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QTSI — An Overnight Success, Years in the Making

by Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

Quantum Technology Services, Inc.'s Director of Science and Engineering Division, Mark Tinker, Ph.D., left, and President/CEO Freddie "Chick" Garcia lead the company from its Cocoa Beach headquarters. Photo by Mike Giannacco, © 2005.

"Chick" Garcia is one executive who understands the concept of an overnight success that's years in the making.

His company, Quantum Technology Services Inc., recently announced a five-year Air Force contract award to provide engineering support for the National Data Center at Patrick Air Force Base.

The contract's potential value of $20 million is a sizeable chunk for a company that averages $10 million in annual sales. It's also a prize that the Cocoa Beach firm methodically pursued for the past five years.

"Once we realize we're good at something, with smart people, you begin to look at how you can expand and grow," said Freddie "Chick" Garcia, president and CEO of QTSI, which he started in 1991. He soon identified the company's major strength as combining the science of seismology with the field of engineering, primarily software development.

He wooed Mark Tinker, then a post-doctoral seismology student at the University of Arizona, to join the firm. His dissertation and research on nuclear explosion monitoring fit perfectly with the work being done at the Air Force Technical Applications Center, or AFTAC, at Patrick. There, scientists monitor seismic activity as a way of ensuring compliance of international nuclear testing treaties.

Tinker joined the company in 1998 began assembling a team to focus on work available through AFTAC. Along the way they won some research and development contracts from AFTAC, including improving software tools that since have been deployed worldwide. But Tinker had his eye on a big prize at AFTAC: the U.S. National Data Center, which serves as a gateway between the United States and the International Data Center for the exchange of geophysical data - primarily seismic activity - recorded by a global network of stations.

"Mark had the vision for the National Data Center right after we got started," Garcia said.

After five years of research and proving themselves, the company announced last month it had won a five-year contract to provide operations sustainment, development and studies support for the National Data Center.

And now with more evidence of what the company is good at, Garcia is looking into the next step: commercial application of the company's innovations in signal processing.

The road to the National Data Center contract stretches back much further than five years. Garcia has been combining talents in science and engineering throughout his career.

Garcia graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics as a charter member of the first class at the University of South Florida in 1964. He joined the Air Force and earned a master's degree in engineering physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, teaching at the Air Force Academy and participating in an exchange with the Royal Air Force.

His 20-year Air Force career also included working at AFTAC at Patrick. After his retirement, his love for technology prompted Garcia to join what was then Grumman Corp. to work on its nuclear sensor program.

Five years later, he decided the time was right to pursue his dream of starting a company. QTSI got a boost from the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program for small, disadvantaged businesses and now focuses on science and engineering, facilities engineering and information technology.

QTSI graduated from the 8(a) program last year, so it won the National Data Center contract in a full and open competition. It's not the company's largest win - QTSI holds the $35 million Technical Engineering and Spacelift Support Acquisition contract at the 45th Space Wing - but Garcia believes the job holds much of the company's future.

The advances QTSI is making in signal processing lend themselves to other government needs, as well as to commercial applications. QTSI could apply its signal processing technology not only to seismology, but to radar and optics. For example, the technology could protect a pipeline, border or a building. Rather than simply sound an alarm, it could classify the intrusion as, say, a truck or a person.

Garcia and Tinker plan to pursue those potential opportunities the same way QTSI has gotten this far: by emphasizing requirements and relationships.

"We do not chase dollars, we chase requirements," Garcia said of the company's strategy. By knowing where the company excels, and knowing what customers in those areas need, QTSI can meet those requirements. When the customer's needs are first, the money will follow.

Garcia is particularly proud of the atmosphere at QTSI, which he describes as a culture of discipline. That translates to a commitment to the corporate mission and continuous review of progress, resulting in positive attitudes among the company's nearly 100 employees, Garcia said.

His own positive attitude pervades Garcia's work inside QTSI's walls, and beyond. "His enthusiasm is infectious," said Fred Ham, interim dean of the College of Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology. Garcia erves as chairman of the advisory board to the college, where he applies the same careful evaluation of skills that he does at work.

"He already has all of his information before he pursues something," Ham said.

An avid golfer with a 5 handicap, Garcia pays homage in his office to two of his loves: golf and baseball. Golf trophies line the windowsill, framing the office's view of the ocean. A picture of legendary golfer Bobby Jones hangs on the wall behind Garcia's desk, and baseball memorabilia fills any remaining spots on the furniture and walls. Garcia takes special interest in following the careers of some famous ballplayers: He grew up in Ybor City, playing baseball with the likes of Tony LaRussa and Lou Panella.

Also enjoying prominent display in Garcia's office is a large portrait of his family. Garcia and his wife, Renee, have two daughters and three grandchildren. A much smaller frame includes a quotation from Albert Einstein, a hero of Garcia's and the reason for the word "quantum" in the company's name.

Garcia came across the quote and asked the office manager to print and frame it for display. It reads: "I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don't have to."

The frequently sockless Garcia looks around the office in satisfaction. "This is a good time of my life," he said.

For more information, visit www.qtsi.com