PHOENIX -- Dr. Jim Arnold, a longtime engineer AT&T Bell Labs and Motorola, passed away May 22 after a brief illness. He was 63.

Arnold spent 17 years at Bell Labs, where he managed integrated circuit development groups in Singapore, Thailand, and the US. He then spent 11 years at Motorola, where he was involved in the development, management and global coordination of the Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector’s lead elimination strategy for semiconductor packages. As a member of Motorola Labs, he managed the design, development, and introduction of products using environmentally preferred materials and technologies, and led an internationally recognized team that developed environmentally friendly transport packaging solutions. All of these assignments included responsibility for development and implementation of cost reduction strategies.

While at Motorola, Arnold became involved with iNEMI as director of Planning and later director of Roadmapping. After his retirement from Motorola in 2006, he was a consultant to iNEMI, managing numerous initiatives and projects.

According to iNEMI, Arnold was in fine health until mid May, when he became very ill with what was likely an infection in his heart. The infection did not respond to antibiotics, and he died before doctors could attempt surgery. "We will miss his skills as a project manager, his broad technical expertise, and his tireless enthusiasm," iNEMI said in a statement.