Guardian Technologies, DHS in R&D deal

High standards. Yes, the government has them. As we reported at the time, Herndon, Virginia-based Guardian Technologies earlier this year received U.S. Department of Commerce approval to export its PinPoint explosive detection technology to Mexico, China and Russia. In order to reach the far more lucrative American government market, however, the company must submit its product to rigorous testing.

To that end, Guardian announced last week it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Federal Transportation Security Laboratory (TSl) — a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate — to perform an independent assessment with an eye towards operational evaluation in airports. “The timing of this opportunity fits well with the DHS Transportation Security Administration recently making explosives detection at the passenger checkpoint one of the agency’s top priorities,” said Guardian Technologies Director of Business Development John McDaid. “We are already in discussions with hardware providers and system integrators about getting this technology into deployment as soon as possible, and the TSL program is a critical step in the testing and evaluation process.”

The PinPoint automated detection application can be deployed on baggage, cargo, and body scanners (but also on medical scanners to assist in the analysis and detection of medical anomalies). Guardian has developed and mapped unique signatures for many types of materials and compounds, and the library of signatures makes it possible for the technology to see what computers or humans may miss.

-read more in this company press release