Digilent Inc., a Pullman company started by Washington State University faculty member an an alumnus was named manufacturer of the year by Seattle Business magazine.

Digilent was the winner in the small company category of the magazine's  top manufacturers.

Clint Cole, a lecturer at WSU's School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, started the firm in 2000 with Gene Apperson, a former engineering student at the Pullman campus.

The company manufactures circuit boards for educational purposes.

Using a programmable computer chip that is used in industry, Cole designed a circuit board that could be used to design a variety of projects, from simple circuits to complex micro-processors.

 

The company havs designed more than 200 products. They're being marketed to more than 1,000 universities in 70 countries around the world. The company, with 45 employees, has offices in Romania, China, and Taiwan.

 

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