FAQs

Finger Lakes Engineering Frequently Asked Questions

The following Q&A discusses some typical questions that may help potential clients.

Q: How does FLE work on Fixed-Costs?

A: Simply put - We Know What We Are Doing.

The case often is that when we are talking to a client about a new program/requirement/etc, we can form a clear solution to the client’s need during that meeting. We can do this because of our depth of experience and rigorous design methods to ensure success.

Q: How do you handle ‘unclear’ projects?

A: We have worked on several “unclear” projects and they have all completed successfully and met our client’s goals. We approach these programs using a “R&D” style method. This method combines a research phase, prototype phase, and full-design phase. Using this technique, we can break-down an “unclear” project into several distinct phases and results.

Together, FLE and the Client can review the data at each phase and make sure that the teams will get to the right outcome for the client's goals.

Q: What about SBIR projects?

A: FLE has assisted on SBIR related programs as a design support group to a company that has already been awarded a SBIR funding. We have helped existing customers apply for Phase-II funding as well by providing design consulting to help draft technical approaches for key sections of these awards. On a case-by-case basis, we can also offer ‘creative’ ways to offset development costs during PhaseI programs.

Q: When do we hear from you?

A: Finger Lakes Engineering isn’t going to “run off in the corner” to produce a design after getting a contract. A successful design requires good interaction between FLE and the client. To supplement this, FLE issues weekly status reports of action items/issues/questions/completions/etc to all of our clients during program development.

Q: Can you manufacture our products?

A: FLE has an active partnership with several PCB vendors and PCB assembly houses as well as our own internal QA/test processes. Finger Lakes Engineering has existing production contracts with clients to produce units anywhere from 50 over 1000 units per year.

So yes - we can!

Q: Can you be onsite at my company?

A: While FLE, especially our President, is very interested in visiting our clients and working with them as much as possible, we work best within our own office environment. We can work together to plan on-site time during key phases of projects (i.e. bring-up and test/integration/etc); however we do not place our engineers or team members on-site at clients throughout an entire project development.

Q: How do we communicate?

A: Email and Phone have worked well for our clients, both regionally and nationally. The firm also maintains a license for www.gotomeeting.com. This service allows FLE and several client team member to have a web-meeting session, share documents, PC desktops, and other electronic data. This works very well for reviewing schematics and PCB layouts in real-time.

Q: What are FLE’s products?

A: Finger Lakes Engineering offers a series of Xilinx IP Cores, specifically targeted for the Microblaze processor. We have also introduced the industry's only Power Over Ethernet Serial<>Ethernet Embedded Host Module

In addition, FLE also provides several software cores for license including Ethernet stacks, USB stacks, and FireWire stacks. Additional information on these stacks will be made public in 2007.