Starkville based software company tackles brain drain issue

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – From the battlefield to wall street, and now the Golden Triangle.

Camgian Microsystems is a software company in Starkville.

Their products range from commercial use to national security, but lately, they’ve been tackling a different kind of issue– brain drain.

Every year, hundreds of college graduates leave the state of Mississippi due to a lack of job opportunities.

Companies like Camgian are trying to change that.

Known for its modern design and innovative products, the company is often compared to Silicon Valley.

“Some of the real growth took place in 2009 when they acquired a section of Cypress Semiconductor, which is a Silicon Valley-based company,” said Vice President of Defense Programs Doug Gosney.

Camgian designs products for commercial sale, but they also specialize in military equipment.

“We build a variety of different sensor and information technology platforms such as radar systems, cameras, that can be deployed on the battlefield to collect real-time information,” said CEO Gary Butler.

One such product is this Low Power Radar and Imaging System than can see up to 500 meters, or 5 football fields away.

“So this can be deployed on the battlefield to detect and track different types of targets.– targets meaning, it could be people, it could be vehicles, it could be boats,” said Butler.

The company has become a hub for engineers graduating from nearby universities.

“We’re slowing that brain-drain, and we’re aggressively recruiting the top students at both Mississippi State and the University of Alabama, and we try to retain those here,” said Butler.

It’s not just recent graduates that are finding their way to Camgian.

After retiring from the military, Gosney thought he would have to move away to find a job to use his specialized skills.

“We really wanted to find an opportunity where we could still continue to make a difference for the warfighter on the other side of the equation… When we retired here, we didn’t know we were going to have such a great opportunity to find such a great spot with Camgian,” said Gosney.

Camgian CEO Gary Butler said Mississippi Engineers can go toe-to-toe with engineers across the globe.

He said it’s important to develop and keep educated people in the state.

Camgian was developed in 2006 and has always been headquartered in Starkville.