IBM to buy software company with Tucson office

By David Wichner / Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 12:30 pm

IBM Corp. today announced an agreement to buy a British business analytical software company that employs about 100 people at an existing office in Tucson.

IBM’s acquisition of i2 Group, a leading global provider of intelligence analytics for crime and fraud prevention, is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The seller is California-based investment fund Silver Lake Sumeru, which bought i2 from ChoicePoint Inc. for $185 million in 2008.

No operational changes are planned, and i2 employees will remain in their current offices, IBM spokeswoman Nancy Kaplan said. The company’s local office is at 7750 E. Broadway.

IBM already is one of the region’s biggest employers, with about 1,300 workers at a major storage systems development center at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park.

Tucson tech: Raytheon develops drone software

David Wichner Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 12:00 am

Raytheon wants to be the Microsoft of unmanned military aircraft.

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems is developing a sort of operating system for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to allow rapid adaptation of new features such as weapons and sensors.

Raytheon’s Service-Oriented Architecture, or SOA – which the company highlighted during a recent UAS trade show – is roughly analogous to a computer operating system.

The SOA system would be compatible with “domain managers” – analogous to computer applications – that control weapons, sensors, communications and other vital mission-level functions.

The SOA is being tested at a Raytheon lab in Tucson, where the company plans to demonstrate the technology this fall. Raytheon is planning for a test flight sometime next spring.

Engineering draws more women at UA

Becky Pallack Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Monday, August 29, 2011 12:00 am

The University of Arizona’s engineering school has more girl power this year.

Although the numbers aren’t official yet, the UA may have the highest-ever percentage of women studying engineering, Dean Jeff Goldberg said in an email.

About 26 percent of the freshmen engineering students are women, and more than 20 percent of all engineering students are women, he said.

In Arizona, 20 percent of science, engineering and computer professionals are women, while women make up 45 percent of the whole workforce, according to the 2000 Census.

To attract more women to engineering, the UA is showing prospective students a broader spectrum of engineering fields, said Associate Dean Jim Baygents.

“It’s not all rocket ships and computers,” he said.

News & Notes

Posted: Friday, August 26, 2011 12:00 am

Arizona Daily Star

TUCSON

Raytheon, Boeing test rocket motor for missiles

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems said it and partner Boeing Co. have successfully completed a second series of government-funded tests of a rocket motor for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM). It is being developed to replace three legacy ground-attack missiles.

Raytheon and Boeing are teamed up in a competition against Lockheed Martin to win the JAGM program, potentially worth about $5 billion over 20 years.

The Raytheon-Boeing team has proposed a single JAGM rocket motor, designed by Boeing and subcontractor ATK, for both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

During the tests, engineers cold-cycled two rocket motors in temperatures ranging from minus 50 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, subjected the motors to vibrations and loads equivalent to 300 flight-hours, and fired the engines in stationary mounts.

New Eller College dean wants to help Tucson economy, be self-sustainable

By Clayton R. Norman, for Inside Tucson Business | Posted: Friday, August 19, 2011 12:00 pm

Since taking the helm as dean of the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona in May, Len Jessup has kept up a celebrity’s touring schedule.

With plans to hit 14 different cities across the nation to meet with Eller College alums, the 50-year-old father of two says reconnecting with alums and building relationships in Tucson are just two strategies he’ll use to make Eller one of the top business schools in the country.

“We have programs here that are very good. We aspire to be a top 10 business school,” he said. “Such that all of our programs, everything that we do, is up at that same level of quality and impact and reach and, ultimately, rankings.”

Local innovators to pitch their ideas for startups event

David Wichner Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Thursday, August 18, 2011 12:00 am

Open-mic nights are usually an opportunity for amateur crooners and comedians to strut their stuff.

On Friday, though, the microphones will be open for local innovators to pitch their ideas.

It’s the kickoff part of the first Startup Weekend Tucson, in which people from diverse backgrounds join together to pitch ideas, work on cool projects – and hopefully seed the next great Tucson startup company.

Startup Weekend Tucson is part of a global series of events coordinated by a Seattle non-profit that evolved from an event started in Boulder, Colo., in 2007.

Participants bring their ideas – starting with an open-mic pitch – and form teams to develop them into possible tech startup companies during 54 hours of sessions from Friday through Sunday.