Past Competitions

Winning Results:

1^st PLACE PRIZE: The first place prize of $20,000 was awarded to The Vreeland Institute, Inc. of Copake, NY. Their winning solution proposed a multi-layered approach of existing technologies to locate first responders by creating a 3-D map of each room entered as the first responder progresses through a building.

2^nd PLACE PRIZE: The second place solution, receiving a $5,000 award, was submitted by Certa Cito, LLC, of Rochester, NY. Their solution adopts an existing localization and tracking technology developed for the sports and mining industries that relies on a deployable mesh network.

The winning prize competition entries were selected from more than 50 ideas submitted for solving the challenges of real-time, robust indoor tracking of first responders. A panel of expert judges systematically reviewed the submissions for technical merit and alignment to DHS mission and programmatic needs.

Congratulations to our prize competition award winners and thanks to all of those that submitted or contributed novel ideas and approaches for solving this very difficult research and development topic.

Winning Results:

DHS S&T has awarded two winning entries to the NBAF Think and Do Challenge; the Manhattan Area Technical College (MATC) and DynaSim Technical Services, Inc., both located in Manhattan, Kan.

MATC will be awarded $53,106 to develop a training and assessment program aimed at reducing the biohazard risks in the NBAF; and DynaSim Technical Services, Inc. will be awarded $39,200 to construct a data management system that will enable research collaboration between the NBAF, its partners, and research teams.

When completed and fully operational in 2022, the $1.25 billion NBAF will be a 570,000 sq.ft, biocontainment facility for the study of foreign animal and emerging zoonotic (transmitted from animals to humans) diseases that threaten animal agriculture and public health in the United States. The NBAF will be America’s go-to resource for truly innovative animal health research, and will provide huge advances in diagnostic capabilities, vaccines, and other countermeasures that protect America’s livestock, food supply and economy.