Springfield OH company supplies key electronics for nuclear research

A close up of wiener and mesytec electronics

What Springfield, Ohio company has supplied such heavy government hitters as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US Air Force, NASA and even the Smithsonian Institution?  It’s the US Headquarters of a German firm that has been doing advanced electronics work for 50 years by the name of Wiener, Plein & Baus (pronounced vee-ner, pline, and bouse).

Atom smashers + renewed interest in nuclear energy

I haven’t had a chance to use my German for quite some time, but I did today as I met with Dr. Andreas Ruben, President of the US operation.  We talked about particle accelerators, “atom smashers,” how they’re used in nuclear physics research, how the biggest one is in the Large Haldron Collider in Switzerland, and how the US wants that title back.  Ruben also indicated that the increased interest in nuclear energy in the US is positively impacting his industry.

Company history

The German company is based near Cologne and Dusseldorf and was founded in 1959 as a general consulting and electronic research company but began focusing on electronics, enclosures and power supply equipment for particle physics experiments in 1992, when Manfred Plein and Jürgen Baus took over the company.  In 2008, the company merged into the much larger Phoenix Mecano AG. 

US operation

The US operation got started in 1997, and as Folker Hemmann tells it, the owners called him right before a vacation to Egypt and directed him to found the company.  Folker runs the German-American Development Corporation, a service firm that specializes in helping medium-sized German companies establish a US presence.  For a fixed monthly fee (and no long-term contracts), Hemmann takes care of the bookkeeping and other red tape issues related to doing business in the US.  He provides a desk and other support as well from within Springfield’s Small Business Development Center.

Staff

Ruben runs the US Wiener with his wife and new colleague, Scott Puderbauer, formerly of Rittal, another enclosure giant located in nearby Urbana with Springfield roots.   Scott recently joined the team to help sell Hartmann Electronics as well as WP&B and is a result of the 2008 merger. 

>> Company’s global homepage – www.wiener-d.com
>> About Wiener Plein + Baus – http://bit.ly/5MwrJ
>> Company’s US page – www.wiener-us.com

>> Company’s Physics Today profile – http://bit.ly/rAyLu
>> Physicsworld.com profile – http://bit.ly/XOcMX
>> Government contract won (2007) – http://bit.ly/84PmA
>> Government contracts won (2000-2008) – http://bit.ly/QTcmF
>> ACS Industrial services WP&B – http://bit.ly/oWmUc

>> Thomas Net article on Hartmann Electronics – http://bit.ly/M1F4p
>> SNS Article on incubator/SBDC – http://bit.ly/tJWSo
>> Small Business Development Center – www.smbusdev.org
>> German-American Development Corporation – www.gadc.com