Ohio Scientific
Ohio Scientific, Inc. (OSI, originally Ohio Scientific Instruments, Inc.), was a privately owned American computer company based in Ohio that built and marketed computer systems, expansions, and software from 1975 to 1986. Their best-known products were the Challenger series of microcomputers and Superboard single-board computers. The company was the first to market microcomputers with hard disk drives in 1977. The company was incorporated as Ohio Scientific Instruments in Hiram, Ohio, by husband and wife Mike and Charity Cheiky and business associate Dale A. Dreisbach in 1975. Originally a maker of electronic teaching aids, the company leaned quickly into microcomputer production, after their original educational products failed in the marketplace while their computer-oriented products sparked high interest in the hobbyist community. The company moved to Aurora, Ohio, occupying a 72,000-square-foot factory. The company reached the $1 million revenue mark in 1976; by the end of 1980, the company generated $18 million in revenue. Ohio Scientific's manufacturing presence likewise expanded into greater Ohio as well as California and Puerto Rico. In 1980, the company was acquired by telecommunications conglomerate M/A-COM of Burlington, Massachusetts, for $5 million. M-A/COM soon consolidated the company's product lines, in order to focus their new subsidiary on manufacturing business systems. During their tenure under M-A/COM, Ohio Scientific was renamed M/A-COM Office Systems. M-A/COM struggled financially themselves and sold the division in 1983 to Kendata Inc. of Trumbull, Connecticut, who immediately renamed it back to Ohio Scientific. Kendata, previously only a corporate reseller of computer systems, failed to maintain Ohio Scientific's manufacturing lines and subsequently sold the division to AB Fannyudde of Sweden. The flagship Aurora factory, by then only employing 16 people, was finally shut down in October 1983. Beginnings (1975–1976) Ohio Scientific was founded in Hiram, Ohio, in 1975 by Dale A. Dreisbach ( 1909 – June 16, 1987) and husband and wife Michael "Mike" Cheiky (January 1, 1952 – December 7, 2017) and Charity Cheiky (born 1954). Mike Cheiky had worked at the Solon-based Ohio Nuclear Company—makers of medical equipment—as director of engineering, while Charity Cheiky had been employed at Western Reserve Academy as a professor of math and computer science. Dreisbach meanwhile was a chairman and professor emeritus of Hiram College's chemistry department; the Cheikys had met at Hiram College. The three founded Ohio Scientific with between $5,000 and $25,000 of start-up capital. The company was originally outfitted from the Cheiky's garage and was dedicated to the production of electronic teaching aids. The company's original name—Ohio Scientific Instruments, Inc.—reflected this initial purpose. The first products the company released included a calculator that also taught the basics of statistics and a single-board microcomputer. The latter, called the Microcomputer Trainer Board and incorporating a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, was designed by Mike, inspired by his experience with microprocessor-based minicomputers at his Ohio Nuclear job. Most of the educational products sold poorly due to the lack of a strong local market for them, according to Mike. However, the Microcomputer Trainer Board saw high demand. Most fruitful was a