Arizona Technology Roundup

66.67% of it anyway, which is a much higher percentage than I, personally, would be able to contribute.

A local philanthropist is pledging $100 million to Arizona's bioscience industry if the state Legislature agrees to contribute $150 million over the next four years.

Jerry Bisgrove, chairman of Stardust Charitable Group, has pledged to give $25 million in each of the four years to boost research, development and other areas in bioscience without spelling out how it should be spent. His main stipulation: that the Legislature earmark $50 million of taxpayer money for the same purpose this year and pass a current bill that would add $100 million over the next four years. The bill requires renewal each year.

Edit: Robert Robb, a columnist at the Arizona Republic, doesn't like it. He calls the offer of funding only if the legislature approves the $150 million package blackmail and the idea of using taxpayer money to invest in bioscience highly speculative.

Honeywell's Aerospace Division, based in Phoenix, has won a $4 billion contract to supply the new long-range A350 aircraft with the HGT1500 auxiliary power unit (APU).

The new HGT1500 is a high-power density gas turbine APU configured to provide pneumatic and electric power to support aircraft operations. The pneumatic and electric power supports cabin conditioning and main engine starting during ground operations and emergency power for in-flight operation.

A little more info on that Homeland Security Grant recently awarded to ESA Corp. Seems that Martin came up with the "crazy idea" (probably over a pint of Guinness) of firing a sticky web of any size into the undercarriage of fleeing vehicles. This would enable pursuing cops to catch the thieves, just like flies*. The "web" would have applications for the military, Border Patrol, and local law-enforcement. In response to the idea, the Department of Homeland Security has awarded ESA with a $100,000 SBIR to do a feasibility study. He has six months to get it working after which he can possibily win another $750,000 grant to develop a prototype, which I suppose could be tested on vehicles that cut him off or pull out in front of him (that's how I would test it, anyway).

By the way, Martin turned 45 a few days prior to this posting. I just want to make sure all the information discussed here is accurate.

*I could keep going, but I won't.

They've said so by proposing a $150 million fund to invest in medical, bioscience, and bioengineering advancement. This is in response to the Innovation Arizona fund proposed by Governor Napolitano.

The planets are truly aligned on this proposal, gaining the backing of Republican House Speaker "Ho-Hum is the Governor Done with Her Speech Yet?" Weiers and liberal business columnist Jon "I'd Rather Be Writing Mystery Novels" Talton.

$150 million, huh? Surely there's something I can do with these fuzzy green leftover hot dog buns I discovered in the back of my pantry.

They did it by giving presentations on engineering to local students, according to the Arizona Daily Star. Raytheon also participated in science fair judging, math enrichment programs and a careers display.

I saved $4 at Albertson's by reading this article online. The article provides a fascinating overview of the current state of scientific innovation, from an academic, political, corporate, and individual perspective. The other links are good reads as well.

For my part, I am mostly in agreement with the statements in the article. This past weekend at the Barnes and Noble I took a gander at The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christianson and noticed some definite tie-ins between why previously dominant companies have lost their footing and the culture and trends currently surrounding scientific innovation in the U.S. I don't feel that the state of affairs is as doom and gloom as the Time article makes it appear--we're still leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the world in our technical capabilities--but I do feel that we need to make some serious changes in our attitudes and values to retain our competitive edge.

Hey everyone, this week is National Engineers Week! If you're not an engineer, you can participate in the festivities by hugging at least one engineer this week. If not that, then at least you can avoid walking away when the engineer you meet at the club tells you what he does for a living.

Interesting analysis of the tech initiatives outlined in Bush's State of the Union speech, particularly in reference to alternative energy development. And yes, I totally ripped off the headline from the story because I was unable to come up with anything more clever.

There's one thing that sticks in my craw that the politicians, Democrat or Republican, never bring up. The linked article doesn't mention it either. There's all this talk about our dependence on "Middle Eastern" oil and yet, only 24% of our oil imports comes from the Middle East, based on the 2005 YTD numbers here. While that's not insignificant, there's not nearly as much dependence on the Middle East for our oil as we've been led to believe. The proposed 75% reduction in Middle Eastern oil dependence looks pretty paltry once you realize it only amounts to an 18% reduction in our total oil imports.

Now don't get me wrong. Reducing our overall demand for imported oil while simultaneously developing clean, renewable energy technologies and cranking up our GDP is something I can certainly get on board with.

Science Foundation Arizona, a non-profit oganization founded this week, aims, according to the Arizona Republic

"to build and strengthen medical, scientific and engineering research programs and infrastructure in the areas of greatest strategic value to Arizona's competitiveness in the global bioscience economy."

I've sat in during a couple of meetings of the Governor's Council on Innovation and Technology. There is a huge push to build the biotech industry in Arizona.

Stara, a relatively young company specializing in precision air-drop systems, is moving from some scattered suites in Mesa (I know the feeling) to a 15,000 sq-ft building right next to General Dynamics in Gilbert, according to the Arizona Republic.

Pretty cool stuff. Kind of reminds me of a physics project from high school: "OK, kids, now your payload will be dropped from a C-130. You'll want to hit the school logo in the middle of the football field. The team that comes closest gets ten points extra credit on the final."

According to the Arizona Republic, the state is hoping to set up a $25 million fund to attract engineering and tech talent. The proposal has support of the Governor and Republican Representative Bill Konopnicki. However Republican Russell Pearce, the House's key budget writer, is against the proposal saying that the private market should be the ones investing. He also criticizes the bill's lack of details regarding who owns the intellectual property and states that the state should see how other technology investments pay off before forking over more money.

The study I mentioned in my previous post contains a subtopic worth discussing: Classifying Engineers. The study classifies two types of engineers: dynamic and transactional. The qualities of each are as follows.

Dynamic engineers:

• Are capable of abstract thinking and high-level problem solving using scientific knowledge
• Thrive in teams
• Work well across international borders
• Have strong interpersonal skills
• Are capable of translating technical engineering jargon into common diction
• Lead innovation

Transactional engineers:

• Possess engineering fundamentals, but not the experience or expertise to apply this knowledge to larger problems
• Are typically responsible for rote or repetitive tasks

These lists provide some good guidelines for assessing how engineers fare competitively. In order to remain competitive, engineers should consider where we lie on the scale between Transactional and Dynamic and continuously progress toward a more Dynamic position. In an effort to become more dyanamic, engineers should seek opportunities to expand our breadth of capabilities or improve upon specific ones. Ideally we'll do both.

You've seen the news stories. The U.S. is falling way behind China and India in the number of engineering students it graduates, threatening to transform the country into a nation of Britney Spears fans and Fear Factor viewers (wait, that's already happened). The numbers quoted are along the lines of 15 total engineers graduated in the U.S. in 2005 versus approximately 800 million in India and China (I'm going from memory here; please forgive me if I'm off somewhat). However, a recent study conducted at Duke University indicates that, in the words of Sportin' Life, it ain't necessarily so. The numbers coming out of China and India are greatly inflated due to the inclusion of three-year degrees (the equivalent of U.S. associates degrees) in the tally, whereas the U.S. generally includes only bachelors degrees and higher. No word as to why the typical U.S. number is so grossly underestimated though.

If you're an engineer, you probably had a strong inkling that the projected shortfall of U.S engineering grads is highly exaggerated--just a bunch of made up numbers so the beancounters can bring in more H-1B workers, right? Now you have some data to back you up. However, make sure you read the report in its entirety before you get too complacent. We're doing better than the news stories would have you believe, but we can't afford to rest on our laurels either.

I hope you entrepreneurs and small business owners aren't passing up Maricopa County's free job training and recruitment programs. This part stood out as being most relevant to this community:

Maricopa Workforce Connections also offers technical-skills training aimed at information technology, engineering/manufacturing and biotechnology companies.

According to the East Valley Tribune, eighteen ASU student groups have won financial backing from the 2006 Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative for business implementation. Future contributors to the engineering and technology sectors include:

• Hydro Hat – Manufactures and markets a soft, fabric headwear that utilizes water absorbing crystals to reduce body temperature acting as a personal evaporative cooler.
• I & E Electronics – Develops and markets wireless technology solutions utilizing the latest design theory to access and transfer crucial energy data efficiently and economically.
• Ideal Capacity Plasmid Preparation Machine – Develops and markets a machine to efficiently and automatically produce high-yield, pure samples of plasmid for biotechnology research and development.
• Integral Science Supply – Produces and markets specially designed, prefabricated “science learning/exploration kits” that offer an innovative new interdisciplinary approach to for teaching science to elementary and high school students.
• Max Power Motors – Develops and markets a light, compact, portable, energy efficient and permanent magnetic electric motor for bicycle transportation.
• Mobile Powered – An event-based service that provides user interaction and feedback for large groups via
  cell phone interface and specialized software.
• Onto IP – Develops and markets intellectual property analysis software.
• Strategic Engineering Group – Manufactures and markets a line of highly cost effective products for people with disabilities enabling greater access and mobility.
• Three Space Technologies – Develops and markets a revolutionary alternative to the computer mouse.
• Visudi/Sufficiently Advanced Technologies – Researches and develops a revolutionary, green, robust water purification and fluid-processing solution.

Kudos for the students for such impressive achievements and to the Edsons for making this program possible.

By now you've probably heard about the spacesuit that was converted to a radio transmitter and released from the space station. If you haven't, click on the link. Go ahead, I'll wait.

OK, ready now? Anyway, you can thank Microchip Technologies for volunteering their services to the effort. Led by engineer Steven Bible and supported by upper management, a group up Microchip's engineers developed the switch and controller boxes for the spacesuit/radio station and programmed the recorded greetings into its memory.

The mission was a success!

Edit: Well, mostly a success.

This article had me banging my head against my desk. What did it was this sentence (my bold):

...the country needs to improve math education to win an economic race with China and India and a national security race against terrorism.

My question is, if we're in an economic race against China and India, why are we sending so much of our engineering work and technical knowledge to them? And yes, I'm talking about engineering--not call centers or programming, but engineering. It's like giving a bicycle to a foot race opponent and then complaining when he catches up with you.

If this initiative works, I predict a future of even more Americans who are angry about their work being offshored. Then again, if they get good at math, they'll probably figure out that an MBA presents much sweeter deals than a degree in engineering.

A new company called Diversified Energy, founded by W. David Thompson, seeks alternatives to oil by focusing on coal gassification (aka "Syngas") and liquefication. The company will also develop wind and solar power technologies. Dr. Thompson has a proven track record as the founder of Spectrum Astro, which he sold to General Dynamics, providing financial backing for his new venture. Read more in the East Valley Tribune.

Only a few months ago, they were pursuing hydrogen as a primary alternative energy source. I'm guessing that feasibility studies and a cost/benefit analysis led them to coal gassification and liquefication instead.

I'm pretty excited about seeing how this develops. Should be interesting.