Lambdatron
Lambdatron is a (fictional) private company and employer of several characters. It is an R&D shop with a reputation for innovation. "Break the Paradigm" is their frequently quoted motto. The company concentrates on research, development and design of processor-machine interfaces. It is based on the Menlo Park model of an "inventions factory" and are located in a set of unremarkable buildings in an industrial park in Tempe, a suburb southeast of downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
The company was founded by Stan Warshawski (now Senior Shareholder), Sam Trott (Vice Senior Shareholder) and two other engineers (Dick and Troy) when the company they then worked for couldn't move from the "traditional proven technology" of electrical controls. The team won a subcontract for elevator controls using the then-new 8008 chipset.
Lambdatron was chosen as a name without any real meaning, but to "sound sort of scientific and esoteric and fifties traditional, [to make] it sound like we'd been around for a while.". The founders deliberately eschewed typical business styles to keep improving. It is employee owned with a financial design referred to as "what happens when you let a bunch of early hippie computer nerds design a company".
Lambdatron likes hiring interns while still in college or university, ensuring the students haven't developed undesired habits, and immediately puts them on real projects to test their mettle. Interns that later are hired as shareholders include:
- Jennlynn Swift and Jim Geletzke for the summer of 1991 before their Senior year in college.
- Jon Chladek and Tanisha Blythe for the summer of 1997 before their Junior year in college.
After employees have been there for a period of time, they are eligible to be voted in as shareholders, which entitles them to substantial bonuses in good years. Some employees are not full shareholders, but 'associates', who are not eligibile for bonuses, but receive a higher base salary than shareholders. Shareholders are assigned additional responsibilities which may be administrative or marketing or other. While most shareholders are technical employees, Angela, the receptionist, was one of the first non-technical shareholders.
Some characters who are not identified as to whether they are Shareholders or Associates include:
- Maureen Trott in Personnel
- Molly, the security officer
Projects and Clients
The firm has been involved with:
- The ground-up redesign of a laser die controller for Hadley-MonroeAT10
- A number of classified projects for the US Department of Defense, including
- Project Butterfly for the US NavyAT13
- Project Swallowtail and Project Monarch for the Air ForceMC28
