TROY – Automation Alley will launch X-OLOGY magazine the first week of January with an issue exploring the life sciences industry’s affect on the region’s economy.

The quarterly publication will be available at select Barnes & Noble locations in Rochester Hills, Northville, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills and Detroit as well as at the National Institute of Technology, Oakland University, Oakland Community College and the Detroit Business Institute.

“Automation Alley’s Second Annual Technology Industry Report identified the life sciences sector as the fastest growing segment of the region’s technology economy from 2003 to 2004, so it’s only fitting that the premiere issue of X-OLOGY magazine examines the growth and impact of life sciences,” said Ken Rogers, executive director, Automation Alley. “X-OLOGY magazine will highlight the best reasons to live, work and play in Southeast Michigan for a wide audience of businesses, employees and students.”

More than 540 life sciences companies call Automation Alley home, drawing on the region’s skilled workforce, financing through the state’s 21st Century Jobs Fund and impressive university resources. Since 2000, the industry has added more than 200 new companies and generates annual sales of $4.8 billion. This growth and diversification makes Southeast Michigan one of the nation’s fastest growing life sciences sectors and a key economic engine for the state in the coming years.

The January issue also looks at people and companies that are influencing the area’s life sciences industry. X-OLOGY magazine talks to Christophe Sevrain, CEO of Bloomfield Hills-based consultancy CJPS Enterprises, about how he is guiding life sciences businesses in the right direction through his many years of experience with the world’s leaders in medical devices. Sevrain notes that Michigan’s expertise in logistics, manufacturing and quality makes the region an advantageous location for the medical industry.

Additionally, a business profile of Troy-based Somanetics Corporation takes an in-depth look at how the company is delivering life saving technology to over 550 hospitals nationwide. Somanetics has doubled its sales force twice in recent years to accommodate growing demand for its products across the country and internationally in Japan, Europe, Canada, the Middle East and Africa.

With Renaissance Media, Automation Alley will distribute the magazine to individual subscribers, businesses and technical decision-makers in Southeast Michigan. Additionally, X-OLOGY magazine will serve as a recruitment tool for Southeast Michigan through distribution to technical schools, high schools, universities and continuing education facilities.

Each issue of X-OLOGY magazine will comprise a number of reoccurring departments, including Alley dahte; Metro Retro tracing a particular technology’s history; Going Green examining environmentally friendly ideas; and the Education Kaleidoscope highlighting technology news in schools and universities.

For more information, click on Xology.Com