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Member news: November 2021

Here are the 15 finalists for 2021 Arizona Innovation Challenge

The Arizona Commerce Authority has narrowed down the finalists for its 2021 Arizona Innovation Challenge. The 15 finalists were selected from a group of 26 semifinalists, who themselves were chosen from 110 applicants in the program. The Innovation Challenge is a program designed to help early stage companies scale by connecting them to mentoring, resources and, for some, the possibility of earning non-dilutive cash awards in the future. Read more >>


Hertz to sell used rental cars through Carvana

Tempe-based online used car retailer Carvana has teamed up with Hertz to be a key outlet to sell the national car rental company’s used cars. The partnership comes on the heels of other big partnership moves from Hertz, including the announcement that it would order 100,000 Tesla electric vehicles and the announcement that it will supply 50,000 Teslas to Uber drivers. For Carvana, it seemed to be welcome news on Wall Street. Shares of Carvana stock got a quick jolt at the start of the trading day Wednesday, jumping more than $13 to surpass the $300 mark before settling back down to close with a modest 33-cent gain. Read more >>


Honeywell teaming with Signal Power Group on turbine engine technology to reduce emissions, deliver power and reliability

Honeywell is partnering with Signal Power Group (“Signal Power” or “SPG”) to expand the reach of Honeywell’s storied T55 turboshaft engine to include a new and innovative use in the industrial and marine end markets. The engine technology has been licensed to Signal Power, which will now be the original equipment manufacturer for new turbine drivetrains, that will, in part, be utilized in newly designed power generators. These new generators will bring lower emissions and greater versatility to customers. Read more >>


Lucid Air – built in Arizona – wins MotorTrend’s ‘Car of the Year’ honors

Lucid Group Inc.’s Air sedan was named MotorTrend’s “Car of the Year” on Monday, the first time that an automaker has won that award with its first car. The Newark, California electric car company only recently began delivering the cars it is making at a new factory in Arizona, catapulting to a value of $86 billion in its first day of trading last Wednesday and raising $11.9 billion in the seventh-biggest U.S. initial public offering of all time. But MotorTrend, which similarly honored Tesla’s Model S in 2012, said the Air has established “the new (electric vehicle) benchmark.” Read more >>


ExtraLife 2021: UAT gamers raised funds and spirits

On Saturday, November 6, 2021, UAT students and faculty participated in ExtraLife—a streaming fundraiser benefitting the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The UAT team was hosted by Professor Derric Clark, team captain in his third year of participation in ExtraLife. Gamers were able to stream as long or as little as they chose starting at 8:00 a.m. the day of the event, and although they individually raised the funds, they all worked together as one UAT team. Read more >>


Intel outlines its future of work with a hybrid-first model

One of the Valley’s largest employers is the latest company to embrace a hybrid work model, at least for the foreseeable future. Chipmaker Intel Corp. announced this week it is now a “hybrid-first company,” meaning that it won’t be mandating that all employees be on-site every day. According to a statement from Chief People Officer Christy Pambianchi, 90% of its employees said in a workplace survey they preferred a hybrid workplace once sites reopen. Read more >>


ASU to lead university effort on Blue Origin’s mixed-use space station

Blue Origin, the space exploration company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, announced plans to build a mixed-use space station on Oct. 25, and Arizona State University is set to play an essential role in bringing the project to life. The space station, called Orbital Reef, will operate as a privately owned, mixed-use business park in low Earth orbit with room for researchers, industrial users, tourists, international visitors and commercial customers to set up shop in space. Read more >>


Phantom Space CEO Jim Cantrell wants to change the way we think about industrializing space

Jim Cantrell, founder and CEO of Tucson-based Phantom Space, has already established himself as a luminary in the aerospace industry, but he wants to cement his legacy by changing the way businesses get into space. “We’re talking about industrializing space, and to do that, we’ve got to have reliable transportation,” he said. “This will be a legacy I can leave behind as the intellectual father of this concept, and I just want to prove that it will work. I’m just not willing to give up on it, I’m just not.” Read more >>


Three tech innovation teams win business incubation support from The University of Arizona and sponsored by the Town of Sahuarita and Freeport-McMoRan

The University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI) is pleased to announce the winning startups of the UACI Sponsored Launch program fueled by the Town of Sahuarita and the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation. The startups NeoChloris, Inc.Revolute Robotics and SolarSpace will receive fully sponsored admission into the UACI incubation program thanks to the generous financial support of the Town of Sahuarita and the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation. Read more >>


Avnet collaboration enables companies to be their own video broadcasters and more

Leading global technology solutions provider Avnet is teaming up with Digital Realty, the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, to equip companies and application providers to develop, launch, scale and/or enhance their video broadcast product offerings. Jointly developed specifically for high performance, cloud-based and secure universal video streaming, the solutions from Digital Realty and Avnet will be one-touch (transaction), cost-effective “try and buy” options. The team’s first available solution utilizes a 3rd Gen AMD EPYC-based server integrated with a Xilinx U30 FPGA* accelerator card delivering exceptional performance and flexibility. Read more >>

Digital Air Strike celebrates nine years as approved General Motors’ reputation management partner

Digital Air Strike, the leading consumer engagement technology company, has been approved for the ninth year by General Motors as a certified Reputation Management partner in the Standards for Excellence program and was the first turnkey partner approved for iMR funds for Reputation Management and Social Media solutions over 10 years ago. Digital Air Strike is also a certified Chat and Lead Response partner for GM dealers. Digital Air Strike is the longest-running partner in General Motors’ Reputation Management Standards for Excellence (SFE) Program that is designed to encourage their dealerships to work with top vendor partners that have a proven track record of providing value to their dealerships and consumers. Read more >>


Doppler Systems LLC moves to UA Tech Park

Tech Parks Arizona is pleased to announce that Doppler Systems LLC will relocate its headquarters from the Phoenix area to the UA Tech Park in Tucson, Arizona. Doppler Systems LLC chose to move operations to the UA Tech Park to connect with a business network of like-minded professionals within an established innovation community. Established in 1981, Doppler Systems designs and manufactures fixed site and mobile radio direction finders and radio direction finding (RDF) systems. They provide RDF equipment and software for government, commercial, and personal users. Read more >>


Arizona Science Center achieves accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM)

The Arizona Science Center has achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) – the highest national recognition conferred to the nation’s museums. Recognized as the field’s gold standard for museum excellence for 50 years, AAM accreditation signifies a museum’s quality and credibility to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies, to funders, and to the museum-going public. The Accreditation Program helps to ensure the integrity and accessibility of museum collections, reinforce the educational and public service roles of museums, and promote good governance practices and ethical behavior. Read more >>

 


Visit www.aztechcouncil.org/tech-events to view all of the Council’s upcoming virtual tech networking opportunities, engaging virtual tech events and in-person tech events.


 

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