More Topics:
Editor's Eye on Houston: A Tactical Move Into Top 50
Posted December 9, 2010
We Recommend...
By Julie Armstrong
Last month, 50 of the most promising U.S. start-ups were recognized as part of the Startup Open, a competition for start-ups with high-growth potential that took place during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 in Kansas City, Mo.
Among those standouts was Tactical Information Systems, based in Austin. The company has created a platform for low-cost matching of fingerprints, palm prints, iris and face images.
Tactical Information Systems' first product, WanderID, uses face matching to provide identification services for people who cannot reliably identify themselves in case of an emergency, such as young children. People with Alzheimer's disease or similar cognitive disorders also benefit from the service, the company says.
Tactical Information Systems is planning its next product to be released, called CloudID. The goal for CloudID is to take the expensive biometric matching tools used by only the largest organizations and make them available as a cloud-based service to small and medium-size police stations.
Tactical Information Systems is led by and . Haskett is a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits behind her. Before founding Tactical Information Systems, she founded HCI Training, a company that designed and developed high-end custom corporate training projects. HCI was hired to develop training for biometrics projects being deployed in the Middle East and eventually was acquired by a defense contractor.
Kilpatrick started his career in the Air Force, where he earned a Ph.D. in computer engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He did work for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on social network analysis before working in biometrics. He designed and developed many biometrics systems still in use in the Middle East.
The Startup Open is co-sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, of Kansas City, and DYMO Labeling, based in Norwalk, Conn.
New ventures having a "start-up moment" during Global Entrepreneurship Week registered to compete for the Startup Open grand prize: a trip to billionaire Richard Branson's private Necker Island to network with experienced entrepreneurs. A start-up moment could be any event related to launching a new business, such as incorporating a company, officially opening the doors for business, completing a first sale or securing outside funding.
Tactical Information Systems has received no outside funding.
A panel of judges, which included representatives from the Kauffman Foundation and DYMO, reviewed more than 100 applications. The applicants were judged on concept, growth projections and knowledge of the markets.
Another Texas company that made the top 50 was Image Vision Labs, based in Anna. The privately held company enables websites to manage user-generated content -- including photographs, videos and copyright material -- to ensure that content complies with the client's acceptable-use policies.
For the complete list, see: http://tinyurl.com/3a9jv3w
Do you know of a Houston-area company or businessperson I should keep an eye on? Please e-mail me at julie@citybizlist.com.
Also at citybizlist, see:
Image Vision Labs Detects an Acceptable $1.3M - cbl
Bios from Tactical Information Systems' website:
Mary Haskett
Mary Haskett drives the business strategy and marketing direction, as well as manages the day-to-day operations.
Ms. Haskett began her career in the defense industry, developing embedded simulation-based training for the Advanced Tomahawk Weapon Control System (ATWCS). In 1996, Ms. Haskett went on to found HCI Training, Inc., an Austin, Texas-based training development company.
Throughout the years, Ms. Haskett has managed training development and deployment programs for a number of clients, including Dell, Sybase, USAA as well as the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. In 2002, she was nominated as one of the Austin Business Journal's Profiles to Watch in tech-savvy Austin, Texas. Ms. Haskett has served on the boards of directors of the Austin chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the Austin chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals (AIP) and the International Interactive Communication Society (IICS). She often presents at training industry conferences and trade shows including Online Learning, Training Director's Forum, Computer Training World and e-Learning.
In 2007, HCI Training, Inc., was acquired by its largest client, Ideal Innovations, Inc. (I-3). Ms. Haskett was asked to stay on as the Vice President of Software and Training for I-3 to lead system integration teams responsible for providing comprehensive biometric solutions to both U.S. and foreign governments. Her tenure with I-3 resulted in exposure to the cultures and related needs of a variety of clients, including customers and end-users in Iraq, Kurdistan and Afghanistan.
Ms. Haskett holds an M.Ed. in Educational Technology from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics awarded by the University of Texas at Dallas.
Dr. Alex Kilpatrick
Dr. Alex Kilpatrick is responsible for technology development, research, infrastructure, and analysis.
Dr. Kilpatrick was formerly an Air Force officer, performing and managing R&D in the space and software fields, as well as managing the entire Air Force basic research program in Computer Science. He has also developed a variety of advanced components and infrastructure for training systems used by thousands of learners in major US companies, as well as giving invited lectures and a keynote at national training conferences. Dr. Kilpatrick has also conducted research in Social Network Analysis, Ontologies, Intelligent Agents and microelectronic work for DARPA.
For the past five years, Dr. Kilpatrick has developed a variety of biometric systems for foreign governments in the Middle East, as well as serving as the Chief Scientist and VP/GM for Ideal Innovations. Inc. He was the sole developer of biometric/security systems for the Jordan International Police Training Center, the Iraq Ministries of the Interior, Petroleum, and Water, the Iraqi High Tribunal, and several fingerprint scanning efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other confidential programs. He also served as the technical lead of the Iraqi Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), the Iraqi National ID Card proof of concept, and the Iraqi permanent resident ID card. Dr. Kilpatrick has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Jordan twenty-five times in support of system development and research.
Dr. Kilpatrick holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Systems Management (R&D) from the University of Southern California, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University.
blog comments powered by