For Immediate Release

Editorial Contact:        

Glynis Gibson
Gibson Communications, Inc.
773.278.7700
glynis.gibson@gibsoncommunications.com

RightHand Technologies merger with SSI
enables delivery of complete embedded systems to customers

Firm also announces new manufacturing facility and 2010 hiring plans

CHICAGO – Jan. 26, 2010 – RightHand Technologies (www.righthandtech.com), a full service embedded electronic systems design services firm, today announced it has merged with SSI Embedded Systems Programming (www.ssiembedded.com), a software engineering services firm based in Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Steve Valentor remains president of RightHand Technologies; Michele Mordacq, former president of SSI, is now vice president, software development of the merged firm. There will be no layoffs. With the addition of Mordacq and her team, who will remain in SSI’s former office, RightHand Technologies is now a 41-person firm.

Valentor said the newly merged company is financially stronger, more versatile and better equipped to meet its customers’ demands.

“Before the merger, RightHand Technologies developed embedded hardware designs, and SSI developed the software that ran on embedded hardware,” Valentor said. “The new RightHand Technologies can deliver entire embedded systems, including electrical, mechanical and software, to all of its customers. Now, with our expanded capabilities, we are able to increase the value of the solutions we provide to our customers.”

“It is a great to see how combining the expertise of the two firms has already resulted in a much more complete offering to our clients,” Mordacq said. “We are now a one-stop-shop for complete technology solutions for some very complex embedded systems.”  

The merger closed Jan. 1, 2010.

New Manufacturing Facility

As a result of its growth, RightHand Technologies is opening a new 5,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Wood Dale, Ill. The company will move most of its manufacturing to Wood Dale from its current plant in the Edison Park neighborhood of Chicago. Manufacturing of prototypes and more specialized products will continue to be done in Edison Park, which remains the headquarters for the research and development laboratories.

“Setting up the Wood Dale facility enables us to optimize our manufacturing to support our ISO-9000 registered processes and procedures. This will be extremely beneficial for engaging new customers with stringent manufacturing requirements,” said Valentor. “ISO-9000 is the global standard for factory operation.” RightHand Technologies is scheduled to complete ISO-9000 registration before March 2010.

2010 Hiring Plans

The company also announced hiring plans for 2010.

“RightHand Technologies continues to grow, and to support our expanding list of clients, we will hire additional design engineers, software engineers, a test engineer and a technician,” Valentor said. “I have every confidence that as the year progresses, our team will continue to add electrical, mechanical and software engineers for embedded electronic applications.”

About RightHand Technologies

RightHand Technologies provides expert engineering design services (electrical, mechanical, and software) and specialized manufacturing with sophisticated, full-validation functional testing for embedded electronic systems. Its engineers have experience developing everything from simple motherboards to complex, high-speed designs with challenging technical constraints. The company excels in managing projects from their initial inception through research, design, development, tooling, verification, system-level testing, and transfer to production, and employs world-class program management optimized for small-volume manufacturing.

The privately held company specializes in the aerospace/defense, industrial automation and manufacturing, arcade-class gaming and medical devices industries. It is a Gold Member of the Radisys Alliance Partner Program and a Design House Partner with Texas Instruments.

RightHand Technologies is located on the northwest side of Chicago. For more information, visit www.righthandtech.com and www.ssiembedded.com.