Rockwell Creates New Technology Division

Rockwell International Corp. has created a new division at its Thousand Oaks facility that could put jet-cockpit technology in the hands of 12-year-olds.

The company, which produces everything from cockpit displays for airplanes to machines that monitor rides at Disneyland, has launched a division called Rockwell Technologies that will market Rockwell’s technologies to other companies, officials announced Monday.

For example, the new division could offer the technology it uses in airplane cockpit displays to video game manufacturers, providing new technology for game screens. In return, Rockwell would either partner with the company and take a cut of the revenue or collect royalties.

Rockwell Technologies will be located at the Rockwell Science Center in Thousand Oaks and will employ five. The research lab that houses the new division provides research and development to Rockwell and other companies such as Boeing Co., said Derek Cheung, vice president of research and director of the research center.

In launching the new division, Milwaukee-based Rockwell is joining a trend among technology companies that seek to capitalize by licensing their technologies to non-competitors, Cheung said. Lucent Technologies and IBM also have launched aggressive campaigns to license their technologies, he said.

Rockwell has facilities in 40 countries and employs 40,000 worldwide. The company has annual revenue of $7 billion.