Engineering Hub

Camgian Microsystems is a software company in starkville fighting brain drain.

From the battlefield... to wall street... and now the golden triangle.

Camgian microsystems is a software company in starkville.

Their products range from commercial use to national security..

But lately they've been tackling a different kind of issue.

Our cash matlock joins us live the studio with more on the story.

Brain-drain... every year, hundreds of college graduates leave the state of mississippi due to a lack of job opportunity.

Companies like camgian are trying to change that.

100 research boulevard is the home office of camgian microsystems... known for it's modern design and innovative products, the company is often compared to silicon valley-- and for good reason.

"some of the real growth took place in 2009 when they acquired a section of cypress semi- conductor, which is a silicon valley based company."

Camgian designs products for commercial sale, but they also specialize in military equipment.

"we build a variety of different censor and information technology platforms such as radar systems, cameras, that can be deployed on the battlefield to collect real-time information."

One such product is this low power radar and imaging system than can see up to 500 meters... or 5 football fields away.

"so this can be deployed on the battlefield to detect and track different types of targets.

Targets meaning, it could be people, it could be vehicles, it could be boats."

The company has become a hub for engineers graduating from nearby universities.

"we're slowing that brain-drain, and we're aggressively recruiting the top students at both mississippi state and the university of alabama, and we try to retain those here."

But it's not just recents graduates that are finding their way to camgian.

Doug gosney is vice president of defense programs. after retiring from the military, he thought he would have to move away to find a job to use his specialized skills.

"we really wanted to find an opportunity where we could still continue to make a difference for the war fighter on the other side of the equation.

"when we retired here, we didn't know we were going to have such a great opportunity to find such a great spot with camgian."

Camgian ceo gary butler says mississippi engineers can go toe-to-toe with engineers across the globe.

He says it's important to develop and keep educated people in the state.

Camgian was developed in 2006 and has always been headquartered in starkville.