CLEVELAND — Ireland-based Ubotica Technologies has opened its new U.S. headquarters at the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI), located within the NASA Glenn Research Center campus in Cleveland.
Founded in 2016, Ubotica provides advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to satellites. In a release, the company says its new U.S. headquarters will not only expand Ubotica’s growing commercial and government customer base across the Americas, but also deepen its public and private partnerships with NASA and the defense industry.
According to OAI President Dr. John Sankovic, Ubotica plans to have one or two people in Cleveland initially, but expects that number to grow as they gain a foothold in the U.S. "They (Ubotica) really are aligned well with us," Sankovic told 3News. "It's a natural attraction. We are looking to support businesses that work with NASA and it's exciting as we look to build our space capabilities."
The OAI is a joint initiative of the NASA Glenn Research Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, the state of Ohio, and 10 Ohio public and private universities.
“Our co-location within OAI provides a great opportunity to integrate into an ecosystem at the forefront of space and aerospace innovation”, said Sean Mitchell, Chairman and Chief Commercial Officer at Ubotica. “We are grateful to the Ohio Aerospace Institute for their support and eagerly anticipate future collaborative partnerships."
Last month, Ubotica formed a partnership with IBM to use its cloud infrastructure and Watson AI, IBM’s flagship natural language processing system. Earlier this year, Ubotica unveiled its latest hardware platform, CogniSat-XE2, which is designed to get AI into orbit through smaller satellites, including miniature cube satellites.
The news about Ubotica's presence in Cleveland comes just five months after Hopkins Airport began offering direct flights to Ireland through Aer Lingus. Team NEO Vice President of Communications Mark Owens told 3News that he's not surprised that Cleveland is already reaping the benefits of the new nonstop route to Dublin.
"International travel from Cleveland is so much easier now," said Owens, who is originally from Ireland and has worked and lived in Northeast Ohio for more than 20 years. "We are creating an environment where international travel doesn't feel impossible anymore. So we're seeing more and more business people coming here for quick trips."
Like Sankovic, Owens sees Ubotica's arrival in Cleveland as a first step to something bigger. "Aerospace is a huge opportunity here in Northeast Ohio. We want to tell that story."
Owens added that there have already been multiple companies from Ireland who have come to Cleveland for visits via Aer Lingus. This included a healthcare startup company that took part in last week's Forbes Under 30 Summit.
"We're getting little wins early on," he said. "But there's lots of momentum."
Destination Cleveland President and CEO David Gilbert agrees with Owens' assessment of Aer Lingus' impact on the region.
"So far, that flight has been very successful," Gilbert told 3News' Neil Fischer. "This announcement (Ubotica) is a great example of when you really work hard in a coordinated community effort it really pays off. Hopefully it will mean future additional flights for Cleveland, both internationally and other domestic flights."