Capabilities
Our people will take your project from concept to completion
We begin with the need, and through comprehensive research, engineering, and management, we create the solution. We create that solution via planning, testing, execution, productization, and commercialization. Careful attention to your requirements ensures that the end result is precisely right.
Research
FTL Labs Corporation is a tight-knit association of Ph.D. scientists and seasoned engineers. From materials sciences to sensors to algorithms, we dig deeply to solve problems.
Engineering
Laboratory to instrument to marketplace; progress requires focus and motivation. FTL Labs specializes in moving innovative concepts through proof-of-concept testing with an eye always on customer development.
Management
John Stuart Mill said that eccentricity is generally proportional to genius; FTL Labs manages technology creators in defining a productive path and reaching a marketable whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
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Solutions
FTL Labs both seeks marketable science in academia and performs original research to solve problems for our customers. We have a top-notch team of academic scientists, industry engineers, and get-it-done test and fabrication experts. Where there is no known solution or no suitable product on the market, FTL Labs Corporation finds a way!
Productization
A key capability that FTL provides is the ability to rapidly convert electronic, electro-mechanical, and opto-mechanical concepts to solid models and fabrication-ready blueprints. This service leverages several core competencies:
- Expert-level familiarity with 3D CAD and modeling software tools including SolidWorks, AutoCAD, and Maya.
- An understanding of mounting and assemblies, especially pertaining to product ruggedness and Mil-Spec testing requirements.
- Long-standing experience integrating electronics, interface components, and displays for superior device usability.
- Finely tuned communications and analysis to match the product specifications with user and market demands including price point, SWAP (size, weight, and power), and performance.
Commercialization
The primary directive of FTL Labs is to transition emerging science into the marketplace. One way to pursue this is by securing additional government funding (such as SBIR grants) to support initial feasibility demonstrations. FTL works with IP and patent holders of marketable technologies to create mutually beneficial licensing agreements to move technologies forward. As a product and market strategy takes shape, exit strategies include creating a self-funding sales outlet, selling a technology to an industry leader with proven market penetration, or attracting capital investment for expansion as a dedicated start-up. Even following significant field demonstrations a technology is usually still in a very early stage of the product and market development process. The final, marketable product is likely to be modified several times before reaching profitable sales volumes. FTL relies on a team of local entrepreneurs to help interpret market data and formulate a plan to capitalize on the strengths of licensed IP. Our advisory board includes successful serial tech entrepreneurs and burgeoning business owners who themselves began as SBIR awardees.
Project Execution
The process of molding enabling technologies into profitable businesses requires orchestration of a variety of human resources including scientists, engineers, technicians, marketers, and sales professionals. FTL personnel have long experience with managing groups of interdisciplinary professionals and staying on-task, on-schedule, and on-budget. Development process is based on active communication with the end user and derives strategies from both engineering best-practices and codified methodologies such as Spiral Development. FTL is dedicated to a philosophy that it is essential to establish, throughout any development process, a complete documentation and agreements describing the application of any new technology and the goals of the people involved. It is useful, even prior to the onset of technical work, for the users and developers of a technology to collectively formulate a concept for a configuration of the technology which meets the specific need and can be developed with acceptable effort. By adhering to this formalism, the development process is made more efficient and less costly.
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Automated Testing
Our testing design & execution are second-to-none. FTL personnel have the experience to create novel automated testing hardware and procedures for new technologies and to further research in many fields.