Mar. 25, 2026 (extension.k-state.edu) — “Hey, it’s not rocket science,” the saying goes.
But what if it is about rocket science? Today we’ll meet a Kansas company that produces advanced electronics for various systems, including rockets.
Devi Rathod is configuration control manager and sustainability program manager, and Bryce Buchanan is a senior process engineer and program managing engineer for Ultra PCS, recently acquired by Eaton. Their company began as Integrated Circuit Engineering and was founded in Manhattan by a group of men affiliated with K-State.
“They were building controller boards in the basement of one guy’s house,” Buchanan said.
The businessmen approached aviation companies in Wichita to look for business opportunities. The Cessna company asked them for a redesign of one small controller, and the business built from there.
The business moved its workspace into modular buildings in the mid-1980s. In the early 2000s, the company expanded into its current facility in west Manhattan. It became known as Ultra PCS and was recently acquired by the Eaton Corporation.
“We are a manufacturing and service provider for electronic products in the aerospace and defense industries,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan grew up on a farm near Minneola, a town of 738 people. That’s rural – but there’s more.
“As a kid, I watched rocket launches on TV and I thought those must have been built by sweeping figures,” Buchanan said. He earned engineering degrees at K-State where his wife also attended. They have three young daughters.
Buchanan joined the company in 2008. Now he has the opportunity to assist with equipment for those rocket launches, along with several other K-State graduates in the business.
Several come from farm backgrounds. “With engineers, you can tell who comes from a farm environment,” Buchanan said. “They tend to have a more hands-on mentality.”
Devi Rathod took a very different path to the company. “I’m a Kansan by marriage,” she said.
She first studied information systems and graduated from the University of South Florida in computer engineering, focused on computer hardware. At Catholic University and the University of Maryland, she studied biomedical engineering. She earned a master’s degree at Johns Hopkins in physics and systems engineering.
She worked in the electronics and engineering field in the Washington DC area and then in Los Angeles before meeting her husband who is from Salina. He owns a third-generation concrete business there. She moved to Kansas in 2013 and joined Ultra.
Rathod and her husband live near the rural community of Niles, population 56 people. Now, that’s rural. She commutes to the office in Manhattan and works remotely on Fridays.
“I’ve been all over the world and, let me tell you, nobody tops K-State engineers,” she said. “I love working with Kansas people.”
Ultra PCS works in defense and commercial electronic applications. They’ve produced electronic control units for such applications as defense hardware, the Boeing 737 Dreamliner, and even the U.S. presidential helicopter. They frequently work with partners in the United Kingdom.
“We do design, manufacturing, testing, redesign and repairs as needed,” Buchanan said. “We can do it all in-house.”
Why has this company been so successful in Kansas? “It’s the people,” Buchanan said. “In the future, I would like to continue to expand.”
“We’re diversified between commercial and defense applications,” Rathod said. “We’re a very agile company. We have some of the best people.”
Rathod also appreciates the community spirit of the company. “We’re really community-oriented and that’s important to me,” Rathod said. “We get involved in supporting Special Olympics and Military Relations at the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and lots of things.”
“I’m excited about what I’m doing,” Buchanan said. “We’re at the leading edge of aerospace technology.”
“Hey, it’s not rocket science,” goes the saying.
In the case of this particular company, it is about rocket science. This company’s work involves the science of electrical engineering for rocket launch platforms and other applications.
We commend Devi Rathod, Bryce Buchanan and all those involved with Ultra PCS for making a difference with entrepreneurship in the aerospace and defense field.
I’m glad their company is flying high.
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