Paul Smallwood has always been a problem solver. His knack for integrating new technologies as an engineer for several industries, led to his entrepreneurial track as president of his own business, FlowSense, LLC in Maple Grove.
Smallwood is respected for his comprehensive approach to monitoring and testing the air and fluid quality of industrial environments, and installing an innovative system, tailor-made for the client, with training and follow-up. His outstanding customer service record earned Smallwood “Supplier of the Year” honors from the Minnesota Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC) in September 2004.
Smallwood was just a boy when he and his mother came to the U.S. from Vietnam after the war and settled in Florida. He completed high school and enlisted in the Air Force as an Avionics Instruments Technician and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant.
After his military service Smallwood graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. At Westinghouse he worked on power generation plants and designed components for the U.S. Navy’s Seawolf (nuclear submarine).
He worked with McQuay International to design and market integrated communications protocol for their equipment, before moving on with Honeywell and power plant automation controls. He worked on valves and sensors for Burkert, when he was laid-off in 2001, and started FlowSense, LLC.
“That was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.
FlowSense began exclusively as a fluid technology business, and Smallwood still advises, designs, and installs customized airflow quality sensors and alarms. He assesses client needs and designs an integrated component system as a distributor for various manufacturers.
“We go there, figure out what the customer wants, design the system, procure the equipment, install it, test, and commission them,” he said. “These are the type of products that you have to know how to use, and how to train people.”
FlowSense clients include Honeywell, 3M, Goodrich, Schwans, Potlatch, Despatch, the U.S. Military, and the U.S. Government. Smallwood maintains a long-term relationship with his clients, to train operators, managers, and to collect and analyze months and years of data from the sensor databases.
“This is something you don’t just sell and forget about,” he said. “Establish rapport, build credibility and trust. Once you can accomplish all that, whether as a solution partner or a customer, its there for the long term.”
It wasn’t long before Smallwood began advising on a bigger scale, adding security and integration of biometric verification systems fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, iris recognition, and smart card technology.
“The challenge is to change the mind set of facility managers and people in that field,” he added. “I am very proactive… and can see the marriage of those three (biometric security, environmental, and industrial technology) together as a completely integrated solution.”
Bio-terror deterrence in facility management protocols, something even Smallwood says his contemporaries in ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.), have not fully addressed. It is about replacing inefficient technology and environmental systems, while also adding security and access concerns to ensure safe access, operation and monitoring of air and fluid quality.
“Lets put in the systems and monitoring equipment to better understand and prevent (bio-terrorism),” he added.
After completing the lengthy certification in December 2004 for the Federal 8(a) SDB (Small Disadvantaged Business) FlowSense was placed on the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database for government-wide vendor possibilities.
In January 2005, FlowSense received a contract to supply Respirator Fit Testing System to the US Army. That same month FlowSense received a contract to supply Biometric Identification Systems to the National Defense University.
Smallwood supplied two Biometric Demo Units for use in research and training for biometric authentication, iris recognition, fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, and smart card technology.
“The government, private, and public sectors have shown heightened interest in accurate identification and verification methods in biometric recognition applications,” he said.
Smallwood is working for certification and contracts with the State of Minnesota, particularly the Metropolitan Airport Commission, and MnDOT. He expects to be received as “just another vendor,” and lets his “value added niche” show how a services oriented partnership is preferable to standard products models.
“This is not a gimme,” he added. The [8(a)SDB] requires a lot of work, effort and requirements. You still have to have the means to carry out the contracts.”
Smallwood would like to manufacture and assemble his own software and technology, hybrids and modified versions of the components he distributes, such as hand-held carbon dioxide sensors. This will mean skilled-labor employment opportunities for the area, as well as expanding his office with administrative and sales staff, and leave him free for his frequent business travel, and hopefully a little more time with his wife and three children.
“Right now it is a one man team, and I don’t sleep very much,” he added.
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