The spark that ignites ideas: through its R & D, venture funds, statewide research and education network, and grid computing, MCNC is a catalyst for growth.

• Position: MCNC - Microelectronics Center of North Carolina

From the seeds of research and discovery, innovation sparks economic growth. New ideas, methods and devices lead to novel products, services and business models. Companies created or enriched through innovation provide jobs. Experts attribute at least half the world's economic growth during the past 50 years to innovation that created new technologies, industries and jobs.

In North Carolina's changing economy, innovation is the key to prosperity.

North Carolina state government has long realized that innovative, technology-led economic development is critical for the state's long-term economic health. In 1980, it created the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina with a mission to drive innovation and job creation.

In partnership with business, academia and government, MCNC provides critical infrastructure and research expertise to foster innovation leading to new technologies and jobs in North Carolina. Through the years, MCNC has created scientific and technology jobs, secured funding to develop technologies and provided advanced computing and communications. Today, MCNC does not receive direct state funding. It is an independent, nonprofit family of companies that drives technology advancement through research and development, venture funding and advanced networking and computing.

MCNC Research & Development Institute develops new technologies through its own initiatives and as a research partner for business, academia and the U.S. government. MCNC advances emerging technologies including microelectronics fabrication, sensor development and signal electronics for biomedical and defense applications, micro and wireless systems, and secure high-speed networks. U.S. Department of Defense projects drive most of the research. MCNC, however, also helps develop novel biomedical solutions for biological and chemical sensors, implantable devices and biomedical diagnostics.

In some cases, MCNC's research is licensed or spun out into new companies. MCNC successfully launched four companies in four years, including Cronos Integrated Microsystems, which was sold to JDS Uniphase Corp. for $750 million in 1999. From its share of the proceeds, MCNC created an endowment to further assist North Carolina's transition from a manufacturing- and tobacco-based economy to a technology-based economy. MCNC also donated $30 million to the Rural Internet Access Authority, a North Carolina grassroots initiative to expand Internet access, especially to those in...