Contact: Phil Hearn
Photo by: Megan Bean
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A measurement and software solutions company will open an office here early next year and begin tapping into Mississippi State's automotive engineering expertise.
nCode International, a Detroit-based company headed by chief executive officer Brian Dabell, plans to expand its operations to Starkville's Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park, located just north of the land-grant university campus.
The company specializes in predicting product durability and performance for product manufacturers and vehicle fleet operators.
"The domain knowledge and technology resources within Mississippi and the university are exceptional and I am confident this will be a mutual win-win for both nCode and Mississippi," said Dabell.
Colin Scanes, MSU vice president for research and economic development, said nCode will collaborate with the university's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems from a yet-to-be determined office site within the park. CAVS also is located in the park.
"They want to improve their hardware and software applications in regard to vehicle fleet management and monitoring systems," said Scanes. "They will work closely with CAVS."
Dabell said nCode initially will employ approximately five qualified engineers in high-technology positions at the site. MSU graduates are expected to compete for jobs.
Established in 1982, nCode has direct offices in Europe, North America and Asia. Its Detroit operation began with three staff in 1996 and the company now has more than 50 employees in the United States. The company Web site is www.nCode.com.
CAVS was created by the Mississippi Legislature in 2001 to provide research and development solutions for regional automotive manufacturers and other industries. It is associated with MSU's Bagley College of Engineering, led by Dean Kirk Schulz.
nCode offers a unique combination of measurement instruments, software and services to help customers eliminate unexpected failures by measuring and converting durability, performance and operational data into information. From these, decisions can be made to improve product life performance and reduce costs.
"The nCode concepts are much broader than just vehicle monitoring and enable future predictions of service requirements," noted CAVS director Rand German. "They are part of a systematic change in how America will drive in the future.
"In the future, we envision systems that will detect unfavorable situations and avoid problems," he added. "We see many opportunities to propagate these ideas."
Mel Ray, MSU associate research vice president for economic development, said nCode builds computer systems, "sort of like the black box on airplanes. With the added capability of storing and processing raw data, it can be used to monitor the performance of each fleet vehicle, such as those managed by automobile manufacturers, dealers or military transportation units.
"After collecting and analyzing all the data, system operators can tell fleet managers where breakdowns are occurring during use of the vehicle and how they are responding under stress and changing conditions," Ray added. "nCode contracts with a wide range of global 'blue chip' companies and with the military."
Dean Schulz said nCode's planned location of an office in Starkville represents "a strong testament to the growing national reputation of the engineering faculty, staff and students working at CAVS."
Dabell said nCode is "excited" about the opportunity to expand in Starkville, adding, "I also would like to express my gratitude to the people of the state of Mississippi for their willingness to invest in this relationship."
nCode's decision also ties directly into the university's 10-year strategic plan.
"This partnership reflects one of our key goals in FutureSTATE 2015--expanding research opportunities and promoting economic development for Mississippi," said MSU President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong"
NEWS EDITORS/DIECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. Scanes at 662-325-3570 or scanes@research.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.