Welcome to summer

I know, I know, I've been delinquent this month! We had some really good presentations. First I thank the Arizona Technology Council for joining our small group of sponsors, the Economic Development Office of the City of Tempe and the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at ASU.

Francine Hardaway, thank you for the May presentation; Tiffany Frechette, thank you for the June presentation. Tiffany would like to correct a mistake she made during her presentation:

"I believe I said 12:1, which is much lower than the actual return. The ROI is actually 20:1, as seen below. (see if you were there you would know what she is talking about)

o Since inception of the AZ FAST program in 2003, Commerce has awarded 64 tech companies an average of $5,000 totaling $300,000 in distributed State funds.
o As a result, 16 of those companies have been awarded SBIR grants bringing over $6 million in federal funds into our State for technology R&D. This means that $20 of federal funds is received for every $1 of state funds.
o These funds have had an enormous impact on the companies’ ability to fully develop and commercialize their innovations. The awards have funded the purchase and use of much needed supplies, research resources, and JOBS! Our companies have reported 26 new hires with an average annual salary of $60,000. "

NOW FOR July:

NEW NAME -- SAME PLACE La Pita is no more the new name is CRAVE Bar & Grill

July 8, 2008 -- The presenter will be Ed Koeneman
Ed Koeneman from Kinetic Muscles Inc. (KMI) will tell their start up story.KMI designs and manufactures rehabilitation devices for survivors of stroke and other brain injuries. Ed and his father started the company in 2001 to address the needs of a grossly under-served stroke population with a practical application of the emerging science of neuroplasticity - the brain's ability to re-wire itself after an injury. All of the early R&D was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Along the way they have attracted investment from friends, family and angel investors. After successfully test marketing their first product in Arizona, KMI launched the Hand Mentor Pro nationwide in 2007. Come hear Ed talk about the ups and downs of being a startup medical device company in Arizona.

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The August presentation will be Matt Fraser Ph.D. from the Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU. Dr. Fraser’s research focuses on using organic speciation and receptor modeling to apportion ambient pollutants to their original source. Dr. Fraser’s research group has been involved in field monitoring programs, source characterization studies, emission inventory preparation, and analytical method and instrument development projects.

The title is Understanding Urban Particle Pollution

Atmospheric particles, including smoke, dust and haze, impact human health, decrease visibility and are a key uncertainty in the climate balance of the planet. Understanding the sources of particles is the first step in any strategy to reducing their concentration in an urban region such as Phoenix. Using detailed chemical analysis, we can fingerprint the original source of particles and track their emission from different sources to remote locations. The importance of these microscopic pollutants will be presented along findings of various source attribution studies.


We are still working on September's speaker.

OH Yes!! La Pita will be changing its name... and when I remember the new name I'll modify this section of the blog!!!!!

NEW NAME -- SAME PLACE La Pita is no more the new name is CRAVE Bar & Grill

Thank you for showing up and let's make the second Tuesday of every month a great evening of NETWORKING!!!!!

SEE EVERYONE ON JULY 8, 2008!!!!!!!!!