizona Department of Commerce,... is earmarked for education and grant programs that will help technology entrepreneurs in Arizona commercialize their technology through the federal Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Programs.

Recipients include:

• Blue Mountain Technologies
• NEST Energy Systems, Inc.
• ieLinks
• ViaRes
• ComLSI, Inc.
• Paragon Space Development Corporation
• Ridgetop Group, Inc.

More here.

The grants are focused on Homeland Security and Miliary Software Systems. From the Arizona Department of Commerce website:

ESACORP was awarded $100,000 from the Department of Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (DHSARPA). The funds will be used to develop a new vehicle stopping technology that can be utilized by Civilian Police Departments, Border Patrol Agencies, and the Military.

...ESACORP used the AZ FAST Grant to engage the mentoring and coaching services of Dan O’Neill and Sharon Ballard.

The U.S. Navy awards Tucson Embedded Systems Inc., located in Tucson a $100,000 Phase I SBIR grant to develop reusable "plug and play" software systems. TES will create a modular Mission Package Infrastructure (MPI) to support the seamless integration of common capabilities across the U.S. Naval fleet.

"We are very pleased with the AZ FAST GRANT TO SBIR process. Tucson Embedded Systems won its first Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant on its second proposals submission", says Michael Lupien, Director of Business Development. "The winning proposal was a direct result of using Arizona FAST Grant funds to retain the grant writing services of Mathias Hecht. His experience was invaluable to our success, helping us structure our software strategy in a beneficial way."

More here.

(Hat tip: Martin Martinez, Owner, ESA Corp.)

Good news for R&D and small technology firms.

At the top of the list is the creation of a public-private partnership that she envisions calling "Innovation Arizona." This group, which would be run by a non-government board of directors, would use $25 million in state dollars to leverage private efforts to attract researchers to the state, as well as to help move research projects from the laboratory to the market.

Welcome to the Arizona Technology Roundup. The Roundup's goal is to foster an awareness of and interest in technological developments in Arizona. This will be accomplished by:

• Consolidating news stories about hi-tech companies, both large and small, from around the state.
• Highlighting developments in various technology fields ranging from biotech to aerospace to chip manufacturing.
• Highlighting legislation that would potentially affect technology development in Arizona.
• Covering interesting news items from smaller hi-tech companies who typically do not get much press.
• Providing commentary from an engineer's perspective.
• Translating technical jargon from press releases into layman's terms when necessary.

Please feel free to submit news items and comments to the Arizona Technology Roundup.