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Contemporary combat aircraft incorporate hundreds or even thousands of sensors. Some of these devices gather information every second, while others do so every nanosecond. For the engineering teams designing and evaluating these aircraft, all that information is extremely valuable — if they can interpret it.
Nominal is a sophisticated software platform developed for engineers creating intricate systems ranging from combat aircraft to nuclear reactors, satellites, rockets, and robots. Nominal’s premier product, Nominal Core, assists teams in organizing, visualizing, and securely sharing data from tests and operations. The company’s additional product, Nominal Connect, aids engineers in developing custom applications for automating and syncing their hardware systems.
“It’s a very technically demanding challenge to consolidate the types of data our clients generate into a single location where individuals can collaborate and derive insights,” states Nominal co-founder Jason Hoch ’13. “It’s complicated because you’re managing numerous data sources, and you need to correlate those sources and apply mathematical models. We handle that automatically.”
Hoch co-founded Nominal with Cameron McCord ’13, SM ’14, and Bryce Strauss after the founders had to depend on generic data tools or create their own solutions in organizations like Lockheed Martin and Anduril. Currently, Nominal collaborates with entities in aerospace, defense, robotics, manufacturing, and energy to expedite the development of products essential for applications in U.S. national security and beyond.
“We developed Nominal to harness the best advancements in software and data technology and customize them for the workflows engineers experience while creating and testing hardware systems,” McCord states. “We aim to be the data and software foundation across all these types of organizations.”
Speeding up hardware development
Hoch and McCord connected during their initial week at MIT and joined the same fraternity as undergraduates. Hoch pursued dual majors in mathematics and computer science and engineering, while McCord engaged in the Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NROTC) while majoring in physics and nuclear science and engineering.
“MIT allowed me to enhance my technical abilities, but I was also curious about the broader implications of technology and national security,” McCord reflects. “It presented an intriguing balance where I was acquiring core engineering skills while maintaining a broader perspective to understand the impact of the technology I was studying on the world.”
After MIT, McCord dedicated eight years to the Navy before joining the defense technology firm Anduril, where he was responsible for developing the software systems to evaluate different products. Hoch similarly worked at the intelligence and defense software company Palantir.
McCord encountered Strauss, who had served as an engineer at Lockheed Martin, while they were both attending Harvard Business School. The future co-founders recognized they had both faced challenges with software during intricate hardware development projects, and set out to create the tools they wished they had.
At the core of Nominal’s platform is a consolidated database that can connect and organize numerous data sources in real-time. Nominal’s system enables engineers to sift through or visualize that information, assisting them in identifying trends, monitoring critical events, and exploring anomalies — what Nominal’s team characterizes as understanding the rules governing complex systems.
“We aim to provide engineers with answers so they can comprehend what’s unfolding and keep projects progressing,” remarks Strauss. “Testing and validating these systems are fundamental bottlenecks for hardware advancement. Our platform helps engineers respond to inquiries such as, ‘What occurred to the engine’s temperature when we executed a 30-degree turn at 16,000 feet, and how does that compare to yesterday’s data?’”
By automating processes like data stitching and visualization, Nominal’s platform accelerates post-test analysis and development cycles for complex systems. And since the platform is cloud-hosted, engineers can conveniently share visualizations and other dynamic resources with their team members instead of producing static reports, allowing more individuals within an organization to interact directly with the data.
From satellites to drones, robots to rockets
Nominal recently revealed a $75 million Series B funding round, spearheaded by Sequoia Capital, to enhance their growth.
“We plan to utilize the funds to expedite the product roadmaps for our existing offerings, introduce new products across the hardware test spectrum, and more than double our team,” declares McCord.
Currently, aerospace clients are leveraging Nominal’s platform to oversee their assets in orbit. Manufacturers are employing Nominal to ensure their components perform as anticipated prior to their integration into larger systems. Nuclear fusion companies are using Nominal to ascertain when their parts might fail due to heat.
“The products we’ve developed are adaptable,” Hoch notes. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re constructing a nuclear fusion reactor or a satellite, those teams can gain from the Nominal toolset.”
Ultimately, the founders are convinced that the platform fosters the creation of superior products by facilitating a data-driven, iterative design process more frequently observed in the software development sector.
“The principle of continuous integration and development in software transformed the industry two decades ago. Before then, it was typical to create software in large, slow batches – developing for months and then testing and releasing everything at once,” Strauss clarifies. “We’re introducing continuous testing to hardware. It’s about perpetually establishing that feedback loop to enhance performance. It’s a novel paradigm for constructing hardware. We’ve observed companies like SpaceX excel at this to accelerate progress and outpace competitors. Now, that methodology is accessible to everyone.”
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