Foster-Miller, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qinetiq, is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
-based military
robotics
Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...
manufacturer. Its two best-known products are its TALON robots and its LAST Armor.
Founded and based in
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, ...
, it has offices in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Foster-Miller became a wholly owned Independent subsidiary of Qinetiq in 2004. Its parent has signed a special security agreement, allowing it to work independently in sensitive projects for US defense.
Foster-Miller has about 300 members of staff skilled in
aeronautical engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...
,
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
,
chemical engineer
In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...
ing,
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
,
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
,
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
ing,
electrical engineer
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
ing,
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
statistics
Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, indust ...
,
mechanical engineer
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
ing,
metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
,
polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + '' -mer'', "part")
is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...
s,
polymerization
In polymer chemistry, polymerization (American English), or polymerisation (British English), is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks. There are many f ...
, electromechanical engineering.
Foster-Miller works in the fields of robotics, advanced materials, sensors, custom machinery, medical device design, biopharmaceuticals, C4ISR and transportation. It has been awarded the aerospace quality management standard
AS9100
AS9100 is a widely adopted and standardized quality management system for the aerospace industry.
It was released in October, 1999, by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the European Association of Aerospace Industries.
AS9100 replaces the ...
(6 January 2006) and SW-CMM Level 3 software certification (9 February 2006) and ISO 13485 for medical device design and development.
Mergers/acquisitions
On 8 September 2004 Foster-Miller was acquired by Qinetiq North America for $163 million US dollars. QinetiQ is an offshoot of the UK's
DERA
Dera, Dero, Daro, Dhoro, Dahar or Dehra is a word in several languages of South Asia, whose meaning is 'camp', 'mound' or 'settlement'. It appears in the names of a number of places.
Geography India
* Dera, Himachal Pradesh
* Dera Bassi, Moha ...
, which is
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
's largest science and technology company with a revenue of over $2.2 billion in the 2008 financial year. The acquisition was finalized on 9 November 2004, with Foster-Miller remaining an independent wholly owned subsidiary.
In August, 2005, Qinetiq bought Planning Systems Inc. Planning Systems Inc has some 350 employees with interest in diversified advanced technology.
On 23 April 2007 Foster-Miller announced the acquisition of two
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
-based robotics companies, Applied Perception Inc. and Automatika Inc. for up to $9.2 million US dollars eac Automatika provides design, system prototyping, and product manufacturing for robotic systems. Applied Perception creates standardized perception, planning, and control software for UGV, unmanned ground vehicles
History
Foster-Miller associates was founded by MIT graduate students Eugene Foster and Al Miller, but when Miller left MIT and Foster-Miller associates he was replaced by Charles Kojabashian and Edward Nahikian. The trio went on to keep the Foster-Miller Associates name and in 1956 formally opened Foster-Miller Associates in Waltham, Massachusetts.
It is difficult to find information relating to Foster-Miller's earliest years, but its recent performance is well documented and quite extensive. Some of the earliest developments were in jet spray dispensers in
vending machine
A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fi ...
s and Velcro/ Raychem (heat-shrink tubing) molding machines. They developed ballistic nets in the 1990s and an overhead/underground power line monitoring system, and underground piping and nuclear steam generator maintenance robots ("guided mole").
*1986: As part of the interagency program between NASA Lewis and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, (ORNL), Foster Millers was involved in the design of the R1000 free-piston Stirling engine hydraulic output system of the unit with assistance from Sunpower Inc., of Athens, Ohio.
*1995: A computer model was created for crash testing rail equipment, this allows the company to recommend ways to improve railroad crash safety through improved designs. A 465 square meter locomotive testing facility was built in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The facility was full scale and allowed testing of 40,000 pound (18,150 kg/18 ton)
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
s. When computer design/testing is complete and the designs are tested at their Fitchburg facility they are then tested at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) locomotive testing facility at
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most popu ...
.
*2001: NASA and Foster-Miller were in the process of creating a model called "integrated advanced dynamic finite element modeling" to improve aircraft seat designs during crashes. The model included the seat, its occupants, restraints, energy-absorbing materials. The model was being tested against existing designs to establish its ability to analyze designs.
*Mid-2003: 20 Foster-Miller TALON
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...
s were brought into
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
to be used in EOD/IOD roles. In March 2004 Foster-Miller was awarded two more contracts jointly worth around $6,000,000. The contract awarded by the Technical Support Working Group and the Joint Program Office for Robotics increased the number of TALONs in Iraq to 45 and includes providing spare parts. In September 2004 news is released of the creation of a TALON with chemical, gas, temperature, and radiation sensors. The contract was increased further to $27 Million (shipped November 5, 2004) and then on September 19, 2005 to $124 Million to produce 1200+ TALONs in their now multi-dimensional roles.
*2003 September 8: They received a $25 million contract with the Naval Air Systems Command in
Lakehurst, New Jersey
Lakehurst is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 2,654,transmissions and
electric motors
An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate forc ...
to be able to do the jobs with little downtime.
*2003 November 14: They received a contract to build composite components to be used in building F/A-18 E/F
Super Hornet
The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more adv ...
fighters and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV). The contract is to develop these new components in 5 years with funding of $4,200,000 US: "This award is a true product of government-industry collaboration, ... Under the guidance of NAVAIR engineers and our aerospace company partners, our composites team has brought forth technology which will enable an enormous reduction in labor and the number of manufacturing operations associated with the production of stiffening elements. This will enable faster production of composite stiffeners that are of consistent quality and durability, resulting in a significant cost reduction for the end product." said Jay Boyce, Senior Vice President of Foster-Miller.
*2003 Q4: the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) was trying to expand its abilities for crash testing locomotives and their fire safety standards. Foster-Miller was given a $9,000,000 US contract to perform testing at its facilities at Fitchburg. At the start of 2006, an additional $1.5 million from federal transportation appropriations funds is awarded. This was given for "Advanced Freight Locomotive Research" including advanced sensors, safety, and hazard research.
*2003: Foster-Miller had a revenue of .
*2004: Foster-Miller was working on the Stingray boat trapping net, the net carried by a
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...
would be carried over its target and dropped. The target vessel would then be entangled in the falling net damaging the boat's motor(s). The net was originally in development for the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
. In May however they were awarded a contract to work with Metal Storm to design and develop ship-based defenses to counteract sea-skimming
cruise missiles
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
, small fast attack
suicide bombing
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
boats. The system, termed "Thunder and Lightning", uses Metal Storms concentrated bullet weapons fire ("thunder") with Foster-Millers Stingray incapacitating nets ("lightning").
*2004 January: A section of Foster-Miller called ''LAST Armor'' worked with Sioux Manufacturing, and Velcro USA, Inc. to manufacture a
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...
door armor for the
US Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...
. This armor was designed for Humvees to protect against IEDs and small arms. The armor, when damaged, could be detached from the proprietary Velcro hook fastener system and using the tools included in the repair pack would allow new panels to be easily attached. This means that soldiers in the field do not need any tools, cutting, welding, and drilling to repair their vehicles.
*2004 May:
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
awarded Foster-Miller with the Turning Goals into Reality award an award for "the most significant accomplishments in FY 2003 contributing towards NASA’s goals and objectives in aerospace technology.". Foster-Miller gained the award for its proprietary development of ultrasonic tape lamination (UTL(TM)). Using this method in conjunction with
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tech ...
, Alliant Tech Systems (ATK), NASA
Langley Research Center
The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, United States of America, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. It directly borders Langley Air Force Base and the Back River on the Chesapeake Bay. LaRC has f ...
, and NASA
Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's firs ...
they created a
composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...
cryotank. The ultrasonic technique allows composite parts to be manufactured that are equal to autoclaving components, which is expensive for large parts. Foster-Miller believes that this technique will be instrumental in the development of composite fuel tanks for NASA's next generation of reusable launch vehicle (RLV).
*2004 October: In conjunction with Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc. the company produces a new generation of aircraft sealants based on Single Wall Nanotube (SWNT) technology. This contract on October 26, 2004 was worth $3,960,000 and was awarded by the
Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to pl ...
Dragon Runner
Dragon Runner is a military robot built for urban combat. At 20 pounds (9 kg) it is light enough to be carried and thrown. The original project was funded by the United States Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in conjunction with Carne ...