[Archived] Five Firms Named as Finalists for Alexandria Technology Achievement Award

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

CONTACT:
Eric Dobson, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Inc.
(703) 739-3820;
Barbara Lord, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce
(703) 549-1000; extension 210
Kendel Taylor, City of Alexandria
(703) 838-4780

Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley and Technology Achievement Award Committee Chairman R. Mark McLindon today announced the five Alexandria businesses selected as finalists for the 6th Annual Alexandria Technology Achievement Award.

The 2002 Technology Award finalists are: BriarTek, Inc., MTS Technologies, Inc., Outtask, Inc., Riptech, Inc., and TRADOS, Inc. A panel of four judges representing the technology industry selected the five finalists from among 38 Alexandria firms nominated for the award.

The winner of the Technology Achievement Award will be announced during Technology Achievement Week in Alexandria, March 18-22. The award will be presented at a luncheon at 12:00 noon on Friday, March 22, at the Hilton Alexandria - Old Town. The luncheon honoring the award winner and the finalists will highlight Alexandria Technology Achievement Week, showcasing advancements in the development and application of technology by Alexandria-based businesses.

The judges evaluated each nomination on the basis of technological achievement and its impact on the business, its industry, and/or the City of Alexandria. The judging panel consisted of Shawn McLaughlin of Legg Mason Wood Walker; Doris Cammack-Spencer, representing the Commission on Information Technology; Tony Cook, Vice President of Digital Paper Corporation (2001 Alexandria Technology Achievement Award winner); and Jeff Weiss, Managing Director, ASAP Ventures.

Alexandria Technology Achievement Week and the Alexandria Technology Achievement Award are sponsored cooperatively by the City of Alexandria, the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, and the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Inc. The award originated in 1997 with the Ad Hoc Task Force on Information and Communication Technologies, which was succeeded by the Commission on Information Technology. The Commission is comprised of members of the Alexandria City School Board, the Chamber of Commerce, the Library Board, City telecommunications providers, citizens and City Council members Del Pepper and Joyce Woodson. Alexandria is at the center of Northern Virginia’s fast growing technology industry. Currently, more than 400 technology firms employ nearly 12,000 workers in the City of Alexandria.

The events of the 2002 Alexandria Technology Achievement Week include:

C Tuesday, March 12, 7:30 p.m., the City Council will honor the finalists with an official proclamation. A reception for the finalists will be held at 6:45 p.m. in the Vola Lawson Lobby in City Hall, 301 King Street.

• Monday, March 18, 6:00 p.m., the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the 2001 Alexandria Technology Achievement Award Special Recognition Recipient, will host a kick-off reception for all current and past finalists. The reception will take place at 699 Prince Street in Alexandria.

C Thursday morning, March 21, 8:00 a.m., the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce will host a breakfast at the Alexandria Hilton at Mark Center. The Chief Executive Officers of each finalist company will speak briefly about their technological achievements.

C Friday, March 22, at 12 noon, the Alexandria Technology Achievement Award luncheon will be held at the Hilton Alexandria - Old Town, and the winner will be announced. In addition to the award presentation, a video produced by T. C. Williams High School students will be shown, highlighting the technological achievements of the honored firms and the advantages offered by Alexandria as a location for technology companies.

Finalist Firms

BriarTek, Inc. Joseph S. Landa, Corporate Officer
Press Contact: Joseph Landa (703) 739-9268
BriarTek developed a maritime survivor locating beacon used as a man-overboard alarm, receiver and direction finder known as the Overboard Recovery Communications Apparatus (ORCA). The ORCA system consists of a beacon worn by sailors while at sea, a receiver that alerts crew members and rescue authorities in the event of an emergency and a directional finder that helps locate the individual in need of assistance. The technology is also being applied to industrial safety alarms, firefighter locating beacons and wildlife tracking tags.

MTS Technologies, Inc. Barton Whitman, Chief Administrative Officer
Press Contact: Jacqui Woodard (703) 575-2976
MTS Technologies developed the Voice Interactive Display (VID) for the Army by integrating voice technology into the Soldier’s Portable On-System Repair Tool creating a hands-free interface to permit a technician to carry out maintenance procedures effectively and efficiently. The Medical Encounter Module prototype developed for the Navy for dictating patient information, automatically generating medical reports, prescriptions and x-ray requests.

Outtask, Inc. Ross Atkinson, Vice President, Marketing
Press Contact: Geoff Hensgen (703) 837-6100, ext 4002
Outtask’s Cliqbook Travel Management solution integrates corporate, published and internet-exclusive fares into a single corporate booking tool that provides a powerful workflow and approval mechanism for managers to control costs and monitor travel activities. Cliqbook allows travelers to book resulting ticket options through a workflow and approval mechanism that ensures their travel arrangements fall within predetermined budgets set by their corporate travel manager.

Riptech, Inc. Elad Yoran, Co-Founder
Press Contact: Michael Adler (703) 329-3100
Riptech protects computer networks for clients in over 30 countries from intrusion of attack through 24/7 security monitoring in real time from a Security Operations Center in Alexandria and security professional services. The Caltarian technology platform is capable of analyzing, interpreting and correlating large volumes of network security data, providing customers with a comprehensive and prioritized view of their security posture.

TRADOS, Inc. John Egan, Chief Marketing Officer
Press Contact: John Egan (703) 797-2637
TRADOS provides the world’s leading language translation technology that enables multilingual communication in global organizations. The translation memory database stores previously translated sentences, building up a large repository of source text and foreign language equivalents over time. With the assistance of "fuzzy matching" functionality the system also recognizes similar, not just identical, translation matches. The technology saves considerable time and costs when translating repetitive texts (such as standardized forms, operating manuals, contracts, product updates and successive versions of other texts).

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