What if Bell Labs were a startup?
Background Science is a small studio of scientists and engineers doing applied research on contract — for companies that want to build something that doesn't exist yet, and don't want to wait years to find out whether it works.
Why
Most consulting firms are built to scale headcount. Most research labs are built to publish. Neither is set up to do what most ambitious companies actually need: a small group of people who can think clearly about a hard problem, build the thing, and hand it over working.
We started Background Science to be that group. Boring name, interesting work.
Who
Background Science is a small team of researchers and engineers with backgrounds in physics, mechanical engineering, machine learning, and software systems. We have shipped production systems, written papers, and built hardware that works in the field. We are senior, and we work hands-on.