By Jennie L. Ilustre, Asian Fortune News
The next time you ride in an airplane, whether for business or for pleasure, think of this as a matter of inspiration and well-placed pride: That a company, owned by an Asian American who triumphed against life’s adversities, helps improve safety and efficiency within the nation’s air traffic management system with its cutting-edge products and services.
Veracity Engineering President & CEO Hai Tran, who has led his company to an annual revenue of $20 million, looks forward to a brighter tomorrow. PHOTO: Asian Fortune News
“We help design and implement the air traffic control communication system,” Veracity Engineering Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Hai Tran says, pausing before he adds, “for the FAA.” The FAA, of course, is the Federal Aviation Agency.
His company also designs innovative products. AirportInsightTM has several applications providing an electronic display of airport surface and terminal activity. The operational management and decision support tools, “coupled with real time surveillance data, assist both airport authorities and airlines in running efficient, cost-effective operations.”
Another innovation: the Aircraft Flight Following (AFF) system, a satellite tracking system for fire-fighting aircraft. Both the U.S. Forestry Department and Canadian Ministry of Forestry have approved it for use. The satellite tracking units are small and portable for use on general aviation aircraft.
“If I were to share one lesson learned from the past decade of leading Veracity Engineering, it would be that you need to accept that risk is inherent in trying to do great things,” observes Tran. He learned this from his mother.
Tran and his family overcame life-and-death challenges, and he credits his mother, Huong Tran, for her determination and courage. This is his story in his own words: “With the fall of Saigon in 1975, my father, a colonel in the South Vietnamese Army, was imprisoned as a political prisoner.
“Two years later, to ensure the future of her children, my mother single-handedly organized her escape from Vietnam, along with all seven of her children. Arriving in the US without a dollar in her pocket and not able to speak a word of English, she raised all seven of us to be productive law abiding citizens of our communities, and to help make a difference in the world.”
“Now, any time I feel motivation waning in the face of a huge challenge, I tell myself that it would pale in comparison to the ones she faced. She risked her life and successfully planned and organized our escape from Vietnam.”
This story has a happy ending. When Tran’s father, Hoi Tran, was released from prison in 1986, he “was reunited with us.”
$21M Revenue
Tran founded Veracity Engineering in May 2001. In such a short time, his company has become one of the industry leaders in aviation research and development, as well as communications engineering. Its clientele include corporations and the federal government. In 2012, FAA awarded Veracity Engineering with a $100-million contract. Veracity’s backlog exceeds $120 million.
“We had $21 million in revenue for 2013,” Tran says. He says it with both humility and pride, because when he started his company over a decade ago in a competitive field, he knew he was taking a big risk.
Sam Mok, former Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Labor, knows Tran and other successful Asian American business owners. He says Tran’s success is due to “innovation, good customer service and a good understanding of the American culture.”
Read the full article by Jennie L. Ilustre from Asian Fortune News.
