News & Events

Region's Technology Firms Present Successes, Struggles

By William Freebairn
Sunday Republican (Springfield)
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Edition: All, Section: OUTLOOK 2003, Page E33

The Internet boom was laid to rest last year, biotechnology is just a rumor working its way down the Massachusetts Turnpike, but Western Massachusetts has its own hot technology to watch.

Millimeter waves, a form of radiation used by radio astronomers, are at the core of two hot companies that bubbled up out of the University of Massachusetts more than a decade ago.

"I think we're going to see some very significant growth in this technology," said William Hanley, owner of Northampton electronic component-maker Millitech.

"I think it will stay here in the region, because there's already a core group of world-renowned technologists involved with it here."

William T. Hanley, chief executive officer and president of Millitech in Northampton, leans on a canister of nitrogen. Behind him is the company's clean room where electronic sub-assemblies for satellite applications are made.

Millitech is one of several companies whose products are based on millimeter wave technology. Millimeter waves are a form of radiation between microwaves and infrared on the spectrum, above 7 gigahertz.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have been studying millimeter waves for decades and made discoveries that continue to be exploited by companies they founded.

Millitech makes antennas for Earth-based satellite communications systems, such as those used by the military. The technology is expanding, and will be used more and more on board satellites and used to control remotely-operated vehicles.

Hanley bought Millitech from Telaxis Communications in Deerfield, which wanted to focus exclusively on telecommunications.

Sales at the time of the purchase were about $6 million per year, and they rose to $14 million last year, Hanley said. "We're going to exceed $17 million in 2003," he said.

Millitech employs 90 people, and has manufacturing facilities in Deerfield.

Two other area companies are also millimeter-wave spinoffs from UMass.

Telaxis focuses on using the waves for wireless high-bandwidth data communications. Their products have allowed high-speed Internet access as well as wireless data network connections.

The company has fallen on hard times, as telecommunications investment dropped dramatically, their major customer abandoned them, and replacement products failed to catch on.

Recently, Millitech has hired Telaxis employees that have been let go, Hanley said.

Millivision LLC, based in Amherst, makes equipment that uses millimeter waves to create images of weapons beneath people's clothing, for use in the security industry. It recently received an investment from a New York-based security company that took a 20 percent stake in the firm.

It is considered one of the hottest technology prospects in the region because of its obvious airport security applications. A predecessor company was formed in 1996, a spin-off of the original Millitech, founded by a UMass professor in 1981.

"I think that the millimeter wave group is fascinating," said Joseph Steig, president of non-profit consulting group Mass Ventures.

He said the region can apply its expertise in precision manufacturing to the manufacture of millimeter wave products.

That said, Steig said he does not believe the region can count on any one technology to carry it too far. There are so few companies in any sector that volatility is guaranteed.

Although two of the millimeter wave companies are doing well, Telaxis is struggling to find customers. Technology overall will continue to power the national economy, but it is not clear that the same will be true in Western Massachusetts, Hanley said.

"My opinion is that technology in the valley here quite frankly is in its infancy," he said. A national economic recovery still seems a ways off, some officials said, especially for technology companies.

2003 The Republican Company. All rights reserved. Used with permission of The Republican

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