Polish scientist Miroslaw Grudzien built the infra-red detectors that NASA uses to explore Mars, but getting a business development loan nearly defeated him.
His firm, which made sensors on the US space agency’s Mars rover Curiosity, sought financing from banks for a new production facility. Because the loan was to be partly paid back from European Union funds, the government had to sign off on it.
In the end, Grudzien got his money, but it took a year, forcing his company, VIGO System, to delay the launch of a new range of high-technology sensors.
“Civil servants do not care if I get the credit today, in a year or in three years. They do not have a clue that in modern technologies one year of delay in financing can mean defeat,” Grudzien, the firm’s chief executive, said.
News Source: bdnews24.com
