This Greenbelt engineering firm demonstrates how engineers can make a big impact even in a small business.
Lots of engineers enter the profession dreaming of working for large organizations, such as NASA, Boeing or Apple. Joining a large enterprise means becoming part of something greater and having the chance to contribute to some of the most important works of engineering in our lifetimes. But for every large enterprise, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of small- and medium-sized ones making just as much of a difference across every industry and practically every facet of our daily lives.
Take TRX Systems, one of this year’s small-sized Top Workplaces for Engineers.
Meet TRX Systems
Located in Greenbelt, Maryland, TRX Systems was co-founded in 2004 by engineers from the University of Maryland. Since then, the company has grown to 50 employees, half of whom are degreed engineers. TRX delivers positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems for public safety and security personnel operating indoors and in GPS-denied areas. The company has nearly 50 U.S. patents — with more pending — focusing on collaborative structural and signal mapping, a navigation constraint engine for real-time historical processing, and sensor fusion for location and context determination.
Of particular note is TRX’s NEON technology, which includes a variety of GPS-denied positioning, navigation, and mapping products. NEON technology uses patented algorithms to fuse satellite-based PNT information with inputs from inertial sensors, map data and other sources for reliable position tracking. The company has shipped thousands of products powered by this technology to military, security and commercial users.
In March 2023, the U.S. Army awarded TRX a $402M production contract to deliver its DAPS GEN II systems — commercially branded as TRX DAPS II — after years of R&D as well as rigorous independent testing. Needless to say, for a company of 50 people, that’s an enormous success and a huge leap forward for TRX.
“We were competing against large defense contractors and respected research groups,” recalls Ben Funk, VP of engineering at TRX Systems. “But we won by remaining agile, innovative and customer focused. Winning an Army Program of Record as a business of our size was practically unheard of, so we’re incredibly proud of that.”
Engineering at TRX Systems
Designing and manufacturing PNT products requires a diverse set of engineering skills, as Funk explains. “A little more than half our team is software, about five are on the electrical team, and we have a few mechanical engineers as well,” he says. “We also have engineers on our sales and marketing teams, and our CEO and CTO are engineers as well.”
With a background in electrical engineering, Funk has been with TRX since the beginning as its first full-time employee. Working on electronics design and development, embedded software and sensors, Funk says it took a few years for TRX to establish itself as a business. Large enterprises are infamous for having daunting recruitment processes and layers of bureaucracy but, in many ways, adding headcount in engineering is even more of a challenge for a small business.
“We look for A+ players,” says Funk. “We want self-starters with creativity, adaptability and the potential to be leaders. We also look for skills or experience that complement our current capabilities, which could be technical skills or experience at a larger, more established company.”
Fortunately, TRX Systems is ideally located to recruit engineers with this unique combination of ambition, experience and skill. More than half of the employees at the company have degrees from the University of Maryland, and the company’s close proximity to Washington, D.C. and the Beltway means there are numerous defense contractors nearby. “It’s uncommon on the East Coast to find the type of talent that fits our work, but we’ve been successful in attracting them,” says Funk.
What it’s like to work at TRX Systems
TRX Systems employs design and manufacturing engineers with electrical, mechanical and software expertise, and the company values creativity and leadership potential. This is by no means uncommon for a small engineering firm, but the question is: What’s the best way to encourage those values?
According to Funk, it comes down to the engineering workflow. “At the beginning of a project, we start with brainstorming sessions to bring in different perspectives,” he says. “We’ve found that applying constraints actually promotes creativity, and keeping the process collaborative, open and dynamic lets people build on each other’s ideas.”
While working on applications for the defense sector may seem intimidating, Funk emphasized that TRX makes the effort to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment. “Inclusion naturally results from hiring a broad range of people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives,” he says. “Diverse perspectives improve engineering design and development because they allow us to examine problems from multiple angles.”
Growth and support at TRX Systems
In addition to supporting its engineers in their day-to-day efforts, TRX also stands out in providing support for professional development and career growth. Funk says the company maintains a career progression pathway that clearly outlines the requirements for advancing to the next engineering level, pairing each engineer with a supervisor or mentor to set goals and timelines. TRX also reimburses the cost of the courses, advanced degrees, training and attendance at professional conferences and seminars that are essential to advancing one’s career as an engineer.
From a broader perspective, the mission of TRX Systems also provides a sense of meaning and fulfillment, as Funk explains. “Everything we’ve worked on since I started my career at TRX has been meaningful,” he says. “We’ve always had a mission-driven focus, whether it’s helping first responders be located inside buildings, mapping indoor spaces to improve safety, or providing soldiers with critical information on the battlefield.”
What makes TRX Systems unique
When asked about what sets his company apart from other small engineering businesses, Funk answers without hesitation: “This is an easy one for me because it’s the feedback I always hear from new team members. Our culture is defined by openness and mission awareness across the organization. Everyone has access to everyone else, all the way up to the leadership team. Our CEO regularly presents updates on long-term R&D roadmaps, financial plans, and our competitive landscape. This ensures that our engineers, even as they become more specialized, always keep the big picture in mind.”
For more information, visit topworkplaces.com/company/trx-systems.
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