Kensington Computer Group opens a research and development lab that’s state-of-the-art
Peter Wilson
Sun
Dave Dobson with some of the computer accessories that Kensington builds. Photograph by : Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun
From in-car FM transmitters for your iPod to mice and keyboards and laptop locks, Kensington Computer Group makes them all.
The 60 to 70 new electronic products that Kensington sells around world each year are created and perfected in Burnaby where the California-based company opened its new state-of-the-art $1 million research and development centre Friday.
“We’re one of the very few companies in Canada that’s actually doing consumer electronic products,” said Dave Dobson, Kensington’s director of product development, who heads the centre. “And there are very few companies that are growing in the field because it’s very competitive. You can’t just put a me-too product into the market these days and be successful.”
At the moment, the lab — part of a $220-million-a-year business with headquarters near San Francisco — has a staff of 25 and is looking for three more engineers.
“We built our labs to accommodate up to 55 staff and so over the next two or three years we’re going to, hopefully, hit that number,” said Dobson. “We’re on a growth spurt right now, so we are ramping up, although Kensington has been around for 25 years. So it’s not a start-up business. It’s a very stable technology business.”
The lab takes Kensington products from the brainstorming stage right through to final development before they’re manufactured in factories around the world. The exception is some of the earliest design work done in California because it’s closer to computer manufacturers such as Apple.
“We have the mechanical design people who take the designs and the innovative side to it and also make them manufacturable,” said Dobson. “And then we have the electrical engineers who work on the technology that goes into the different types of tracking mechanisms . . . . And we have RF [radio frequency] specialists. And we have a quality engineering group that develop full specifications and make sure they work with Apple products and Microsoft products.”
The whole effort is a collaborative venture, Dobson added.
“We have regular brainstorming sessions here and in California, but equally here, where we talk about what we want to do for the next two or three years in different categories.”
For example, a new set of mice and keyboards from Kensington is just about to hit the market, along with new locks for laptops.
“And there are always new iPod accessories we’re working on,” said Dobson.
He said it’s no longer a big cost saving for companies like Kensington — owned by giant ACCO Brands with $2 billion in revenues a year — to do their research and development in Vancouver.
“It’s more about the fact that there’s a good body of people here.”
While the Lower Mainland is not a major technology hub, said Dobson, it’s a good size and has people working in the disciplines that Kensington needs.
“There’s the Sierra Wirelesses and the Broadcoms and there are others in the area. There’s a core of highly educated people. There are a couple of good universities graduating some kids that we can bring into our business and train. And we’re close to Asia, which is important.”
And then there’s the lifestyle, said Dobson. “We can get engineers to come and live here and stay here, so [Vancouver] provides a lot of the right ingredients for an engineer to thrive in a career and also have a decent personal life.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2007