Meet Adam, the Firefighter–Engineer Behind the ELiMiNATOR®
Designing a preemption system that truly works in the field took an engineer with real-world experience on the fireground and in the lab.
From Fort Wayne to the Fireground
Years ago, Adam Brososky was asked to lead the team that evolved the design of the ELiMiNATOR® system. The ELiMiNATOR® dates back to 1998, but as GPS and other electronics became more robust and accessible, Collision Control Communications wanted to take a step back before going forward.
The company, Adam, and everyone on the team call the Fort Wayne, Indiana area home. Most people outside Fort Wayne don't know it is also home to a multitude of defense contractors like Raytheon, ITT Aerospace, BAE Systems and others. Before starting his own engineering firm, Adam and many on his team worked for some of these companies.
Adam also spent several years as a state-certified firefighter. He completed the year-long training and classes, learning on the job while working full time in the defense industry at Northrop Grumman. A dedicated family man, Adam loves to learn. He had just earned his master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue when he embarked on the journey to become a firefighter. It is the combination of these experiences that led to what we believe is one of the best, most affordable preemption systems on the market.
Bringing Defense-Grade Thinking to Preemption
During early discussions about our need for a GPS/radio-based system with great precision and range, Adam and the team pointed out that they were accustomed to designing systems capable of military-level precision, where a lack of performance can have unimaginable consequences.
The design evolution spanned many months, from concept to prototypes, including extensive testing both internally and externally. Adam had driven apparatus through congested traffic and intersections. He understood the importance of shaving even 20% off travel time, knew distracted drivers were only going to become a bigger problem, and recognized that changing the light to green well ahead of time was the safest method for everyone.
Real-World Limits of Legacy Systems
Adam also knew that Fire Departments have limited budgets and must make careful decisions about where to spend them. He had seen the chaos that can ensue when flipping the toggle switch that lights up the truck. He was aware of other preemption systems and the two biggest limitations for a department: cost and performance.
Optical systems have a range of approximately 2,500 feet. Even the upgraded GPS versions of those systems have a range of 2,500 feet unless you add WiFi range extenders further down the road, which can bring property rights and power/pole requirements into play. That is just over four tenths of a mile. Cellular systems solve the range problem but introduce two new issues: cost and reliability. You pay upfront and monthly for your green lights, and during a large-scale emergency the cellular network is often the first to go down due to overload.
Adam knew there was a reason the preemption market is often referred to as a “poisoned market”. A traffic light takes a fixed amount of time to safely change to green. Traffic takes a fixed amount of time to get moving and out of the way. He knew four tenths of a mile hadn't solved the problem to the degree it could be solved, and he knew that $10,000 or $15,000 per intersection wasn't truly “affordable”.
Listening to the Lead Engineer
If you were to call our customers, they would say many good things about our product, company, and people. One thing you would hear over and over is that we listen. We listen to their suggestions, we listen to their feedback, and we incorporate that feedback into the system—and we often do it very quickly. But listening to first responders didn't start with customers. It started with listening to our lead engineer.
You won't see Adam in your conference room telling you why you should buy the system—that simply isn't Adam. He loves to learn new things, solve new problems, and then move on to the next challenge. But he became a great friend to the people and the company, and he gets real enjoyment from seeing our company and product succeed and change the perception of preemption.
Visit our Testimonials page to hear what Fire Chiefs who have used our system for years are saying.