ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Rising Data Solutions
Gaithersburg, Md.

Set up Africa's first telemarketing call center.

In Africa, corruption and high tariffs plague the government-controlled telephone services. Calls are costly, busy signals and dropped lines are frequent, and patrons attempting to use voice over Internet technology are jailed for infringing on the monopoly. Until now, those obstacles had excluded Africa from the lucrative call-center business, but Rising Data Solutions met the challenge. Led by Karim Morsli and Sambou Makalou, the company set up a telemarketing center in Ghana in 2003. They chose Ghana for its political stability and educated workforce, and they persuaded the government to allow the operation. Employees of the Rising Data Solutions call center earn solid income by selling T-Mobile wireless service to Americans, an example that paves the way for new entrepreneurial opportunities in Africa.

ENERGY
MTI Micro Fuel Cells and Toshiba
Albany, N.Y., and Tokyo

Will introduce the first commercial micro fuel-cell power units.

By the end of this year, both MTI Micro Fuel Cells and Toshiba will bring to market micro fuel cells, a new class of miniaturized power supply for portable electronic devices. Unlike a traditional electrochemical battery that generates electricity from an internal chemical reaction, a fuel cell produces juice by decomposing a fuel--in this case, methanol, a kind of alcohol. Once the fuel is exhausted, it can be replenished by replacing a cartridge or refilling a reservoir, an operation that can take just seconds rather than the hours often needed to recharge a battery. Thus, users of mobile electronics will no longer be at the mercy of dead batteries. The micro fuel cell from MTI Micro will provide electricity for a handheld radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader for use in stores and warehouses. Toshiba plans to introduce a laptop computer powered by a micro fuel cell that will operate for about 10 hours before it needs refueling.

ENVRONMENT
Jeneil Biosurfactant
Saukville, Wis.

Commercialized an environmentally benign industrial compound.

Surfactants consist of compounds that reduce the surface tension of water. They are deployed in soaps, detergents, emulsifiers and lubricants, among other uses. Most existing surfactants are derived from petroleum and create a risk to the environment because in water or soil they degrade insufficiently. Jeneil Biosurfactant has licensed a surfactant patented by the University of Arizona based on a rhamnolipid, a natural glycolipid encountered in soil or on plants. Though causing mild irritation to the eyes, rhamnolipid biosurfactants have lower toxicity than surfactants from petroleum. The compounds can be used in agricultural fungicides, in contact-lens cleaning solutions and in consumer cleaning products. They can also help remove heavy metals from soil and clean up sludge. In May the Environmental Protection Agency approved the use of Jeneil's fungicide, called Zonix. The company also received a Green Chemistry award in May from the EPA.

IMAGING
Camero
Herzliya, Israel

Has peered through walls using advanced radar.

In comics, Superman uses his x-ray vision to catch evildoers in their hideouts. In June, Camero announced that it is developing a portable radar system to generate three-dimensional images in real time of objects concealed behind walls from a distance of up to 20 meters. The system is seen as having both rescue and military applications. It uses FCC-compliant ultrawideband radar, which emits extra-short radio-signal pulses across a broad range of frequencies to penetrate solid barriers, such as the debris from a collapsed building after an earthquake. The relatively high resolution images it produces are reportedly comparable to those from ultrasound. The company, whose founders include one-time IBM research senior manager Aharon Aharon and former Israeli intelligence officer Amir Beeri, is initially targeting its proprietary technology to fire, rescue, law enforcement and others.