Electronics Program Receives Equipment Donation

Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. has donated over $11,000 of electronics equipment to Mesa Community College's Electronics Program. This equipment is comprised of over 200 "development tools," state-of-the-art circuit boards and devices used by technicians and engineers to investigate new technologies and develop new products. In addition to the equipment donation, Freescale has also invited MCC students to participate in the 2008 Freescale Technology Forum Design Challenge, with a grand prize of $10,000 and finals to be held in Florida.

JD Neglia, MCC's electronics program director, said the equipment will be used in microprocessor courses, communications courses and upper level analog electronics courses, where students can use them in their final projects.

"This represents a fantastic opportunity for our electronics students," Neglia said. "They get advanced equipment to use in their coursework and projects and then they can demonstrate their skills in the design competition."

The development tools contain intelligent sensors that contain microcontrollers and advanced devices such as electric field sensors, pressure sensors and three-axis accelerometers that use state-of-the-art MEMS technology.

"We're hoping to support our local community college with this donation and encourage students to work with sensor products," said Freescale Marketing Manager Michelle Kelsey.

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Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. The privately-held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with 2006 sales of $6.4 billion (USD).

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