Member News June 2026 Archives - Arizona Technology Council

ASU, National Coalition Unveil Framework for Classroom AI

Image: ASU via InBusiness Phoenix inbusinessPHX The EDSAFE AI Alliance and Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation announced the release of their highly anticipated national paper and benchmark framework, “Future-Proofing Human Flourishing: The Case for a Learning Sciences Benchmark for AI.” Developed in collaboration wit...

Honeywell Aerospace Completes Spin-Off

InBusiness PHX Honeywell Aerospace Inc., a leading global tier-1 aerospace and defense supplier of mission critical systems and technologies, today celebrates its first day as an independent, publicly traded company following the completion of its spin-off from Honeywell International Inc. Shares of Honeywell Aerospace will begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market effective at the ma...

SRP, NAU Partner to Pilot New Wildfire Monitoring Technology

InBusiness PHX Salt River Project and Northern Arizona University are installing new wireless moisture sensors designed by a company called Growvera to improve how wildfire risk is monitored in the Tonto National Forest. This is the first utility installation of this technology in the country. Fuel moisture is one of the most important indicators of wildfire danger, but today it i...

Raytheon Secures $1.1B Contract to Ramp Missile Production

InBusiness PHX Raytheon, an RTX business, was awarded a $1.1 billion contract from the U.S. Navy to produce AIM-9X Block II missiles to bolster U.S. military inventory and meet increased demand from allied nations. Under the contract, Raytheon will produce AIM-9X missiles along with associated hardware and software for U.S. and Foreign Military Sales customers. “Our teams have str...

Arizona adds 337 megawatts of solar capacity in first quarter amid national slowdown

Image: Solar panels at Salt River Project’s Solar Energy Center near Buckeye. Salt River Project Phoenix Business Journal New solar energy generation capacity continues to be added at a robust pace in Arizona, bringing the state to No. 4 in the nation for total capacity. Arizona’s solar energy capacity increased by 337 megawatts in the first quarter of this year, the eighth-highe...

Arizona Takes First Steps Toward Its Nuclear Future

Image: InBusiness PHX inBusinessPHX Arizona Public Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) continue to work together to explore adding nuclear generation in Arizona, including through a preliminary siting study now underway. New nuclear generation will take time to develop, which is why it’s essential that Arizona’s leading energy providers begin th...

Phoenix Future48 Workforce Accelerator Nears Completion

Image: Gateway Community College GatewayCommunityCollege GateWay Community College’s (GateWay’s) journey into semiconductor workforce education began as Arizona rapidly emerged as a global epicenter for advanced manufacturing. In just a few years, the state has attracted more than $210 billion in semiconductor investments across 60+ expansions, positioning Arizona as “Ameri...

Major Arizona Copper Deal Creates North American Mining Giant

Image: InBusiness PHX inBusinessPHX Hudbay Minerals Inc. announced the closing of its previously announced acquisition of Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (“Arizona Sonoran”) by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement, pursuant to which Hudbay has acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Arizona Sonoran, not already owned by Hudbay. Arizona Sonoran i...

Arizona Universities and FreeFall Aerospace Launch Satellite Communications Hub to Fuel State’s Space Economy

Image: FreeFall Aerospace’s All Sky Ground Terminal supports satellite communications research in Arizona. | FreeFall Aerospace FreeFallAerospace TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona has launched a collaborative satellite communications hub, a unique partnership that brings advanced technology from the lab to the rooftop and positions the state as a leader in space infrastructure innovation.�...

SRP doubles heat-relief funding

Image: SRP employees assemble heat-relief kits for distribution through nonprofit partners. Earlier this year, volunteers prepared 3,250 kits containing items such as cooling towels, sunscreen, bottled water and hydration supplies to help residents cope with extreme summer temperatures. (Salt River Project/Submitted) PeoriaTimes Salt River Project is increasing its support for heat-reli...

Intel Sharpens Packaging Push on Heels of Apple Stock Surge

Image: InBusiness PHX inBusinessPHX Intel Corporation announced the appointment of Seok-Hee Lee as executive vice president of Intel Foundry, reporting directly to CEO Lip-Bu Tan. In this role, Lee will lead all advanced packaging, system integration, back-end technology development, and back-end manufacturing, strengthening Intel’s ability to deliver differentiated, system-level inno...

Halo Vista’s first industrial project will target TSMC suppliers

Image: Phoenix Business Journal Phoenix Business Journal Plans for the first wave of industrial buildings within the 2,400-acre Halo Vista development surrounding TSMC’s north Phoenix campus are working through city channels, enhancing the reputation of that part of the Valley as a mega industrial hub. Developers aim to construct a high-end industrial tech park with eight buildings am...

Strategic Leadership Expansion: Tech Parks Arizona Names Chief Financial Officer

Arizona Tech Parks TUCSON, Ariz. – Tech Parks Arizona, a key driver of innovation and university-based economic development in Southern Arizona, is pleased to welcome Stacey Lemos as Chief Financial Officer. Tech Parks Arizona, part of the University of Arizona, operates a network of innovation hubs which includes the UA Tech Park, UA Tech Park at The Bridges, and the UA Cen...

TSMC, Amkor Strike 10-Year Arizona Packaging Deal

inBusiness PHX Image: inBusiness PHX Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Amkor Technology, Inc. announced a 10-year agreement to foster a strong partnership that will enhance advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities in Arizona, strengthening and accelerating investment in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain ecosystem. The agreement establishes a collaboration framework ...

SRP Partners with Google on Grid-Scale CO2 Battery Storage

inBusiness PHX Image: inBusiness PHX Energy Dome, a leading provider of innovative capacity solutions for utilities and AI infrastructure, and Salt River Project, a not-for-profit public power utility serving the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, announced an agreement to add a 19 megawatt (MW), 10-hour carbon dioxide-based (CO2) battery system to the grid. The project is planned to be c...

U of A space science ranks No. 1 among public universities in latest US News global ranking

U of A News The University of Arizona is one of the world’s best public research institutions and the No. 1 public U.S. university in space science, according to U.S. News & World Report. The U of A ranked No. 20 among public U.S. universities and No. 40 among all U.S. universities in the 2026-2027 Best Global Universities ranking, released Tuesday. The U of A rose 1...

protosEQ Guest Blog Post: The Business Impact of Assessment Profiles: Because Guessing Is a Bold Strategy

protosEQ Most organizations say people are their greatest asset. Then they hire, promote, develop, and retain those people using gut instinct, résumé polish, interview charm, and the occasional “they just felt like a good fit.” That’s adorable. Also expensive. Assessment profiles have become a serious tool for businesses that want to understand how people actually operate. Tools l...

FPT Guest Blog Post: Restoring the Human Connection: How Ambient AI is Combatting Physician Burnout

The Clinician Is Still in the Room. Their Attention Is Not. It is 9 pm in an Arizona clinic and a clinician is finishing the day’s documentation alone. The exam rooms are dark. The waiting room is empty. The work that should have ended with the last patient visit is still open on a screen, two hours of charting that did not fit anywhere else in the day. This is what physici...

Yuma receives federal grant to explore new ag-tech innovation hub

NBC 11 News A major investment in agricultural innovation could soon help position Yuma as a global leader in ag-tech development. The Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, in partnership with the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation and the University of Arizona Yuma Agricultural Center, has received a $300,000 federal planning grant to study the creation of a new agr...

Cyberleaf Guest Blog Post: Running With Scissors at Cloud Scale: An Ode to Overly Permissive Tokens

Cyberleaf Over the last two years, the cybercriminals behind groups like the ShinyHunters collective have been racking up massive victim counts and building a reputation for compromising enterprises at scale. Their playbook: exploit the vulnerable interdependencies of the SaaS supply chain for upstream access, industrialize downstream propagation, and live rent free in the already stresse...

NAU launches first-of-its-kind engineering degree to fast-track Arizona’s future workforce

NAU launches first-of-its-kind engineering degree to fast-track Arizona’s future workforce The new Bachelor of Professional Studies in Engineering Technology offers a flexible, three-year pathway designed to prepare students for careers in microelectronics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing. As Arizona’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries continue to grow at...

Comcast Business Guest Blog: 3 threat trends driving adaptive cybersecurity

Image: Comcast Business Comcast Business Artificial intelligence is reshaping cybersecurity, enhancing both offensive and defensive capabilities. On the one hand, it’s fueling faster, smarter, automated defenses. On the other, it’s given attackers multiple new, easily accessible ways to wreak havoc. And that means that cybersecurity leaders can’t stay in the past. The cu...

ASU-Rooted Startup Pushes Further into Space Solar Market

Image: inBusuiness PHX InBusinessPHX The Partnership for Economic Innovation is investing $250,000 in Swift Coat, its newest member of its Applied Research Centers. The Phoenix-based nanotechnology startup traces its roots to Arizona State University research and has grown into a key supplier to the U.S. satellite industry. The funding will support the development and research of its pr...

ACA Investment Helps Bring Fiber Internet to Rural Arizona

Image: inBusiness PHX InBusinessPHX The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), alongside Valley TeleCom Group and Graham County leadership celebrated a milestone for connecting rural communities in Arizona with the launch of the county’s new fiber-internet network at an event held on June 1, 2026. Supported by a $4.8 million investment through the ACA’s Arizona Broadband Development Grant p...

SRP Completes 200 MW Battery Storage Facility in Coolidge

Image: inBusiness PHX InBusinessPHX EDP Renewables North America LLC and Salt River Project, a not for-profit public power utility serving more than two million people in central Arizona, today celebrated the completion of Flatland Energy Storage, a 200 megawatt (MW) / 800 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) in Coolidge, Arizona. Flatland Energy Storage has the capacit...

Lucid Launches Feature-Rich Update Led by Hands-Free Driving

InBusinessPHX Lucid Group, Inc., maker of the world’s most advanced software-defined vehicles and technologies, today announced it has begun the rollout of its latest over-the-air software update for the Lucid Gravity SUV. The update introduces hands-free driving capabilities along with enhancements to navigation, charging experience, and everyday usability. Hands-Free Driving Comes t...

New tech developed by U of A researchers turns rooms into virtual screens for 3D imaging

News 4 Tucson University of Arizona researchers have developed technology that transforms everyday surroundings into virtual screens, helping machines see three-dimensional scenes more accurately than current systems. The breakthrough addresses a major challenge in 3D imaging where most sensors struggle to capture both shiny and matte surfaces simultaneously, according to the university. ...

Honeywell Rebrands Automation, Aerospace Businesses ahead of June Split

InBusinessPHX Honeywell announced the new brand identities for its automation and aerospace businesses ─ Honeywell Technologies and Honeywell Aerospace. These will become two independent, publicly traded companies on June 29, 2026, when Honeywell spins off its Aerospace business. Honeywell’s current brand value is estimated at $18 billion and has been synonymous with delivering i...