Princeton Professor’s Mapping Tools Business Bought by Global Tech. Company
ALK Technologies Inc., the mapping company founded and chaired by Princeton University Professor Alain Kornhauser, has been bought by the global company Trimble Navigation Ltd. for an undisclosed sum.
Trimble, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a publicly traded company that owns a dozen technology companies and has offices in China, Russia and Europe. The company earned $157 million on revenue of $1.52 billion in the first nine months of 2012. Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government more productive, with a focus on applications requiring position or location, including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping.
ALK Technologies Inc., founded by Kornhauser in 1979, is a global leader in routing, mapping, mileage and navigation technologies. The company, with a staff of more than 170, uses global-positioning technology to help truck drivers and others plan and navigate routes. ALK software products include CoPilot Live, which offers onboard GPS navigation for professional drivers, and PC*MILER, a truck-specific mileage solution recognized as an industry standard for logistics, manufacturing, government and transportation operations. ALK products are sold worldwide and feature extensive international map data. Approximately 64 percent of North American for-hire motor carriers use ALK solutions, including 98 of the top 100 largest for-hire carriers, 47 of the top 50 logistics companies and 77 of the top 100 private fleets.
“This is a significant milestone in ALK’s long history in transportation,” said Barry Glick, executive vice president and general manager of ALK Technologies, who will continue to lead the organization. “We are excited to join our well-known and respected partner TMW Systems under the global umbrella of Trimble. These organizations share our passion and vision for how location information can transform business and productivity.”
Kornhauser is a full-time professor of operations research and financial engineering at Princeton University, where he is also the director of the school’s interdepartmental transportation research program, co-director of the Center for Transportation Information and Decision Engineering and an affiliated faculty member of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1971. He has been a staunch opponent of Princeton University’s plan to move the Dinky train station south of its existing location. Kornhauser is also a runner and has completed 13 New York City marathons.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.