|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
Press Releases Newsletters
|
 |
PSI Celebrates its Thirtieth AnniversaryPSI's founders recall the early days and where PSI is now. Physical Sciences Inc. recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary with an open house for business associates, friends and relatives. It was an opportunity to demonstrate the remarkable diversity and depth of our research and development projects, and show our newly refurbished headquarters facility in Andover, MA. Thirty years ago, PSI started out in the office of our friend and legal counsel, S. Peter Gorshel. Within a month, we were off to our own office and laboratory in Wakefield, and a couple of years later, the company moved again to larger quarters in Woburn, MA. PSI has expanded steadily over the ensuing decades, in Andover and elsewhere across the country, adding the people and facilities required to meet the needs of its government and industrial sponsors. The company has become exactly what the founders envisioned thirty years ago: a broadly capable contract R&D organization that provides value to its customers, growth and satisfaction to its staff, and reasonable rewards to its employee-shareholders and investors. In this issue, you will read what two founders, Kurt Wray and Tony Pirri, recall of the Company's early days. You will also see the history of Physical Sciences Inc. through the eyes of George Caledonia, President and CEO, and Mike Finson, Chairman and CTO, who have been with us from the start. They lead a group of highly talented individuals at PSI and its three subsidiary companies, Research Support Instruments, Q-Peak, and NightSea, at seven locations in the United States. PSI is also a shareholder of Confluent Photonics Corporation, the latest example of the company's ability to discover, innovate and commercialize, while simultaneously remaining the same after thirty years. - Bob Weiss
Conception to AdulthoodThe year was 1973, governmental research budgets were tight and opportunities for University tenured positions were rare. I had left Avco Everett Research Lab (AERL) and was teaching at Boston College on a visiting basis, and consulting at AERL as well as at several governmental research agencies, when Bob Weiss started talking to me about starting a new research company. At about the same time, the Department Chairman offered me a tenured professorship. Bob and I met numerous times to define the nature of the future PSI and its organization and the areas of expertise we would muster, and we drew up lists of scientists and administrators that we might entice to join the embryonic enterprise. The interdisciplinary nature of the scientific staff and great diversity of research programs undertaken at today’s PSI were laid down in those early discussions. We would specialize in nothing other than sound scientific research -- theoretical and experimental. We were young (or so it seems today), energetic, very excited and very naive. I chose to give up teaching with some trepidation, but I have never regretted it. The following 3-5 years were witness to our naivete but we persisted through some rough times (including no paychecks), built the staff, both scientific and administrative, with great care, and further developed our contacts with governmental agencies. Although our diverse nature has occasionally haunted us, e.g., we never managed to go public, I believe it is our strength and source of long-term stability. Besides, employee ownership is a great way to go! I am very proud to have been part of the early PSI and I am sure it will continue to thrive. - Kurt Wray
Early Day MemoriesIt was October 1973 when I joined Bob Weiss, Kurt Wray, Mike Finson, George Caledonia, Ray Taylor and Derek Teare after they had moved from the back room of Peter Gorshel's law offices to the spacious facilities of Lakeside Office Park in Wakefield, MA. PSI was beginning to establish its identity. The company was founded with the vision to become a preeminent applied science and technology development company. Although we retained some of the culture of the Avco Everett Research Laboratory, from which we came, it was a change in business focus at Avco that triggered the founders of PSI to strike out on their own. Yes, a start-up was quite different than a well established research laboratory since you never knew when (or if) your next contract would come, and panic was never far away. However, the strength of PSI then was its staff, and that is no different than it is now. PSI is twenty times larger and it is a successful company because of its high quality staff that is responsive to the needs of its sponsors. Happy 30th, PSI, and I look forward to hearing more about your future successes.- Tony Pirri
PSI Has Come A Long Way in 30 YearsWow, thirty years, where did the time go? I remember the start with funky phone systems and laboratories equipped with a ball of string, some wax and baling wire in lieu of more sophisticated equipment. We've come a long way and it has been a great ride with a lot of fine people contributing to our growth and successes.
We are now 160 strong, with two wholly owned subsidiaries and seven locations across the country, all with outstanding facilities for experimental research. The quality of our research and the pride in our work remains unchanged. And the clock ticks on! - George Caledonia Reflection on PSI's 30 YearsPSI's thirty years seems to have gone by overnight. The company has gone through three rather distinct phases, each spanning about a decade: Our first decade was a struggle to grow the business to a sustaining level - R&D funding was tough to acquire in the 1970's. Without any deep pockets behind PSI, we really learned how to manage a business carefully - an invaluable lesson! The 1980's were a decade of rapid growth, fueled by government research on Star Wars and other defense projects. At the same time, we built an interesting level of energy research and started exploring commercial applications of our technology. The past decade has seen steady growth into a highly diverse R&D organization, with expertise in areas such as electro-chemical processes, polymer materials and biodetection that we couldn't have imagined in 1973. PSI has created three stand-alone companies and established numerous partnerships with industrial companies. All while still enjoying our work! - Mike Finson
Confluent Photonics CorporationConfluent Photonics Corporation, which was established to develop and commercialize a patented technology for the next generation of optical multiplexing equipment to be deployed by the telecommunications industry, has acquired an existing product line from LightChip, Inc. Confluent/LightChip Optical Multiplexers will initially be deployed in the cable television industry, to meet the growing demands of cable modem users of the Internet. Series B investors include InnoCal Venture Capital, Rustic Canyon Ventures and INVESCO Private Capital. The company is led by Nick Economou and a seasoned management team. Confluent has twenty-four employees,
and its development and manufacturing facilities are located in Salem, NH. For more information, please contact
Nick at economou@cpclc.com Editor Donna Lamb lamb@psicorp.com Contributors George Caledonia, Mike Finson, Tony Pirri, Bob Weiss, Kurt Wray A publication of
|
|
|||||
