COVENTOR MAKES LIST OF FASTEST GROWING FIRMS
Coventor Inc., a maker of MEMS software, ranked 152 on the Inc. 500, Inc. magazine’s list of the top 500 fastest growing companies in the United States.
Coventor said it is the first MEMS company to make the list, which recognizes privately held companies that have achieved record sales growth during the past five years. This was Coventor’s first year of eligibility.
COVALENT HIRES NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Covalent Materials Inc., a developer of nanotechnology for electronics and energy storage, named K. Charles Janac president and chief executive officer.
Janac most recently served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Infinity Capital, an early stage venture capital firm. He also has either helped create or lead several other companies, including Brooks Automation, Smart Machines, HLD Systems and Cadence Design Systems.
Before beginning his entrepreneurial career, he held technical and sales positions at Exxon Chemical Co.
Janac replaces interim chief Andrei Manoliu, who will stay on as a member of the board of directors.
NANOMETRICS REPORTS WEAKER REVENUES
Nanometrics Inc., a parts supplier for the semiconductor industry, said weaker demand led to third quarter revenues that were 48 percent below the same period last year.
Nanometrics said total net revenues for the most recent quarter were $10.1 million, slightly better than its expectations. For the first nine months of the year, the company’s net revenues decreased 25 percent, compared with the same period last year.
Nanometrics’ equipment is used for advanced integrated circuits, flat panel displays and magnetic head manufacturing.
MEMSCAP REPORTS SOFT QUARTER, STRONG YEAR
MEMSCAP said its revenue for the first nine months of the year were nearly four times higher than the same period last year despite slow third-quarter growth.
The maker of MEMS for communications, based in Grenoble, France, and Oakland, Calif., said its revenues for the nine months ending Sept. 30 were $6.4 million, compared with $1.7 million during the same period in 2000.
MEMSCAP posted third-quarter revenues of $900,000, compared wth $2.66 million in the second quarter. The slowdown was blamed on delayed purchase orders and business agreements since September’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
CYPRESS POSTS EARNINGS DROP
Cypress Semiconductor Corp., a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of integrated circuits, reported third-quarter earnings Thursday of $180 million, down 3 percent from the previous quarter and nearly 50 percent below the same quarter last year.
The company said it saw increased demand in wireless, but a significant decline in its data communications business. Officials said they expect to resume growth this quarter, barring significant problems in the economy.
The earnings did not include a one-time restructuring charge of $312 million, $66 million of which went to the acquisition of Silicon Light Machines, a maker of MEMS-based communications products.
Cypress said highlights from the quarter included Silicon’s demonstration of its first product that translates its expertise in MEMS for imaging into infrared MEMS for communications. The first customers for the dynamic gain equalizer should be signed this quarter.
MICROVISION GETS $1.5M TO DEVELOP MEMS DISPLAYS
Microvision Inc. said it received a $1.5 million subcontract by Concurrent Technologies Corp. (CTC) in support of the U.S. Office of Naval Research’s Battlespace Information Display Technology program.
CTC will use Microvision’s MEMS-based retinal scanning display technology in lightweight devices for delivering wireless tactical information.
NANO GETS NOD AT RUSSIAN CONFERENCE
Nanotechnology will be among the topics discussed next month during what is described as Russia’s first show of technology for industrial and military applications, according to the AVN Military News Agency Web site.
The goal of the show, held Nov. 27-30 in Moscow, is to establish modern traditions for developing Russian industrial and economic ideas and integrating them into the global market. Dual-purpose products and technologies will be displayed.
The government-organized conference also will include seminars on innovations, investment and energy technologies.
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By Jeff Karoub, 734-528-6291.