News Release
CAP Member Michael Dowe (CEO, ISL) Wins Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award
San Diego, CA (July 5, 2005) – Information Systems Laboratories (ISL), a provider of innovative science and engineering solutions to critical defense, intelligence, and commercial problems, is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Dowe, President and CEO, is the San Diego recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year with regard to Software/Information Technology. As a winner of this award by Ernst & Young, Michael is now eligible for the national Entrepreneur of the Year. “We are very excited and proud that Michael is a finalist in this most prestigious group of corporate leaders,” said Bill Gang, ISL Chief Operating Officer. “Michael’s achievements have greatly contributed to the success and future of our company.” From an appointment to West Point, to a Ph.D. in physics, to Executive Vice President of Titan Systems, Vice President of Jaycor, and Vice President of SAIC, Michael Dowe’s life has been one of milestones. In 1995, he achieved another one when he left the sanctuary of established business to start his own company, a systems technology research firm he named Pi Cubed. Only six months later, the founder of Information Systems Laboratories (ISL), John Don Carlos, invited Michael to merge his new firm with ISL. ISL had been founded in 1982, but had not grown beyond a few personnel working in the area of RF systems and advanced signal processing. When the organizations merged and Michael became President and CEO of ISL, he set out to expand the business. He developed a three-stage formula for growth that included hiring and strategic acquisitions. At the same time, he brought a firm belief regarding the empowerment and retention value of an Employee Stock Ownership Program. During the proceeding years, Michael and John Don Carlos worked together to distribute over 80 percent of the company’s shares to the employees. Since that time, ISL’s stock value has increased 1200 percent. As it enters the third stage of Michael’s growth plan, ISL is comprised of six divisions plus a commercial software subsidiary: the Surveillance and Communications Research Division; the ElectroMagnetics Division; the Bosch AeroSpace Division; the Nuclear Systems Analysis Division; the Signal Processing Systems Engineering Division, the Signal Processing Systems Manufacturing Division and the subsidiary, International Software Engineering, Inc. An R&D oriented firm, ISL differentiates itself with its manufacturing capacity, which is not shared by most competitors. The company uses its world-class technical competence to develop innovative concepts to solve otherwise intractable problems. Its complementary range of expert divisions give it cradle-to-grave capability to develop concept innovation, simulation of feasibility and prototype engineering for a range of applications from national security to quality of life. Michael has grown ISL from half dozen or so personnel to a high-tech R&D powerhouse, with over 125 employees. In the last three years, revenue has grown over 87 percent, earning the company repeated recognition as one of the nation’s 500 fastest-growing high tech companies. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards were created to celebrate the accomplishments of the world’s great entrepreneurs and to make the general public aware of the benefits they provide to the world economy and our global communities. All regional Entrepreneur of the Year winners are inducted into the Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame. Information Systems Laboratories (ISL) |