Homer Alaska - Business

Nobody told Colleen and Larry Riley that. Founders of Kachemak Research Design in 2001, the Rileys didn't let the lack of high-tech jobs on the lower Kenai Peninsula discourage them.

They created their own.

Unlike a lot of college graduates with advanced degrees in Homer, when the Rileys moved to Homer in 1996, they didn't settle for a job of honest labor that didn't quite use all their training and education.

Colleen Riley, chief executive officer and president of KRD, had worked at the College of Engineering at Utah State University, where she established the Intelligent Mobility Program, designing robotic navigation systems for the U.S. Army. From that background she started KRD in 1998, establishing its base at offices on East End Road. With her husband and chief engineer Garth Bradshaw, Riley built KRD into a 16-employee company with offices in Homer; North Salt Lake, Utah; and Panama City, Fla.

Last month, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., awarded KRD a $9.7 million, five-year contract to continue development of its under-vehicle inspections system, AutoScan. Another sponsoring agency for the contract is the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Physical Security Equipment Action Group.

It's the latest in several contracts to design, build and improve KRD's core product.

Designed to do security and other scans from underneath vehicles, AutoScan takes a series of images as cars and trucks pass over it. The AutoScan is five feet wide by eight feet long and 18 inches deep. It can be set in a gravel or asphalt roadway at a security checkpoint, like the entrance to a military base. AutoScan takes a series of 1-pixel wide images as cars, trucks and even trains pass. The images are put together on a computer in a seamless mosaic and can be viewed from a central, secure location to look for bombs, weapons, drugs and even human intruders.

"It's like a copy machine in reverse," Bradshaw described the AutoScan.

KRD has continually improved the AutoScan, making it smaller, for example, and improving the lighting with low-energy LED bulbs. AutoScan is designed to be "plug and play," so that other sensors can be added.

Not just the undercarriage of a truck can be photographed, but license plates can be as well. Radiation sensors can be added to sense radioactive materials a big concern with the threat of terrorists trying to make dirty bombs or high-explosive bombs that spread uranium, plutonium or other elements.

"If you have a sensor, we can integrate it," Colleen Riley said.

Although the military is a big client, AutoScan can be used at immigration and customs checkpoints or ports.

"There are tons of applications for this," Larry Riley said. "We just need to convince them (potential clients) they need it."

Devices like AutoScan serve as a deterrence to terrorists and other bad guys, he said.

"Where they know you have a deterrent system, they won't try," he said.

The secret to KRD's success is simple: Hire smart people and reward them well, Colleen Riley said.

"We have the best team. They are all good. They're all sharp as tacks," she said. "We take as good care of our employees as we can get away with."

KRD hires locally and keeps jobs in Homer. Manufacturing is done in Homer and in Utah. KRD uses skilled local labor through subcontracts with businesses like Glen's Welding, Sloth Boat, Fritz Creek Welding and Otto's Machinery. It buys metal from Alaska Steel and Aluminum and lumber from Spenard Builders Supply. That's all money and business that stays in Homer and contributes to the local economy, Colleen Riley said.

The next few years should see more growth at KRD, she said and more job opportunities. Where possible, KRD will look to Alaskans for needed skills, particularly graduates from engineering programs at the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Alaska Fairbanks.

"It's a bunch of geeks over here having fun and trying to solve problems," Colleen Riley said. "It's been an enormous privilege to work with the employees here."

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong.@homernews.com.