MESO, Inc. was founded in 1985 in Hampton, Virginia by a group of five scientists who were then employees of SASC Technologies, Inc. All of the founding scientists were involved in research projects related to the development and application of atmospheric simulation models at the NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton and the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. After its founding, MESO developed versions of the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS) mesoscale model and the Terminal Area Simulation System (TASS) cloud-scale model which could be applied to a variety of research problems. At that time the models were capable of executing only on large supercomputers such as the Cray XMP. These models were further developed and applied in research projects funded by NASA, the EPA, the Defense Nuclear Agency, and the U.S. Air Force. The advances in computer technology during the 1990's made it possible to run high resolution atmospheric simulations on moderately-priced computer workstations. MESO was a pioneer in this area as a result of being awarded two Phase II SBIR contracts in the early 1990's to develop workstation-based mesoscale simulation systems tailored to the needs of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range. In 1990, MESO relocated its principal office from Hampton, Virginia to the Rensselaer Technology Park in Troy, New York. MESO used the atmospheric simulation technology developed in these two SBIR projects as well as in other research projects to establish one of the first real-time commercial atmospheric simulation systems. This system currently generates real-time diagnostic and prognostic atmospheric data which is used for the production of a variety of atmospheric information products which are marketed under the name of Eweather. Thus, at present, MESO operates a real-time information service and also provides research and development expertise and services for a variety of Federal and commercial clients.