Areté is an employee-owned advanced science and engineering company founded in 1976. The firm specialises in developing innovative solutions to national and global security challenges, with a founding mission of solving the problem of detecting weak signals in heavy ocean clutter for the US Department of Defense. Its technical expertise spans sensor technology, signal processing, real-time processing, software development, and complex algorithms.
The company's smart systems integrate active and passive sensors, real-time processing, and sophisticated algorithms capable of operating across environments from the seafloor to space. Areté also developed precision water-modelling technology originally for defence applications, which was later licensed for use in films such as Titanic. The company applies Aristotelian first-principles thinking to its work.
Areté is headquartered in Northridge, California, with additional offices in Falls Church, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Niwot, Colorado; Tucson, Arizona; Niceville, Florida; and Healdsburg, California. Its work serves the defence, national security, global security, and film production sectors.






