The program on Wednesday, April 13 is titled "Promoting Your Company's Value - Steps to Success in Technology PR". Public relations is an important element of a successful marketing campaign, yet often companies are not sure where to start. In this interactive session, PR professional Alison Harris of Harris Media Services will walk attendees through the process of generating positive publicity. Each participant will go home with a workbook that provides a framework for developing ideas and organizing contacts. This is not a traditional listen-and-learn session, but a hands-on workshop. Bring a sharp pencil, an inquisitive mind, and a willingness to explore the attributes of your company.

Presenter: Alison Harris founded Harris Media Services in 2000 after a 15-year career in trade publications and conference development. She specializes in technology, loves working with small companies, and gets a kick out of the moment when an influential editor or reporter "gets" a company's story.

Programs run from noon to 2 p.m. Sandwiches are served in the MCED conference room (101 Hague Building), and we often meet in one of the nearby SMCC classrooms. The program is free for MCED tenants and affiliates; $10 for others. Please note that parking may be difficult when classes are in session.

Please RSVP to sandra.hotchkiss@ceemaine.org or by calling 767-4302 x100. Pre-registration is required.

APT has developed a new type of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) computational device that permits a wide range of data conversion, spectral analysis, and other signal processing tasks to be performed by a simple, signal-flow based, hardware-only solution, typically installed on readily available, field programmable gate arrays. As a result, the processor is portable across a range of host platforms and no user programming required. This eliminates the software overheads of standard microprocessors or general-purpose DSP devices.

BioAnalyte has broadened its license agreement with a partner firm in the UK, which allows the firm to create a new product - Enterprise Trawler - aimed at pharmaceutical, industrial and other high throughput applications. The agreement with Positive Probability Ltd extends BioAnalyte's use of proprietary technology for enabling users of analytical instruments to automate the analysis of data-intensive applications, such as assessing diagnostic candidates for early cancer detection. Their software products vastly simplify data analysis on unwieldy genomic and proteomics data sets, making it possible for sientists to exchange of actual data, instead of derived results.

BioAnalyte's products are part of the biotechnology sub-sector known as bioinformatics, or the application of information science to biology for the purposes of uncovering subtle relationships in complex and abundant data. The firm graduated from the Center last year and is now based in Portland. In February, the firm also announced that Dave Cousins, a graduate of Gorham High School (1989) and USM (1994), was hired as their communcations director.

The afternoon program focuses on the business of climate change and the international green house gas emissions policies and objectives that are being developed. Learn about the international perspective as well as regional programs that the State of Maine and local companies are initiating. A special panel will feature Maine DEP Commissioner Dawn Gallagher, international energy consultants, and technology experts from the United Kingdom.

For your calendar, also note the E2Tech Council's April 28th breakfast forum, The Hydrogen Energy Project - An update with Peter Arnold of the Chewonki Foundation, and visit the E2Tech council website for additional details.

The Environmental & Energy Technology Council of Maine (E2Tech) welcomes your participation in its programs. E2Tech is an association of companies, entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations who are committed to advancing sustainable job growth, research and development, and new product commercialization.

Please register early, as the forums are quite popular. There is a $10 registration fee for the climate program. To register, please contact the Trade Center at 541- 7400 or visit their website: www.mitc.com. You can also contact John Rooks at jrooks@rookscom.com.

Ethan Davis of Wildfire Human Powered Vehicles, a MCED affiliate, was featured on March 15. The product, which he hopes to manufacture in Maine, is a "velomobile" - an all-weather recumbent tricycle, with a fiberglass shell, 72 gears, drum breaks and shock absorbers.

John Ferland was quoted in a Sunday business section story on incubators, which discussed public financial support for incubators. In the article, John notes that the state has received a return on investment (through increased payroll taxes and other taxes) of $8 for every $1 of state funds invested in the Center.

Our off-site clients receive advice, contacts and other services, and our on-site clients benefit from more intensive attention and additional programs - including having work space outside of the owner's home. Our waterfront incubator in South Portland currently has offices and research labs available for rent.

For information on renting space or becoming an affiliated firm, please contact John Ferland at John.Ferland@ceemaine.org or call him at 207- 767-4306 x102.