And although they are becoming more pervasive over time, we believe that the next five to 10 years is where we’re really going to see them become ubiquitous.”

The company’s founders say that, while current computing is on a one to one ratio — where users interact with computers on a personal level with a handheld device or a laptop — the future will see computing in a much more advanced scale, with microprocessors installed in items anywhere from the paint on our walls to the clothes on our backs.

As part of that future, Ambiq Micro believes there will be a need for smaller, more energy-efficient microprocessors like the company’s microcontrollers.

The company’s energy-efficient microcontrollers will also greatly increase the battery life of the products in which they are used, an innovation that has not yet been seen in the market of microprocessors.

In the initial stages of research for the microcontroller, the team focused on very small chips that measured one millimeter or less, but Ambiq Micro is now focusing on more commercially profitable markets with designs that are more robust, Blaauw said.

These new microprocessors could soon provide a low-power alternative for companies, but the chip is still in the commercial prototype stage and in the testing phase of production.

Blaauw and Sylvester began the research that eventually grew into Ambiq Micro in 2003, focusing on creating an energy-efficient microcontroller that provides a new level of power reduction for various technologies, including products used in the medical field and by credit card companies. They officially founded Ambiq Micro in 2009.

The idea gained momentum, Blaauw said, in 2008 when the MIT Technology Review did a general report on the team’s innovative low-power research with microprocessors.

The success of the company has only increased in the past year. The company’s innovations earned first place in the Michigan Business Challenge in February, along with a prize of $27,000 in cash grants. Ambiq Micro also won the DFJ Mercury Tech Transfer Investment Prize at the 2010 Rice Business Plan Competition, earning a total of $54,000 in prize money and placing fifth in the competition.

Although there are other microcontrollers that are now available to consumers, Blaauw believes that Ambiq Micro could “open up new markets” by offering a technology that has never yet been seen.

BOMB DETECTION

The increased threat of terrorist attacks has led to expanded, though imperfect, security measures everywhere from airports to sporting arenas. But a new development in security could provide a hidden and immediate way to detect potential suicide bombers, even in the largest crowds.

During his final semester at the University last year, recent Engineering graduate Ashwin Lalendran developed a system of wireless sensors, or units, that can detect Improvised Explosive Devices — explosives often used in suicide bombings — and transmit the data to authorities.

Lalendran worked for six months on the project — which was funded by the Air Force Research Lab at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio — as part of a class taught by Atmospheric, Oceanic and Spaces Sciences Prof. Nilton Renno.

“It’s an innovative solution for security personnel to detect IEDs in a heavily crowded environment, such as an airport, where there is a constant flow of people,” Lalendran said.