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Dick Martin has piloted fighter planes, led the first F-14 Tomcat squadron, captained the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Nimitz and Carl Vinson and helped found Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute.
Now, he has taken that background and put it to use as a founder and chairman of Oakland-based Inmedius Inc., formerly Evolutionary Systems Inc.
Mr. Martin's firm sells software that powers handheld computers allowing users to perform their work on the front lines rather than in the office.
So far, Inmedius' biggest customer is the U.S. Navy. Inmedius software runs wearable computers that aircraft technicians use to maintain fighters.
Founded in November 1995, the founders chose to bootstrap the start-up phase themselves and spent about $4 million to create the product, according to CEO Rob Veltre.
"We wanted to build up the value of the company and preserve more equity for ourselves instead of giving up half the company, said Mr. Veltre, whose background includes stints at CMU's School of Computer Science; the Software Engineering Institute, an Oakland-based research institute affiliated with CMU; and as a contractor creating F-16 flight simulation systems.
Mr. Martin's Navy contacts...