IT : Innovation + Job News

An Atlanta software company and a Bethesda mobile security firm are the newest companies to join a University of Maryland, Baltimore County incubator sponsored by Northrop Grumman.

Both AccelerEyes and KoolSpan Inc. say they plan to grow their staff at the Northrop Grumman Cync Program, which looks for startups in the cybersecurity arena.

AccelerEyes currently has one employee at the Catonsville school but its Director of Business Development Scott Blakeslee says it could add sales and engineering staff in the next six months to a year as it hopefully makes inroads in the defense industry.

Late last year, AccelerEyes launched a new product called ArrayFire, a software library that speeds up application development. It also offers a consulting service to help businesses speed up their development of software code.

Blakeslee says the company joined the incubator to take advantage of the technical resources and research assistance thatUMBC and Northrop Grumman provide.

AccelerEyes employs 10 in Atlanta.

KoolSpan, which employs around 25 in total, also has just one employee at UMBC. But CEO Gregg Smith says he hopes to add software talent from UMBC as the company expands its mobile security products worldwide. With clients in 42 countries,KoolSpan is “aggressively growing its international business,” Smith says. 

Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Gregg Smith, KookSpan; Scott Blakeslee, AccelerEyes

One of the biggest networked solutions companies in the area is hiring locally. Presidio Networked Solutions is growing, and has two positions to fill in the Baltimore area.

"Presidio continues to grow through the hiring of quality employees and internal advancement, as well as through the acquisition and merger of organizations,” says Ken Sevec, resource manager at Presidio Networked Solutions.

The company recently completed its acquisition of data center operator INX. The move gives Presidio 45 offices in the United States and overseas. INX was primarily known as a healthcare industry managed services provider. The takeover was approved by INX's shareholders Dec. 30.

In Maryland, Presidio Networked Solutions is looking to add staff to its Greenbelt and Lanham Offices. In Greenbelt, Presidio is looking to add a voice over IP engineer and in Lanham, the company is hiring a financial solutions specialist for its sales arm. Presidio also has job openings available at several of its offices in other states and overseas.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Ken Sevec, Presidio Networked Solutions

Tax time is usually stressful and harried. One new website in Baltimore, zen-40, aims to change that.

The website prepares tax returns in a self contained application that isn't accessible via the internet for people who are worried about hackers.

“I've created a tax preparation web site that works entirely on the user's computer without sending any data over the Internet," says BobFranzese, founder of zen-40. "Currently, it only handles the simplest of tax returns, but I hope to change that in the future.”

The bare-bones site was created by a tax preparation instructor and applications developer. The website proposes that it represents a more secure way to do your taxes because all of the data is kept on your computer and does not travel over the Internet. The application is an HTML file using JavaScript. None of your tax information ever travels to a server. Tax returns are then sent to your printer as an image to mask their identity. 

Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Bob Franzese, zen-40

Render Perfect Productions Inc. is changing its focus from straight video production for businesses and individuals to full service media and website production. The Towson based will now offer media production, web design and web marketing services instead of just video production.

“We have shifted our services from video production to value-added video production,” says Nikc Miller, director of post production at Render Perfect Productions. “This means that instead of simply doing video for those groups that need it, we pay attention to our clients goals and create a strategy for their video so they can get more sales. This involves getting their video more exposure via landing pages, social media, Google ad buys, whatever.”

Render Perfect is still offering video production services, but has added several services to its menu. The company is promoting video landing pages for websites, Facebook pages and other online use. The web design team has the capacity to do website coding in HTML, Cascading Style Sheets, Flash, JavaScript, jQuery, and more. The website marketing arm offers branding, search engine optimization and social media management. The company has been ramping up its service offerings for the last 12 months to complete a transformation from strict video production to a media and marketing shop.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Nikc Miller, Render Perfect Productions Inc.

Technology hiring in the greater Baltimore area is higher than the national average and projected to continue growing. That is according to data from  Hanover information technology staffing and managed services giant TEKsystems.

“Baltimore is one of the most active cities when it comes to people applying for open job postings when compared to other cities in the U.S. of similar size,” says TEKsystems Market Research Manager Jason Hayman.

The company's data shows that from 2010 to 2011, the Baltimore area saw a 20 percent increase in technology job openings. That figure is 5 percent higher than the national average. Baltimore's proximity to many federal agencies that are implementing cyber security and technology initiatives and the financial services, healthcare and insurance industries' demand for IT professionals results in a greater demand for technology jobs.

TEKsystems reports that demand is high for business analysts, Java developers and project managers. Hybrid professionals with both technical and business expertise are also in  demand.

Writer: Amy McNeal
Sources: Jason Hayman and Brendan Foerster, TEKsystems

Columbia based technology firm triCerat is shaking things up this winter.

The enterprise solutions and desktop applications firm has hired a new president and a new chief financial officer as it beta tests a new scanning application.

Vasilios Peros was recently named president and general counsel. Peros is known for his work as the chair of the Maryland State Bar Association’s intellectual property division and was the winner of Venable LLP’s 2005 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award. Timothy L. Beal has been named triCerat's new Chief Financial Officer.

"I enjoy managing a company, putting the pieces together,” Peros says. “ We have already decided that we're going to crank it up and compete at a much higher level.”


Best known for its ScrewDrivers print management solution, triCerat is developing a new product. The company's next office management solution Scanect will be focused on scanning in an enterprise environment. The new application automatically configures an office's scanners from the server side. It is in beta testing an expected to release in early spring.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Vasilios Peros, triCerat

AVF Consulting has just picked up a new client, the American Psychological Association. AVF's new relationship with the APA means new jobs and a big new project for the 25-year-old accounting and supply chain software company.

The association started looking for a company that could find the business solutions that they needed more than a year ago. AVF completed several days of product demonstrations, and approximately 300 hours of requirements analysis before the contract was signed.

The association will install Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Serenic Navigator. AVF expects implementation to take about 12 months, and plans to begin the process in March, President Jeremy Fass says. The process will start with the association's back office accounting and move into the organization's supply chain in later stages.

AVF Consulting is hiring to meet the increased workload. The company is searching for an experienced project manager, senior consultants and a customer support manager.

Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Jeremy Fass, AVF Consulting

Broadcast Sports Inc. is growing.

The Hanover-based company that provides wireless telecommunications services for major sporting events recently opened a  U.K. office and is adding two staff positions here in Maryland.

Broadcast sports is currently hiring a test engineer and a management information systems analyst at its Hanover headquarters.

“The most exciting thing going on is all the new technologies we are working on now that will be deployed at various events this year," says Broadcast Sports Sales and Marketing Specialist Colleen Stanley. Though its U.K. office has only been on a few months, the company has been selected for some major sporting events including the Formula 1 racing series, Stanley says.

2012 is shaping up to be a busy year for Broadcast Sports. Already on the slate for this year, Broadcast Sports will be working the Winter X Games, Super Bowl XLVI, the Masters Golf Tournament, the Daytona 500, The Indianapolis 500 and the Summer Olympics in London. With all these events on tap, the company is looking for more help.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Colleen Stanley, Broadcast Sports Inc.

Sensics Inc. is launching their first consumer-targeted 360-degree goggles at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show this month in Las Vegas. SmartGoggles are designed to provide gamers with an immersive view of their gaming environment.

Sensics had been selling exclusively to the defense and professional markets, says Sensics CEO Yuval Boger of the 360-degree goggles. "By adding the power to run Android applications on board, as well as allow these applications to use the location of the user’s hand, we believe SmartGoggles are changing how people think about virtual reality goggles much like smart phones changed how people think about phones.”

SmartGoggles differ from traditional virtual reality goggles in the way that  they run applications that track the user's motion. Traditional virtual-reality goggles rely on an external device for video and track the user's head motions. SmartGoggles run applications locally and track the user's hand motions.

The Columbia company is also looking to partner with a major consumer electronics company to help deliver SmartGoggles to the consumer market.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Yuval Boger, Sensics Inc.

Keeping track of what a work crew is doing is a challenge for landscaping and construction firms. Akehurst Landscaping Services, Inc. in Joppa is solving that problem by implementing iCREWtek tracking software.

The software helps the firm keep track of its crews and  empowers them to be more efficient and accountable in estimating, scheduling and business management duties, says Akehurst Landscaping Services Business Developer David Sheredy.
 
Using iCREWtek, Akehurst Landscaping is able to do real time monitoring of all of the company's work crews.

iCREWtek is an extension of Asset, a business management application for landscaping services produced by Annapolis-based software developer Include Software.

Customer invoices, job site photos, materials management and time sheets can be processed paperlessly and remotely, which allows for more accurate estimates and faster billing. The software also has English/Spanish communication capability to increase communications accuracy.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: David Sheredy, Akehurst Landscaping Services Inc.

Advertising banners flying from the back of a plane are a classic sight at the beach, but don't work so well in a crowded metropolitan area. Enter Columbia's Bootcamp Lights. The Columbia start up is taking that concept to a new level with digital banner advertising from a custom-built helicopter that is flown over urban events.

“We take a message, the foundation of any campaign, and we display that message directly above prime locations,” says Bootcamp co-founder Kyle Benham. “We are capable of reaching areas unattainable by other forms of media.”

The company has flown messages for a variety of area businesses specially tailored to their needs. Using a helicopter allows for more precise message locations, as it did with last year's advertising campaign for Scores flown over the U2 concert at M&T Bank Stadium.

Bootcamp Lights celebrated their new social media tool, currently in beta testing, at this year's New Year's Eve fireworks display in downtown Baltimore. Users were able to send their New Year’s greetings to the world using the online tool, Facebook and Twitter. Bootcamp Lights plans to continue developing their social media platform in 2012. The application allows customers to connect with a company and livestream chat on the company's site.

Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Kyle Benham, Bootcamp Lights

Baltimore's Pure Bang Games is growing. The social games developer recently added star game designer Eric Ruth, developer of Pixel Force, to their roster and they're looking for more help as they launch new projects.

The company is looking for a top user interface designer as well as “rock star” front-end and back-end programmers, says Pure Bang CEO Ben Walsh. Ideally, the new hire will know AS3 Flash and/or PHP and MySQL, but if they know object-oriented programming, Pure Bang can teach them what they need to know to be mobile and Facebook programmers, Walsh says.

Pure Bang Games has a busy 2012 planned. The company is planning to launch their third mobile app game in the first quarter of this year. Pure Bang Games also plans to launch a new game by Eric Ruth.

Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Ben Walsh, Pure Bang Games

Hunt Valley’s Oculis Labs has opened a satellite branch at the Northrup Grumman Cync Program, an incubator at bwtech@UMBC.

“Oculis wanted the opportunity to work more closely with Northrop Grumman on various projects and the Cync partnership gives us regular contact,” says Oculis Labs' CEO Bill Anderson. “We also expect to benefit from advice from the program staff, and from connections we can make through Northrop contacts.” 

Access to UMBC’s facilities and the opportunity to find and hire students to work at Oculis made the move attractive, Anderson says.

The Cync program is designed to provide support, evaluation and connection opportunities for companies that are developing new technology and cyber security tools.

Oculis Labs is best known for its Chameleon and PrivateEye data privacy software. Both applications are designed to use user recognition technology to protect sensitive data from “visual eavesdropping.”

Oculis Labs new PrivateEye Enterprise product is used in government, healthcare, and financial enterprises. It recently partnered with Panasonic to bundle PrivateEye with its Toughbook laptops. Anderson says he expects to see more deals like that over the next year.

Source: Oculis Labs’ Bill Anderson
Writer: Amy McNeal

The Maryland Technology Development Corp. has awarded a dozen Maryland researchers nearly $500,000 in grants to further their work in technology development. These grants were made through two of TEDCO's programs, the University Technology Development Fund and TechStart.

Technology researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Salisbury University and Towson University each received up to $50,000 in technology development funding. Teams from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland College Park and Johns Hopkins University each received up to $15,000 in funding from the TechStart program. 

The technology development aims to help researchers develop and assess the commercial viability of new inventions, test prototypes and perfect research designs. Since the inception of the UTDF program, 95 projects have been completed and 43 have been licensed or optioned to private companies. The projects have launched 29 Maryland start-ups.

The TechStart program provides funding to university and federal lab-based teams that include an inventor who can evaluate the feasibility of a start-up, an experienced entrepreneur to provide business guidance and a technology transfer manager. TechStart was started in 2007 and has completed 29 projects resulting in 20 new tech start-ups.

Five new start-ups have been launched as a result of this round of funding awards. These new companies include BOSS Medical, CervoCheck, Clear Guide Medical, Lifelong Technologies and NexImmune.

Source: TEDCO
Writer: Amy McNeal

Social media and application development company Mindgrub Technologies LLC could grow beyond Baltimore.

President Todd Marks says the company is considering an expansion to New York, Washington, D.C., Austin, Los Angeles or Las Vegas where it has clients.

The company recently tripled the size of its staff and moved into a new office in the historic First National Bank building in Catonsville.

“We were practically sitting on each other’s laps, so we had to make another move,” Todd Marks says. “Fortunately for us we lucked into one of the best buildings. The area we are in has some of the finest restaurants around, a skate park behind us and a very hip community."

Marks says he has dubbed his new basement “the Vault,” which will be its new wine cellar.

Mindgrub is still looking for help. The company is currently hiring a junior account manager, production manager, several mobile and software engineers and a quality assurance lead.

Mindgrub will be launching a new mobile app in Las Vegas this week.


Writer: Amy McNeal
Source: Todd Marks, Mindgrub