The story of Etec, Inc. of Peabody, Massachusetts, is as much the story of how ENG relationships gelled post-graduation in the professional world as it is the tale of an enterprising company and its steady, measured growth. Etec (Electronic Test Engineering Company), a leading provider of instrumentation and equipment to MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) device manufacturers, is the brain child of four ENG alums who recognized a market opportunity, dug deep into engineering know-how that was germinated at BU, and carefully assembled a business that has thrived since inception.

Typically, MEMS testing provides feedback to the design process in an engineering development effort. MEMS have wide applications that include mini-inertial measurement units, biochemical analysis on a chip, or optical displays for neural recording. "There are other MEMS tools providers out there doing business, but not a turnkey solution provider," explains Henry J. Klim, vice president of sales and marketing. "Our solutions encompass research and development through volume production--that includes test equipment, application programs, fixturing, thermal conditioning, and materials handling." In short, Etec offers clients one-stop shopping, "which is an attractive feature to companies," he says.

Since Etec's 1986 founding, the company's roster of clients has grown exponentially and includes heavyweights such as Motorola, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, and TRW. "Since we work with such a diverse group of companies and technologies, we have a deep base of knowledge we bring to our customers," says Klim.

Etec's founders first came to know one another at ENG. Mark Ford, Etec's current president and CEO, Brian Colozzi, vice president of engineering, and Rick Chruscial (who has since left the company) graduated in 1977, while Klim received his diploma in '78. Though they passed through the same classrooms and ran into one another around campus, the first real harbinger of things to come occurred after Chruscial, a year past his own graduation, provided seniors with the challenge of solving an engineering problem. This became the basis of Klim's thesis project on memory testing. The ENG thread continued to entwine the four over the next several years. When Klim left his job at Digital Equipment Corporation in 1984 to start up Etec, he called upon Colozzi, employed at now-defunct Automatix, for subcontractor work on hardware development.

At the time, the fledgling company also needed expensive equipment to develop software, and Klim recalls, "We had creative arrangements with a local company to use their equipment during off-shifts, but after two years it became too much of a strain." He and Colozzi met with Ford, known for his operational expertise, and Chruscial, with his sales and marketing savvy and the added benefit of an engineering degree, at a spot dear to the heart of many: the Dugout bar on Commonwealth Avenue. There, they hammered out the details of Etec's future. "The Dugout holds a lot of memories for all of us," says Klim.

Klim's recollections of Etec's early days seem almost quaint as compared to the lightning-fast growth (and crashing fall) of many an enterprise during the Internet bubble. "We slowly grew our company," he says. "For six years after our 1986 founding, we were conservative and mainly provided independent contract test services," he says. But in 1992, Etec's management decided to get into the test equipment business.

Fast forward to the present: a major reason why Etec has risen to successful heights of sales and profitability--and stayed there--has to do with management's visionary perspective. "MEMS testing is misunderstood and underestimated," resolves Klim. "Normally, people look at the electrical signals of MEMS, but not the physical phenomena that translate into electrical signals. We look at a MEMS device as a system, not a component," he says. "Our strategic goals are to provide the best and most innovative test solutions to MEMS developers at the wafer, die, and package level."

This innovative way of approaching the industry is what allows Etec to provide original test solutions to MEMS developers. The firm has developed both software and hardware platforms that address deficiencies of standard semiconductor test equipment. One of the company's latest cutting-edge developments is a high-volume gyro calibration and test system, which is used in everyday goods like cell phones, automobiles, and video games.

"Any product that's needed in great volume, such as components for automobiles, must cost mere pennies," explains Klim. Company leader Ford agrees, "The cost of testing will continue to be a critical component of overall product success." Etec's clear perspective on the realities of the industry puts the company on solid footing. "The promise of MEMS is better product performance, low manufacturing costs, and capacity for integration with electronic circuits," sums up Klim.