The creation and journey of Caesar Group
Genesis
The CAESAR Group formed in 2017 in response to the need for a technically staffed Technology Transfer organization to help transfer Air Force Research Laboratory technology to the commercial marketplace. The company acronym CAESAR accurately depicts the goals of the organization – that being the identification and nurturing of Commercial Application for Early Stage Advanced Research. Most government sponsored tech is “Early Stage”. That is where the opportunities lay.
Mr Frank Born and Dr Kevin Kwiat formulated the goals for the group while employed at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Mr Born and Dr Kwiat are recent “graduates” (retirees) of the AFRL having worked as program managers, inventors and mentors throughout their careers. Soon after retirement they established the CAESAR Group and led the Department of Commerce funded Upstate Innovation Accelerator Program in partnership with Mohawk Valley Community College and the thINCubator. Since creating the CAESAR Group, they have rounded out the team with additional retired AFRL scientists (as needed), a programmer, research scientist and an administrator.
Exodus
As of May 2020 the CAESAR Group is transitioning from a single defined set of goals (as outlined in the Upstate Innovation Accelerator program) to a more broadly defined scope of effort while still staying true to our core principles of leveraging government sponsored technology for commercial enterprise. In this re-definition of ourselves we are actively teaming with universities and private companies who have specific projects (or proposals) that they require help with to either augment, via available technology, or commercialize.
Revelation
This transition period is a rather exciting time since we recognize that this can take us in a number of directions including back into the depths of information technology development. Opportunities to capitalize on billions of dollars of Government sponsored technology are limited only by one’s imagination. Opportunities to come alongside organizations who can benefit from our long tenure as government program managers also exist. Lastly, as research scientists for the last 30+ years we are very comfortable with that particular vocation. Getting back into the depths of a research project is also very appealing.
Our calendar is not yet full - we invite any and all inquiries requesting support or possible teaming!
Numbers
The CAESAR Group is built around AFRL Research Scientists with a long history in technical leadership and industry engagement. At our heart, we are inventors who have successfully secured the funds to develop hundreds of technologies throughout our careers. Now, we are helping the next generation of executive, entrepreneurs, professors and students realize their potential.
Professional Experience: 71
College Classes Taught: 60
Patents Granted: 11
Businesses Started: 6
Research $ Managed: $64M
Major SW Dev Projects 2
Tech People Mentored: 42
Mr Born specialized in multiple fields during his tenure at AFRL from Systems Reliability, Electronic Prognostics, Planning and Scheduling, Software Agents, Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security. During that time he was granted two patents for Aircraft Wiring Prognostics and two for Web Browser Security methods. During the middle of that time he was the lead designer and part time developer of a web based Program Management System that helped AFRL engineers manage over $5B in research contracts over an 11 year period.
Dr. Kevin Kwiat completed his AFRL career as Principal Computer Engineer. He conducted research and development in a wide scope of areas (with the 7 patents he has been granted in parentheses): Hi-Rel Microcircuit Specification And Design; Testability; Logic and Fault Simulation; Space-Borne Microprocessors; Benchmarking; Assured Communications; Survivable Systems; Game Theory; Fault Tolerance (2); FPGA-Based Reconfigurable Computing (1); Distributed Processing Systems (1); Machine Learning/AI (1); Cyber Security (1) And Cloud Computing (1). Dr. Kwiat continues his 30+ years as an adjunct professor.
