ANDREW BASS is President and Founder of Angstrom Engineering, one of the fastest growing companies in Canada
At the age of 23, Andrew Bass came to Lakehead armed with four years
of experience in the workforce and the desire to become a Professional
Engineer. Through his dedication and belief in the entrepreneurial
spirit, Bass has made his dreams come true.
Bass has made it his life’s work to develop and market hightech,
custom-made vacuum chambers. “The equipment that we make is what’s
referred to as high-vacuum research equipment.” His wife jokingly puts
it another way, referring to these vacuum chambers as simply “toys for
mad scientists.”
As the President and Founder of Angstrom Engineering, in
Cambridge, Ontario, Bass finds his work in high demand these days.
Angstrom’s vacuum chambers are used by high-profile clients ranging
from Princeton University to NASA. In 2003, Angstrom was named to
PROFIT magazine’s list of Canada’s top 100 fastest growing companies.
What can vacuum chambers do? “They are used to put down a very,
very thin film on materials,” says Bass, “They can be used in
manufacturing semi-conductors, eyeglasses, industrial glass,
aluminizing plastic, protective coating on turbine blades, and even
solar cells.
Bass first became aware of vacuum chambers while he was an employee
of a large mechanical engineering company. When the company went under,
Bass decided to apply the skills and knowledge that he had acquired,
this time as an entrepreneur. This decision would become the impetus
behind Angstrom Engineering.
“Fifty percent of our business is for organizations researching
organic light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a new type of material being
researched for Palm Pilots, or cell phones, for example. Ultimately,
we’re reaching toward flat panel monitors; the dream is that you’ll be
able to roll up your computer screen and put it into your pocket, then
unroll it when you want it.”
Bass finds himself in an unusual position. When Angstrom first took
shape in 1992, he worked alone. Since then, the company’s expansion has
forced him to take on staff, leaving Bass wearing two hats as both
engineer and entrepreneur. “I found that as a one-person operation, I
was able to do all of the engineering. Now we have a staff of
technologists, and I’ve had to basically give the engineering function
away. You can’t do everything. At times, I find myself getting more
into sales than engineering, but every now and then I manage to roll up
my sleeves and get back into what I enjoy doing most.”
As to the success of Angstrom Engineering, Bass credits, in part,
the advantage of the smaller business. “When a company calls us, they
know that they’re going to get an answer.” This simple dedication to
the client promotes both customer loyalty and referrals, two important
factors in the company’s growth.
These days, as a boss, Bass strives to bring the camaraderie that he
experienced during his university days to his business team. “There was
a core group of us that stuck together, studied together, and drank
together. For lack of a better description, university is ‘time in the
trenches.’ That’s some of the energy that I’ve hoped to capture in my
own company.”
This manner of bringing life experience to the business sector is
Andrew’s advice to the next generation of entrepreneurs: “Look at what
you have going for you, what’s working in your life – community,
partnership, friendship – and realize that it can apply in business.”
It was with his core group of Lakehead friends that Bass learned an
early lesson in market timing. “We used to go to a local hall for a
take-out meal just before closing time. The men would always be the
ones dishing the pasta up and, by that time of night, they had gone
through at least two or three good bottles of wine, so our pasta
portions would be twice the volume. The servers were always a lot
happier at the end of the evening than at the start, so you see, timing
is everything!”
Bass is looking toward the future, bringing Angstrom technologies to
higher levels and new markets. “We’re starting to see our name out
there a lot more. That market recognition gives you a little more
power, and you get more people contacting you.”
So it is that through the high-tech world of vacuum chambers, this
Lakehead alumnus has built for himself a business to be proud of, and a
life worth noting.
J. Andrew Deman (HBA’01/MA’03) is a PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo
