This week’s MIP Finalists Category blog features the companies in Defense, Aerospace, and Transportation! Come find out which company takes the prize at our Most Innovative New Product Awards ceremony on November 30! Haven’t reserved your table or tickets? Click HERE!
Cubic
CEO & President: Bradley H. Feldmann
About the Products: Cubic has two products that have made it to the MIP finals this year. The first is the Immersive Virtual Shipboard Environment (IVSE), which replaces traditional qualification and certification methods for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships with a high-fidelity game based learning application that is a more efficient and cost-effective means of replicating on-the-job training (OJT) than traditional training methods.
The second finalist product is the Virtual Ticket Agent. The Cubic Virtual Ticket Agent is an innovative hybrid of a virtual walk-up ticket office, video-linked call center and ticket vending machine, which helps public transit agencies decrease or eliminate the need for a full-ticket office.
Who is someone who has believed in you and your product? U.S. Navy Soldiers have been incredibly supportive. We wanted to create a realistic training environment that replicated how sailors learn and qualify on board a ship. In order to do this, we utilized US Navy subject matter experts to build and “quality proof” the training. The end result is the Navy’s first use of a virtual, immersive training environment to qualify and certify shipboard performance objectives off hull.
What is one of your favorite parts of being a startup? Creating a first-of-its-kind training platform allowed us to go beyond the boundaries of traditional training methodologies and to explore innovative approaches never before considered or attempted.
Fabric8 Labs
Founder & CEO: Jeff Herman
About the Product: ECAM is the world’s first non-thermal 3D Metal Printer. The patented process is based on electroplating and eliminates the need for metal powders, vacuum chambers, and lasers. Ultimately ECAM brings the cost of ownership within reach of a much wider market while exceeding our competitors in print resolution, print speed, and print quality.
What is the hardest obstacle you have had to face?
The biggest obstacle we faced is changing the objective of electroplating. Our process approaches the problem from a completely new angle and it took a major change in thinking to utilize electroplating to produce 3D objects. Our process’s goals were essentially the opposite of traditional electroplating applications.
What is one of your favorite parts of being a startup?
My favorite part of being a startup is that every day there is a new challenge. We are moving at such a fast pace that each day breathes a new challenge or learning. There’s never a dull moment.
Fuse Integration
President & CEO: Sumner Lee
About the Product: CORE is a multi-function network controller that delivers secure data, voice, and video connectivity to mobile units such as aircraft, ships, vehicles, and submarines.
What is the hardest obstacle you have had to face? Even with experience and knowledge of military operations and acquisition processes, it is a long hard battle to get into position to do business with the government. There are programs to help small business start working with the DoD, but there are constant hurdles to get innovative ideas and prototypes into the hands of warfighters. Fortunately, Fuse has built a strong, perseverant team of creative professionals to surmount those hurdles.
What is one of your favorite parts of being a startup? I work hard to bring the ethos and environment of a Navy squadron to Fuse. We work hard and play hard with creativity and teamwork at the center of everything we do. Being a startup with strong tribes within the company lets us react quickly and cut through the red tape you typically get when working in the defense industry. The best part of Fuse is definitely the people who make up our tribes, who build and implement creative ideas, and who support each other through challenges and successes.