Boston Engineering Corp. (BEC) resembles a number of smaller product and consultancy firms operating in the robotics arena. The privately held, Waltham, Mass.-based company was founded in 1995 by mechanical and electrical engineers as an engineering services firm offering end-to-end, turnkey development services. The company’s client list is extensive and representative of a number of vertical market segments, including manufacturing, energy, defense, medical, robotics, and others. The company still reflects its engineering heritage—both President Bob Treiber and Vice President/COO Mark Smithers hold technical degrees from Boston-area universities. Of the approximately 38 employees, 25 are engineers.

Boston Engineering does not consider itself a robotics firm per se, as that might seem to be limiting. Instead, it sees itself as a contract engineering firm that specializes in software, electrical, and mechanical engineering. However, the term “robotics” implies the synergistic combination of mechanical and electrical technologies, and the integration of same using smart software. In this sense, Boston Engineering’s more expansive description of itself characterizes it as a robotics company.

If Boston Engineering is not a robotics company in name, it is certainly one in deed. The company is a fixture in the Boston-area robotics scene through its support for regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) teams, local speaking engagements, and its role in the Massachusetts Robotics Cluster, an economic development group working under the auspices of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. Also, BEC has developed a number of technologies important to robotics, as well as robotics technologies themselves.