Article Link: https://aspioneer.com/bizboard-ceos-to-watch-2021/
Author: BizBoard
In the constantly shifting new world, data has become the most valuable resource which if used correctly can lead the world towards safety, prosperity, and sustainability. To do this, we need experts who can refine, organize and analyze this data to bring out information that will ultimately save us a lot of time, capital, and in some cases disasters.
For instance, AIMdyn Inc., founded by Adriana Mezic in partnership with her husband Dr. Igor Mezic, has solved some highly challenging world problems including the prediction of the oil spill in the oceans, for which, they were featured in some of the highly renowned journals across the globe.
Established in 2003, Santa Barbara-based, AIMdyn strives to enable the development of powerful forecasting technologies for broad use in industry. AIMdyn has developed a suite of software tools that enable the user to forecast and propose the best remedial or control action for engineered or natural systems. AIMdyn has a depth of expertise in flow mechanics, mechanical engineering, automatic control, vehicle terrain or ocean coverage and cleanup strategies and has developed proprietary software in each of these fields. Their ultimate mission is to continue working towards the betterment of our natural environment and society at large. Amongst its customers and collaborators are large corporations as well as preeminent national research agencies such as DARPA, ONR, AFOSR, ARO, AFRL, NSF, BAE, HRL, Boeing, MixMode, CumminsEngines, United Technologies, Boing and Ford.
To learn more about how they operate and how far their proprietary algorithms can be applied, we sat down with Adriana Mezic herself, and here’s what she has to say-
AIMdyn is a small high-tech woman-owned business built in partnership with my husband who is the world-renowned scientist and an expert in the Koopman operator theory.
Tackling the complexity of real-world problems
“My husband and I have successfully worked together on a couple of consulting research projects and decided to open our own consulting business which led to many exciting adventures in physical and social sciences.”
“Our first company project was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and we work closely with the DOD and many private large corporations such as Boeing, Ford, BAE, and many more.”
“Our product is a customizable software application aka “Designer AI” where our algorithms are designed exclusively for the needs of our customers. We are easily adaptable to new challenges of the real-world data and can tackle problems in virtually any domain by simply adapting our algorithms. We understand your data in the way you have never experienced it before and there is no problem big enough that we cannot make sense of!”
Overcoming challenges
“Establishing any business is a challenge, in particular a high-tech one especially without any prior experience of running one. We overcome those challenges by spending enormous time learning how to be a productive, adaptable and viable small company in this highly contested high-tech business world.”
“Sometimes we get “Oh guys, it’s too complicated what you do! It sounds interesting but goes way above my head”. Then we try to simplify and explain via examples what we can do to improve whatever a customer’s final goal is.”
“AIMdyn is a small high-tech woman-owned business built in partnership with my husband who is the world-renowned scientist and an expert in the Koopman operator theory. I am extremely proud of our multicultural and gender diverse group of top scientists who are either AIMdyn’s employees or consultants. Our principal research scientist is a woman (Dr. Maria Fonoberova), and I consider her to be my right-hand, we work incredibly well as a team and the goal is always what will benefit the customers and staff.”
A day in Adriana’s life
“I get up in the morning, dress in my sweats, get my coffee, open my laptop and I’m ready to go to do the work I love. (NOTE: this is my current COVID time work routine), before the pandemic, I would go daily to my office (not in sweats, LOL) and would check with my team on what challenges lay ahead for that day.”
“Besides, I volunteer in the nonprofit sector a lot (my Santa Barbara community). This is my passion and my hobby. I love swimming and power walking and I try to do that daily to de-stress and stay healthy.”
“For mindfulness, I love to read. I am a voracious reader, my favorite authors are Orhan Pamuk and Ann Patchett. Book “Snow” by Pamuk is my all-time favorite, literary masterpiece with poetic undertones.”
“I also love to travel with my family and experience different cultures, food and customs, and I really love to cook! I am a very proud mom of 3 grown up, and super awesome young women.”
Addressing the megatrends and upcoming risk factors
“Change (societal and economic) is the biggest risk/danger factor to any individual or company yet sometimes accidentally or by adaptation could become your best friend. We’ll see where this new post-pandemic world will take us. We have been so far incredibly adaptable as a company therefore I still have good hopes for our future.”
Leadership principles for anyone who aspires to make the world a better place!
“I have my unique approach and it does not come from the formal business education received from the top business school. I learned everything from experience and of course, failed in some attempts more than a few times. I run my company organically, almost as it is my own household. I budget frugally when needed to save and preserve what we have (meaning; our employees and customers).”
“I would only expand when the economic growth rate would start to increase. I was always careful to diversify my business to easily adjust to the needs of the “new normal” such as a current pandemic or economic and scientific positive and negative trends. I treat my employees very fairly with the utmost respect and I also give them huge freedom of “everything”; scientific, places to work, flexible schedule, and more. In return, I ask for honesty, loyalty, and the hard work.”