Living the Dream

While the Arizona Technology Council is known for advocating the state’s tech ecosystem on a variety of fronts, it really is the group’s own members that reflect the same purpose for existing through successes that move their respective fields and communities forward.

Here are just some of the latest examples: 

Information Technology 

Less than a year after being added to Meta’s family of data centers, plans have been announced for the Mesa Data Center campus to add three new buildings, reaching more than 2.5 million square feet. The expansion brings the company’s investment in Arizona to more than $1 billion. It also means the number of skilled trade workers at peak will increase from an average of 1,500 to 2,000. And once completed, the data center is expected to support 200 operational jobs. 

The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, an activation, sustainment and modernization contract valued at $483 million with options, if exercised, totaling $1.68 billion across five years. Raytheon will provide the U.S. Navy with services and professionals to complete the activation and fleet introduction of the three Zumwalt-class destroyers while continuing to develop technology and warfare capabilities. Additional services will include design, integration, test and evaluation, system upgrade and replacement, logistics product development, configuration management, and training systems.

Honeywell has been selected to provide its new HTS7500 turboshaft engine as the power behind the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky-Boeing DEFIANT X® helicopter, currently a contender to win the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft competition. The engine is the newest and most technologically advanced model in Honeywell’s family of military engines, which includes the iconic T55 engine that has powered the H-47 fleet for more than 60 years. Like the T55, the HTS7500 is a highly reliable engine designed to thrive in austere environments and perform to keep military personnel safer. The DEFIANT X® will be the fastest, most maneuverable assault helicopter. Designed to fly two times faster and farther than the Black Hawk, it is being tested in a digital combat environment, where it continues to prove its unmatched range and survivability.

Workforce Development

Intel and Maricopa County Community College District have announced a new artificial intelligence incubator lab for students aspiring to land jobs in areas ranging from business and nursing to other professions that increasingly draw on AI technology. The new incubator lab and the associate degree program it supports is the first of its kind in the nation. The new lab at Chandler-Gilbert Community College opens its doors with $60,000-worth of Intel-based leading platforms, including workstations and open-source Intel AI software tools. It builds on Intel’s AI for Workforce program launched in 2020 at schools across the U.S., with the Maricopa district being the first to enroll students.

Meta has announced a $50,000 grant in support of the Mesa College Promise program, which provides support for residents graduating from local high schools to attend Mesa Community College. This program not only helps students bridge the cost of college attendance but gives them the tools needed to succeed, including access to workshops, internship opportunities and an advisor.

Clean Energy

Leading professionals from Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power and Southwest Gas, as well as Arizona State University, The University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, are forming an interdisciplinary coalition with the goal of attaining a carbon neutral economy in Arizona. All will play a crucial leadership role in helping the state explore options and strategic pathways that move Arizona toward a carbon-neutral and thriving economy. To begin, the coalition established the Center for an Arizona Carbon-Neutral Economy housed in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory on the ASU Tempe campus. Among its first undertakings, the center will pursue the creation of a regional clean hydrogen hub.

Broadband

Lumen Technologies is enhancing experiences on its Lumen Platform by investing in high-bandwidth architecture to bring upgraded Ethernet services to more than 40 cities by the year’s end. Early this year, these services were rolled out in nine cities, including Phoenix, with nine more gaining access to Ethernet speeds up to 30 gigabits per second in early May. The high-bandwidth Ethernet architecture also enables 30 gigabit speeds for Lumen dedicated internet access, Lumen Cloud Connect and IP VPN services. It represents a 10-fold increase in Lumen’s current standard Ethernet capabilities, the next step in the company’s Ethernet strategy.