Arizona Technology Report Feb. – May 2O12 aztechcouncil.org
Arizona Technology Council: The Voice of the Technology Industry
In This Issue Arizona SciTech Festival ... Pg. 2 Governor's Celebration ... Pg. 4 10th Anniversary ... Pg. 6
Who We Are The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technology companies.
Phoenix Office
One Renaissance Square 2 N. Central Ave., Suite 750 Phoenix, Arizona 85004 Phone: 602-343-8324 Fax: 602-343-8330 info@aztechcouncil.org
Tucson Office
The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park 9040 S. Rita Road, Suite 1150 (near I-10 and Rita Road) Tucson, Arizona 85747 Phone: 520-829-3440 Fax: 520-829-3441 tucson@aztechcouncil.org
President’s Message As head of the largest association that supports Arizona’s technology industry, I was constantly hearing about the difficulty of finding talent for the state’s technology firms. Apparently, we’re not alone. We recently announced the results of the first study to document the hiring practices and recruiting experiences among the companies. The research conducted over 15 months by the L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University found some employers reported the problem wasn’t job candidates not wanting to move to Arizona. In some cases, they didn’t want to move – period. Further, 67 percent of the Arizona companies found it difficult to attract qualified engineers, 76 percent were challenged to get the computer scientists they need and 98 percent said they had a hard time finding scientists Steven G. Zylstra, who could do the job—not so President and CEO, Arizona Technology Council good if we need talent to drive our futures. So what do we do? A key recommendation of the study is companies should be more willing to start growing their own talent to get the required experience. Related to that is hiring recent graduates with hands-on experience gained through internships and capstone-like courses. To help, the report suggested companies connect with Arizona’s universities, colleges and training programs. Besides providing employers with the
students possessing the needed skills, the institutions are willing to collaborate with companies to provide the specific training needed to fill open positions. For example, Maricopa Community Colleges already are moving in that direction. The district is designing an apprenticeship program that will give both the hands-on experience as well as credentials that demonstrate a certain level of technical competency. Even now, employers can reach out to the Workforce System that is part of the Arizona Commerce Authority to help find qualified talent. The state’s prosperity depends on cultivating a technology network that produces quality homegrown talent and keeps that talent in state. Of total recent hires, 32.3 percent of computer scientists, 43.7 percent of engineers and 24.7 percent of scientists earned a degree from an Arizona institution. Those numbers have the chance to shift higher, as the study revealed companies starting to focus on “new blood”—recent college graduates that the firms hire, train, and promote from within. This is definitely a worthwhile tool for recruitment. I view our study as nothing to sit on a shelf, but instead a call to action. With the goal of solidifying Arizona’s position as a tech leader, putting a focus on producing and retaining science and engineering talent will attract increasing numbers of businesses to our state that will employ innovative workers and ultimately breed new technological advances. In Business Magazine readers are invited to view the study’s results by visiting our web site, www.aztechcouncil.org. The challenge is big, but as a community we can help ensure a better future for generations to come.
Management and Staff Steven G. Zylstra
Jamy Battle
Ron Schott
Don Ruedy
President and CEO
Director, Finance and Administration
Executive Emeritus
Executive Emeritus, Tucson Office
Deborah Zack
Leigh Goldstein
Jim Harris
Phillip Huebner
Director, Membership Services
Managing Director, Programs and Events
Director, Tucson Office
Director, Arizona Science and Engineering Fair
Merry Lake Merrell
Don Rodriguez
Justin Williams
Director, Marketing and Communication
Editor, TechConnect
Executive Emeritus, Tucson Office
Jeremy Babendure, Ph.D. Director, Arizona SciTech Festival
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Next 100 Years of Innovation Arizona SciTech Festival celebrates our journey into the future
W
hat do baseballs, robots, telescopes and chocolate have in common? They are part of a roster of what the Arizona SciTech Festival will bring people of all ages for family fun using science, technology and innovation. Arizona’s first annual science and technology festival, which runs through March 14, will showcase more than 300 colorful events, demonstrations, tours, games, activities and workshops across the state. Together they will feature the career opportunities of the future and the latest technologies and innovations that can be found within our state’s borders. Spearheaded by the Arizona Technology Council Foundation in partnership with Arizona State University and Arizona Science Center, the Festival is a collaborative effort involving more than 250 public and private organizations from industry, business, education, arts and culture, philanthropy and the community working together. The six-week event will highlight the scientific and technological innovations occurring throughout Arizona, build excitement among students for science and technology careers, and attract industry and opportunity to Arizona. With the theme The Next 100 Years, the first Arizona SciTech Festival launches at the same time the state begins its centennial celebration. Signature events will highlight the innovative character of each area of interest (e.g., aerospace, technology, bioscience) through exhibitions and shows. Additionally,
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the Festival will include up to 20 science hubs providing workshop and discussion opportunities in neighborhood locations as well as in-field experiences at science and technology facilities throughout the state. To complement community learning opportunities, the Festival also will include in-school projects, workshops and competitions. There is something for everyone—whether it’s the mad science of baseball at Scottsdale’s Spring Training Festival, gazing at far-off stars through some of the world’s most powerful telescopes at Mesa Community College’s Astronomy Night, touring some of Arizona’s premiere technology companies at the Chandler Tech Crawl, meeting Galileo at the Arizona Renaissance Festival, seeing science come to life in Downtown Tucson, or witnessing first-hand the illuminated works of art brought together by mixing art and science during Phoenix’s First Friday Art and Science Fusions.
For Our Futures As Arizona’s science and technology fields continue to evolve, the state is positioned to receive greater recognition for its leadership, achievement
and
Statewide Events innovation in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. According to a 2006 Morrison Institute study, 90 percent of Arizonans believe it is important for the state to seize national and international leadership in these fields, with nearly two-thirds of residents looking for ways to engage the scientific community. The Arizona SciTech Festival will do just that. Science festivals—large celebrations of science and technology, such as the highly successful event in San Diego—establish science as part of local culture and connect science professionals with the public. The grassroots initiative here is aimed at exciting and informing Arizonans of all ages about how science, technology and innovation will drive the state well into the next century through a series of hands-on activities and workshops, conversations and debates, stunning exhibitions, concerts, guided walks and tours. The Arizona SciTech Festival will help the state position itself as an emerging world leader in science, technology and innovation as it showcases collaboration between scientific, education and business communities, builds excitement for STEM education, and inspires a generation of Arizonans to become leaders and innovators in science and technology.
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Here are examples of the events planned for the Arizona SciTech Festival. Downtown Phoenix – Innovations in Bioscience and Official SciTech Festival Kickoff, Feb. 4 Glendale – The Science of Chocolate at the Glendale Chocolate Affaire, Feb. 3-5 Downtown Mesa – Mesa Takes Flight Festival, Feb. 10-12 Apache Junction – Renaissance Science at the Arizona Renaissance Festival, Feb. 14 & 16, March 10-11 Chandler – Chandler’s Science Spectacular, Feb. 16-18 Downtown Tempe – Geeks Night Out, the Science of Fun, Feb. 16 Arizona State University East, Mesa – College of Technology & Innovation’s Maker Faire, Feb. 18 Peoria – 50th anniversary of the first American to orbit the Earth at the Challenge Space Center, Feb. 19
Tucson – 2nd Saturdays Downtown presents Science in the City, Feb. 18 Arizona State University West, Phoenix – ExSTATIC, Feb. 25 Downtown Scottsdale – The Mad Science of Baseball at the Spring Training Festival, Feb. 25-26 North Scottsdale – Science is Everywhere in the Airpark, March 1 Show Low – Northeast Regional Science Fair and Science Carnival, March 2-3 Arizona State University, Tempe – Night of the Open Door, March 3 West Phoenix – Carl Hayden Science and Technology Festival, March 3 Casa Grande – Casa Grande Union High School District SciTech Festival, March 5 The University of Arizona, Tucson – Innovation Day, March 6 Goodyear – Tres Rios Earth and Nature Festival, March 10-11
To Learn More For more information on Arizona SciTech Festival events happening in your backyard, go to azscitechfest.org or connect with the festival on Facebook at facebook.com/ arizonascitech and Twitter at twitter.com/arizonascitech.
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Chuck Vermillion, Arizona Technology Council Board chairman and CEO/ founder of OneNeck IT Services
Plenty of Pride Winners honored at annual Governor’s Celebration of Innovation
The prizes generating he most buzz by the audience were in the company award categories. The winners this year are:
Pioneering Award: Phoenix Analysis Design Technologies (PADT), Inc., Tempe The diversity and flexibility of the three business groups at PADT (Simulation, Product Development, and Rapid Prototyping) help deal with market fluctuations while presenting its customers with a single, “one-stop” solution for their engineering needs.
Green Innovator of the Year: Yulex Corporation, Chandler This renewable and sustainable enterprise has developed a portfolio of biopolymers derived from the U.S.-grown guayule plant. These technological innovations are designed to replace traditional tropical or petroleum-based rubber for consumer, industrial and medical markets and residual agricultural materials are utilized as a feedstock for bioenergy.
Innovator of the Year – Small Company: OneNeck IT Services, Scottsdale The award is recognition of its Hosted Desktop Solution, a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) that separates a desktop PC environment from a physical machine using a distributed application structure model of computing. VDI moves the desktop workload away from the desktop PC and places it in the cloud infrastructure, creating a hosted virtual desktop.
Innovator of the Year – Large Company: Honeywell Aerospace, Phoenix As one of Honeywell International’s largest business groups, it was responsible for the development and certification of a low-emissions turbofan jet engine. The engine is used to power a business/regional size aircraft that enables a trans-Atlantic flight of more than 3000 nautical miles. The low-emission engine was certified in 2010, achieved a 27 percent reduction in NOx emissions with significant reductions in other pollutants.
Innovator of the Year – Academia: The University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL). The lab won hard earned approval from NASA for the OSIRISREx mission, an $800 million first-of-a-kind project designed to go to an asteroid, collect a substantial amount of materials from both bulk and fine-grained surface form, and return them to Earth. The total mission will span 14 years.
Chairman Award Winner: Justin Williams, founder at StartupTucson.com, CEO at DLJ Group Inc., founder at Selectioneering, and former director of the Tucson Regional Office of the Arizona Technology Council. Williams, not only opened the Council’s first Tucson office, he achieved a 500 percent membership growth in southern Arizona.
Other winners and their categories included:
Innovator of the Year - Start-Up Company: VisionGate, Phoenix
Individual Award Winners: OneNeck IT Services People’s Choice Lifetime Achievement Award:
The firm was incorporated in 2001 to battle the world’s No. 1 cancer killer, lung cancer, for which no standardized test exists. Dr. Alan Nelson, the company’s founder, chairman and CEO, has created the first automated 3D cellular imaging platform, which is the basis for non-invasive lung cancer detection and screening, the Cell-CT. Today, VisionGate holds 64 patents in 13 countries.
Roy Vallee, executive chairman of the board of Avnet Inc., Phoenix
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William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year: James C. Wyant, Dean, College of Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson
Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year:
Clate Mask, chief executive officer, Infusionsoft, Gilbert
Photos by Mark Goldstein
Anyone who thinks innovation is the cost of a recession couldn’t be more wrong. Winners in a variety of categories were announced recently at the 2011 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation, an annual gala hosted every year with the Arizona Technology Council, in partnership with the Arizona Commerce Authority. The evening was held at the Phoenix Convention Center. This year’s event, with the theme of “Arizona Rising,” also featured a Technology Showcase with over 50 booths, providing an opportunity for award finalists and sponsors to discuss and demonstrate their exceptional products and services to the over one thousand attendees. “This year’s GCOI winners are being recognized for their prestigious technology achievements and innovations that have the power to transform our state and build a sustainable economy with jobs that typically pay higher than average wages,” said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. “We are proud that these exceptional companies and individuals with great minds are members of our community and congratulate them on these well-deserved awards.”
Teacher of the Year Award Winner:
Future Innovators of the Year Award Honorable Mentions:
Birgit Musheno, Desert Vista High School, Phoenix
Colby Howell, Hamilton High School, Chandler Soumya C. Kambhampati, McClintock High School, Tempe
Teacher of the Year Award Honorable Mentions: Paul J. McElligott, Fountain Hills High School, Fountain Hills Sandra Trevino, Buena High School, Sierra Vista
Future Innovators of the Year Award Winners: Aakash Jain, Brophy College Preparatory High School, Phoenix Francisco Orozco, Tucson Magnet High School, Tucson Cory Owan, Catalina Foothills High School, Tucson Rajet Vatsa, Brophy College Preparatory High School, Phoenix
Future Innovator of the Year winner Francisco Orozco of Tucson Magnet High School explains his project
Tech Ten Legislators The awards were given in recognition of legislative members who have demonstrated outstanding support for promoting and advancing Arizona as a top-tier technology state. Outstanding Tech Senator of the Year Award Sen. Sylvia Allen (R-District 5) Outstanding Tech Representative of the Year Award Speaker of the House Andy Tobin (R-District 1) Arizona State Senate: Sen. Richard Crandall (R- District 19), Sen. John McComish (R- District 20) Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D- District 15) Arizona House of Representatives: Rep. Heather Carter (R- District 7), Rep. Tom Forese (R- District 21), Rep. Eric Meyer (D- District 11), Rep. Amanda Reeve (R- District 6), Rep. Debbie Lesko (R- District 9), Rep. Ted Vogt (R- District 30) Rep. Kimberly Yee (R- District 10)
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10 Years and Counting 2012 marks a decade of service by the Council What a difference a decade makes! This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Arizona Technology Council. While some members know the Council for such events as the annual Governor’s Celebration of Innovation while Arizona’s lawmakers know the organization’s lobbying to affect public policy such as passage of the Angel Tax Credit, there is so much more that the Council has provided the state’s technology community. These are the major milestones during the member-supported group’s first 10 years.
2002
The Arizona High Tech Industry Cluster merges with the Arizona Software and Internet Association AZSoft.net to become the Arizona Technology Council, expanding its scope to include all types of technology companies. With unity of purpose, it was believed Arizona’s technology industry would increase its ability to compete regionally, nationally and globally for growth companies, employ a highly skilled workforce and attract strong capital investments.
2003
The Governor’s Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) was established by combining the Arizona High Technology Industry Cluster’s annual Innovator of the Year awards ceremony and AZSoft.net’s Celebration of Innovation. With the addition of the support from the Office of the Governor, GCOI has become the premier technology community gathering of its kind in Arizona.
2005
The Council launches TechConnect, Arizona’s only magazine of science and technology, to explore the region’s latest trends, entrepreneurs, and issues affecting the growth of technology.
2006
• T he first Vote TechSmart is published to provide a report card on legislators’ support of technology issues as well as offer endorsements of candidates in the fall election. • The Council partners with Westech Recyclers to offer a convenient, secure, and legal means for the disposal of computer, medical, manufacturing, and electronic equipment.
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2007
• T he Council holds the first Arizona Business + Information Technology Expo, an annual event that becomes the state’s largest and most valued technology trade show. • The Council’s Workforce Development Committee organizes the Arizona Middle School Science Bowl (AZ MSSB) with the support of the Arizona Technology Council Foundation and sponsors. The AZ MSSB is an academic event held annually to encourage student involvement in math and science.
2008
• T he Council relaunches the annual Partnering Conference, an opportunity for companies to present their partnering opportunities and experts to discuss how to expand and innovate through strategic alliances. • Merger with the Aerospace, Manufacturing and Information Technology Supercluster creates the Council’s first Tucson office. The office is now at The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park. • Realizing people in the corner office also need support, the Council holds its first CEO Retreat. The annual two-day event gathers Arizona’s presidents and CEOs for networking and panel discussions. • The Arizona Technology Council Foundation returns to provide non-profit, industry and academia grants and awards to further promote and grow technology in the state through the raising of funds, leadership, collaboration and innovation.
2009
• T he first Arizona CIO of the Year Awards Luncheon is added to the annual Arizona Business + Information Technology Expo. • The first digital edition of TechConnect is published.
2010
• A ZTC State PAC is created to help Arizona political candidates who support the critical issues for technological advancement and growth and technology-based economic development. • The Council hosts its inaugural trade mission to China in conjunction with the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Arizona U.S. Export Assistance Center to introduce technology companies to business opportunities in China through meetings with government officials, industrial park leaders, peer companies, and consumers.
2011
• T he Council publishes its first membership directory. • The number of members exceeds 600 for the first time. • The Council partners with AZBio to host the annual Partnering Conference.
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Bigger and Better Mergers and acquisitions offer chance for tech companies to hit new heights The year 2011 brought changes for the better for a number of Arizona Technology Council member companies involved in highprofile mergers and acquisitions. OneNeck IT Services, Ensynch and iLinc Communications were purchased while Avnet and Insight Enterprises bought some properties. OneNeck IT Services of Scottsdale was acquired by Telephone and Data Systems to become a subsidiary of TDS Hosted & Managed Services. OneNeck is a premier provider of hosted application management and managed IT hosting services to middle market businesses. The U.S. operating subsidiary of Tempe-based Insight Enterprises, a leading global technology provider of hardware, software and service solutions with headquarters in Tempe, acquired Ensynch, a leading professional services firm in Tempe with multiple Microsoft Gold competencies and solutions across the complete IT stack. iLinc Communications, Inc., a leading provider of web collaboration services for global businesses, governments and educational institutions, was acquired by BroadSoft, Inc. of Gaithersburg, Md. After the purchase, the Phoenix-based firm became Broadsoft iLinc Communications. The year brought a shopping spree for Phoenix-based Avnet, one of the world’s largest transnational electronics distributors of electronic parts, enterprise computing and storage products, and embedded subsystems. In the course of 2011, Avnet purchased: Amosdec, a leader in the field of virtualization and storage management solutions throughout France. J.C. Tally Trading Co. and affiliate Shanghai FR International Trading, an interconnect, passive and electromechanical components distributor in Asia with operations in Taiwan and China. Prospect Technology Corp., an electronic components distributor with operations in Taiwan that provide technical support, module solutions and circuit design support to help customers expedite product development. French company DE2 SAS with the intention to combine it with the Avnet Embedded business in France to leverage the expertise and resources of both companies. Pinnacle Data Systems, Inc., whose facilities in Ohio, Singapore and the Netherlands provide services and products for the telecom, imaging, defense/aerospace, medical, semiconductor, industrial automation and IT markets.
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connect + grow We exist to help science and technology companies of all sizes and stages succeed. By serving as the principal point of connection, the Arizona Technology Council can help you build global partnerships to grow locally, get your innovations noticed and stay ahead of the curve.
take a fresh look Whether you’re a part of a startup, emerging or well-established company in Arizona, we offer resources designed for you to gain insight, education, and connections. In addition to our networking opportunities, public policy support and professional development programs, our members receive exclusive discounts on products and services and are provided numerous opportunities to get the word out about their unique value.
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Take a fresh look and watch us grow with you as we continue to offer you membership benefits that will bring you closer to meeting your business goals.
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