Published: 12.28.2008

Optics industry seeks to regain focus

By Dan Sullivan

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

There was a time when visitors to Tucson International Airport were greeted with a sign that read “Welcome to Tucson! Optics Valley” with a picture of a smiling Mayor Bob Walkup.

The sign’s absence now — it was removed during airport renovations in 2005 and never replaced — is perhaps symbolic.

Local leaders say the industry is in need of revitalization after the departure of two local optics firms and layoffs at others.

Some say the name “Optics Valley” doesn’t carry the same weight as it once did.

“You hear people call Tucson Optics Valley, but the name is not out as much as it used to be,” said Ken Steele, director of operations for Kamen Aerospace.

Innovation center gets $25,000 for technology

Inside Tucson Business
Published on Saturday, December 27, 2008

Wells Fargo presented the Arizona Center for Innovation with a donation of $25,000, which will be used to provide business development assistance for technology start-up companies in Southern Arizona.

Programs include one that provides early stage entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their business concept to a panel of business experts and another that takes early stage companies through a structured six-week business development program.

“Wells Fargo has been supporting the Arizona Center for Innovation since we opened our doors in 2003,” says Marie Wesselhoft, director of the Arizona Center for Innovation. “The company’s continued investment in the development of technology companies is vital to the center as well as the community.”

Published: 12.26.2008

Tucson-area company thriving as surveillance-system maker

US military among users of remote technology developed by ADSS Inc.

By Dan Sullivan

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

A Tucson-area company has found success by putting eyes and ears of the military and law-enforcement agencies where they’re needed, whenever they’re needed.

ADSS Inc. Remote Systems Automation makes remote surveillance systems that are deployed around the world.

Founded in 1995, the company employs four people at 2700 S. Kinney Road.

The systems — which look a little like a TV news van antenna with towers that can extend 23 to 35 feet in the air — are portable surveillance systems that can be adapted to an array of applications, including nuclear-material detection and border security.

“Having a mobile system is the best way to secure borders,” Michael Thompson, ADSS vice president, said. “It’s a great deterrent.”

Published: 12.19.2008

Raytheon awarded $29.9 million contract

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems said Thursday its Javelin Joint Venture was awarded a $29.9 million contract from the United States Marine Corps to upgrade the system.

The Javelin Joint Venture — a one-soldier “fire-and-forget” medium-range missile system — is a system built by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

Raytheon said the upgrade will extend the detection, recognition and identification range of the command launch unit while doubling the operating time. The upgrades began in October and are expected to be completed in 2011, a Raytheon statement said.

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Arizona companies get $1.2 million cancer grant

by Ken Alltucker – Dec. 17, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Defense contractor Raytheon wants to parlay its knowledge of remote satellite systems into a new system capable of accurately and consistently detecting skin cancer.

Raytheon has teamed with the Arizona Cancer Center on a research project to build an automated imaging system that could create a standard way to detect cancerous skin lesions.

Researchers have spent about $1.3 million to develop the project over the past three years. Science Foundation Arizona has approved a $1.2 million grant to move the research forward.

Now, doing a whole-body scan for early detection of skin cancer is an inexact science. One method consists of doctors comparing multiple photographs of a patient’s skin over time. So a diagnosis may vary, depending on a doctor’s interpretation of the images. If a patient has dozens of moles, a harried doctor may miss a potentially dangerous skin lesion altogether.

Published: 12.17.2008

Medipacs chosen as top presenter

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson-based Medipacs was named the best presenter at the annual Invest Southwest conference Thursday in Scottsdale and received a $200,000 investment from SCF Arizona.

Medipacs, a maker of specialty drug delivery devices, is on its way to raising $8 million to $10 million by expanding its investor pool into institutional venture capital. The company of five full-time and five part-time employees already has commitments of $1 million, including the $200,000 from SCF Arizona, from its established investors.

The $200,000 investment by Invest Southwest was based on a review of business and investment opportunities, said Mark McWilliams, CEO of Medipacs.

But Medipacs wasn’t the only Tucson-based presenter at the conference. AmpliMed gave a presentation on its phased cancer drug approach.

Published: 12.15.2008

First two of ‘Top 10′ science feats have UA ties

By Evan Pellegrino

It’s been a good year for University of Arizona researchers, but don’t take their word for it — the UA has ties to Time magazine’s first two “Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of 2008.”

The first is a massive international physics experiment — for better understanding the origins and building blocks of the universe — to which the university contributed.

The second is a UA-led mission that’s literally out of this world.

The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, located underground on the Swiss-French border, was ranked No. 1 on Time’s list.

Operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the collider was built in part by UA physicists contributing to the construction of ATLAS, one of six main components of the collider.

Published: 12.12.2008

Missile defense puts $330M into Arizona

The ground-based part of the Pentagon’s emerging missile-defense shield adds $330 million in product value and payroll to Arizona’s economy annually, according to an Arizona State University study released Thursday by Boeing Co., the system’s prime contractor.

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems and Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Launch Systems Group in Chandler contribute most of the economic output, according to a study by ASU’s L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W.P. Carey School of Business.

Raytheon, Southern Arizona’s biggest employer with more than 12,500 workers, makes the non- explosive warhead or “kill vehicle” for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Launch Systems Group provides the system’s booster rockets.

A look at the economic effect of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system in Arizona (figures in millions, except employment figures):

Published: 12.11.2008

Raytheon’s Paveway goes into UK planes

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems said Wednesday that its Paveway IV laser-guided bomb system has completed all evaluations and will enter service with the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Harrier GR9 aircraft.

The acceptance follows trials at the U.S. Navy’s site in China Lake, Calif. Raytheon said Paveway IV is being integrated onto all U.K. fixed-wing strike aircraft including the Tornado GR4, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Joint Combat Aircraft.

The Paveway system turns unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions with the addition of sensor and guidance modules.