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Welcome to the latest iteration of our digital future: affordable supercomputers; wireless devices that talk to each other; wearable computers; and the best video game system ever.

eSilicon NO. 3
7,088.5% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $91.1 million
EMPLOYEES: 82
FOUNDED: 1999 Sunnyvale, Calif.
What it does: Provides custom
microchips for everything from MP3
players to complex communications
systems. Clients include Apple,
Microsoft, and Kodak. Why it's growing:
ESilicon is a truly virtual company, with
no manufacturing capability of its
own. Instead, it acts like a general contractor
that oversees a large cadre of
highly skilled subcontractors. Says
CEO Jack Harding: "When times are
bad, companies outsource to us, and
when times are good, they hire us to
get to market faster."

DriveCam NO. 67
1,105.6% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $9.8 million
EMPLOYEES: 39
FOUNDED: 1998 San Diego
What it does: Makes a digital camera
system primarily used to monitor the
behavior of commercial drivers. Why
it's growing: The technology saves customers
between 30% and 90% on
loss and casualty costs, says CEO
Bruce Moeller. How it works: A camera
with a 270-degree view is mounted
behind a vehicle's rearview mirror.
When there's an irregular motion, like
sudden braking, the camera records
the incident.

MaxStream NO. 92
923.7% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE. $6.5 million
EMPLOYEES: 30
FOUNDED: 1999 Lindon, Utah
What it does: Makes radio modems that
are embedded in devices to allow products
and systems to communicate with
one another wirelessly. Why it's growing:
Hot demand for embedded technology in
everything from sprinkler systems to military
reconnaissance robots. Cool applications:
MaxStream's radios have gone into
the caves of Tora Bora in search of Osama
bin Laden and helped university researchers
control the movements of laboratory
rats via remote control. "But they
made it feel good for the rat," says CEO
Brad Waiters.

Red Peacock International NO. 126
784.2% Three-year Growth
REVENUE: $27.1 million
EMPLOYEES: 10
FOUNDED: 1997 Glendale, Calif.
What it does: Sells digital cameras, GPS
systems, and other consumer electronics
to retailers, importers, and wholesalers
worldwide. Why it's growing: Red
Peacock is riding the exploding popularity
of digital cameras, which account
for the bulk of its sales. Spouses John
Lalwani and Ruby Mansukhani move inventory
fast--they can fill orders in four
to 24 hours.

TransDimension NO. 145
710.7% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $20.2 million
EMPLOYEES: 60
FOUNDED: 1997 Irvine, Calif.
What it does: Makes microchips and software
for embedded USB applications.
Why it's growing: innovative technology
that allows a product such as a digital
camera to talk directly to a printer--without
going through a PC. What's next:
Wireless USB connectivity. "You'll be able
to walk up to your printer with your camera,
hit a button, and print," says CEO
Rick Goerner.

PCPC Direct NO. 150
697.5% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $34.7 million
EMPLOYEES: 30
FOUNDED: 2000 Houston
What it does: Sells hardware and software
to big clients like Chevron and
Lockheed Martin. Why it's growing:
PCPC was one of the first companies to
sell Linux clusters--essentially cheap
supercomputers composed of thousands
of interconnected PCs, all running
on the open-source Linux
operating system. Starting over: CEO
Cornelia Vaught shuttered her first company,
Texas Solutions, following the
death of her business partner in a
skiing accident.

JLT Mobile Computers NO. 188
579% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $9.1 million
EMPLOYEES: 15
FOUNDED: 1999 Chandler, Ariz.
What it does: Sells super-rugged touch-screen
computers, which are used in
military vehicles, on oil rigs, and in timber
and mining operations. Why it's
growing: CEO Todd Einck credits international
demand, especially from
timber and mining firms in Australia
and China.

ReQuest NO. 212
528.7% Three-year Growth
REVENUE: $9 million
EMPLOYEES: 46
FOUNDED: 1998 Ballston Spa, N.Y.
What it does: Develops digital music
servers for high-end custom sound systems.
Why it's growing: Call it the iPod
factor. ReQuest's digital storage devices
let customers listen to different music in
different rooms of a house and even allow
a music library to be synchronized
across multiple locations--so that, say, a
vacation home can tap the same songs
and playlists. Silver screen: Other ReQuest
devices manage DVD collections--interfacing
with 400-disc DVD
changers to, say, pull up films starring
Robert De Niro.

Oasis Semiconductor NO. 254
482.3% Three-year Growth
REVENUE: $41.6 million
EMPLOYEES: 88
FOUNDED: 1995 Waltham, Mass.
What it does: Makes computer chips for
office equipment, including multifunction
devices such as combination fax-printer-scanners.
Why it's growing: Oasis was one
of the first to provide manufacturers such
as Dell, Sharp, and Canon with chips that
significantly lower the overall cost of multi-function
equipment. Postscript: In September,
Oasis was acquired by SigmaTel,
in a deal valued at $82 million.

Vocollect NO. 265
466% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $80.9 million
EMPLOYEES: 250
FOUNDED: 1987 Pittsburgh
What it does: Makes a wearable voice-activated
computer for people working in
warehouses and distribution centers. The
system leaves both hands free, making it
safer and more efficient than hand-held
computers. Why it's growing: Logistics
management is a perpetual march to reduce
errors, cut costs, and be more efficient.
Customers like Wal-Mart, Pep
Boys, and Safeway like that Vocollect devices
help them to decrease the number
of "mis-picks" by workers in their distribution
centers.

ISR, NO. 286
440.1% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE, $32.9 million
EMPLOYEES: 200
FOUNDED: 1993 Liberty Lake, Wash.
What it does: Produces technology that
enhances the performance of industrial
electronic equipment--from racks of
servers in corporate data centers to
tanks on the battlefield. Why it's growing:
It's the technology. ISR's trademarked
SprayCool system keeps equipment from
overheating, and does it at a fraction of
the price of air conditioning systems.
CEO Jeff Severs, a former active-duty Air
Force colonel who took the helm of the
company in 2001, has aggressively pursued
federal projects like a $12 million
contract with the U.S. Marine Corps.

JT Packard NO. 332
398.7% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $20.2 million
EMPLOYEES: 144
FOUNDED: 1997 Verona, Wis.
What it does: Services uninterruptible power
supply, or UPS, systems, which are used
by hospitals, data centers, and anyone
else needing 100% reliable power. Why it's
growing: Companies such as Walgreens
and Microsoft once relied on their UPS
manufacturers to service their systems. As
manufacturers cut costs, service suffered,
and that's where CEO Jeffrey Cason
stepped in. His 100 field engineers handle
emergency service and routine upkeep.

Intelli-Tech NO. 338
392% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $43.9 million
EMPLOYEES: 30
FOUNDED: 1992 San Dimas, Calif.
What it does: Sells brand-name computer
equipment to corporations, schools,
and government agencies. Why it's
growing: In a competitive market, Intelli-Tech
seeks an edge by constantly shifting
its product mix--turning on a dime
to offer the latest technology wherever
demand is the hottest. Work hard, play
hard: Each quarter, co-founders and
spouses Cynthia and Darrell Johnson
treat their employees to a weekend excursion,
including trips to Las Vegas and
Palm Springs.

Conduant NO. 379
362.5% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $3.4 million
EMPLOYEES: 16
FOUNDED: 1996 Longmont, Colo.
What it does: Manufactures high-speed
digital recording devices for scientific
researchers and defense firms. Why it's
growing: Increasing demand from astronomers,
research institutions, and the
military, all of which require faster, more
reliable platforms to record critical data
in rough environmental conditions.

Silicon Mountain Memory NO. 462
312.3% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $13.8 million
EMPLOYEES: 59
FOUNDED: 1997 Boulder, Colo.
What it does: Custom-builds and sells
computer memory products direct to IT
departments. Customers include Citigroup,
the University of Michigan, and
the U.S. Army. Why it's growing: Demand
for memory is higher than ever.
Silicon Mountain functions like the Dell
of the market, keeping inventory low (it
turns it over twice a week) to undercut
the competition on price. Former life:
Before starting the company, CEO Tré
Cates used to be a pastor. He decided
he could have more impact as a business
owner.

Ceiba Technologies NO. 473
305.1% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $10.9 million
EMPLOYEES: 13
POUNDED: 1994 Chandler, Ariz.
What it does: Manufactures and distributes
equipment used to make computer
parts, including silicon wafers, microchips,
and optical drives. Why it's growing:
Ceiba's clients--which include the
major manufacturers of chips, hard
drives, and the like--have been opening
new facilities or increasing the capacity
of existing plants and constantly upgrading
their factories.

Alienware NO. 491
293.9% Three-Year Growth
REVENUE: $112.4 million
EMPLOYEES: 504
FOUNDED: 1996 Miami
What it does: Custom-builds supercharged
personal computers--mostly
for hard-core computer garners. Why
it's growing: Computer gaming is an
$11 billion-a-year industry and growing
fast. Alienware machines, which cost
as much as $30,000, are equipped
with super-fast graphics processing
and high-performance screens and
sound systems.