Nokomis plans to expand Toledo office
November 2010 | The Business Link
By Duane Ramsey
Nokomis Inc., a high-tech firm based outside Pittsburgh, plans to expand its Toledo office and team after receiving new government contracts for military systems.
Nokomis recently received Department of Energy Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contracts for development of advanced manufacturing diagnostic equipment and electronic systems for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.
“The Toledo staff is playing a lead role in that work. We hope to expand the Toledo facility and team to meet the requirements of those contracts,” said Walter Keller, CEO of Nokomis.
Keller said the firm’s Toledo office, with five employees, will be moving into new facilities in 10,000 square feet of space on Adams Street in Downtown Toledo before the end of the year.
The Toledo team members are instrumental in developing advanced software and firmware systems embedded in the hardware of devices to make them work more effectively, Keller said.
“The potential for growing the size of the Toledo office is due to qualified talent available for those high-tech jobs in that area,” Keller said. “We have found people who have been a strong match for our team there.”Eli Polovina, vice president of Nokomis, is working on the planned expansion of the Toledo office which was established in March 2008.
Nokomis was awarded an Air Force SBIR Phase I contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico for autonomous and adaptive techniques to collect and analyze radio-frequency effects data.
That contract provides proof-of concept funding for advanced development of an automated system to assess directed energy effects.
"Directed energy is poised to change the military landscape as we know it," Keller said in a statement announcing the contract. "We are extremely excited about the innovative approach put forth by our team for the automated and adaptive collection of direct energy effects data."
High-power microwave and radio frequency directed energy weapon technologies can effectively engage electronic systems in military environments resulting in the debilitation or disruption of critical system functionality, according to the company.
"The development is critical for general and defense applications of hardware we sell to the government," Keller said.
Nokomis has four Phase I contracts with additional Phase II and Phase III contracts for the Department of Defense for commercialization of pilot programs in a two-year effort.
A National Science Foundation SBIR Phase I grant was awarded to Nokomis for development of the advanced manufacturing diagnostic equipment. The manufacturing electronic health monitoring system being developed focuses on the prediction of impending failures of manufacturing equipment.
The firm has Phase II work for the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton and its Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts. Nokomis also has Phase III contracts for $1.9 million in similar work for the U.S. Navy.
Nokomis is a HUB Zone-certified small-business based in Charleroi, Pa., with offices in Toledo, Baltimore and Tacoma, Wash.