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For Tucson-based Ridgetop Group Inc., knowing failure has been a path to success.

The company's focus is electronic prognostics, or "predictive diagnostics," and the goal is to predict system failures before they occur, said Doug Goodman, Ridgetop president and chief executive officer.

Customers that need fail-safe systems — like NASA — "come to us in search of solutions. We know the physics of failure," Goodman said.

Since its founding in 2000, the company has expanded twice, and it now employs 40 people at its 6595 N. Oracle Road location, just north of West Orange Grove Road.

The company produces specialized systems for its customers. These include electrical sensors, software components, and prognostic reasoners — machines that take data and turn them into usable information.

Ridgetop's prognostic tools are designed to support so-called nano-level processes, involving elements as small as a nanometer, or one-billionth of a meter. For comparison, there are as many nanometers in an inch as there are inches in 400 miles.

Ridgetop's work "fits a very specific need," especially when dealing with government customers, said Justin Judkins, vice president of research.

"The way NASA and the government use electronic machines is different than the consumer model," Judkins said. "They need very high reliability and long lifetimes."

To achieve those ends, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration frequently turns to Ridgetop to create fault-monitoring systems that detect wear-out in the electronics used to support space missions.

Last week, NASA's Aviation Safety Program awarded Ridgetop $225,000 to develop methods to test control system power supplies. Last month, the firm received $600,000 from NASA in the form of a two-year Small Business Innovative Research — or SBIR — contract.

All systems are subject to wear-out, particularly in space, where they are bombarded with radiation and extreme temperatures, Goodman said.

The company's tools are as valuable in defense applications as they are in space.

Last February, Ridgetop landed a $1.4 million SBIR contract from the Naval Air System Command in Lakehurst, N.J., to develop technology to test the "health" of critical systems used to support military aircraft.

The company also works closely with Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems.

Ridgetop won Raytheon's SBIR Partner Award in 2006 for "having worked so well with us on SBIR contracts," said John Waszczak, director of advanced technology and SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

One of the best things about the technology is its adaptability, said Goodman, who came to Arizona in 2000 as head of the software firm Ardext Technologies Inc., a semiconductor test software company partly spun off from Georgia Institute of Technology research.

Ridgetop's work has very useful commercial applications, especially in the automotive and commercial flight industries, he said.

Prognostic technology can bolster vehicle safety, for instance, by predicting the failure of anti-lock brake systems in cars. In planes, the technology can test the long-range service reliability of the electric systems.

Ridgetop's customer base is a "mix of commercial and government" entities, Goodman said. It includes companies such as Honeywell, Chrysler and Dalsa Semiconductor.

Keeping up with customer demands has Ridgetop "hiring like crazy," he said. The company plans to grow more than 40 percent a year for the next three to five years.

That's potentially good news for local students, because half the Ridgetop's staff comes from the University of Arizona's engineering department, Goodman said.

"Ridgetop is a fantastic partner," said Jerzy Rozenblit, the UA's electrical and computer engineering department head.

The company creates "cutting-edge technology and helps keep our graduates here," he said.

Keeping graduates here leads to the growth of the Tucson area's nanotechnology industry — something Goodman has made a top priority.

He is the founder and former chair of the 200-member Arizona Nanotechnology Cluster, a business development organization designed to promote the growth of the nanotech industry.

The cluster "gives our industry a voice," said Goodman, who still sits on the group's board. It also fosters the innovation that will "create more jobs and more opportunities" in Arizona at a time when new, advanced technology is moving to Asia, he said.

Building up Arizona's nanotech cluster is critical because it is "one of the key technology areas of the future," said Bob Hagen, chair of the Southern Arizona Tech Council.

Ridgetop has had a significant impact on the local economy, Hagen said. The goal of the high-tech clusters is to develop more businesses that will have the same kind of impact, he said.