A Family Story

LaunchPoint Technologies was founded in 1992 as Magnetic Moments by Brad Paden, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara; his father Al Paden, who brings over 30 years of engineering and management experience; and his brother Dave Paden, who currently leads the mechanical engineering team.

The Birth of LaunchPoint

Since 1992, the company has evolved from manufacturing academic products for universities to becoming a high-powered, multifaceted engineering design group. In June of 2002, Magnetic Moments was approached by a group of young entrepreneurs looking for a team of leading-edge engineers and seasoned business professionals to help them develop an innovative medical device. Magnetic Moments brought the entrepreneurs and CEO in-house and hired a high-level engineer to oversee product development. In addition to funds from Magnetic Moments, the CEO of the start-up company secured initial venture capital. In the process of incubating and launching this first start-up company, Magnetic Moments was redefined and, in May of 2003, LaunchPoint Technologies was born.

Our Strategy

Revolutionary products require an innovative design process.  Our leading-edge staff of creative designers and research engineers are supported in their breakthrough work with sophisticated laboratory facilities, precision equipment, and advanced engineering software. Using multi-disciplinary computational modeling, LaunchPoint optimizes products to meet specific design criteria derived from marketing requirements. In our design process, each engineering discipline, from component prototype design to system engineering, is addressed via state-of-the-art computer modeling. Reducing the understanding of each discipline into its mathematical form creates a common language through which all of our engineers can contribute their innovative expertise and devise a breakthrough solution that wins in the competitive marketplace.

LaunchPoint's business model stems from four main areas: consulting fees for contract work from companies needing to solve an engineering challenge; grant proposals that fund internal technology development; equity in exchange for engineering work on promising technologies where LaunchPoint's experience can minimize the risk; and royalties and license fees paid for the sale of intellectual property.