AURA Technologies is widely recognized as a high-IQ company. A research and innovation industry leader, AURA’s cutting-edge technology solutions encompass Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML)-enabled solutions, Quantum Computing, Health Technology, Digital Supply Chain, Cyber-Physical Security, and more.
“We have a lot of people with PhDs and advanced degrees in computer science and data science with quantum computing,” says AURA’s William Harvey, Executive Vice President, Software Programs. “That is our aim—to have a lot of very talented, very intelligent staff.” The growing team of about 50 employees and contractors comprises engineers, scientists, software developers, data scientists, and other specialists.
The company’s extensive product portfolio includes Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing solutions. To date, AURA has nine issued patents and over 10 pending patents “in a variety of technical areas including artificial intelligence, aerospace, COVID-19, medical, health, advanced manufacturing, software, and security,” says the company. Some of AURA’s innovative products include GroundFaultInsight™, a state-of-the-art system for detecting, locating, and predicting electrical faults; TrustedDM™, which bridges the gap between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT); and Space Sensors, which track satellite orbits and detect anomalies in real time.
Back in 2015, AURA Technologies was founded by husband-and-wife team Douglas and Anna Bennett, who serve as co-CEOs. Securing contracts and pursuing regular operations by 2017, AURA now has offices in North Carolina and South Carolina, and will soon expand into a new office space.
Prior to founding the company, Douglas gained considerable government experience in advanced technology and defense, while Anna—a former executive at global biopharma company GlaxoSmithKline and Head of Global Content Development at IQVIA—brought decades of biopharmaceutical industry knowledge to AURA.
The company’s clients span diverse industries, including U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Defense (DoD), commercial customers, and healthcare solutions providers. Due to the sensitive nature of its government work, AURA cannot discuss details of projects or reveal external information. Publicly available projects include an Advanced Soldier Electronic Device Management System, a Scalable Ultra-Short Pulse Laser System, and Intelligent Aircraft Electrical LMC. These works, and others, were carried out for the DoD.
“We do it because we are good at what we do,” says Harvey, adding that other companies have tried this route but have not successfully evolved. “As a company, we are strategically diversified. You cannot have a successful business that focuses on one thing. Now you can say, ‘this company focuses on AI, so they are in the AI business.’ Well, not exactly,” he shares.
“If you focus on AI, you actually focus on more than one thing within AI. We have a data science team that does machine learning and AI and quantum computing—that’s our data science team. And we have my engineering team, which has mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and software engineers creating solutions for the government under contract, and producing those solutions. And not only do we produce them; we support what we produce.”
The company’s commercial products division sells technology solutions such as TrustedDM™ and AURA’s SmartThread™ ecosystem. SmartThread is the AURA marketing name for the overarching solutions the company brings to the table to assist in supply chain applications, the trusted transmission of files, flexible LED lighting, and medical applications.
“We have strategic diversity,” Harvey reiterates, “and we do software enablement that enables our solutions to be valuable. We don’t just provide a piece of software; we actually provide a piece of hardware that solves a problem, the software that runs the hardware, and the software that interfaces with that system.”
AURA has always engaged in what is called SBIR and STTR: Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer projects. “SBIR is when you have a business or company like AURA, and that company creates a response to a government proposal and is able to work on that independently, using intellectual property within the organization,” Harvey explains.
AURA has the ability to work with different universities, which has proven advantageous. “When they have applicable departments or specialists, we can access those resources, have those specialists work with our organization, and do technology transfers and combine research projects,” says Harvey. “So even though we are a relatively small company, as a DoD contractor, we have the ability to perform bigger projects because we are able to leverage technology from the universities that we partner with for the purpose of STTR projects.”
Some of AURA’s past and present partners include the University of Maryland, NC State University, Boeing, Georgia Tech, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Clemson University, and other higher education institutions and leading corporations. “The interesting thing about our team members is they work on a project basis, but we don’t build teams on projects,” explains Harvey. “We have a staff of people, and we assign them to projects, but they don’t work only on those projects—a few people work across a lot of projects.” Sometimes, new hires are brought on through existing team members, and some have advanced degrees from NC State and other well-regarded universities.
Proud of AURA’s many achievements—including being on the Inc. 5000 three years in a row—the company continues to receive approval for multi-million-dollar projects. And as much as the company enjoys its success, the AURA team believes in giving back to the community. “Charitable efforts are part of what we do,” says Harvey. “We have participated in food banks and disaster relief activities. There are active days where we basically work at the food bank as a team rather than work at our jobs.”
As far as AURA’s tenth anniversary, there are no plans in place yet for this privately held company, since the team is busy working on moving to a new, large office. This will involve transitioning and moving environmental equipment, manufacturing capabilities, and multiple labs and fabrication facilities.
“It is our objective to innovate solutions to optimize the digital pipeline for efficiency and security,” says Harvey. “Our customer is the DoD, but our end user is the war fighter, members of the uniformed branch services. So, we are focused on solutions that are acceptable to the government and valuable to the end user,” he says.
“We operate in a highly constrained, regulated environment in government acquisition and government projects, and we do that comfortably. We provide valuable solutions—both to the government and to the end users—because a lot of times, users are given things that don’t work, or they are given the lowest-cost acceptable technology solutions. We provide solutions that meet the requirements of the DoD acquisition process but are also valuable and necessary to members of the uniformed services.”
