CWMD Office Awards Sensor Technology $2M for RadPack Repairs
Sensor Technology Engineering has received a $2.1 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office for a service life extension of RadPack radiological detection units. Sensor Technology, which is based in California, is the prime contractor for the systems. Under the contract, Sensor Technology will repair and bring DHS’s inventory of RadPack backpacks to a common hardware and software baseline configuration to ensure their continued high reliability, low failure rate, and high availability in the field. The work will be done on RadPacks purchased between 2003 and 2014. The contract has a base-year and four one-year options.
Smiths Detection Providing Checkpoint CT Scanners to Rome Airport
Smiths Detection has begun installing 30 HI-SCAN 6040 CTiX carry-on baggage scanning systems at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome, the company says. The computed tomography (CT)-based screening systems allow travelers to keep their electronics and liquids in their carry-on bags, speeding processing and making it more convenient. Smiths Detection previously supplied 300 of the 6040 CTiX systems to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. Smiths already supplied 45 IONSCAN 600 explosives and narcotics trace detectors to the Rome airport.
CISA to Award RIT Contract for Vulnerability Intelligence Platform Support
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Division, Disclosure Branch, plans to award Rochester Institute of Technology a contract to provide subject matter expert analytic staff resources to further develop a National Vulnerability Intelligence Platform (NVIP) using artificial intelligence and machine learning to “drastically” reduce the number of labor hours used in the analysis of software and hardware vulnerabilities and publishing those vulnerabilities to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure database. CISA plans the next-generation NVIP to be a software-as-a-service solution to obtain rich, actionable, and real-time intelligence about known vulnerabilities. RIT developed the NVIP as a proof-of-concept and performed a two-year demonstration of its features. CISA plans to broaden the concept to go beyond efficient management and sharing of vulnerability data to enable it to serve as a single source of vulnerability truth for other agencies and partner organizations, industry and non-profit groups seeking high-fidelity vulnerability intelligence. The value of the pending award wasn’t disclosed. The new contract will be for one-year, beginning on or about Sept. 15.
TSA to Award Rohde & Schwarz Contract for AIT Support
The Transportation Security Administration says plans to award a contract to Rohde & Schwarz for system management and engineering development support for the company’s Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) systems in use at U.S. airports. The value of the pending award wasn’t disclosed.
FAA Awards Drone Research Contracts for Preparedness and Response
The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded five universities a combined $2.7 million in contracts to research how small unmanned aircraft systems can be used in support of disaster preparedness and emergency response. The five schools and their amounts are: Univ. of Vermont, $1.2 million; Univ. of Alabama Huntsville, $828,070; New Mexico State Univ.; $400,000; North Carolina State Univ., $200,000; and Kansas State Univ., $145,000. The awards were made under the FAA’s Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence and will address coordination procedures among drone operators from federal agencies as well as state and local disaster preparedness and emergency response organizations. “Every second counts in an emergency, and this funding will allow drones to safely and more quickly deploy in moments when minutes matter,” says Billy Nolen, acting FAA Administrator.