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Company > History
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Directed Energy Solutions (DES) was started in 1999 by David K. Neumann, who
currently serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology
Officer. DES received its initial funding from Missile Defense Agency and Air
Force Research Laboratory Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I
contracts for novel laser devices for optical communication and directed
energy. Both of these Phase Is were successful and resulted in the award of
Phase IIs. Over the past several years our contract base has expanded to
include not only significant numbers of additional SBIRs but significant awards
in other competitive venues where the competition has included major Aerospace
firms. Our customer base has expanded to include: Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, Joint Technology Office, National Reconnaissance Office, Air
Force Research Laboratory, Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Naval
Surface Weapons Center and Raytheon Corporation. Major new efforts in
mid-infrared lasers for aircraft self-defense and directed energy have been
initiated.
A key component to the early success of the company was the establishment of a
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the USAF Academy.
Access to over $5M in equipment and 10,000 Sq Ft of laboratory space in the
Laser and Optics Research Center provided the resources necessary to succeed on
our early efforts. A second key component was the $1M of investment capital
provided by a group of Angel investors. This capital was initially slated to
fund a production prototype of an ultra-broadband amplifier for optical
communications. With the decline of the telecommunications industry, the effort
was curtailed and 100% of the funding was retained. The funding has been used
to cash flow the company and provide resources for expansion.
Our four year revenue growth has resulted in DES
making the Inc. 500 list for fastest growing companies in the country for the second consecutive year in 2005.
DES has been profitable every year. Longer term government contracts are
expected to increase revenues for Directed Energy Solutions to the $10M level by the end of the decade.
DES started with 1 PhD employee and a part-time administrative person. Our current staff
of 27, including 9 PhDs, has extensive experience in solid-state, fiber,
diode, gas and chemical lasers as well as nonlinear optics. DES has access to a
variety of consultants with extensive experience in the areas of laser devices
and systems engineering; they are available if a problem arises.
DES began with access to over $5M in equipment and 1500 Sq Ft of laboratory
space in the Laser and Optics Research Center at the USAF Academy. We added our
own 4000 square foot facility in Colorado Springs in July 2002, and added
another 10,000 square foot facility in 2004, and an additional 5,000 square feet in 2006.
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DES has been recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the top 500 fastest growing companies in the country for both 2004 and 2005
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