Customs and Border Protection says its use of facial recognition technology at Washington Dulles International Airport for verifying the identities of international travelers arriving to the U.S. resulted in the intercept 26-year old man flying from Brazil by confirming he was not a match for the French passport he presented. After the man was sent to secondary screening, CBP officers found his Republic of Congo identification card concealed in his shoe. “The new facial recognition technology virtually eliminates the ability for someone to use a genuine document that was issued to someone else,” says Casey Durst, CBP’s director of the Baltimore Field Office. Dulles is of 14 early adopter airports to use facial recognition technology to expedite the entry inspection process of arriving international passengers.

Protect the Force, Inc., has received a $199,260 award from the Department of Homeland Security for the development of photovoltaic fiber that can be woven into a “power fabric” and integrated with first responder garments to provide a reliable, portable power source. The award was made under the Silicon Valley Innovation Program of the DHS Science and Technology branch. “A wearable, portable power source could support safety equipment and communication tools,” says Melissa Ho, managing director of the program.

Buchanan & Edwards, an information technology consulting firm, says it and its small business partner Innovatrix Corp. have been accepted into the Department of Homeland Security’s Small Business Mentor-Protégé program. Innovatrix is a management and technology consulting firm specializing in development operations and agile solutions and has experience working with DHS.

Thales and Gemalto say they have received regulatory approval from Turkey for Thales’ acquisition of Gemalto, leaving the two companies with nine more approvals to obtain before the deal can close. Thales says it still expects to complete the acquisition this year. Australia, the European Union, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, South America and the U.S. must still approve the deal.