From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Apr 1 00:31:30 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:31:30 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense Message-ID: <20060331193011.I8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 31 March 2006 ; Department of Defense CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense http://defenselink.mil/contracts/2006/ct20060331-12732.html --- No. 264-06 FOR RELEASE AT Mar 31, 2006 Media Contact: (703)697-5131 Public/Industry(703)428-0711 CONTRACTS NAVY Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $5,534,485 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for systems engineering, analysis, and support for current and future command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence systems and networks. This contract is one of six contracts awarded: all six awardees will compete for task orders during the ordering period. This one-year contract includes four one-year options, which, if exercised, will bring the potential, cumulative value of the contract to $29,486,182. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed March 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via publication on the Federal Business Opportunities website and posting to the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website, with nine offers received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-06-D-0073). From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Apr 1 00:34:43 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:34:43 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] Customs image illustrates effectiveness of anti-smuggling tool Message-ID: <20060331193239.S8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 31 March 2006 ; SiLive Customs image illustrates effectiveness of anti-smuggling tool http://www.silive.com/newsflash/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1143842071312350.xml&storylist=simetro --- BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A gamma-ray scan of a tractor-trailer loaded with Styrofoam trays and hardware revealed two people hiding among the cargo as the truck attempted to enter the United States. The man and woman, along with the truck's driver, were arrested. An image of the scan released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Friday plainly shows the shadowy silhouettes of the two stowaways, one standing, one crouching. Such images are rarely released by the agency because of security concerns, CBP spokesman Kevin Corsaro said. The alleged smuggling attempt was revealed about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday after border officers at the Peace Bridge referred the truck for a secondary inspection, which included a pass through the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System, known as VACIS. The system uses gamma-ray technology to produce a high-resolution image of a truck's contents. The human cargo was particularly evident because the two were hiding among low-density Styrofoam, Corsaro said. Bramhadaut Prashad and Debra Appadu, both Guyanese nationals without documents required to enter the United States, were charged with illegal entry and conspiracy, CBP said. The truck's driver, Mootilan Ramphal, a Trinidadian national living in Canada, was charged with alien smuggling. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Apr 1 01:05:10 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:05:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] RTI Wins $2.1M Contract To Combat Spinal Muscular Atrophy Message-ID: <20060331200403.W8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 31 March 2006 ; Local Tech Wire RTI Wins $2.1M Contract To Combat Spinal Muscular Atrophy http://www.localtechwire.com/article.cfm?u=13641 --- RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- RTI International has won a $2.1 million contract as part of a $22 million National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke campaign to develop a treatment for spin muscular atrophy. RTI was awarded a subcontract to be part of the project by primary contractor SAIC. Spinal muscular atrophy is a paralyzing neurodegenerative disease that occurs in one in 6,000 births annually in the U.S. it is the leading genetic cause of death among infants and toddlers, RTI said. RTI will focus on ways to improve tests to screen for the disease through evaluating pharmacokinetic, pharmacologic and toxicologic properties of candidate drug compounds. Lead researcher is C. Edwin Garner. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Apr 1 16:48:25 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2006 11:48:25 -0500 (EST) Subject: [saic] RTI signs $2.1M neurological research deal Message-ID: <20060401114738.E8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 31 March 2006 ; Triangle Business Journal RTI signs $2.1M neurological research deal http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2006/03/27/daily40.html --- RTI International has signed a contract to join a collaboration led by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to accelerate development of a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy. Under the terms of the subcontract with SAIC Inc., which is worth about $2.1 million for RTI, scientists from the Research Triangle Park-based organization will study methods of improving tests to screen for the disease. The RTI project is one component of the $22 million NINDS program, which is seeking to identify and develop a potential therapeutic by late 2007. Spinal muscular atrophy is a paralyzing disease that causes neurological degeneration. It is the leading genetic cause of death among infants and toddlers, occurring in as many as one in every 6,000 births annually in the United States. RTI International is an independent nonprofit research organization with more than 2,500 employees worldwide. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sun Apr 2 18:49:12 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2006 14:49:12 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers Thwart Human Smuggling Attempt Message-ID: <20060402144742.N8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 2 April 2006 ; LA Chronicle U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers Thwart Human Smuggling Attempt http://www.losangeleschronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=7554 --- [Image: VACIS Image] http://www.losangeleschronicle.com/images/articleimages/scanb.jpg BUFFALO, NY- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers apprehended two Guyanese nationals as they attempted to enter the United States illegally as stowaways aboard an inbound commercial truck. CBP Officers using gamma-imaging technology discovered the two individuals hiding in a container of Styrofoam trays. On March 29, 2006, at 12:30 a.m., Mootilan Ramphal, a Trinidadian national with Landed Immigrant Status in Canada, applied for entry into the United States at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry. Ramphal presented a manifest and invoice for Styrofoam trays and window hardware. CBP officers selected the shipment for a secondary enforcement exam. During the course of the inspection, CBP officers utilized the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS), a passive, non-intrusive inspection (NII) device employing gamma-ray technology to produce a high-resolution image of the conveyance's contents (see photo below). The scan produced anomalies consistent with that of stowaways in the nose of the container. A physical inspection of the container resulted in the discovery of two Guyanese nationals commingled within the legitimate freight. Both individuals were taken into custody without incident. The two individuals were identified as Bramhadaut Prashad and Debra Appadu, both Guyanese nationals without proper documentation to enter or remain in the United States. Both subjects were arrested on federal charges of illegal entry and conspiracy. Ramphal was arrested on federal charges of alien smuggling. "All three individuals were turned over to agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation and prosecution by the United States Attorney's office," stated James Engleman, director, Field Operations for CBP Buffalo Field Office. NII systems use advanced imaging and density-detecting technologies in the evaluation of the contents of trucks, containers, cargo, and passenger vehicles to determine the possible presence of many types of contraband. CBP in the Port of Buffalo, as well as many ports throughout the United States, utilize a wide variety of non-intrusive inspection systems. In addition to the mobile VACIS units, CBP Officers utilize rail gamma-imaging systems, radiation portal monitors and personal radiation detectors. "These technologically advanced tools assist CBP officers in executing their primary mission of ensuring terrorists and weapons of terror do not enter the United States," stated Engleman. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Apr 3 13:10:11 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 09:10:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Radar system could save lives Message-ID: <20060403090805.D8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 3 April 2006 ; Florida Today Radar system could save lives http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060403/BUSINESS/604030312/1003 --- BY BRIAN MONROE FLORIDA TODAY [Image: http://cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A9&Date=20060403&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=604030312&Ref=AR&Profile=1003&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0 ] Caption: New tool. Software engineer Manan Karia talks about the Tip-off Target Recognition Tool software being developed at Science Applications International Corp. in Melbourne. The company opened a new office locally, focusing on radar systems that can assess damage faster than conventional tools. Its technologies range from vehicles that turn into robots to damage-assessment radar. A San Diego-based defense and commercial technology company has opened a new office locally focusing on radar systems that could assess damage faster and save lives during natural or man-made disasters. Science Applications International Corp., which had $7.2 billion in sales companywide last year, just moved its Melbourne office from Sarno Road to a larger, more modern space at 100 Rialto Place, where it runs an Advanced Radar Research and Development and Production Center. The private company, which is owned by its 43,000 employees, already has added 10 jobs related to opening the radar center, bringing the total employees at the office to 60. The company also employs 90 people at a facility in Cape Canaveral. Emergency-management officials say they are impressed with the system SAIC is crafting, which would use satellite, aviation, census and other collected data to peer through a storm and form a comprehensive assessment of damage in a matter of hours, rather than days. That would be a boon to Brevard County -- and really any area that is in the path of storms. In 2004, this area was affected by three major hurricanes in two months, and, last year, South Florida and the Gulf Coast bore the brunt of hurricane season's wrath. With the SAIC system in place, it could better enable first responders -- police, firefighters and emergency workers -- to go directly to a hard-hit area, rather than scouring a region first to find the most devastation, SAIC officials said. The SAIC program also can quickly determine what bridges are out or roads have been made impassable while the storm is still going on. That can shorten the time it takes to get damage estimates to state and federal officials -- to determine if the city or town should be deemed a disaster area -- so aid money can start flowing. Brevard County Emergency Management Director Bob Lay, who toured the new facility recently, said the capabilities of SAIC software are excellent. "It's very important following any disaster to make damage assessments immediately. That lets us know the areas where first responders should be sent." He said using radar and satellites to compare how an area looked before, during and after a storm, in close to real time, is a major improvement over how damage currently is calculated. "We have to send people out on the ground, and that's subject to human error," Lay said. "We also need to have an airplane to take aerial pictures or a helicopter. We might not have those resources available, or the weather is too bad to fly." Even if planes, helicopters and workers are swarming a wrecked area, it still can take "anywhere from 12 hours to several days, if the weather is bad," to determine the economic impact, Lay said. "What SAIC is doing is a step in the right direction . . . and isn't usually available at the county level." The SAIC radar software, called the Consequence Assessment Tool Set, or CATS, got its early direction from Cold War fears about a nuclear attack and how "radiation would be dispersed by wind currents," said Dave Bookman, senior systems engineer and project manager for the radar center. SAIC won a $2.28 million Defense Department contract last year and grants to work on different projects related to threat assessment that would be advantageous to military, homeland defense and commercial customers, he said. In addition to damage assessment, SAIC systems can help military customers find enemy vehicles hidden under forest canopies or help water-management districts measure the spread of invasive species of vegetation. The new SAIC Emergency Mapping and Analysis Center will "enhance not only our troops on the ground, but also the state of Florida, as we seek to respond to national disasters," said U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Indialantic. "This project is a good dual-use technology and maximizes the use of taxpayer dollars." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Apr 4 12:34:39 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 08:34:39 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Applied Biosystems and SAIC-Frederick, Inc. to Collaborate on NCI-Funded Genotyping Studies for Cancer Research Message-ID: <20060404083239.F8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 4 April 2006 ; Business Wire Applied Biosystems and SAIC-Frederick, Inc. to Collaborate on NCI-Funded Genotyping Studies for Cancer Research http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060404005403&newsLang=en --- 2006 AACR Annual Meeting BIOWIRE2K FOSTER CITY, Calif. & WASHINGTON Colaboration to Validate TaqMan(R) Drug Metabolism Assays Using HapMap, SNP500Cancer, and Other Key Sample Sets for Pharmacogenetic Studies Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) that it has entered into a collaboration with the Core Genotyping Facility, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., a contractor for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), on a series of biomarker studies for cancer research. The NCI-funded Core Genotyping Facility will use Applied Biosystems' entire TaqMan(R) Drug Metabolism Genotyping Assay collection to examine genetic variations in the HapMap and SNP500Cancer samples in order to validate additional cancer biomarkers. In support of the NCI, the Core Genotyping Facility is using more than 2,400 TaqMan Drug Metabolism Genotyping Assays to generate the genotypes for samples from the International HapMap Project and from NCI's SNP500Cancer standard sample panel. In addition, select assays with significant correlation from data analysis will be used to genotype individuals who participated in a pharmacogenetic study at the NCI evaluating treatment for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. "The objective of this study is to better understand the genetic differences associated with individual responses to cancer treatment," said Dennis A. Gilbert, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer for Applied Biosystems. "Because our TaqMan Drug Metabolism Genotyping Assays were developed using extensive computational analysis in combination with assay optimization and validation that identified novel and well-known gene variants, we believe they represent the most complete set of drug metabolism assays available to the scientific research community. We are pleased the SAIC-Frederick, under contract to the NCI, has selected them for this important project and are confident the assays will identify genetic variations important to various cancers for future pharmacogenetic studies and treatment guidelines." The Core Genotyping Facility will use samples from the HapMap project (http://www.hapmap.org/index.html), SNP500Cancer (http://snp500cancer.nci.nih.gov), and Human Diversity Panel (http://www.cephb.fr/HGDP-CEPH-Panel/) as controls to evaluate the genes included in the TaqMan Drug Metabolism Genotyping Assays. Applied Biosystems and the Core Genotyping Facility will jointly analyze the resulting genotype data, and compare resulting data with previously published genotype and/or sequencing data for the same variants and individuals. Final data meeting concordance/Mendelian transmission thresholds will be posted on the SNP500Cancer website (http://SNP500Cancer.nci.nih.gov) displaying the observed minor allele frequency, context sequences, and assay ordering information. The collaborators also plan to publish further findings. About the TaqMan Drug Metabolism Genotyping Assays The TaqMan(R) Drug Metabolism Genotyping Assays are a collection of ready-to-use assays that detect polymorphisms within approximately 220 genes identified as phase I, phase II, and transport genes within the drug metabolism pathways. It is believed that some polymorphisms within these genes cause differences for drug efficacy between individuals. Other polymorphisms within these genes are believed to be associated with individuals who have a higher risk for certain diseases. The TaqMan Drug Metabolism Genotyping Assay collection comprises more than 2,400 individual assays for research purposes only. One tube contains two allele specific TaqMan probes and a primer pair to detect individual polymorphisms. All assays have been extensively characterized within this collection with 180 genotypes generated per assay. Where possible, information from the common public allele websites has been mapped to individual assays. For more information, please see http://dme.appliedbiosystems.com About Applera Corporation and Applied Biosystems Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. The Applied Biosystems Group serves the life science industry and research community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), small molecules, and proteins to make scientific discoveries and develop new pharmaceuticals. Applied Biosystems' products also serve the needs of some markets outside of life science research, which we refer to as "applied markets," such as the fields of: human identity testing (forensic and paternity testing); biosecurity, which refers to products needed in response to the threat of biological terrorism and other malicious, accidental, and natural biological dangers; and quality and safety testing, for example in food and the environment. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of nearly $1.8 billion during fiscal 2005. The Celera Genomics Group is focused on discovery, development, and commercialization of diagnostic products as well as leveraging its proteomic, bioinformatic, and genomic capabilities to identify and validate drug targets, and is also seeking to advance therapeutic antibody and selected small molecule drug programs in collaboration with global technology and market leaders. Information about Applera Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at http://www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800.762.6923. Information about Applied Biosystems is available at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Apr 5 03:44:36 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 23:44:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Pilot port security program data unused Message-ID: <20060404234224.M8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 4 April 2006 ; World Peace Herald Pilot port security program data unused http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060404-010953-4351r --- By Pamela Hess UPI Pentagon Correspondent Published April 4, 2006 WASHINGTON -- X-ray images of the contents of 1.5 million shipping containers, ripe for intelligence analysis, are sitting on a computer server in Hong Kong unused. The imagery has been collected over the past year in a pilot program run at the Port of Hong Kong, the busiest in the world. It is a program that a shipping executive said Monday proves every container coming in or out of a port can be screened for contraband, narcotics, humans and weapons without slowing down global trade. It could be a treasure trove of data for U.S. Customs, the Defense Department, the Homeland Security Department and the CIA to identify smugglers and dangerous cargo before it gets to the United States, but most of the data has not been scrutinized. The Customs and Border Patrol is looking at a sample of about 20,000 images, culled in January to determine how a system like the one in Hong Kong might improve the security of the global supply chain. "If no one wants to use it, then scrap it," said Gary Gilbert, senior vice president for Hutchison Port Holdings, one of the port terminal operators in Hong Kong, of the imagery. He is a strong advocate for using it. Gilbert said Monday at a discussion on port security organized by Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus that the program should be mandated worldwide. Gilbert said shipping companies and port terminal operators' bottom lines make such a system imperative. If there is a terrorist event at a port -- or nuclear or radiological device is found to have moved through a port -- it is likely to foul maritime shipping for days or weeks, costing billions. Minimizing the chances of a terrorist attack or the shipment of illegal weapons and providing a way to quickly track shipments back to their port of origin will minimize the disruption and safeguard their bottom line. The Hong Kong pilot program, the Integrated Container Inspection System, was the brainchild of Stephen Flynn, a maritime security expert and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Flynn has no financial interest in the program. The pilot program uses no government funding; it is carried out with funding and by the cooperation of American contractor SAIC and the Hong Kong Terminal Operators Association. "That's what made this almost impossible to get someone to pay attention for it," Flynn said. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff was in Hong Kong over the weekend learning about the pilot project. DHS and Customs had the technical information about the pilot program a year ago, but have done little with it, Flynn said. It took the controversy surrounding the Dubai Port World takeover to refocus the U.S. government and public attention on port security issues. Flynn brought SAIC and the Hong Kong port authorities together in 2004. SAIC had the equipment, and Hong Kong the test site to prove whether 100 percent of shipping containers could be actively screened at a reasonable cost without slowing down commerce, with sufficient quality of imaging to detect weapons of mass destruction, Flynn told United Press International Monday. The two port terminals involved in the project move 12 million containers a year, more than arrive in the entire system of U.S. ports. The United States Customs and Border Patrol only physically inspects 5 percent of the containers that arrive at U.S. ports. ICIS marries three commercially available technologies: the VACIS gamma ray imaging system, which provides radiographic images of container contents; the Exploranium Radiation Portal Monitor, which provides a graphic reading of radiation inside a container; and Optical Character Recognition portal system technology, which automatically identifies containers and allows the collation of data on each container. The breakthrough in the pilot program is using the technologies in concert. Used alone, a radiation portal monitor has troubles. If it is set to catch low levels of radiation, it often yields false positive readings, forcing many containers to be pulled off line for further inspection and slowing port operations appreciably. Set at a less sensitive level to decrease false positives, it is apt to miss the very weapons it is searching for. At higher levels the monitor is easy to defeat, according to Flynn: all a determined terrorist would have to do is encase a dirty bomb or plutonium in lead and it would not trip the device. But if a gamma ray imager is used in concert with the radiation detector, the radiation monitor could be set to detect low levels of radioactivity. Containers that set off the alarm would be automatically scanned with the gamma imager, which would show whether there is a dense object -- lead casing, for instance -- that requires further scrutiny. "It seems like a very basic concept but we can't get any traction on it with the U.S. government," Flynn said. Hutchison's Gilbert said Monday the cost of installing ICIS should be borne by shippers. The imaging process takes less than 30 seconds and would add only $10 to $20 to the shipping cost of each container at smaller ports, and only $6 a container at ports with higher volume, a tiny percentage of the roughly $2,000 cost to move a standard container on the sea. However, it has to be mandated in every port, or vessels will just choose ports that don't use the technology and therefore don't charge the added fee, Gilbert said. To make it worth port terminal operator's money to install the monitor, however, the U.S. government would have to invest heavily in Customs and Border Patrol to have enough analysts to use the imagery. According to Flynn, there are about 80 CBP agents now dedicated to overseeing the port security program nationwide. He estimates between 300 and 400 would be needed to review every image of every container as it is loaded, assuming agents give five minutes of scrutiny per photo and have software tools that marry the images with manifests and company history. Baucus, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, announced Monday he will call for a funding increase for the Bureau of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol when legislation to reauthorize the agency is considered later this year. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Apr 6 03:26:55 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2006 23:26:55 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] US Customs catches human smuggling on X-Ray Message-ID: <20060405232513.V8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 5 April 2006 ; Today's Trucking Online US Customs catches human smuggling on X-Ray http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=16038 --- BUFFALO, NY -- Two people hiding in a container about to be trucked from Canada to Buffalo, N.Y. were spotted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers using gamma-imaging technology. [Photo: http://www.todaystrucking.com/images/usr_050406115520_gamma.jpg] Caption: The gamma-ray scan that nabbed stowaways at the Can-Am border In a press statement, CBP confirmed it has apprehended two Guyanese nationals from the U.S.-bound commercial truck. Mootilan Ramphal, a Trinidadian national with Landed Immigrant Status in Canada, applied for entry into the U.S, at the Peace Bridge, says CBP. Ramphal presented a manifest and invoice for Styrofoam trays and window hardware. CBP officers selected the shipment for a secondary enforcement exam. During the course of the inspection, in which CBP officers used the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) -- a gamma ray-emitting X-Ray technology that produces a high-resolution image scan of the conveyance's contents -- the two stowaways were spotted in the nose of the container among legitimate freight. The two individuals were arrested and identified as Bramhadaut Prashad and Debra Appadu, both Guyanese nationals without proper documentation. Ramphal was arrested on federal charges of alien smuggling. CBP at Port of Buffalo and many other border crossings frequently utilize both stationary and mobile VACIS units to inspect cargo. The gamma-imaging system functions on low levels of gamma radiation measured in millirem. The scanner used by CBP emits radiation levels that are measured in micro-rem, which is one-one thousandth of a millirem -- deemed completely safe by the U.S. EPA. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Apr 6 03:29:06 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2006 23:29:06 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Contracts from the Department of Defense Message-ID: <20060405232656.B8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 5 April 2006 ; U.S. Department of Defense Contracts from the Department of Defense http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060405-12755.html --- CONTRACTS No. 277-06 ARMY Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., was awarded on March 31, 2006, a delivery order amount of $9,578,355 as part of a $66,250,392 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for sustainment and development of the Joint Automated Deep Operations Coordination Systems. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Va., and is expected to be completed by March 30, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Feb. 9, 2006. The Vicksburg Consolidated Contracting Office, Alexandria, Va., is the contracting activity (DACA42-03-D-0007). AIR FORCE Science Application International Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $43,317,301 cost plus award fee contract modification. The overall systems engineering integration contract represents a Department of Defense long-term engineering and integration effort for the mission planning enterprise. It will support operation and maintenance; life cycle upgrades of the portable flight planning software and mission planning legacy systems and supports the technical and management tasks associated with migrating from these legacy systems to Joint Mission Planning Mission Systems. The scope of the current contract includes continued mission planning system engineering and integration effort for the next 12 years and includes technical and managerial tasks associated with the Integration of the Joint Mission Planning Systems. This contract change proposal is a modification to the contract to include the development of technical content for milestone briefs, platform integration, security management, and the development of delivery orders requirements. At this time, no funds have been obligated. Negotiations were completed in March 2006. This work will be complete April 2017. Headquarters Mission Planning Systems Group, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8720-05-C-0005/P00014). From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Apr 10 13:19:53 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 09:19:53 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Wins Two Nunn-Perry Awards at DoD Mentor-Protege Conference Message-ID: <20060410091914.C8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 10 April 2006 ; PR Newswire SAIC Wins Two Nunn-Perry Awards at DoD Mentor-Protege Conference http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060410/nym084.html?.v=33 --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced it recently was presented with two U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awards for Mentor-Protege Program Excellence. The recognition of SAIC's protege firms, Arrowhead Contracting, Inc. and Ellis Environmental Group, LC, brings the total number of Nunn-Perry Awards for SAIC to nine. "SAIC is deeply honored and grateful to be recognized for both the value of our contributions to the growth and success of our proteges, as well as for our contributions to DoD's mission," said Larry Nave, SAIC senior program manager in the sponsoring Engineering and Infrastructure Business Unit. SAIC has participated in DoD's Mentor-Protege Program for more than 10 years and has formally mentored over 60 firms, enhancing their capabilities and increasing their participation in government and commercial contracts. SAIC is committed to small business development, leading to significant growth for SAIC's two protege awardees during the past year. Arrowhead Contracting, Inc., based in Overland Park, Kan., experienced significant growth in its employment base, gross revenue, and participation in DoD contracts and subcontracts. The SAIC mentor-protg relationship has strengthened Arrowhead's capabilities, enabling it to become one of DoD's top contractors for force protection and military construction. In similar fashion, Ellis Environmental Group, LC, based in Newberry, Fla., experienced significant growth in DoD prime contracts and subcontracts, contract backlog, and gross revenue. Ellis is also distinguished for having formed a subsidiary actively delivering engineering and environmental services to meet U.S. military needs in Iraq, Jordan and Afghanistan. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Apr 11 22:24:50 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 18:24:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Establishes Emergency Mapping and Analysis Center Message-ID: <20060411182352.L8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 11 April 2006 ; Yahoo (PR Newswire) SAIC Establishes Emergency Mapping and Analysis Center http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060411/dctu020.html?.v=41 --- MCLEAN, Va., April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- In order to facilitate critical decision-making before, during and after a catastrophic event, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has established an Emergency Mapping and Analysis Center (EMAC) located in their new Advanced Radar Research and Development and Production Center, based in Melbourne, Fla. The EMAC will help the state of Florida enhance its preparations for hurricanes and other disasters by allowing the Emergency Operations Centers' Incident Management Teams to visualize events from a geographic perspective. The intent is to help incident managers rapidly direct their resources to the areas in which they are most needed. According to the Radar Center's Senior Systems Engineer, Dave Bookman, the center will use optical remote sensing and Synthetic Aperture Radar data from satellites to track damage status on the Earth's surface. "The optical data provides a high-quality, color image base layer of the Earth's surface and the radar waves can penetrate cloud cover and most other adverse weather conditions," said Bookman. "With this information we can assess the differences in topography, land cover or structures that result from damage and then these differences can be rapidly depicted in map form." The EMAC's first project, with the Brevard County Emergency Operations Center in Rockledge, Fla., is already underway. In this project the Center will develop change detection maps of the entire county and then use these maps as a data layer within the SAIC-developed Consequence Assessment Toolset (CATS). Used in tandem with CATS, the maps will create depictions of the local environment that can be used to perform rapid hazard calculations for emergency responders. "These tools assist in real-time disaster analysis," said John Thomas, SAIC senior vice president and general manager of the Operational Intelligence Solutions Business Unit. "The EMAC will facilitate the calculation and assessment of consequences by converting the geographic distribution of hazards into probabilities of the occurrence of certain events, including the extent of loss of life." In creating CATS, SAIC correlated a wealth of historical data on structural damage from atmospheric nuclear tests with hurricane gust characteristics to create a robust damage assessment methodology. SAIC melded this methodology with the power of geographical information systems and demographic and infrastructure data to produce a tool that can be used to help anticipate the consequences of not only hurricanes, but of terrorist events as well. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Apr 17 13:22:33 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 09:22:33 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Lockheed Martin GOES-R Program Team To Include SAIC and IBM Message-ID: <20060417092134.I8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 17 April 2006 ; PR Newswire Lockheed Martin GOES-R Program Team To Include SAIC and IBM http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060417/nym073.html?.v=41 --- DENVER, April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) announced today that Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and IBM Business Consulting Services have joined the GOES-R Lockheed Martin Team in competition for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) program. "The knowledge and technologies that SAIC and IBM bring to the team are invaluable and are important essentials to meet NOAA's needs," said Wes Colburn, vice president, Earth Observing Systems, GOES-R program manager, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "These relationships are a prime example of our focus on developing and delivering the best science and technologies in addition to leveraging our 45-year heritage of Earth environmental missions to provide NOAA with an unmatched solution to GOES-R." SAIC's Earth Sciences Operation brings strong scientific programming and technology expertise to the development of calibration algorithms, and characterization and modeling of the suite of sensors, in addition to environmental data analysis and modeling. SAIC's contribution will enhance environmental forecasting abilities that support evolving needs of the environmental community, the U.S. government and society at large. IBM is an industry leader in the design and development of service- oriented architectures (SOA) and the related software products to model, assemble, deploy and manage an SOA. IBM Business Consulting Services will support Lockheed Martin in the migration of the current GOES infrastructure into a service-oriented, open architecture design to enhance the flexibility and responsiveness to end-users' diverse needs. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program is a key element of NOAA's operations. The GOES-R series will comprise improved spacecraft and instrument technologies, with faster ground processing for new and advanced products that will lead to significant economic benefits for the nation in the areas of weather and water, climate, ecosystems monitoring and management, and commerce and transportation. GOES-R will be the cornerstone of the Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS), an international partnership of over 60 countries leading a worldwide effort to build a 'system of systems' consisting of existing and future Earth-observation systems (space, air, ground, water). The Lockheed Martin GOES-R team brings together the best assets available across the company and throughout industry and academia, each providing additional domain expertise and key enabling technologies. In addition to SAIC and IBM, the team members include ARES Corporation, ASRC Aerospace Corporation, Emergent Space Technologies, Global Science & Technology, Honeywell, Intelsat, ItriCorp, Kamel Engineering Services (KES), The Pennsylvania State University and RS Information Systems (RSIS). From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Apr 19 03:41:13 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:41:13 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Acquires Geo-Spatial Technologies, Inc. Message-ID: <20060418234026.Q8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 18 April 2006 ; PR Newswire SAIC Acquires Geo-Spatial Technologies, Inc. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060418/dctu041.html?.v=48 --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has completed the acquisition of Geo-Spatial Technologies, Inc. (GSTI), a Springfield, Va., and Seattle, Wa., firm that is a leader in the research, development, and application of novel geospatial technology for advanced 3-D imaging, reconnaissance, remote sensing and mapping systems. The acquisition enhances SAIC's capability and industry position in the area of next-generation system development and integration for urban warfare and homeland security applications and operations. GSTI has developed systems applying airborne, vehicle-based and terrestrial sensors for mapping urban terrain and structures using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), IFSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar), digital cameras and video. "Combining GSTI's capability with SAIC's outstanding advanced technology development will allow us to pursue larger and more ambitious R&D and system integration contracts within the defense and homeland security market. An enhanced portfolio of complementary technologies, services and expertise, will help us offer better solutions to current and future customers," said Chris Moscoso, former president and CEO of GSTI. "We are very excited to join the SAIC team." The company's 45 employees will transition into SAIC's Technology, Research and Integration business unit. Terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed. "GSTI's current business relationships and ongoing technology programs will help strengthen and broaden SAIC's customer base," said Jurgen Gobien, SAIC general manager in the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Group. "Their expertise will help us build leadership in innovative enabling imaging and mapping technology and provide more opportunities to win key advanced development contracts." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Apr 19 03:44:44 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:44:44 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Contracts for April 18, 2006 Message-ID: <20060418234431.N8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 18 April 2006 ; Department of Defense CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense http://defenselink.mil/contracts/2006/ct20060418-12839.html --- No. 330-06 FOR RELEASE AT Apr 18, 2006 Media Contact: (703)697-5131 Public/Industry(703)428-0711 CONTRACTS NAVY Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $5,435,216 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing for engineering services to support communication and sensor system technology programs at the center. This one-year contract includes four, one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative, potential value of this contract to $28,940,859. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif.: at government facilities (75 percent) and at the contractor's site (25 percent). Work is expected to be completed April 2007 (with options April 2011). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via publication on the Federal Business Opportunity website under solicitation N66001-05-R-0008, and via posting to the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website on August 3, 2005, with three offers received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity (N66001-06-D-0071). From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Apr 22 05:25:16 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 01:25:16 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Contracts for April 21, 2006 Message-ID: <20060422012419.X8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 21 April 2006 CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense --- No. 339-06 FOR RELEASE AT Apr 21, 2006 Media Contact: (703)697-5131 Public/Industry(703)428-0711 CONTRACTS AIR FORCE Advanced Information Engineering Services, Inc., General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Buffalo, N.Y., L-3 Communications Corp., Link Simulation and Training Division, Arlington, Texas, and Science Applications International Corp, Technology Services Co., San Diego, Calif., are being awarded a $90,000,000 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity time and materials, firm fixed price, cost reimbursement, cost plus fixed fee contract. This action provides for customer funding over multiple years in task orders, simulation analysis facility (XR-SIMAF) capabilities integration services performance based acquisition with a three years base period (CY06-08) to provide enterprise modeling, simulation, and analysis and infrastructure built to support AF-ICE (Integrated Collaborative Environment) and accelerated acquisition. The Air Force can issue delivery orders totaling to the maximum amount indicated above, although actual requirements may be less than the amount above. At this time, $5,000 has been obligated. Solicitations began in December 2005 and negotiations were complete in April 2006. This work will be complete by December 2008. Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (FA8626-06-D-2096 through FA8626-06-D-2098) From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sun Apr 23 14:26:21 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 10:26:21 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Slipping through the net -- and into our ports Message-ID: <20060423102429.E8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 23 April 2006 ; The Seattle Times Slipping through the net -- and into our ports http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002947772_portsecurity23.html --- By Alwyn Scott Seattle Times business reporter Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. has developed a sophisticated system of nets to catch dangerous foreign cargo before it gets into the U.S. The problem, critics say, is that the nets are full of holes. Those holes allowed a cargo container holding 22 Chinese stowaways to land April 4 at the Port of Seattle, unloaded from the M/V Rotterdam. The container likely would have sat for several days before anyone inspected it, said Mike Milne, a Seattle spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency in charge of such inspections. Of course, long before that, in the early-morning darkness, the stowaways crept out into the orange floodlights of the Terminal 18 dock, where they were seen by a private security guard and apprehended. Security officials call the capture a success because CBP had singled out the container for further scrutiny before it would be moved from the Port. "This one was initially set up for an [X-ray type scanning] exam sometime during the next two or three days following its arrival, which is a standard time frame for containers," Milne said. "We didn't let that container through," Milne said. "If it hadn't been set aside by CBP, the container would have been down the road." Critics, however, say leaving a container with unknown cargo at a U.S. terminal for several days shows the system isn't secure. "Imagine this being a dirty bomb," said Shay Hancock, an aide to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "It's a little too late to find out about that when it comes into the Port of Seattle." advertising Murray and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, have sponsored a bill that would toughen port security, including putting more scanners overseas. Five years after Sept. 11, "I still do not sleep well knowing all the vulnerabilities in our port-security system," Mic Dinsmore, Port of Seattle chief executive, told Congress in testimony a day before the stowaways were discovered. "The rate at which containers are screened is abysmal and the controls we have for allowing persons to get onto our marine terminals are almost embarrassing." Looking closely at how such a container arrives on the dock in Seattle suggests the holes in U.S. port security. Pushing out the borders The first line of defense is at major ports overseas. According to CBP, 24 hours before any container is put on a ship bound for the U.S., information about what's in it -- known as a manifest -- is sent electronically to the National Targeting Center in Reston, Va. Analysts use a database known as the Automated Targeting System to crunch details about each shipment and assign a risk score. High-risk cargo is supposed to be stopped and inspected before it is put on the ship. But some cargo dodges this first net. Inspections are carried out at only 44 foreign ports that participate in the inspection program, known as the "Container Security Initiative." Those ports handle 77 percent of the boxes that enter the U.S. by sea, CBP said. A very small percentage of cargo passing through the CSI ports is actually inspected there -- CBP was unable to provide a figure. Milne estimated it at less than 6 percent, and Dennis Murphy, a former assistant commissioner at the U.S. Customs Service, said it was probably less than 5 percent. Moreover, even the majority of cargo CBP identifies as high risk at CSI ports is not inspected before it gets on a boat. According to the findings in Murray's bill, only 17.5 percent of cargo assessed as high-risk is inspected overseas, and the inspections are carried out by foreign officials using equipment that is "untested and of unknown quality." "That means 82.5 percent of the high-risk cargo is getting to the U.S. without being inspected," said Hancock, Murray's aide. The stowaways' container is a case in point. An inspection could have spotted them in Shanghai, before their container was put on the ship, because Shanghai is a CSI port. Although the CBP now says something about the container's documentation caught authorities' attention -- it won't say what -- the cargo was not considered dangerous, said Milne, the CBP spokesman in Seattle. "It didn't meet the elements that they particularly were looking for," Milne said. "CBP officers overseas are there to prevent weapons of mass destruction from coming into the U.S.," Milne said. So the container was put onboard. During the 15 days it took to reach Seattle, CBP officials looked again at information about the container and decided it needed to be inspected before being allowed out of the Port, Milne said. CBP says it inspects about 6 percent of the sea containers that make it to U.S. shores, including all those it targets as high-risk that weren't inspected overseas. But Hancock has his doubts. "I believe there's still a reasonable percentage that's sliding through unchecked on either end," he said. System for big shippers has its own flaws A separate net is supposed to gather familiar cargo from well-known, major importers and keep it moving smoothly by avoiding inspections. And that system has its own holes. The program, known as C-TPAT, makes private companies partners in policing their cargos. They agree to have their supply chains checked so CBP officials are familiar with everyone involved in getting goods from the factory floor to the store floor, said Kelby Woodard, a principal at TradeInnovations, a consultancy based in Minneapolis, Minn. About 10,000 importers -- accounting for about 70 percent of seaborne cargo -- have signed up, including Starbucks, Boeing, Wal-Mart, Target and Home Depot, Woodard said. But while they handle the most cargo, they are only a fraction of the 400,000 importers bringing containers into the country that could ship a rogue box, Woodard said. What's more, only 1,300 of the C-TPAT applicants have actually had their supply chains checked, CBP said. Yet their cargo isn't generally inspected because it is considered low-risk, Woodard said. "Today, a good proportion of product flows through the system with only its information being validated" rather than an actual inspection, said Woodard, who helped design C-TPAT. The Murray-Collins bill would shift all of this C-TPAT cargo into the inspection lane. In effect, it would place an airportlike baggage-screening system overseas to check supposedly low-risk cargo from C-TPAT shippers. The capacity also would allow for more high-risk cargo from outside C-TPAT to be scanned. Murray doesn't think it will slow container handling overseas, provided there is enough equipment. And it would allow this cargo to clear U.S. ports faster. "Once they get to the U.S., they get a free pass right out of the gate," Hancock said. The inner perimeter That would ease pressure on the second line of defense: the home ports. A network of agencies -- Customs and Border Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard, State Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- is involved in security at domestic ports, which handled 10.8 million seaborne containers in the fiscal year ending in September 2005. The agencies occasionally work together to conduct sweeps -- periods when all containers moving through a port are stopped and inspected, said U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Mark Dix in Seattle. The highest priority is to screen all containers for radioactive material that could be used as a nuclear weapon or in a "dirty bomb" that spreads radiation. Scanners, known as radiation portal monitors or RPMs, are still being installed at many ports. Seattle and Tacoma have the machines at some terminals, but not all, Milne said. Nationwide, Milne said, RPMs screen 51 percent of the seaborne containers entering the U.S., a figure that's expected to rise to 65 percent by September, Milne said. As recently as February, only one-third of containers were screened for radiation. Although CBP agents wear radiation "pagers" on their belts to alert them to radioactive material, full RPM scans are done only when containers leave the port, not when they enter. Containers set aside for inspection can sit for days without receiving such an RPM scan. That was the case with the stowaways. And even where monitors find radiation, Customs agents are sometimes lax. A Government Accountability Office report released last month said that in two tests of borders with Canada and Mexico, scanners detected radiation, but fake paperwork allowed the cargo into the U.S. "Our investigators were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources to make two dirty bombs using counterfeit documents," the report said. The next priority is to screen for drugs, illegal immigrants and other contraband. About 6 percent of incoming containers are set aside for these types of inspections, Milne said. Some are taken to warehouses and unloaded. Others are scanned with imaging machines, such as the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS), which uses gamma rays to look inside the box. The scan takes just two or three minutes. VACIS-type images last month found two Guyanese nationals hiding inside a truck entering the U.S. from Canada at Buffalo, N.Y. An image on the CBP Web site shows an X-ray-like image with two people visible inside the container. But the stowaways in Seattle emerged from their hiding place long before such a scan would have been performed. Did defenses fail? It's still unknown what tipped agents off to the stowaway container. Milne declined to disclose the manifest's contents, or who had paid to import the container to the U.S. All of that is proprietary business information, he said. Terminal operators also don't know what's in the boxes they handle. Bob Watters, vice president of SSA Marine, the company that operates Terminal 18 and set aside the stowaway container, said his crews are told which boxes CBP wants to inspect but are not given manifest information. He also said earlier reports that the container was too light were wrong. Containers are not weighed as they are unloaded from ships. "The reason it was set aside was because CBP noticed issues with the manifest. They made the designation to set it aside," Watters said. Critics said the system of defenses failed because it didn't stop the container or identify the contents -- either abroad or in the U.S. "It was set aside and nothing was done with it," said Hancock, the Murray aide. "It wasn't until the next morning that our last line of defense -- the terminal security guard -- spotted people moving around." But Milne said the system worked the way it was supposed to. The CBP people in Shanghai passed the container on because it wasn't a bomb threat, and the cargo was stopped in Seattle. "That's why there are 8-foot fences with barb wire on them," he said. "That's why there are security personnel hired by terminal operators." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Apr 25 02:27:03 2006 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 22:27:03 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Top spy agencies use local software Message-ID: <20060424222336.D8724-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 25 April 2006 ; Melbourne Herald Sun Top spy agencies use local software http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/printpage/0,5481,18921860,00.html --- US intelligence agencies are using software technology developed by RMIT in Melbourne to track and collate material on terrorists. The software, TeraText, enables the processing of vast amounts of material through multiple databases. The CIA and FBI use the technology, which allows super-fast processing of information while simultaneously allowing input of further intelligence. But variations of the RMIT software are also used by other organisations, including the Australian Taxation Office and Australian Federal Police. The RMIT company that developed the technology, InQuirion, has sold the business to US giant Science Applications International Corporation, which sells the service on to US customers, including the intelligence agencies.