Eurotech
Eurotech S.p.A.
|
| Type |
Public (BIT: ETH) |
| Industry |
Embedded Computers |
| Founded |
1992 |
| Headquarters |
Amaro, Udine Italy |
| Key people |
Roberto Siagri, President & CEO |
| Products |
Embedded Boards & Modules, Embedded Systems, Pervasive Computing Devices, Supercomputers |
| Employees |
594 (end of September 2008) |
| Website |
eurotech.com |
Eurotech is a company dedicated to the research, development, production and marketing of miniature computers (NanoPCs) and high performance computers (HPCs).
Description
Eurotech, created in 1992, is a pocket multinational active on a global scale which follows the technological paradigm of Pervasive Computing. The concept of pervasive computing, or ubiquitous computing, does not involve only miniaturisation, but also the distribution in the environment of intelligent devices and their possibility of communicating. In this respect, NanoPCs and HPCs are the two major classes of devices that, by connecting to and co-operating with each other, form that pervasive computing infrastructure commonly known as the pervasive GRID or pervasive computing grid.
By constantly working on this paradigm, Eurotech in just a few years has become an important player in the field of embedded computers for pervasive computing applications.
History
- 1992: Eurotech S.r.l. is founded, based on the idea to miniaturize personal computers and use them in as yet unexplored applications.
- 1995: Eurotech is the first company worldwide to introduce a PC/104 module based on the Intel 32-bit 486DX processor.
- 1997: Eurotech goes international through commercial agreements with European distributors. Eurotech moves its headquarters to Amaro (province of Udine in North-East Italy) and the company becomes a joint-stock company (Italian short form = S.p.A.).
- 1998: Eurotech's internationalization proceeds through distribution agreements in America, Asia and Australia. To increase its know-how in miniaturization and integration of electronic circuits, Eurotech sets up Neuricam S.p.A., a spin-off of the Trento institute for scientific and technological research (IRST).
- 1999: Eurotech starts to co-operate with INFN (Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics) for the study and implementation of its third generation of APE (Array Processor Experiment) supercomputers, called APEmille. Activity of Eurotech's HPC business unit starts with this co-operation.
- 2000: The company opens a commercial brench in the United States, and announces the launch on the HPC market of clusters based on CompactPCI systems.
- 2001: To support further growth, the private equity fund First Gen-e of Meliorbanca Spa and Friulia, development finance company of the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia Region, enter the Group's shareholding subscribing a capital increase of 3,7 million Euros.
- 2002: Eurotech acquires IPS Sistemi Programmabili S.r.l. (Varese, Italy).
- 2004: The Group continues its internationalization through the acquisition of the French company Erim Développement S.a.s and of the Finnish company Vikerkaar Oy, now Eurotech France and Eurotech Finland respectively.
- 2005: Eurotech officially presents in Rome its apeNEXT supercomputer, realized in collaboration with INFN. A research centre on pervasive computing is activated at the Nanjing University of Technology (NJUT) in China. A Scientific Committee is set up, dedicated to the identification and study of trends in future technological scenarios. To finance its international growth, Eurotech goes public on November 30: the company is listed in the Star segment (high performance equities segment) of the Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana), raising 23.64 million Euro at IPO.
- 2006: Eurotech acquires Arcom Control Systems Ltd (based in Cambridge, England) and Arcom Control Systems Inc. (based in Kansas, USA). EthLab is created in the Trento area to become the Group's research centre. Eurotech's Board of Directors decides to increase share capital via the issuance of ordinary shares for a total value of € 109.24 million. The first prototype of the wrist-worn computer Zypad is presented at the 2006 Soldier Technologies Conference in London and wins the prize for the most innovative product presented. Eurotech signs a partnership agreement with Finmeccanica SpA.
- 2007: In January Eurotech acquires Applied Data Systems (ADS), an American company controlling 65% of the Chinese R&D company Vantron. In September, Arcom Control Systems Ltd changes its name to Eurotech Ltd. In October Eurotech acquires the 65% of the outstanding shares of the Japanese Group Advanet.
- 2008: Janus, the new generation of supercomputers born from an Italian-Spanish collaboration involving several Universities and Research Institutes, is presented in February. On July 1 Eurotech announces the completion of the merger between United States-based subsidiaries Arcom Control Systems Inc and Applied Data Systems into Eurotech Inc, which thus become the main US subsidiary. On November 5, pursuant to the resolution passed by the Board of Directors of Finmeccanica on 12 May 2008 and agreements reached with some of the Eurotech's founding shareholders, Finmeccanica completes the acquisition of 11.1% of Eurotech's share capital.
Headquarters
The Eurotech Group is composed of nine main operating units:
• Eurotech S.p.A. is the parent company, based in Amaro (Udine - Italy). It designs and produces - in the field of NanoPCs - modules, systems and devices for the transportation, defence, medical and industrial sectors. Through its division based near Varese (IPS Sistemi Programmabili s.r.l.) Eurotech develops, manufactures and sells intelligent human-to-machine (H2M) and machine-to-machine (M2M) interfaces for harsh industrial applications. Eurotech has also a division active in the field of HPCs, which designs, produces and markets high performance computers for extremely demanding applications: these supercomputers are used in the fields of nano and bio-technologies, healthcare, high energy physics and in other applications requiring complex simulations and hence a great computational power.
• EthLab is the Group's research centre: it's based in the Trento area and has a satellite office in Amaro (Udine), close to the Group's headquarters.
• Eurotech France is based in Lyon (France). It operates in the field of NanoPCs, mainly in the transportation and in the industrial sectors. Eurotech France participates to the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative.
• Eurotech Ltd is based in Cambridge (UK) and operates in the field of NanoPCs and is active especially in the industrial and in the communication sectors.
• Eurotech Finland is based in Helsinki (Finland) and it addresses the markets of the Far East, with a focus on South and Southeast Asia.
• Eurotech Inc is based in Columbia, Maryland (USA) and has a satellite office in Kansas City, Kansas (USA). It's active in the design, development and production of embedded systems for the transportation and the industrial sectors. Eurotech Inc is an Associate Member of Intel's Embedded and Communications Alliance (ECA).
• Parvus is based in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Its focus is on COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) ruggedized systems for the defence sector.
• Advanet Group is based in Okayama (Japan). It's a manufacturer of single board computers, I/O, data acquisition, and communication products for the embedded markets. Advanet products include VME, CompactPCI, PCI & PMC boards for PowerPC and Intel Pentium architectures.
• Vantron is located in Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China. Besides being a development centre of hardware and software components for embedded solutions, Vantron offers embedded platforms for mobile and multimedia applications to its local market.
Mission
Eurotech's mission is to improve everyday life, making it simpler, safer and more pleasant through the ubiquitous and pervasive use of technology. To achieve its mission, Eurotech integrates the state of the art of computing and communication technologies to develop highly innovative applications, aimed to anticipating market demand.
Research cooperation with Universities
The Eurotech Group focuses on the study and development of innovative solution based on cutting-edge technologies, employing around 40% of its staff in R&D programs. Eurotech has always operated in close connection with the Universities of Milan, Trento, Trieste and Udine, with IRST (Institute for Scientific and Technological Research of the Trentino region), with Sissa (International School of Advanced Studies based in Trieste) and with INFN (Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics).
Eurotech is presently working on many projects, mainly addressing three areas: new-generation supercomputers, wearable PCs and Grid computing.
Markets and products
Eurotech Group's NanoPC offering is structured in three lines of products and solutions, each dedicated to a specific market segment:
- TMS (Transportation - Mobility - Surveillance), focusing mainly on mobile devices
- ICN (Industrial - Commercial - Networking), focusing mainly on fixed devices
- DSA (Defence, Security & Aerospace), focusing mainly on rugged devices.
New products
- Catalyst, an embedded module based on the new Intel Atom processor. The Catalyst combines high performances and low power consumption in a small proprietary form factor: for typical applications, the module is able to operate at under 3W.
- Zypad, the wrist-worn personal computer, is a powerful computer designed to be worn on the user's wrist. The wearability and hands-free operation of the Zypad makes it of interest to Logistics, Emergency Services, Security, Defense, Healthcare, Maintenance and any area where hands-free access to large amounts of information is necessary. The Zypad implements the concept of ubiquitous computing by integrating all the power and capabilities expected from a full size PC within a highly versatile device.
- PCN-1001 Passenger Counter, a compact and fully integrated device based on noncontact stereoscopic vision technology; it is able to count passengers entering or leaving buses, trams or trains. The device also has the capability to record time and date information of such events, allowing users to make various statistical analyses at a later time.
- JANUS, the High Performance Computer which is the result of an Italian-Spanish partnership that involved several universities research centres such as: the physics departments of the University of Ferrara, Rome's La Sapienza, the Institute of Biophysics and Complex Systems of Physics of Saragozza (BIFI), the University of Zaragoza, the Institute of Engineering Investigation of Argon in addition to Madrid's Complutense University and the University of Extremadura, Badajoz. In "road tests", i.e. running the specific calculations for which it was designed, Janus has proven to be the smallest, fastest, and most energy-efficient supercomputer currently available: in fact it provides 8 PetaOps (i.e. 8 million billion operations per second) while consuming just 10 kW of power.
- Aurora, a family of supercomputers, developed in collaboration with Aurora Science consortium. Aurora systems were among the first liquid cooled machines to be present in the HPC market. The Aurora supercomputers are also notable for the coexistence of 3D Torus and Infiniband networks (although the 3D Torus is an optional feature) and for the synchronization networks. Eurotech recently released an Aurora supercomputer based on the still to be released (as for now September 2011) Intel Xeon E5, which makes a standard rack delivering more than 100 Teraflops.
References
External links