SoarTech Expands Presence, Workforce in Orlando

Orlando, Fla. – SoarTech, a company that builds intelligent systems for defense, government, and commercial applications, invested in a new location and is expanding its Orlando-based workforce. The company celebrated its move into the newly constructed COLLABORATION building in Quadrangle near the University of Central Florida (UCF) on March 24, and is planning to add 26 new, high wage jobs during its expansion over the next three years that will pay over the average wage in Orange County. This $1.5 million in its new office and demonstration environment nearly doubles the square footage of its operations.

“SoarTech is excited to be expanding into the Collaboration building and continuing to build lasting industry partnerships in Orlando,” said Mike van Lent, president and CEO at SoarTech. “The company has seen incredible success here over the past few years and is well-positioned to take advantage of this opportunity to work more closely with local innovators and tackle challenges in artificial intelligence and adjacent industries.”

SoarTech began operations in 1998 as a spin-off from the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Michigan. Its founding team developed TacAir-Soar, an autonomous intelligent agent system that provides realistic behaviors for a wide range of aircraft and missions. When the university research concluded, SoarTech was formed with a contract to support the U.S. Air Force Warfighter Training Laboratory, providing TacAir-Soar for distributed mission training exercises.

The company opened a satellite office in Orlando in 2002 to take advantage of the established Modeling, Simulation, and Training cluster located in Central Florida Research Park and proximity to university research at UCF. The company is planning to expand its Orlando’s footprint and maximize partnership opportunities with the National Center for Simulation and Team Orlando, including the Central Florida Tech Grove. The new office broadens opportunities for SoarTech to collaborate and build relationships in the local simulation ecosystem as well as take advantage of collaboration with Department of Defense simulation command centers based in Central Florida Research Park.

“Orange County is truly an ideal destination for companies like SoarTech,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings. “With SoarTech’s proximity to UCF and Central Florida Research Park, it will be able to easily collaborate with local academia and assist in the
further diversification of our economy. We are proud that SoarTech has chosen to expand here in Orange County.”

SoarTech needed to quickly find and move to a new Orlando office location due to the closing and demolition of its current space for the construction of new student housing at UCF. The Orlando Economic Partnership assisted the company with fast-tracking the company’s permitting process in collaboration with Orange County to get SoarTech into its new office before the closure of its existing space.

“SoarTech is a great example of a growing AI-focused company expanding in Orlando because of its status as the Modeling, Simulation and Training capital of the world,” said Tim Giuliani, president and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership. “We are thrilled to congratulate SoarTech on its growth and expansion in our market.”

The company moved to the newly constructed “Collaboration” building where other local Modeling, Simulation, and Training companies currently have operations, including Orlando-based AVT Simulation. SoarTech currently employs 49 workers in Orlando and 120 employees nationally.

SoarTech has been awarded various contracts that support activities in the defense and government sector. In April 2021, the company was chosen to support the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Air Combat Evolution Program with the development of autonomous behaviors for vehicles flying in air missions. The company’s customer base includes the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Development and Engineering Command (RDEC), Department of Transportation (DOT), and other U.S. agencies.

The company is hiring and available positions can be found at https://soartech.com/career-opportunities.