He sees big things in micromanagement.

• Position: Consultant Matthew Kuhn

Ever notice how computer programs never operate as easily as the manuals say? Well, even the state's most prominent microelectronics guru has his problems. After leaving the presidency of MCNC (formerly the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina) in January to form his own consulting firm, Matthew Kuhn had trouble transferring his electronic mail.

"It's been three weeks," he chuckles, "and I'm still wrestling with getting the applications package to work over my new network configuration."

The 57-year-old Romanian native's first client at his new firm, EconTech, is the executive committee of MCNC. Neither he nor the agency would disclose the value of the contract, which involves advising MCNC on its direction. MCNC was formed in 1981 by the General Assembly to research and develop microelectronic technologies that would eventually be turned over to North Carolina manufacturers.

Kuhn, who made $190,000 a year as MCNC president, is still developing a fee schedule for clients. But he believes consultants are needed to bridge the gap between researchers who develop fantastic technology and companies that can find a practical market.

He is particularly enthusiastic about a new MCNC research project to develop "micromachines," silicon-based mechanical devices as small as one/seventy-fifth of a human hair, which can be controlled by computers.

"In a sense, this is the reemergence of the Industrial Revolution, only this time it is in miniature," Kuhn says...