DHi Named Anne Arundel County Tech Innovator for 2006
Annapolis, MD (November 1, 2006)—DHi was honored by the Anne Arundel Technology Council this evening as the organization’s 2006 Tech Innovator of the Year.
The Tech Innovator Award was presented to Rich Goldsby, the company’s Vice-president of Operations, who represented DHi at the Tech Council’s Tech Awards Ceremony. This second annual celebration of the County’s achievements in the technology arena was held at the Loews Annapolis Hotel in the heart of Maryland’s state capital.
Competitors for the Tech Innovator Award also included informatics firm Buan Consulting; network tracking and monitoring company eTelemetry, Inc.; and national and international file management firm South River Technologies.
DHi was honored for its innovative use of photoluminescent (PL) materials to significantly enhance the safety of military and civilian employees in Federal and commercial buildings alike. The company’s revolutionary low-level exit path marking systems, which help guide individuals to safety even in smoky fires and situations where all power to a building is out, are being widely adopted in the Nation’s capital. DHi’s PL safety solutions are being applied as well in the city of New York, where Local Law 26/04 now mandates installation of such materials in the stairwells of all office buildings over 75 feet in height.
DHi holds a $6.5M contract to install PL LLEPM systems throughout the Pentagon as part of that building’s ongoing, post-9/11 renovation. “September 11th was a watershed moment,” said Tom Buckingham, Director of DHi’s AfterGlow Business Unit which is located in Annapolis. “The attacks on both the Pentagon and World Trade Center raised awareness about the shortcomings of building safety and egress that created a receptive climate for something new and different,” he said.
In October, DHi won a contract to install PL safety materials in 8 buildings of the Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), and has also installed its safety solutions in the Department of Energy’s Forrestal Building and in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House.
Other Anne Arundel Tech Council award winners for 2006 include County Executive Janet S. Owens for her tireless support of technology businesses in the county (Gold Coast Award); Steve Oxman, founder of the Tech Council, for his extensive volunteer work in the county’s schools (Good Apple Individual); Cable giant Comcast for its strong support for education in the county (Good Apple Company); Pharmaceutical company PharmAthene for its important work in biological and chemical warfare countermeasures (Tech Company of the Year); and defense giant Lockheed Martin for its longtime support for the Nation’s defense as well as its commitment to partnering with smaller firms.
Defense Holdings, Inc. (DHi) is a world-class team of dedicated engineering professionals committed to developing and deploying innovative technologies to advance the national interest and improve the lives of all Americans.
