One Stop Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: OSS), a maker of ruggedized computing systems for autonomous vehicles, military vehicles and other edge computing applications, has named longtime San Diego defense technology executive Michael Knowles as its new president and CEO.
President and CEO
One Stop Systems Inc.
Knowles, 56, began his job at the Escondido company on June 5. He takes the place of David Raun.
At the beginning of his third week on the job, Knowles said he is excited about his new employer’s potential, adding that OSS presents an intriguing opportunity and offers an interesting product suite. Knowles spoke about the potential of one OSS product – the Rigel edge supercomputer, which is engineered to meet military standards.
Though involved in defense, OSS is not purely a defense play; its products are usable in commercial vehicles, including autonomous trucks and autonomous agricultural equipment.
The business had $72 million in revenue last year, up from $62 million in 2021. It is looking at $800 million worth of opportunities, Knowles said.
OSS designs, manufactures and markets hardware, software and systems. The company’s computers have the processing capability of data centers yet fit into the area of a shoebox, Knowles said.
Edge computing is a form of computing that is done on site, near a particular data source or the user, rather than in the cloud, minimizing the need for data to be processed in a remote data center. This growing trend increases computing performance and security, as the data does not have to travel to a distant data center.
Defense Industry Background
Knowles, a resident of Carlsbad, spent the last nine months in the Los Angeles metro area (Santa Clarita) as vice president and general manager for C5ISR (military electronics) systems at Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
Prior to that, he spent eight years at Cubic Corporation, helping to grow the business prior to its acquisition by private owners. In his final job at Cubic, he was president of the company’s Mission and Performance Solutions business, leading a global portfolio of $700 million and 2,000 employees.
In his new job, Knowles will receive a base salary of $460,000 per year and is eligible for a bonus of up to $345,000, according to a securities filing. He will also receive stock options.
Shares of One Stop Systems closed at $3.17 on June 20. The stock’s 52-week range has been $2.29 to $4.19.
One Stop Systems Inc.
FOUNDED: 1998
CEO: Michael Knowles
HEADQUARTERS: Escondido
BUSINESS: Designer, manufacturer and marketer of specialized high-performance compute and storage hardware, software, and systems
REVENUE: $72.4 million (2022)
NET LOSS: ($2.2 million) (2022)
STOCK: OSS (NASDAQ)
EMPLOYEES: 104 full-time, eight part-time as of Dec. 31
WEBSITE: onestopsystems.com
CONTACT: 760-745-9883
SOCIAL IMPACT: Three of the seven company board members are women
NOTABLE: The market for compute and storage hardware for autonomous trucks is projected to exceed $1 billion by 2025 and exceed $9 billion by 2030
