Meet The Innovator - Madhu Annapragada, Founder & Chief Engineer of Automation Research Group

Pennovation Works is home to an exciting mix of startups, research initiatives, and innovative companies. In this Meet the Innovator series, we will be introducing you to a member of the Pennovation Works community through a Q&A spotlight. This spotlight is with Madhu Annapragada of Automation Research Group.

Founded in 2005 by Madhu, ARG is a small company designing embedded systems, with a focus on developing products that could be used for remote monitoring in cities of the future. ARG offers custom turnkey solutions for projects in the automation, instrumentation and mechatronics area. They have occupied space in the Inventor Office Building at Pennovation Works since 2017.

Hear more from Madhu and the next steps for ARG below!

What inspired you to start Automation Research Group (ARG) and how long have you been operating? 

ARG started as a side consulting business in 2004 and had grown to a full-time product design and development by 2009. Since then, we have been developing products for various industries ranging from automotive, life sciences and instrumentation to audio and wireless applications.

The opportunity to take ideas from a napkin sketch to high volume production for companies in various industries was the key motivating factor. That and the fact that we were accumulating valuable knowledge and developing supply chain relationships to allow our own self-funded product development was another factor.

What motivates you to do what you do? What keeps you going?

It is a creative endeavor – developing products from ideas – I think of it as creating a painting given a few brushes and some paints. Being self-funded, we have tremendous latitude in our product development and marketing. The feedback from our customers and seeing our products used for applications we never dreamed of is a great reward.

What comes next for Automation Research Group?

Our focus is now on growing our Power Line Automation Networks (PLAN-US) product line (powerlinesys.com). These products allow customers (military, industry, buildings, cities) to use existing power lines to set up a highly secure private network that is disconnected from the wider internet and yet allows control of and communication with various devices (lighting, sensors, motors etc.) over a wide area without having to use the internet, wireless systems or install new wiring.

Who or what has shaped who you are?

A ham radio club in middle school, my high school physics teacher, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov

What advice would you give someone starting a business today?

Ideas are easy. Converting them to products takes a focused multi-disciplinary effort and it pays off if you are at least familiar with all the components of the business and a master of the core areas –technology and marketing. I feel the rest can be delegated. That said, the key is to develop products that customers want and will spend their money on.

Lightning Round Questions:

  • Favorite subject in school: Physics
  • What did you want to be when you grew up: Part time mountain climbing instructor and part time electrical engineer
  • If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?: 1969 – moon landings or 1948 to Bell Labs during the early years of the transistor development
  • Place you would want to travel to the most: Himalayas
  • What was your first job?: Research Assistant in a university lab
Meet The Innovator - Madhu Annapragada, Founder & Chief Engineer of Automation Research Group