Small Companies, Big Ambitions

Quantum Signal develops mathematics-based software and algorithms for forensics, biometrics, robotics, video analytics, and simulation.

Like many small companies, Quantum Signal has big ambitions.

Spun out of the University of Michigan in 1999 by its two founders, Dr. William J. Williams and Dr. Mitchell M. Rohde (BSEEE ’94, MS ’96, MS ’97, PhD ’00), the advanced signal processing and math-based engineering firm now has 40 employees. Recently, it moved its headquarters into a new 43,000 sq. ft. facility in Saline, Michigan, just south of Ann Arbor, where it continues to research and develop new products and technologies for commercial application in forensics and biometrics, robotics, video analytics and simulation.

To maintain its rapid-fire growth, Quantum Signal must continue to attract highly educated, energetic individuals who will thrive in a small-company environment. But that’s easier said than done. Rohde, who is the company’s chief executive officer, has turned to his alma mater for help and tapped into two small-company opportunities offered by the University.

Through the annual MPowered Small Company Career Fair ― which is held in February and is co-sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering ― Rohde has built a talent pipeline of interns and employees for his firm.           “We’ve attended the Career Fair several years in a row, and it has helped us recruit the right kind of talent ― students who are innovative, enthusiastic, very bright and extremely hard-working,” he says. “Unlike job postings and large-company fairs, a job fair dedicated to small businesses does a good job of connecting students who are interested in working at small companies with the right people.” The 2011 MPowered Career Fair on Feb. 9 drew around 100 companies and between 1,000 and 2,000 students from across the U-M campus.

Rohde also has participated in the Small Company Internship Program, which is designed to encourage high-growth small companies to hire Michigan talent. The Center for Entrepreneurship oversees the program and subsidizes the cost of an intern’s salary at a participating company during the 12-week internship period.

“This has been our best success story with the Center for Entrepreneurship,” Rohde says. “The internship has given our company an opportunity over the summer months to try out students who have backgrounds in the fields of electrical, mechanical and computer engineering. We’ve hired two interns for full-time, entry-level positions, and they’ve been outstanding.”

The University’s opportunities and resources for high-growth small companies have helped to anchor Quantum Signal in Ann Arbor, according to Rohde. “One of the reasons we continue to stay in this area is because we’re able to tap Michigan’s talent pipeline for bright young minds,” he says.

More information: Contact Amy Klinke, associate director of corporate relations at the Business Engagement Center, at amyklink@umich.edu or 734.647.7071 or visit www.cfe.umich.edu/techarb.