Richard Kellerman and Paul Nielsen established NK in 1978. Richard was working as a Physical Chemist at Xerox Inc., when Coach Ted Nash recruited him to devise a product that would simplify the coxswain's many jobs on the river.
With the collaboration of Paul Nielsen, an associate from Xerox Inc., Richard Kellerman was convinced that he could create one unit to combine the tasks of an amplifier, stroke meter and timer to simplify the coxswain's job. The idea to create a Cox Box® amplifier came to Richard after watching a coxswain run his crew into a bridge during a regatta.
In 1984, NK expanded their product line to include the original Stroke Coach® stroke meter, designed for scullers and straight boats so that they, too, could know their stroke rate and time. Following the success of the Stroke Coach®, NK designed the Chronostroke™ rate and stop watch for rowing coaches, and developed and manufactured the original monitor for the Concept II rowing machine.
With the development of these four products, NK had grown too large for the basement of Richard's house. In 1985, NK took up residence in an old rayon-making factory in Marcus Hook, PA developing the Pace Coach® and the Speed Coach® over the next ten years. During this time, NK also redesigned the Cox Box®, Cox Vox® and Stroke Coach® to be smaller, lighter, and easier to use.
In 1996, NK expanded into a completely new product line by launching a line of wind and weather instruments, called Kestrel® Pocket Weather® Meters. The company was growing rapidly, so once again it was time to move to a larger facility located in Chester, PA. During the tenure at the Chester facility (1996-2004), NK released a total of 4 models of Kestrel® Pocket Weather Meters, as well as added another product to the rowing line, the Speed Coach® Gold, and introduced the Interval 2000 Rate Watch® for the swimming and track and field markets.
Most recently, NK expanded its business and facilities to a brand new manufacturing location in Boothwyn, PA. Along with NK's ever growing staff, the rowing product line has grown to include the easy-to-use Speed Coach XL and the Electronic Pitchmeter. The Cox Box got another facelift making it more appealing and user-friendly. The Kestrel Pocket Weather Meters family diversified in order to meet the needs of various industry professionals by launching five new Specialty Kestrel Meters.
Meanwhile, Richard and a group of fellow soaring pilots realized the need for an integrated flight instrument to overcome the shortcomings that cross-country soaring pilots had been forced to deal with. So in 2008, NK released the ClearNav as the next generation of soaring instrumentation.
Looking toward the future, NK is never one to rest on its success. There are many new products currently under development and testing that will become available in the near future. Be sure to keep an eye on this website for the very latest from Nielsen-Kellerman.
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