Singapore-based EMS provider Flextronics International expects its production site in Zhuhai, southern China - the largest of the company's production bases around the world - to see a double-digit on-year revenue growth in 2010, according to Flextronics China vice president Fu Jun.

Flextronics' Zhuhai site saw an about 20 percent on-year drop in revenues in 2009 due to the economic recession, but as the global economy is recovering, the company expects strong orders in April, Fu said.

However, the increasing orders will also pose a challenge to the workforce, according to Fu. The Zhuhai base, with 90 percent of its employees coming from outside of the southern province of Guangdong, usually loses about 5 percent of its workforce after the Lunar New Year break. This year, the loss increased to 10 percent amid a serious labor shortage in China's coastal areas.

But after aggressive hiring, the base's labor shortage dropped quickly to at around 3.6 percent by the end of February and it plans to hire 2,000 more workers each week in April to help fulfill its orders, Fu noted.

Fu pointed out that the production site occupies a total land area of nearly 900,000 square meters (9,684,000 sq. ft.). It currently has a workforce of nearly 44,000 and the company expects to increase it to 55,000-60,000.

The Zhuhai site runs a vertically integrated operation. It can produce 60 million handset PCBs and is capable of producing 8-megapixel digital camera modules. It also makes plastic injection and metal stamping products.

The production site also produces consumer electronics and networking devices including games consoles, desktops, storage devices and servers, Fu noted.

According to market observers, Dell is the largest client for the Zhuhai base's server shipments, while its desktops are mainly shipped to Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell. The site is also shipping some PC components to Lenovo. Motorola and Sony Ericsson are both clients for Zhuhai plant, which also makes Xbox 360 for Microsoft.

Jenoptik Opens New Laser Application Facility in Korea

Jenoptik Group announces the opening of their new sales, application, and service site. The site is located in the southern Korean city of Pyeongtaek. The new center is a part of the expansion of Jenoptik Korea Corp Ltd, a partnership between Jenoptik AG and Telstar-Hommel Corp.

The facility, which cost $4.4 million and is 500 square meters (5,380 sq. ft.), has initially been equipped with two laser systems for processes in the electronic, photovoltaics, and flat-panel industries. It includes 80 square meters (8,608 sq. ft.) of cleanroom space.

Covering 500m2 (including 80m2 of cleanroom) on a campus shared with Telstar-Hommel and costing $4.4m (€3.4m/Won 5.4bn), the new laser application center has initially been equipped with two laser systems for processes in the electronic as well as photovoltaics and flat-panel industries. The Jenoptik VOTAN Semi 300 is designed for machining wafers (Si, GaAs or SiC) and thus also for ultra-precise applications in cleanroom environments. The special separation process developed by Jenoptik — TLS-Dicing (where TLS = Thermal Laser Separation) — enables quick, efficient and damage-free separation of semiconductor wafers, says the firm. With the Jenoptik VOTAN Advanced laser system, the TLS process specifically addresses the photovoltaics and flat-panel industry for separating thin-film solar cells and display glass.

Over 60 Jenoptik laser systems are currently in use in Asia and 14 more systems will be delivered or installed in upcoming months.

Customers and interested parties from across Asia in the areas of electronic, flat panel as well as photovoltaics and automotive can now test lasers and laser applications for their own production environments on site with their own materials. In addition to tests, together with Jenoptik engineers they can also develop individual processes on the systems, manufacture pilot runs and small batches, and commission feasibility studies. Also, in the coming months, Jenoptik plans to expand the application center with additional laser systems.

JPSA Expands in 2010

JP Sercel Associates Inc. (JPSA) has announced the beginning of construction on the first phase of a 20,000 square foot expansion of its facility. The expansion will double the size of JPSA’s existing laser production area used to manufacture laser micromachining systems and include cleanrooms, R&D laboratories, and office space for customer service and engineering teams.

The expansion will conform to the specifications set for by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Certification System developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Magma, Chengdu ICC Open Joint IC Design Lab

Magma Design Automation and Chengdu ICC (CDICC), a government-funded organization that promotes IC design in Chengdu, have established a joint IC design lab. The joint lab will help IC design companies develop technical expertise, shorten the design cycle, accelerate the time to market for their products, and improve their ability to meet the demands of the international semiconductor market.

Established in the National IC Design Chengdu Industrial Base, one of seven technology incubation parks in China, the lab will provide local designers with access to Magma's advanced analogue and digital IC design software and comprehensive training programs.

"Chengdu Hi-tech is focused on building the semiconductor industry in western China," said Duan Zhigang, vice director of Chengdu Hi-tech Zone Innovation Service Centre. "We work with leading IC design companies, wafer fabs, test and assembly providers, and other associated enterprises, including Fujitsu, Conexant, Freescale, Intel, SMIC, Panovasic, CSMSC, GoldTel and IPGoal, to create a complete industrial supply chain. With closer cooperation with Magma and the establishment of the Chengdu ICC-Magma IC design lab we further enhance the advantages of doing semiconductor business in western China."

"Designers in China and the rest of the world are facing increasing complexity, power, area, cost and time-to-market challenges," said Rajeev Madhavan, CEO of Magma. "By making the Magma software and training available in the new lab, we can work more closely with our customers in Chengdu to help them overcome these challenges and train engineers in local design services companies to provide additional resources."

Magma will offer technical training on its Talus and FineSim software to IC design companies in the National IC Design Chengdu Industrial Base. Talus, an integrated IC implementation platform, is used by many of the world's top chip companies to develop complex chips in 45/40nm process technology. FineSim, a complete simulation platform, is the industry's first circuit simulator to truly support multi-CPU simulation, providing three to 4x faster simulation than traditional simulators while maintaining accuracy.

New Mexico College Gets Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC)

The University Of New Mexico College Of Arts and Sciences and the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, Albuquerque, has established the Center for Quantum Information and Control. CQuIC is founded on a three-year, $1.26 million grant from the National Science Foundation for Physics at the Information Frontiers program.

The NSF grant commenced on Aug. 1, 2009, and has as principal investigators Carlton Caves and Ivan Deutsch, both UNM professors in Physics and Astronomy Department and Poul Jessen at UA. Caves is director of the new center. CQuIC replaces a previous A&S center, the Center for Advanced Studies.

CQuIC will specialize in the training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for research careers in Quantum Information Science, said Caves. For the present, research at UNM will be predominantly on theoretical topics in QIS, and Jessens group at UA will provide a major experimental component. A primary objective is to expand the scope of the Center by involving researchers in other A&S departments and in the School of Engineering.

QIS is an interdisciplinary field investigating how to use systems obeying the laws of quantum mechanics to perform information processing tasks that cannot be performed using the information-processing resources available today. The key to quantum information processing is to take advantage of so-called quantum coherence by developing physical systems that can maintain quantum coherence for long periods of time.

This is one of the primary challenges of 21st century science and technology, and it distinguishes quantum information processing from ubiquitous information processing devices we use today. QIS encompasses many different disciplines, including information science, complexity theory, computer science, and various branches of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering.

CQuIC brings a quantum information perspective to physics based research. In particular, research within CQuIC applies the new ideas and techniques of QIS to the state-of-the-art laboratory task of controlling the behavior of quantum systems, so these tiny systems can be made to do what we want, instead of what comes naturally, Caves said. One major application is likely to be to quantum metrology, where the objective is to develop devices for making high-precision, quantum-limited measurements.

CQuIC will partner with four external institutions, the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, the quantum information and quantum nanoscience groups at the University of Queensland, the extensive QIS research efforts at Sandia National Laboratories, and the Quantum Initiative at Los Alamos National Laboratory. These partnerships focus on a two way flow of ideas and people, thus expanding the theoretical and experimental capabilities available to CQuIC and the partnering institutions.

CQuIC is also the administrative home of the Southwest Quantum Information and Technology (SQuInT) Network, which promotes QIS research at about 20 institutions located mainly in the southwest U.S. The 12th Annual SQuInT Workshop SQuInT, held Feb. 18-21 at the El Dorado Hotel in Santa Fe, attracted 150 attendees to a three-day program of technical presentations. The workshop featured an opening session devoted to presentations from CQuIC’s partnering institutions.

Nanotechnology Companies Enticed by Wales’ World-Class Innovation Centers

The winner of the Technium Challenge 2010, will receive free office space for a year within one of Wales' 12 world-class business incubation centers, known as the Technium Network as well as a £30,000 business support package funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and European Union.

Businesses are being urged to enter the competition, which is open to technology or knowledge-based early stage businesses (maximum two years trading) that can demonstrate a patentable idea within a strong R&D element. The first step for companies interested is to complete a brief application form that can be found at www.technium.co.uk/challenge before April 1st, 2010.

Laser Micromachining Ltd (LML), an award-winning company based at St Asaph's Technium OpTIC, is the leading provider of advanced laser manufacturing services to micro and nano companies. LML boasts a wide range of state-of-the-art laser tools together with in-house diagnostic and metrology equipment providing customers with a comprehensive micro-fabrication service. Since its move to the Technium, LML's business has thrived and Managing Director of LML, Dr Nadeem Rizvi, stated:

"The active commercial environment within Technium's and the wide-ranging support offered by Technium operation have been instrumental in the growth of LML over the last three years and other SMEs could also benefit from the network and its business support.

"The Technium Challenge competition offers UK start-ups an excellent opportunity and support mechanism to ensure their business ideas can become reality. I would recommend any technology company, not just those involved in micro and nanotechnologies, to apply".

Deputy First Minister for Wales, Ieuan Wyn Jones, said: "This year's competition will add tremendous value to any company that wants to tap into their desired marketplace. The winning company will not only get a free office space for a year but will be supported until they can stand on their own in this highly competitive business environment, which is crucial to any company that are just starting out.

"Technium is an idea that was born in Wales but is now recognized across the world as a model for incubating companies, which is something to be very proud of. Bringing together like-minded talents from similar markets across the world under one roof is reaping rewards and is proving to be a true catalyst for progress and prosperity."

The winners of the third annual competition will also have the opportunity to establish relationships with Technium's academic links, professional service providers and public sector/government networks to further accelerate their growth.

Applicants need to submit an application form before April 1st, 2010; those who qualify will then receive help in developing a business plan, which will need to be submitted by April 29, 2010. The winner and runners-up will be announced at the Technium Awards Ceremony to be held in Wales on June 24, 2010.

Since it was founded in 2001, Technium has seen the development of 12 specialist innovation centers across Wales to support high technology, creative and knowledge-based businesses, mostly focusing on the country's high-growth sectors such as Opto-Electronics, Bioscience, Performance Engineering, Sustainable Technologies and ICT. Operated as a partnership between the Welsh Assembly Government, higher and further education institutions and the private sector in Wales, Technium was supported by European Union structural funds.

Technium currently supports 150 companies across its 12 Technium premises and has generated around 2000 direct and indirect employment opportunities within the Welsh economy to date, representing an economic benefit to the Welsh economy of approximately £135m.

For information on the Technium Challenge and details of how to enter, please visit www.technium.co.uk/challenge.

World-leading Nanoscience Institutes Join Forces

The agreement between the Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information (NSQI) at the University of Bristol, UK, and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA in the USA, forges a link between two of the world's foremost centers in nanoscience research.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Professor Paul Weiss, Director of CNSI, and by Professor Daniel Robert, Director of NSQI, at a ceremony held on the UCLA campus in the United States.

"This is a landmark event for CNSI," said Professor Weiss. "It is our first MOU with a European institution and will provide access to advanced instrumentation and new approaches to nanoscale research. The joint research endeavors of CNSI and NSQI members will provide benefits of worldwide importance."

Professor Eric Thomas, Vice Chancellor at the University of Bristol, echoed these sentiments: "This collaboration is a milestone for the University of Bristol and for the advancement of nanoscience research. It will allow our combined resources to apply nanotechnology to problems of global concern in energy, health and the environment."

The MOU is the culmination of a series of research interactions beginning with collaboration between Professor Jim Gimzewski of CNSI and Professor Mervyn Miles of NSQI. Three members of NSQI are spending a week in residence at CNSI as part of a program funded by the British Research Council to encourage academic exchanges between UK and US universities.

"Current collaborations between individual members of CNSI and NQSI will be strengthened by this agreement" noted Professor Robert, who signed the agreement on behalf of the University of Bristol.. "It raises these partnerships to an institutional level, giving the researchers involved access to the full resources of UCLA and the University of Bristol. The MOU will accelerate the flow of people and ideas between the US and the UK."

The Bristol Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information provides state-of-the-art specialized laboratories in which vibration and acoustic noise levels are among the lowest ever achieved, making the Centre one of the finest nanoscience facilities in the world. It also houses a unique, purpose-built environment designed to foster multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary interactions within a research a community drawn from across science, engineering and medicine.

The University of Bristol has identified nanoscience as one of its key strategic priority areas, recognizing it will be critical to future economic developments, both in the UK and on the global stage. Scientists and researchers from NSQI are already working with academic and industrial partners in order to reap the benefits resulting from a better understanding of this challenging new discipline.

Baolab Creates Nanoscale MEMS Inside the CMOS Wafer

Baolab Microsystems has announced a new technology to construct nanoscale MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) within the structure of the actual CMOS wafer itself using standard, high volume CMOS lines, which is much easier and quicker with fewer process steps than existing MEMS fabrication techniques that build the MEMS on the surface of the wafer. This significantly reduces the costs of a MEMS by up to two thirds and even more if several different MEMS are created together on the same chip.

The Baolab NanoEMS™ technology uses the existing metal layers in a CMOS wafer to form the MEMS structure using standard mask techniques. The Inter Metal Dielectric (IMD) is then etched away through the pad openings in the passivation layer using vHF (vapour HF). The etching uses equipment that is already available for volume production and takes less than an hour, which is insignificant compared to the overall production time. The holes are then sealed and the chip packaged as required. As only standard CMOS processes are used, NanoEMS MEMS can be directly integrated with active circuitry as required.

"We have solved the challenge of building MEMS in a completely different way," explained Dave Doyle, Baolab's CEO. "Existing MEMS technologies are slow, expensive and require specialist equipment. They have to be either built on top of the wafer at a post production stage or into a recess in the wafer. By contrast, our new NanoEMS technology enables MEMS to be built using standard CMOS technologies during the normal flow of the CMOS lines."

Baolab has successfully created MEMS devices using standard 0.18um 8" volume CMOS wafers with four or more metal layers, and has achieved minimum feature sizes down to 200 nanometres. This is an order of magnitude smaller than is currently possible with conventional MEMS devices, bringing the new NanoEMS MEMS into the realm of nanostructures, with the additional benefits of smaller sizes, lower power consumption and faster devices.

Baolab will be making a range of discrete MEMS including RF switches, electronic compasses and accelerometers, along with solutions that combine several functions in one chip. The prototype stage has already proved the NanoEMS technology and evaluation samples will be available later this year. These are aimed at handset designers and manufacturers, and Power Amplifier and RF Front End Module markets.

Huawei Sets up R&D Center in Turkey

Huawei has established a R&D center in Istanbul-Umraniye, Turkey. The company started its operations in Turkey in 2002 and now has more than 500 employees. Huawei plans to employ 500 Turkish engineers in three years where, 350 will be placed in the R&D center and 150 in the technical support center.

Many innovative and advanced technologies shall be implemented in the Turkey R&D center. These will include products and services such as, value-added services, billing and charging, contact center and customer relationship management. It is also planned to do analysis and research on software products, wireless technologies (2G/3G) and All-IP, fixed mobile convergence, next-generation networks, as well as product planning, optimization, performance improvement and market adaptation processes.

Jiang Yafei, VP of Huawei, said, "We will become a strong team full of innovative spirit through the Turkey R&D center and grow together towards a successful future in the global telecoms industry. In the coming few years, we will invest over $50 million to build an R&D team with more than 350 Turkish engineers devoted to operator, consumer and enterprise projects."

Huawei R&D executive Huang Jian evaluated R&D business in Turkey and said, "Using Turkey's high-quality R&D resources and geographical advantage of being the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa, we expect to optimize our R&D deployment, implement the global round-the-clock asynchronous R&D strategy, provide customers with better products and services in time, and promote the development of Turkey's ICT industry as well. We believe that the establishment of the R&D center in Turkey will lay a win-win foundation for our customers, Turkey's ICT industry and Huawei."

Elcoteq's Opens Manufacturing Facility in Tallinn, Estonia

Elcoteq Tallinn had a housewarming party at its new factory in Estonia on March 3, 2010. As a part of the general expanding plans of Elcoteq Tallinn and due to announcement of its new client Inmarsat Elcoteq decided to move to bigger facilities with total area of 4,200 m2 (45,192 sq. ft.).

"Elcoteq is an example to other companies in Estonia. Elcoteq is doing exactly what companies should nowadays do - adjust to changing economic environment," stated Estonian Prime Minister Mr. Andrus Ansip in his opening speech. He also welcomed the fact that Elcoteq is concentrating on high-mix low-volume production in Tallinn.

Chairman of the Board Mr. Antti Piippo, Senior Vice President of Group Operations Mr. Roger Taylor and General Manager of Elcoteq Tallinn plant Mr. Jan Kotka hosted the event with more than 60 guests from Estonian government and parliament, Tallinn City Government and partner companies.

The fact that Elcoteq Tallinn who recently sold majority of its production in Tallinn to Ericsson has managed to restructure its activities and to find new customers created relatively big media interest. The event received several mentioning in Estonian press including Estonian national television.

Colorado Universities Building In Spite of Economic Times

With warnings about additional cuts to higher education and students taking to the streets to protest rising tuition, officials on Colorado campuses are having a hard time explaining all the new buildings popping up.

Thing is, it’s actually a good time to build despite a virtual freeze in construction money from the state. Nice new buildings attract students, who in turn, bring revenue along with their burning desire to gain knowledge. You can thank a friendly bond market, generous donors and even students who voted to pay higher fees. But don’t expect the boom to last.

Chris Cocallas, campus architect and director of capital planning and construction at the Colorado School of Mines, said construction is going gangbusters on the Golden campus. That’s because the projects are largely cash-funded and not relying on ever-dwindling state dollars. In addition, bond interest rates are historically lower than average – making big projects more affordable for cash-strapped schools.

At Mines, Brown Hall, the main engineering building, is being expanded to include more cutting-edge labs/classrooms and to enhance cross-pollination between engineering disciplines. Brown is also the only project happening now that has any state dollars attached to it. The school is also in the midst of building a 291-bed residence hall.

Then there’s Marquez Hall- a state-of-the-art, $25 million facility for teaching, research and service being paid for by oil and gas companies or those who have made their fortunes on petroleum.

A new health and wellness center is also in the works.

“Jobs already being planned ended up being more attractive because bonding was available for them at a lower rate,” Cocallas said. “We’re busier right now than I think this campus has ever been.”

However, Cocallas said once the projects are completed “it might slow down quite a bit.”

“We’re looking at next year as being a really tough budget year for us.”

Deferred maintenance remains deferred.

Then there’s the eternal problem of deferred maintenance. While all these flashy new buildings come on-line, the old ones sink deeper into disrepair and obsolescence.

“We’re trying to plan for it by saving a few dollars to offset that,” Cocallas said. “We keep up with them as best we can.”

The University of Colorado at Boulder has a backlog of $300 million in deferred maintenance at the same time it has 280 large and very small building projects underway worth $530 million, according to Vice Chancellor for Administration Frank Bruno.

In fact, it’s a banner year for construction at CU as well.

Perhaps the most notable thing going up on the main Boulder campus is the sprawling Center for Community building. The $84.4 million, mostly donor-funded structure features 302,000 square feet of dining hall and student center services such as Career Services, Counseling and International Education. The dining center on the lower levels consolidates two older dining operations into one, creating a central campus commissary and bakery that can serve 900 students.

There will also be a two-story underground parking garage, payments from which are expected to cover the building’s debt service. The building should be almost complete by next fall.

Then there’s the new, $179.9 million systems biotechnology building on the east campus, a building credited with luring Nobel Prize-winning chemistry professor Tom Cech back to CU from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The building will feature flexible lab design supported by state-of-the-art technology built around the concept of interdisciplinary research and collaboration.

CU officials say the building will “add to the growing success that CU-Boulder has seen in grant awards and technology transfer.” The facility also includes an auditorium, seminar rooms, an open meeting area gallery, a café and conference rooms organized around a “main street” theme.

The school is also preparing to break ground on a new basketball and volleyball training facility next to the Coors Events Center.

“(Projects) go forward rather quickly once you have funding assembled,” Bruno said. “If it’s debt financed you can go out and bond for it. We’re getting good rates on our bonds. We’re seeing projects coming in under budget and on time, which is not always something that happens.”

Questions arise: How can you pay for this?

Bruno said he does find himself answering a lot of questions.

“It leaves people scratching their heads. The admissions office sees parents excited we’re doing work and not just languishing but it does create questions for them, ‘How can you do this?’”

“It is a fine line we walk in terms of improving the campus, taking care of what we have, seizing opportunities of the marketplace to get great bids and great prices and bring projects under budget and on schedule.”

However, capital renewal projects – non-sexy things like replacing a heating or cooling system in a dormitory – are on the skids. CU-Boulder had to back off $24 million plans to spruce up aging Eckley sciences and Ketchum arts and sciences building due to a freeze in state funds. Half of CU-Boulder’s buildings were built more than 45 years ago.

Building is also happening at Colorado State University-Pueblo. CSU-Pueblo has built a new residence hall and student recreation center, a football stadium complex and a student recreation field with a combination of student fees, donor contributions and grants, according to the Pueblo Chieftain.

The Chieftain reported the school improved its baseball and softball fields and upgraded its Psychology Building and library with no state money. The newspaper reported that from 2007-2009, CSU-Pueblo has completed more than $107 million in cash-funded projects and just one state-funded project that cost $14 million, that being the renovation of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building, which includes Massari Arena.

The biggest cash-funded project was the construction of three 250-bed residence halls. CSU-Pueblo plans to pay back loans with money from housing fees.

At CSU’s main Fort Collins campus, $450 million worth of capital construction projects begun in 2006 are in their final phases. Projects include the student-fee funded, $45 million Academic Instruction Building slated to be done by this summer and the $52 million bond-financed Research Innovation Center. CSU is also in the planning stages of getting approvals for $141 million in self-funded projects from fees and auxiliary funds for the 2010-2011 year to pay for 10 projects, the largest of which is a new $65 million engineering facility that will house cutting-edge labs, classrooms and offices.

Nate Haas, spokesman for the University of Northern Colorado, said an $11.5 million renovation of Butler-Hancock Hall sports pavilion is underway. The project includes fixing up the first-floor locker area, creating additional storage space and classrooms and reconfiguring the building’s main entrance. The project is funded by bonds issued by the state through Certificates of Participation. Some dorm rooms are also being improved.

Bill Mansheim, vice president of finance and administration at Adams State College in Alamosa, credits students willing to take on more fees and the great rates on the municipal bond market with helping to transform the campus.

Two years ago, students agreed to pay $10 extra per credit hour in fees for campus improvements, with the amount climbing 7 percent per year for a decade. There’s about $50 million in construction projects happening now. Some dorms are being remodeled and student apartments are being built around the stadium. There is also a plan to move Stadium Drive because it dissects the main student housing area. There’s a push to purge concrete and grow grass.

“We are trying to make our campus a more pedestrian-friendly, eye-appealing campus,” Mansheim said.

Times are good for all that.

“When things really tanked in the economy, the bond market went much lower,” Mansheim said. “It is even that much more attractive because Build America bonds came out. We were able to secure another $29 million in financing a year ahead of schedule because of that program.”

Adams is just beginning to design a major remodel of the education building and the music concert hall. Ten percent of the student fee will go toward controlled maintenance, and some of the money also goes to scholarships for those students who can’t afford to pay the fee.

Students seem to like what’s going on. Fall enrollment was up 18 percent bringing the student population to 3,369. Applications for next fall are up 38 percent.

The University of Colorado-Colorado Springs is wrapping up seven years of major building projects totaling $140 million, said Brian Burnett, vice chancellor for administration and finance.

“We’re using alternative sources of funds to build academic buildings,” Burnett said. “Right now we’re finishing a $17 million renovation of a science building built in 1980 when we had 3,000 students. Today, we have 8,500 students.”

Last August, the school completed a $55 million science and engineering building, an academic enterprise that would have once been totally paid for by the state. This time, the state kicked in 40 percent. CU-Colorado Springs had to beg and borrow the rest. The campus’ new $9 million events center was entirely paid for by student fees, alumni gifts, a contribution from the CU president and loans.

“We’re enjoying very much a buyer’s market right now, which is good for our projects,” Burnett said. “It’s a great time to invest in new buildings. But once this wave of investment is used up, there’s not much in the pipeline unless you’re building it yourself.”

Not even for basic classroom maintenance.

Not long ago, CU-Colorado Springs had to sink $400,000 into University Hall because of haywire heating and ventilation and an air conditioner leaking into a classroom. In the past, that sort of thing was covered by the state.

“Four hundred thousand dollars is a big number for our campus,” Burnett said. “It’s a challenge.”

HP Labs Research Facility Rises in Singapore

HP Labs has established new research facility in Singapore, which will focus on developing an enterprise cloud software platform, dubbed Cirious, and will contribute to research efforts already underway at HP Labs sites in Palo Alto, California and Bristol, England.

The goal of Cirious is to enable providers to take full advantage of the cloud with a set of general purpose and industry-specific capabilities. Ciriouswill give service providers a platform to develop, host, and manage their services from the cloud, as well as integrate them with various services from other providers.

Chris Whitney, director of HP Labs Singapore, says the new research site will play an important role in advancing not only HP Labs' mission but also the broader business objectives of HP. "As a research organization, our goal at HP Labs is to address the most complex challenges facing our customers and society in the next decade," says Whitney. "By collaborating with our long-standing customers in the Asia Pacific region, HP Labs Singapore will help extend HP's global strategy of accelerating the pace of technology transfer from R&D into the hands of our customers."

HP Labs Singapore will focus its Cirious research on two objectives: to collaborate with customers to develop a set of cloud-based applications that will be built with and on top of technologies developed by HP Labs' Palo Alto, California and Bristol, England sites; and to research data center and application design principles to explore how future cloud computing needs will be met and determine what an ideal cloud data center would look like.

HP Labs Singapore is HP's third research facility in the Asia Pacific region and seventh worldwide. Considered one of the most open to international trade and investment, Singapore's economy is also one of the region's most competitive, making it an ideal location for R&D.

In addition, Singapore serves as a hub for many of HP's biggest customer accounts. This allows HP Labs Singapore to extend its mission of "open innovation," a philosophy that technology innovation is best achieved through external collaboration with customers, partners, government, and academia.

Singapore is HP's business headquarters for the Asia Pacific region. HP received strong support from the Singapore government in launching HP Labs Singapore and has already collaborated with the Singapore government on many IT projects and R&D initiatives.

RFMD Secures R&D Contract

Compound semiconductor and high-performance radio frequency component manufacturer RF Micro Devices (RFMD) has been awarded a research and development contract from the US Department of Defense.

The company has secured a deal worth $3.2 million (£2.07 million), extending RFMD's contract backlog for the year to $5 million.

Development of new GaN microelectronics will be the focus of the project, with applications for the device including the disruption of communications, radar and use in electronic warfare.

Bob Bruggeworth, president and chief executive officer of RFMD, said: "RFMD's state-of-the-art GaN technology is also applicable to a growing number of commercial applications, such as public mobile radio, 3G/4G base stations, CATV line amplifiers, as well as exciting new applications in high-performance RF lighting."

Since 2007, the company has been awarded contracts worth approximately $13 million from the US government.

RFMD also recently announced the release of its first high-power radio frequency complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor switch, with applications for the technology in 3G and 4G communications for smartphones.

Plasma-Therm Celebrates One Year Anniversary

Plasma-Therm LLC, located in St. Petersburg, FL, celebrated its one year anniversary.

Plasma-Therm reported positive financial results for FY 2009.

“I congratulate Plasma-Therm on their first anniversary and for their success creating jobs for the people of Florida,” said Governor Crist. “Florida’s brightest days are ahead of us. By working together, we are creating the opportunity for unparalleled prosperity.”

“Our first anniversary celebration as an independent company coincides with the 35th anniversary of Plasma-Therm being in business. Our commitment to our customers and technology has remained our core focus throughout the evolution of Plasma-Therm,” stated Abdul Lateef, CEO of Plasma-Therm. “We are grateful for the support provided by city, county and state officials to small business growth, especially during a struggling economy. This support has allowed us the chance to maintain key technology development and the related high value jobs in the U.S.”

Plasma-Therm,Inc. was originally founded in March 1975. In 2000, Plasma-Therm was sold to Unaxis, a large Swiss industrial conglomerate which later re-branded to Oerlikon. In January 2009, Plasma-Therm went through a management buyout to separate from Oerlikon. The buyout

was made possible through government support like the Qualified Target Industry (QTI) tax incentive program, a program supported by Governor Crist as part of Florida’s strategic economic development platform.

Plasma-Therm is a U.S. manufacturer of advanced plasma process equipment that caters to specialty semiconductor markets including solid state lighting, thin film head, solar, MEMS and compound semiconductor. Plasma-Therm offers both dry etch and PECVD technologies. To meet the diverse needs of our global customer base, Plasma-Therm has sale and service locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

McIlvaine Company,

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