Foundation Software (fsi)
is a software consulting and development company located in
Kitchener-Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada.
History
fsi was formed in 1975 as a vehicle for hiring its founders - four Mathematics students at the University of Waterloo - for co-op placement terms. fsi then contracted it's talents to local businesses, allowing the principles to build experience in running a company, create software tools for future products, and ensure interesting and rewarding co-op work terms!
After graduation in 1978 three of the quartet decided to pursue other opportunities, and the fourth took on full-time employment with KW area firms. fsi became a semi-dormant company, activated when the fourth partner, Jack Cole, discovered opportunities too good to pass up. As such, between full and part time work, Foundation Software has existed longer than most other software companies in the world!
Skills
The primary skills of Foundation Software are those of its president, Jack Cole. Jack's technical resume provides details of his expertise in the fields of project and people management and software design and development. In brief, Jack has a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, extensive programming experience, and significant management experience in both small companies and multi-national corporations. Jack's other resume details some of his softer skills.
fsi has also contracted expertise in both electronic and mechanical design when its been needed in the past. Jack's many years of networking in the Kitchener-Waterloo area means that he can access other skilled electronics, mechanical and optics engineers, and software specialists, when necessary.
The most interesting example of this was the Olympic Hearing Center, which was designed, built and programmed for Dahlberg Electronics (Minnesota) in a few short weeks. The Olympic Hearing Centre was used at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia to test hearing response times in world-class athletes. The project included the design and manufacture of the measurement electronics, testing platform and control software. The project went from idea to prototype in 6 weeks, and was a tremendous success for both Dahlberg and fsi.
Other projects include software to monitor mainframe computer performance, brain wave measuring programs for the UW Psychology department, vision testing software for the UW Optometry department, and Web site design for local arts organizations.
This gives you an idea of what fsi has been involved with. Clearly, there is a hardware and scientific direction to most of our work. Particular areas of expertise include semiconductor quality control (photoluminescence and xray diffraction), scientific instrument control, data acquisition, data analysis and presentation, robotics, and FAB automation.
Please feel free to contact Foundation Software by emailing jhcole@mgl.ca .