Cover Story: Niru Somayajula steers the ship from Collingwood to Nova Scotia

BY MATT DRISCOLL PHOTOGRAPHY BY TAYLOR NULLMEYER

Niru Somayajula steers the ship from Collingwood to Nova Scotia

Whether it’s navigating the ebb and flow of national economic cycles or the frigid swells of the Great Lakes, Niru Somayajula knows how to ride the waves. Somayajula is the President and CEO of Sensor Technology Ltd, a world leader in hi-tech manufacturing of underwater sonar solutions based out of both Collingwood, Ontario, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

“I hate to say I live a double life but I kind of do,” explains Somayajula from her part-time home in Halifax. “Collingwood is an incredible place to live but Ontario is very isolated when it comes to ocean tech. Out here, we’re able to do testing in the ocean and we’re surrounded by like-minded companies along with many of our customers and partners.”

It’s a long way from the Collingwood pottery company where Sensor Technology has its roots. Those roots began with Blue Mountain Pottery, a Collingwood-based company founded in 1953 and closed in 2004.

At one point, Blue Mountain Pottery was one of the largest pottery manufacturers in the country, employing more than 700 people from its Collingwood headquarters. Blue Mountain Pottery hired Dr. Eswar Prasad, who holds a degree in physics and also happens to be Somayajula’s father, to handle a new hi-tech division of the pottery company. While Blue Mountain Pottery was eventually forced to close its doors, the hi-tech branch, under Dr. Prasad and Somayajula’s mother, Shashi, broke away and eventually formed Sensor Technology Limited. >>

Growing up in small-town Ontario, like a lot of kids I wanted nothing more than to leave and see the world.

—Niru Somayajula

With over 35 years of experience, Sensor Technology specializes in working with their clients to provide innovative, customized solutions that provide repeatable results. Their market penetration is global in scope, and they specialize in these industry sectors: defense, aquaculture, energy, oceanography and hydrography.

Sensor Technology is focused on the design and manufacturing of piezoelectric ceramic materials, custom acoustic transducers and custom hydrophones. These products are used in all manner of underwater applications. Oil and gas companies use them to locate hydrocarbons, others use them in underwater construction and they have even been used to locate the wreckage of historic plane crashes underwater using echolocation, similar to the method bats use to navigate through the dark.

While the tech used might seem complicated to the layperson, it’s second nature to Somayajula. “Some of my earliest memories are of walking around the factory floor,” she says. “I guess it’s in my blood.”

That being said, the path from owner’s daughter to president and CEO was far from a linear one.

“Growing up in small-town Ontario, like a lot of kids I wanted nothing more than to leave and see the world,” says Somayajula.

In 2007, she was in grad school when her parents asked her to step in as interim manager of the company while it was in the process of being sold. The sale ultimately fell through, but Somayajula found that she had fallen in love with the family business and in 2011 she assumed the role of president and CEO and bought out the shares of the business.

Since then, the company has seen significant growth, including their expansion into Nova Scotia. Somayajula describes that move as difficult but worthwhile in the end.

Some of the world’s most advanced detection, ranging and navigation systems rely on Sensor Technology products. She says the technology they develop can be used in everything from barbecue lighters to medical equipment and over time they plan to expand into other markets.

In the past three years, the company has invested somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million in new equipment at their plant in Collingwood, and roughly $1 million at their facility in Nova Scotia.

In addition to balancing two geographic locations from the business side of things, Somayajula also needs to balance family life with two daughters of her own. While the girls live in Collingwood, they often accompany her to Halifax, and, when the pandemic permits, sometimes even further afield.

“We have customers all over the world. I’m typically on an international flight at least once a month,” she says. “There are some days when I wake up and I’m not sure which city I’m in.”

To stay sharp mentally and physically, Somayajula is an avid triathlete and a part-time surfer. Despite spending so much of her time near the ocean, Somayajula cut her teeth on a surfboard carving the waves of Georgian Bay.

“I wanted to try surfing and I had a coworker - in Nova Scotia actually - who told me I should start in Georgian Bay,” she says. “I found the Georgian Bay Surf Club and now I love it. You can pretty much surf anywhere in the world.”

While the past 18 months have seen some particularly rough seas for most industries, Somayajula says Sensor Technology Limited has managed to not only stave off a downturn but has increased sales by roughly 30% year-over-year for the past two years.

Somayajula says she’s eager to get back on the road and continue the company’s expansion, but she adds that Sensor Technology will always call Ontario home and take pride in their Collingwood roots.

sensortechcanada.com @nirutheceo @ceowhocooks