TechniQuest

Television -- from color to 3D

2010-02-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

The changes in technology I've witnessed in my years on this planet are astounding. (Frankly, I am still in awe that those big airplanes stay up in the air). At the risk of showing my age, I admit that I can remember when we first got color TV. My kids were shocked that I didn't have a VCR (much less a DVD player) growing up. Many years ago at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) I saw the first HDTV presentation, years before it was available to the general consumer. It was impressive to see Kathleen Turner with more detail than we ever imagined on the screen. Not so sure I need to see her in 3D...

At TechniQuest Associates, our team has many years experience in the video broadcast industry. Several engineers who developed a lot of the technology at Grass Valley Group (now simply called Grass Valley) over the past 20 or 30 years are now on staff here at TechniQuest. We have the experience, technology, and brain power to bring the television industry even further along. We are working on projects right now that will amaze you -- but we're sworn to secrecy. You'll have to stay tuned.....

References are Gold

2010-01-21T08:30:00.001-08:00

Things are really getting exciting here at TechniQuest, and I don't just mean with the recent wild and wooly storms. We won another new client yesterday! The pipeline is indeed getting full, just the way we like it around here. This new contract is for some FPGA work, which is definitely one of our areas of expertise. This new client had heard about us in the industry (yea!) and had been receiving our periodic emails about our services. They replied to our most recent email, discussed their needs with us, then checked our references.

In business today, a glowing reference is golden. One in particular went into great detail on how much we'd helped their company on several occasions over the years. "I have always found Scott to be a very hard, diligent worker. Definitely intelligent. And very trustworthy. TechniQuest provided Digital Circuit design, FPGA design, software development, product specification development, circuit debug (at my facility) and general project management skills necessary to get his work done on time. Very professional."

The author of that glowing reference sent a copy to Scott, our CEO, which he shared with our staff. You can imagine the boost that gave us all -- I think I even heard an engineer or two giggle.

It Makes Perfect Sense

2010-01-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010! I wonder how the greater "we" are going to say it ... is it "twenty-ten" or "two thousand ten"? I vote for the first one. We couldn't exactly say "twenty-nine" but now that we've crossed into this decade it no longer sounds weird. However, I'm sticking to "twenty-nine" for my age, thank you very much.

Speaking of 2010, it's already been a great start to this great year here at TechniQuest. Our team is working on projects, and we are quoting more projects for other prospective clients. We see that the broadcast industry is also affected by the economy. Advertising revenues are down, so TV networks have smaller budgets, and they aren't able to buy quite as much new equipment as they'd like. Now more than ever it makes sense for broadcast equipment manufacturers to outsource at least some of their engineering design services. And of course I mean to outsource engineering services to the best in the industry -- TechniQuest Associates!!

The cost of hiring an engineer is much higher than the salary he or she is paid. Benefits, taxes, and more can bring the cost to at least 50% more than salary alone. And what if you're not sure you will need them after this particular project? Nobody likes having to lay someone off (unless you happen to be George Clooney's character in "Up in the Air.")

Whether it's a temporary need for extra engineering talent, or a need for a particular expertise your own engineering staff may not have, it makes perfect sense to speak with us at TechniQuest Associates. Visit our website (www.tqa-inc.com), read our whitepaper on the benefits of Virtual Design Centers like TechniQuest.

And in the meantime, Happy Twenty Ten.

The Pipeline Tightrope

2009-12-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

As the holidays approach, we've had a lot to celebrate here at TechniQuest! Remember the prospective client who visited from the East Coast (from the last blog)? Well, they have hired us to create a very exciting new product for them! We're working on other projects as well, and have a few more in the pipeline.

Ah, the pipeline. Keeping it just the right balance is the real challenge. If we don't have enough projects in the pipeline, we get nervous. If we have too many, we get nervous. I know, I know....we can't have it both ways. That's what I keep telling the CEO. He wants more business, so I find him more business and then he complains we have too much to do! The pipeline tightrope is a tricky thing. And that's why the sales and marketing team is in charge of that. We let those brilliant engineers do what they do best -- design amazing products for some of the leading broadcast companies.

Building Relationships

2009-10-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today we had a visitor. He is the President/CEO of a broadcast industry company on the East Coast. (Professional courtesy dictates we can't name names here). We were honored he'd come all this way just to meet us and put faces with names and voices he's heard in our conference calls.

So much business is done these days without ever meeting the other party. With telephones, on-line meetings, conference calls, and emails, a lot of business can be transacted without the face-to-face contact. But the reality is that it's really nice to sit down across from a prospective client and really talk about things. Things you might not discuss on a conference call or in an email.

Not only did we learn a tremendous amount about this gentleman's company (and we were impressed!), he learned all about us here at TechniQuest Associates. He saw our beautiful offices, enjoyed our coffee and scones, got a tour of our lovely area (in vibrant fall color!) plus lunch in one of our historic landmarks.

We discussed at length the product he would like us to design, but we also got to know each other. We talked about families, hobbies, previous careers, future goals, and even favorite vacation spots. Was all this necessary to do business together? No. But we formed a solid foundation to begin our working relationship that we hope will last for years.

In a world that is becoming increasingly "de-personalized", here at TechniQuest believe in the personal touch. Building those personal relationships is what makes a difference to us, and to our clients.

NAB is only 5 months away -- will you be ready?

2009-10-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days when you do something so stupid you just want to crawl under a rock? No? Then I think perhaps you are lying. I'll come clean about something stupid I did this week.

While sending quite a few Broadcast Equipment Manufacturers an introductory email about TechniQuest Associates, I thought of a potentially eye-catching, interesting-enough-to-actually-read-the-email subject line would be "NAB is only 5 months away -- will you be ready?"

All proud of myself for this subject line, I continued to pump out emails, thinking to myself "THIS will get response" . . . and then some little voice deep inside my head said "maybe you should double check that number...." so I did. I counted again and sure enough....there are 6 months until NAB, not 5. I felt like such a dunce. I thought how stupid I'd feel if someone emailed back informing me of my error. But then I thought that if someone emailed back, then at least I'd have a conversation starter!

From that point I used the correct subject line.....and I'm happy to say we did get quite a few replies from companies wanting to talk to us about our electronic product design services, and nobody mentioned my mistake. They are probably just being nice. I start counting classes on Monday.

Our Mission

2009-10-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

Here at TechniQuest Associates, we have a mission statement. It defines us well.

"We believe that it is possible to be an engineering firm that is profitable, socially responsible and compassionate. We make a difference in the world by creating innovative, socially responsible products, by treating our employees as the talented, self-motivated, mature adults that they are and by providing the best possible service and value to our clients."

This mission creates a wonderful atmosphere here at TechniQuest Associates. It encourages a very pleasant working environment, which helps keep our team strong and productive. It has helped make us the leaders in electronic product design. Come visit us -- we'll buy the coffee!

Where we are....

2009-09-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

I know sometimes it's nice to have a "visual" of what/who you are reading about on a blog. The first photo is the outside of the building, and the second is of our front door to the TechniQuest Associates office in Grass Valley, California. Come visit us!

Engineering Product Design -- Art or Science?

2009-09-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Anyone who thinks engineering is strictly a science, has never done it, or watched the process up close. Sure, engineering design is partly science -- all the math and computational part. But there's a significant part of the engineering design process that is definitely ART. That's part of both the beauty AND frustration of electronic product design.

The frustration comes from never knowing exactly how long it will take to complete a design.

It happens to the best of us. Here at TechniQuest Associates, we have had some experience with the frustrations of projects taking a little longer than we'd estimated. It was the "art" component that makes estimating how much work is involved more complicated.

The good news is that two of our current projects are coming to a close, and the clients will soon have what they've contracted us to do. Stan has been putting in very long hours to finish his project, and Scott has also been putting in lots of extra hours to make sure his client is happy, as close to on time as the "art" will allow.

How boring it would be if all there was to engineering was a set of formulas and theorems to apply, or debugging to do. The creativity that each one of our engineers possesses is constantly being encouraged and challenged, with each new project we take on. That's what sets our team apart, and I don't think they'd want it any other way.

Engineering vs Sales and Marketing

2009-09-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

When I worked at Grass Valley Group (a major broadcast equipment manufacturer located here in Grass Valley, California) I used to hear how the engineering department butted heads with the sales and marketing departments. Engineers would complain that the salespeople "sold" features that hadn't yet been developed. Sales and Marketing complained because the engineers fought them and didn't seem to "want" to create these added features they just sold their biggest customer (never thinking that maybe what they've promised was impossible to design). There was a huge disconnect between engineering and sales/marketing.

After I left GVG, I spent a few years marketing consumer electronics products, and I witnessed the same engineering/marketing disconnect. So I learned it wasn't just the broadcast industry where this "phenomenon" occurred--it seemed to happen anywhere you had "Engineers vs Sales and Marketing."

Now that I am the VP of Marketing here at TechniQuest Associates, I am once again aware of the engineering/marketing "tension" that can occur, especially if projects are running a little behind schedule, or there aren't quite enough projects in the pipeline. But this time, I'm ready for it and I won't let it divide us. Being married to an engineer has given me the ability to see both sides. We are one big happy team, and as long as I am here, we will all continue the quest to understand the "other" side.

But I must admit those "engineering types" can be a little different.....do you agree or disagree? I'd like to hear from you.

Can't wait until "after" IBC

2009-09-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

A bit of rain is falling today, a nice break from the heat. Anticipation is running high here at TechniQuest today, all of us anticipating the end of IBC in Amsterdam. Why, you ask? Because we have several prospective new clients who have told us they'd make decisions and commitments about new products they need help designing "after IBC."

Our pipeline is about to be very full, and we'd like nothing better!

That's the great thing about a company like ours -- we have an incredible staff of engineers with more experience than most. We also have a large group of associates we can call on when the need arises. In other words, bring on the clients -- we can handle it!

TechniQuest Associates . . .

2009-09-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have recently come aboard as Vice President of Marketing at TechniQuest Associates. It's the best move I've ever made.

I've owned half the company since 2002, along with my husband and CEO, Scott Davis, but I always worked "someplace else" mostly because the timing wasn't right or I didn't have the courage to actually try working with my husband. I probably wouldn't be here right now except for the fact that my previous employer "downsized" my position right out of existence.

In hindsight, that "downsizing" was the best thing that could have happened to me!

So here I am, implementing marketing strategies and programs that have never existed...trying to get this amazing company and team of engineers on the map in the electronic product design world. It's my goal . . . my mission . . . to prove my husband was right when he asked "the best marketing professional in town" to come join our company.

There is a reason TechniQuest Associates has never really needed a marketing professional before. Since it began in 2002, there has been a steady stream of business that has never waned. These engineers are top in their field. They have all worked for Grass Valley Group, a leader in the video broadcast industry. Their collective reputations and the quality of their work continues to keep TechniQuest Associates very busy. My goal is to keep them even busier, and to expand our staff to 20 engineers.

Our website (http://www.tqa-inc.com/) has all the technical details of the great engineering design consulting services we offer. I'm writing this blog to give you the more human side of the design engineering process. (Engineers -- a human side, you ask?) Yeah, we've all heard the jokes that engineers are a different breed. I should know, I'm married to one. I got lucky -- he's more "normal" than most. Almost as normal as a marketing person!