ExportWise: Small Business Solutions - Winter 2004

By Ian M. Clarke

It came like a bolt out of the blue. Frustrated by the wasted energy it took for a tow plane to pull his glider up high enough to catch the right air currents, MicroPilot’s President and founder decided to apply his engineering background to his passion for flying.
By Ian M. Clarke

The result was MicroPilot, founded in 1995 and located in the small town of Stony Mountain, just outside of Winnipeg. The 15-person company now boasts annual sales in excess of $1.5 million.

"Most of the energy is used to make the tow plane climb, not the glider. So I thought the best way to develop and test a solution would be to create an unmanned tow plane," says President and Chief Technology Officer Howard Loewen. He then began to build sophisticated electronics equipment based on the global positioning system (GPS) to remotely control a plane.

MicroPilot's global market niche was born: miniature autopilots for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market. NASA has employed MicroPilot autopilots across a variety of applications. "NASA does a lot of research work," says Loewen. "For instance, they were conducting the Iturralde Crater Expedition in South America, attempting to determine the history of the crater. But it was difficult to get close to it. So they installed sensors on a UAV, then flew it 10 miles towards the crater, took their readings, then returned it to home base."

Loewen suggests that with recent military turmoil, the demand for UAVs has increased. "It's certainly raised the profile for UAVs. In fact, globally, there are many organizations with significant UAV programs underway."

Most of MicroPilot sales come from outside of Canada. "We operate in a specialized market," says Loewen. "It's interesting that the bulk of our sales leads come from the web, which is perfect for a small company like ours. Typically, engineers will go to the web to search for components, and because we occupy such a niche market, we place well in search engines."

For organizations such as MicroPilot, which must confront the challenges of international contracts and financing, export credit services become part of doing business. "We're often in situations where we have to discuss credit terms with clients," says Loewen, "and that's where EDC is really the only way."

With a roster of global customers and new product releases, MicroPilot appears destined to continue flying high.

Company Profile
Company: MicroPilot
Business: Miniature UAV autopilots
Location: Stony Mountain, Manitoba
Employees: 15
Annual Sales: $1.5 million
Exports: 90%
Export markets: States, Europe, Asia, Pacific Rim
Contact: www.micropilot.com

Visit the ExportWise website at: http://www.edc.ca/