Sticking to Success: A.I. Technology
Marketing Muscle: Braun Expands
Virtual Classes Grow: STG & PLS
Corrections or additions?
Life in the Fast Lane
These articles were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on
November 25, 1998. All rights reserved.
Top Of PageSticking to Success: A.I. Technology
If you use an epoxy to help assemble a space shuttle
or a computer or a sensitive electronic component, you want that epoxy
to keep its flexibility no matter what. A.I. Technology (AIT) can
boast about its epoxies; they are flexible, they work better than
solder, and they operate within a wide range of temperatures.
Success with nearly 300 such products has helped AIT double its
business
in two years. Founded in 1981 by Kevin Chung, this high tech
manufacturing
firm bought the old McLean Engineering building on
Princeton-Hightstown
Road and moved in with nearly 100 employees last month. AIT
manufactures
adhesives, epoxies, and thermal materials for the computer,
communications,
and power supply industries; it also provides services to these
industries.
All products are made to order and delivered within two weeks. Their
shelf life ranges from several months to a year, and some must be
stored at below zero temperatures. Pricing ranges from pennies per
square inch of sheet material to several hundred dollars for some
of the epoxies that are used in very specific esoteric applications,
says Joe Tallone, manager of marketing and sales. AIT, which had been
based on Princess Road, markets its products in Asia and South America
as well as in the United States. All manufacturing, sales, and
shipping
are done in Princeton Junction.
One segment of AIT’s product line consists of films,
pastes and gels that guard against heat — the great enemy of
computers
and other electronic products. “These materials are specifically
designed to help conduct heat from a processor into a heat sink,”
says Tallone. “Our thermal materials help conduct heat from a
sensitive electronic component or chip into a heat sink, which can
then disperse the heat through its `fins.'” This thermal material
is used in a range of sizes, from small chips and components to
products
as large as power supply units.
AIT also manufactures adhesives and epoxy materials that are available
in electrically conductive and nonconductive form, and also in
thermally
conductive form. The prize epoxies are so flexible they can survive
without fracturing when used to bond electronic components that expand
at different temperatures. They are provided in both pastes (in
syringes
for automatic dispensing) and other formats (including sheet material
of 11-inch width up to any length). “These materials are used
in everything from the computers and power suppliers for the space
program to medical equipment such as pacemakers,” says Tallone.
Companies desiring to move away from solder in the manufacturing
process
will be helped by the AIT product line. Solder is time consuming to
apply and contains lead, a hazardous material. “There is a
definite
risk of solder fracturing when components are turned off and on,”
says Tallone. “With AIT’s flexible epoxy, there is no fracturing
between the connection.” The product, called Solder-Sub, has been
tested by major companies and is presently being introduced worldwide
by computer, multi-chip, ball grid assembly (BGA), and other component
manufacturers.
Clients can outsource some of their manufacturing operations to AIT.
One service, for heat sink manufacturers, involves placing thermal
materials on heat sinks or heat spreaders and shipping them to
computer
makers and small power suppliers. “We have to heat the heat sink
and place it accurately at a high rate of speed,” says Tallone.
Another service involves using lid-sealing material to bond two halves
of, for instance, a smart card or a telephone handset. Some of these
AIT pastes protect against electro-magnetic leakage.
A proprietary service involving epoxy deposits as a replacement for
solder has the potential to be extremely valuable, says Tallone.
“Other
companies are doing this using our materials.”
Chung, 47, obtained his PhD in physics from Rutgers University and
previously worked for RCA as well as other major companies. He holds
about 10 to 15 patents in the field and is a speaker of record on
polymer flip chip, thermal materials and other adhesive topics.
Chung’s
wife, Cynthia Chu, is also a principal in the firm. They have two
teenage children.
Tallone, 50, went to Rider and has an MBA from Seton Hall. He
previously
worked for W. R. Grace as manager of planning, for B&D as corporate
planning director, and for the federal government as director of trade
for the mid-Atlantic region. Tallone is married with one teenage
child.
At 60,000 square feet, AIT’s new facility is almost eight times the
size of its old location on Princess Road. The 16-acre property,
complete
with a lake, had been owned by McLean Engineering, a manufacturer
of fans and blowers, which moved to Robbinsville. Fennelly Associates
had marketed the property for $2.45 million. Bond financing from the
New Jersey Economic Development Authority helped guarantee AIT’s bank
loan. “Caren Franzini and team were instrumental in helping to
obtain financing at a more favorable purchasing opportunity,”
says Tallone.
A good measure of the company’s business has been won from its
competitors
during the past two years. “We plan on continuing with this same
rate of growth in 1999,” says Tallone.
— Jeff Lippincott
A.I. Technology, 70 Washington Road, Princeton08540. Kevin Chung, president. 609-896-3838; fax, 609-896-3315.E-mail:aitech@tigger.jvnc.net. Home page: https://www.aitechnology.com.Top Of PageStock News:Chrysalis BoughtA Canadian firm, Phoenix International Life Sciences,has bought Chrysalis International Corp., and will acquire all itsoutstanding shares and debt. Fifty people working on College Roadin Chrysalis Transgenic Services will stay at that location, but 10people in a headquarters office in Raritan will be moved, either toCanada or to College Road. Phoenix will issue shares worth $8.29millionand assume $10.5 million in debt.Traded on Nasdaq as CRLS, the company develops therapeutic productsand biological testing services on transgenic animals. But its largestproject was canceled in midstream, and it lost 25 cents per sharein the third quarter, three times the loss for that quarter last year.The nine-month loss of $6.7 million was four times the loss for thesame period last year.The College Road lab, says CFO John G. Cooper, “is verywell-positionedfor future growth.” Chrysalis evolved from DNX, the firm madefamous by its work with pigs that produce human-like blood, as didits neighbor at 303 College Road, Nextran. Nextran holds the rightsto the pig research, while Chrysalis works with genetically engineeredlab mice.Chrysalis (DNX Transgenics), 301B College RoadEast, Princeton Forrestal Center, Princeton 08540. Mark E. Swanson,vice president transgenic sciences. 609-520-0300; fax, 609-520-9864.Top Of PageStock News: Covance BuysCovance, 210 Carnegie Center, Princeton 08540-6681.Chris Kuebler, chairman and CEO. 609-452-8550; fax, 609-452-9375.Home page: https://www.covance.com.Covance Inc. has bought GDXI Inc., a leading provider of centralizedelectrocardiogram (ECG) analysis for clinical trials. ECG analysisis one of the most important and frequently utilized diagnostic toolsin clinical trials, with more than 50 percent of all clinical trialsincluding it as part of the study protocol. The purchase price wasnot disclosed.”This acquisition reflects our strategy of shaping solutions forour customers by providing them with rapid access to high qualitydata that accelerates the drug development process,” says ChrisKuebler, chairman and CEO of the Carnegie Center-based firm.GDXI has processed more than 5 million ECG’s since it was foundedin 1972. The company is currently supporting clinical trials involvingmore than 31,000 patients at over 2,300 sites worldwide. GDXIdistributesa proprietary hand-held ECG device to clinical trial sites that canbe used anywhere in the world. The device collects the data, performsa real-time quality check, then transmits the information by telephoneto GDXI’s central operations center in Reno, Nevada, which is staffed24 hours a day, seven days a week. On-site cardiologists review theinformation and provide a patient report to the study sponsor within24 hours.”Our systems and processes help eliminate errors and get the datainto the hands of investigators quickly,” says J.B. Bultman, GDXIpresident. “This reduces the cost and time involved in conductingclinical trials.”Top Of PageMarketing Muscle: Braun ExpandsMarket researcher Paul Braun has doubled his company’sspace at Research Park, adding 3,200 square feet for a total of 6,200feet. He has also doubled his staff from what it was six months ago,going to 10 full-time employees and 170 permanent part-timers.”Our sales are up significantly this year,” says Braun. Onlya small part of it, he says, was due to the election polls.”Electionscounted for 20 percent, because we were doing work for national newsmagazines, but I have work booked to April of ’99.”The Research Park location, because it is on a bus line, has helpedBraun recruit part-time interviewers; about one-fifth use the bus.For such clients as national news agencies, television networks, andlocal and national research firms, the firm does business-to-businessresearch during the day, and consumer research on weekends andevenings.Braun has been working in the research field since 1979. He quit aNew York job five years ago because he was working 19 hours a day,seven days a week. He and his wife were starting to raise a family,so he took a job with a Princeton-based market research firm, wasfired after 15 months, and founded his own firm to be a direct vendorand a contract company for telephone market research. At that time,three years ago, the name was Leitner/Braun.Now Braun subcontracts to 40 research firms ranging from Mathematicaon Morgan Lane to Global Strategy Research in Manhattan. Other clientsinclude Princeton Survey Research, American Opinion Research, ResearchStrategies, and Mapes & Ross. Clients not related to the researchindustry include Peterson’s, Prudential, and Wisconsin-based MosaicFunds, a firm which helps parents anticipate college costs.Like every young company Braun Research has had growing pains. “Isleep so little, as it is, all someone has to do is breathe the wrongway,” he confesses. Earlier this year he had some unnervingwarningsfrom his accountant, Jim Rose of Rose Dultz Associates. “He mademe listen to the possibility that in six months — with a threepaycheck month in October — I might be out of business.” Roseoffered the help of a factor, a lender who advances cash in returnfor buying receivables. Braun decided against it and, as it turnedout, he believes he made the right choice.Timing, he says, is one of his strengths. “I knew when I neededto buy my partner out. Now I know I have to make investments inpeople.When we get money, we give it to them. The people I have hired aremostly my friends and people I have known for many years,” saysBraun. “It is an ensemble cast. They all have ambitious visionson what their careers are going to be like.””It comes down to what a company exists for,” says Braun.”It’s the `vision thing’ if you will. I try to be a differentkind of boss. I let people try to be comfortable with their ownphilosophy.I wouldn’t mind being rich but I’m not. My goals are to send my kidsto college and to retire.”A Brooklyn native who majored in political science at BrooklynCollege,he lives in Princeton with his wife, Carol Miller Braun (who worksin the emergency road service phone department for Triple A), andthey have two preschool children, Amanda and Stephen. His father,Murray Braun, was a coat cutter in the garment industry. Says Paul:”He busts his buttons when he sees his name on the door.”Braun Research Inc., 271 Wall Street, Princeton08540. Paul A. Braun, president. 609-279-1600; fax, 609-279-1318.E-mail: braunres@aol.com.Top Of PageVirtual Classes Grow: STG & PLSWeb-based training is growing as fast or faster thanthe Web itself. These virtual learning programs provide documentationof the learning process and spur productivity, so they can be acost-effectivesolution for the in-field training of decentralized sales forces.They are also useful for helping trade groups document professionalaccreditation courses, as well as for colleges and universitiesofferingvirtual instruction. The courses can be speedily published and easilyrevised, provide measurable results, and are customizable to any skilllevel.The United States market for virtual learning programs was $197millionlast year, says International Data Corporation, but is expected togrow to more than $6 billion by 2002. An IDC analyst described itas “one of the most dramatic growth industries in existence today,showing clear signs for long-term viability.”In line with this growth, two virtual learning companies in Princetonare expanding. STG International LLC added three people in the lastyear and has changed its name, to more accurately reflect itsbusiness,to VLearn International. Princeton Learning Systems is growing itsstaff from 13 to 18 and has physically expanded, from ForrestalVillageto State Road.VLearn International, 4365 Route 1 South, Princeton08540. Thomas D’Innocenzi, president & CEO. 609-514-5000; fax,609-452-7009.Home page: https://www.vlearn.com.“Our product is a virtual learning product,” says Jim Scott,the chief financial officer of the 11-year-old VLearn International.It had started out as Systems Task Group, became STG Technology, andthen acquired Darien Technology before changing its name. The firmhas added three employees in the past year.Among VLearn’s contracts are one for doing English language trainingover the Internet through a Taiwan-based program called Merica ChainGroup, Asia’s largest English training and test preparation company.VLearn also has a contract with the ministry of education in Singaporeto develop curriculum for Internet training in the classroom.On another front, it is one of the few companies to provide a toolover the Internet to get the employees involved in solving the Year2K problem to make them part of the solution. Called PC Aid 2000 ithelps workers at multinational companies assess their PCs to identifyhardware and software that needs to be upgraded. It also providesreal-time reporting and control of the PC problem (U.S. 1, March 12,1997, and August 19, 1998).Princeton Learning Systems, 707 State Road, Suite212, Princeton 08540. William J. Healy PhD, president. 609-924-2882;fax, 609-520-1702. E-mail jnazario@fsu.org. Home page:https://www.fsu.org.Princeton Learning Systems develops financial and securities industrycompliance and education systems under the aegis of Financial ServicesUniversity (FSU), a Web site configured to perform all the functionsof a virtual campus (U.S. 1, September 4, 1996; March 12, 1997; andMay 27, 1998). At the 1996 founding, William J. Healy and Steven Haaseaimed for $45 million annual sales and a before tax profit of $15.6million by 1999.Thomas Crawford has come from J.H. Cohn to be senior operatingofficer,and Juan Villegas, formerly webmaster for Merrill Lynch’s in-houseLearning Network, is director of learning technologies. Justannounced:William J. Lombardo as executive vice president of sales andmarketing.New contracts have added 30,000 employees to the FSU user base.”Studies have shown that because new training technology iscustomarilyself-paced, multimedia, interactive, and mastery-based, it is capableof increasing retention by 40 percent,” says Healy. “Sinceit can be accessible after hours, time-off-the-job as well as actuallearning time can be reduced by as much as 60 percent and deliverycosts up to 70 percent.”Top Of PageTaken Over? Don’t DespairPrinceton Hydro LLC, 80 Lambert Lane, Lambertville08530. Stephen J. Souza, president. 609-397-5335; fax, 609-397-5333.E-mail: phydro@worldnet.att.net.Princeton Hydro LLC turns out to be a remarkable exception to therule that — when companies are acquired, re-engineered ordownsized– employees are left out in the cold. In July, 1996, Post BuckleySchuh & Jernigan (PBS&J), based in Miami, bought out the QuakerbridgeRoad office of Coastal Environmental Services. In July of this yearPBS&J decided it was not a “good fit” and closed down theshop. Another tragic story? Far from it.The nucleus of the Quakerbridge Road office — Stephen Souza, MarkGallagher, and Geoffrey Goll — negotiated with PBS&J and boughtthe company from them. They continued operations under a new name,Princeton Hydro. PBS&J agreed to transfer all existing backlog, plusthe office furniture and sampling equipment, to the new company, whichcontinued to conduct business at Quakerbridge Road. On September 1PBS&J officially ceased its operations and Princeton Hydro openedits offices in Lambertville.Princeton Hydro now does business as a water and wetland resourcesmanagement consulting company. The staff includes an engineer, wetlandscientists, aquatic biologists, and environmental scientists. StephenSouza, president of Princeton Hydro, got his Ph.D in ecology/fisherybiology, from the University of Connecticut. He did his graduatestudiesin Environmental Science at Rutgers University after majoring inmarinebiology from the University of Massachusetts, Class of ’74. Souzais responsible for the direction and coordination of all lake, pond,and reservoir projects.Mark Gallagher, senior vice president, is responsible for thesupervisionof a broad variety of environmental assessment activities, primarilyinvolving wetlands and wildlife habitat elements. He has a bachelor’sin biology from Moravian College, Class of ’77, and a master’s degreein botany and plant physiology from Rutgers. Geoffrey M. Goll, programdirector, environmental engineering, specializes in the developmentof engineering designs and permits for the preparation of applicationsfor state and federal agencies. He got his bachelor’s in civilengineeringfrom Rutgers University, Class of 1990.Princeton Hydro provides consulting, design, and implementationservicesin the areas of lake and wetland resources restoration and managementto both private and public sector clients. Clients include PrincetonTownship, Merrill Lynch, OENJ Corporation, Merck, and lakeassociationsthroughout the tri-state region.Millennium Science & Engineering, 2 Bradford Court,Cranbury 08512. Dean Ritts, environmental engineer. 609-716-0809;E-mail: dritts@mindspring.com.The Clean Air Act is alive and well in New Jersey, says Dean Ritts,and he is here to help you cope with it. “From what I have workedwith New Jersey regulators, they have been very diligent aboutfollowingwhat they were supposed to be doing,” says Ritts. He opened theNew Jersey branch of this Virginia-based environmental engineeringfirm that does industrial waste water treatment and air qualityengineering.The president of Millennium Science & Engineering, Andy Loven, hadbeen president of Engineering Science, which has since evolved intoParsons Infrastructure and Technology, the firm that has the contractto do the motor vehicle inspections in New Jersey. This office servessuch clients as American Cyanamid and Merck. “We keep companiesfrom going afoul of the Clean Air Act,” says Ritts, “byinventoryingemissions and designing air pollution strategies.”A biology and history major at Duke University, Class of ’84, Rittshas a master’s in civil engineering from San Jose state. He workedfor Acurex Corporation, doing air quality engineering, and engineeringscience in air quality and waste water treatment engineering. He hasbeen with Millennium for 18 months; his wife, Rosalyn Ritts, is adirector at Sarnoff. They met at Duke, where she earned her biomedicalengineering degree. They have two children, ages nine and five.Asked for an example, Ritts tells of a company in Georgia that wasworried over its compliance with the EPA’s risk management program.”We showed them that if they reduced their inventory of propanethey would not have to comply with the program. For a few hundreddollars of our time we saved them thousands of dollars ofpaperwork,”says Ritts.”There is a fine line between giving the engineering solutionversus doing what the really customer needs to solve a problem,”Ritts says. “For instance, you can buy a Cadillac or a Volkswagen,but the Volkswagen may be the best choice for a particularclient.”Top Of PageExpansionsAlpha Microsystems/Support Works, 2525 Route 130,Cranbury Plaza, Cranbury 08512. Thomas Palmisano. Home page:https://www.alphamicro.com.After the recent down-sizing at Dow Jones, Thomas Palmisano left withsome of his cohorts in the tech support group to join this 20-year-oldcomputer firm. Palmisano is establishing a call center to diagnoseunbranded products, on warranty, for hardware and software problems.It is connected with Alpha’s service center in Edison. The servicecenter has no telephone number available to the general public butthe company may be reached in California at 714-957-8500.Top Of PageManagement MovesRhodia Inc., Prospect Plains Road, CN 7500,Cranbury08512-7500. David Eckert, president, North American chemicals.609-860-4000;fax, 609-860-0074.Gilles Grenier has moved from France to be general manager of RhodiaSilicones North America. Silicones are used for release coatings forpull-off protective backings on self-adhesive labels and envelopes,and also for fluids and sealants for industrial markets. The divisionalso makes and markets room temperature vulcanizing agents for theelectronics, aerospace, and automotive industries. Rhodia is asubsidiaryof Rhone-Poulenc S.A. The campus at Prospect Plains Road houses thedivision headquarters for surfactants, fine organics, foodingredients,water soluble polymers, latex and specialty polymers, and phosphorusproducts.Top Of PageCrosstown MovesLandscape Maintenance Services Inc., 306 WallStreet,Research Park, Princeton 08540. Thomas D. Dario, president.609-252-1501;fax, 609-252-1503.The seven-person landscape maintenance office moved from 1,700 feetat Princeton Meadows Office Center to similar-sized space in ResearchPark and has a new phone and fax. It is the wholly owned subsidiaryof Medford-based Canterbury Corporate Services.Top Of PageLeaving TownFirst Union National Bank, 304 Princeton-HightstownRoad, East Windsor 08520. 609-394-4753; fax, 609-394-4758.As a result of its merger with CoreStates, First Union National Bankclosed this office on November 6 and has sold it for $800,000 to aninvestor in Pennsylvania. The 2,500-foot building has 12.4 acres.Glenn Blumenthal represented First Union National Bank, and thelistingbrokers were Sab Russo and Terry Lencheski of CB Richard Ellis CentralNew Jersey, based in Iselin. The bank retained a branch at 29Princeton-HightstownRoad.Fund for Public Interest Research, 119 Somerset,New Brunswick 08903. Alison Thornton, director. 732-214-8272; fax,In the fall, as planned, the Witherspoon Street office closed andconsolidated with one in New Brunswick. It employs college studentsto raise awareness and campaign for causes such as the Sierra Clubor issues sponsored by the Public Interest Research Groups or PIRGs.Sandler Sales Institute, 357 Kilburn Road,Langhorne19047-1949. John S. Punyko, president. 215-757-5644; fax,215-757-7923.E-mail: jpunyko@ix.netcom.com.John Punyko has moved his sales training firm from 600 Alexander Roadto Langhorne.Top Of PageDeathHoward Stone, 37, on November 12. He was an assistantprofessor of physics at Princeton University.Corrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
