Where We Came From
Numerica was born in the seat of an ugly La-Z-boy recliner.
This is where it all started. In the belly of The Brown Bomber. Never underestimate the power of a humble rocking chair with synthetic upholstery to inspire greatness. The Brown Bomber reminds us that innovative companies often start as a single thought in the head of one person, but it takes the support of a talented team to transform that idea into a sustainable business. Numerica is the result of a small-town professor being told, “It can’t be done,” then surrounding himself with really good people to prove the naysayers wrong. The Brown Bomber is proof that success happens when you sit back, relax, open your mind to possibility and recognize that you truly find strength in numbers.
Numerica’s core technology – the Multiple Frame Assignment (MFA) Tracking System – was developed in 1996 by Numerica founder Aubrey Poore, a professor of applied mathematics at Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins. Aubrey and his team of dedicated and sleep-deprived graduate students wrote more than 70,000 lines of code, re-writing it from scratch seven times, before they got the MFA Tracker right. The new technology improved the capability of surveillance systems by increasing tracking capacity, fidelity, maneuver detection, tracking accuracy and sensor data fusion. The award-winning and patented MFA Tracker gained national attention, and was selected as a system upgrade to the AWACS military plane. This event was the springboard that launched our company’s growth.
With strong support from the CSU Research Foundation (CSURF), Numerica acquired patent rights to the MFA Tracker from the university, giving us exclusive control of our flagship product.
In 2003, Numerica secured its first major licensing agreement with Spectrum Astro (now General Dynamics), which transitioned our MFA Tracker to the Spectrum Astro-led team competing for the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program. The revenue generated by this license provided Numerica with additional capital, allowing us to grow efficiently without incurring debt. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The Numerica Timeline
| 1996 | MFA Tracker, developed by Dr. Aubrey Poore while at CSU, wins “Best of Breed Tracking System” award in Air Force competition at Hanscom Air Force Base |
| Numerica incorporated | |
| 1999 | Numerica obtains exclusive rights to commercialize MFA Tracker |
| Numerica wins first research contract with U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) | |
| MFA Tracker licensed to Northrop Grumman for ground target tracking | |
| 2002 | Numerica wins its first Small Business Innovative Research contract |
| Numerica invited to participate in U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA’s) Project Hercules | |
| 2003 | Core MFA tracking system technology licensed to Spectrum Astro (now General Dynamics) |
| Numerica adapts its tracking system for use in the SBIRS-Low program while on the Spectrum Astro-led team | |
| 2004 | Aubrey Poore wins CSURF’s “Researcher of the Year” award |
| Numerica joins the Lockheed Martin-led Missile Defense National Team to develop next-generation tracker for the primary command and control system used by the MDA | |
| 2006 | U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) engages Numerica to begin developing new tracking system capability to handle ever-growing “space catalog” |
| 2007 | Numerica opens satellite office next to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, to expand its work with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) |
| 2008 | Numerica selected by Northrop Grumman as its technology partner and track management expert for the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System |
| Numerica licenses its multi-sensor MFA tracking software to Ultra Electronics: Advanced Tactical Systems for inclusion in its AFTS product | |
| 2009 | Numerica successfully demonstrates its Counter Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (CSUAV) capability at Black Dart V |
| Numerica honored as a Colorado Company to Watch by the Edward Lowe Foundation |