To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. RISING 10 OF 2009 York’s JFK International, Los Angeles International and Phoenix Sky Harbor airports. AS&E’s competitive edge comes from Z Backscatter, a technology designed to detect materials in a manner superior to that of traditional transmission X-ray technology. It provides photo-quality images that reveal contraband, such as explosives, smuggled human beings, money and many other items. By combining traditional X-ray and Z Backscatter, AS&E is able to detect a broader range of threats and contraband than many other systems. $711 million in its production phase. Another key contract win in the Joint Force Protection Advanced Security System program involves ICx linking together chemical-biological-radiation-nuclear-explosives sensors, perimeter sensors, UAVs and unmanned ground vehicles to develop a common operating picture. The three-year, $9.4 million contract was awarded by the US Army. With the economic downturn, ICx is focusing on internal growth, rather than on making frequent acquisitions as it had in the past. The company also is focusing on increasing its international sales, which currently account for less than 10 percent of total sales. 8. OSI Systems OSI Systems, Hawthorne, Calif., is introducing a number of new detection projects that promise to continue to fuel its rapid growth. OSI Systems has a promising real-time tomography system that can be used to examine checked baggage. The system has the advantage of having three to four times the output of the current generation of cargo systems. This is only one of a series of new products. In addition, the company is selling a mobile cargo and vehicle X-ray inspection system, a portable walk-through metal detector, a millimeter wave technology personnel screening system to identify concealed explosives and an advanced checkpoint detection system allowing multiple views of a carry-on bag. 10. L-1 Identity Solutions L-1 Identity Solutions, Stamford, Conn., completed its $310 million purchase of Digimarc’s ID systems business in August 2008 in a major expansion of the company’s business. In making the acquisition, L-1 beat a competing offer by France’s Safran. L-1 has shown an appetite for building its biometric business through acquisitions. Digimarc, Beaverton, Ore., was an important building block in creating a biometric leader. Its products and services are responsible for more than 60 million personal identity documents annually, including those for 25 countries. Digimarc was L-1’s leading competitor in the production of driver’s licenses. L-1, which was created in 2006 by Bob LaPenta, a former founder of L-3 Communications, a major US defense and homeland security company, has been applying a model developed in defense involving growth through acquisitions to homeland security. L-1 now has a broad array of capabilities, including automatic fingerprint identification systems, non-automatic fingerprint identification systems, facial recognition and eye scans. HST 9. ICx Technologies ICx Technologies, Washington, DC, has won several key contracts in the past year, including a potential blockbuster contract to provide system engineering, analysis and integration for the Joint Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance System Increment 2 program. The $20 million, two-year contract ultimately could be worth Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters HSToday Magazine | April 2009 47