Senators check out military work at Port firm

Two U.S. senators made a stop in Port Washington recently to check out one of the city’s quietest businesses.

Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mark Kelly of Arizona spent the morning of Aug. 4 at Badger Technology in Port’s industrial park learning about the company’s work for the military, company founder and President Dan Wade said.

Baldwin, Wade noted, wrote a letter in support of the company’s efforts to get the Air Force contract several years ago.

Badger Technology is working on a concept hybrid battery for Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota as part of the military’s renewable energy program, Wade said.

The firm has also been hired by the military to create a similar system for Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, he said.

The system will be completed in a couple weeks, then sent to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for several months of testing, Wade said.

“The Air Force wants to get a lot of data on it,” he said, and UWM has a microgrid that can be used to test the system.

The project supports the Department of Defense’s focus on energy resiliency through increased use of renewable energy.

“In order for renewable energy to work, you have to store it,” Wade said, noting that solar energy is only available when the sun is shining and wind power when the wind is blowing.

The challenge for the company was developing a system that can not only provide long-term storage but that can also provide big bursts of power when needed.

Wade said he and his staff discussed the project and renewable energy in general with the senators, but in a nod to Kelly’s years of service as a Navy pilot and astronaut he asked if the senator wanted to check out a flight simulator the company has written software for.

Kelly, he said, seemed to enjoy it.

Wade noted that the heart of Badger Technology’s business is aeronautic system development and flight simulators.

It’s especially important that the same software be used for simulators and planes, he said, adding pilots need to know the plane will act the same way in real life as it does in the simulator.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires more stringent requirements for software than most companies, Wade noted.

“If you write software for an iPhone and it doesn’t work, who cares? But if you write software for a plane and it doesn’t work, the plane crashes,” he said.

Badger Technology has been in the aeronautics business since Wade started the company seven years ago.

His previous employer didn’t want to get into the market, so he left and began his own firm, he said.

He also opened Ozaukee Sports Center in Port Washington, and Badger Technology currently occupies that building.

“We’re the only aerospace, renewable energy company that owns a mini-golf course,” he said. “Boeing, eat your heart out.”

Badger Technology has 39 employees, most of them based in Wisconsin, with a few in South Carolina and Florida and one oversees, Wade said.

Even before the pandemic, most of the company’s employees worked from home — “That was a thing for us before it was a thing,” Wade said — but now most spend at least part of the week in the office.

The move into renewable energy is a reflection of the world at large.

“There’s a lot of interest in it,” Wade said.

Badger Technology has several divisions. Its simulation and training capabilities were initially created through the acquisition of a company based out of Florida, while its non-aerospace Badger Innovations Division develops display systems for transportation and has developed a portable aqueous ozone disinfectant delivery system to combat bacteria, mold and viruses.

Badger Innovations Energy projects are partnerships that provide renewable energy and smart grid systems for energy storage and distribution, as well as fuel additives to improve combustion engine performances.

The company is on the growth track, Wade said, noting they are in the running for a contract with the Air Force to upgrade almost 450 of its T-6 aircrafts. If they get the contract, he said, Badger would provide new avionics and write the software for the planes, then do all the training for its use.

“It’s hard to describe how major it is,” he said.