RSS Logistics and Vision Engineering now U.S. Navy Prime Contractors

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Two technology companies located in Central Florida Research Park have earned admission to a very exclusive club---as prime contractors in the U.S. Navy’s Seaport-E program, a highly secure online community of U.S. businesses qualified to service U.S. Navy and Marine Corps programs. RSS Logistics and Vision Engineering, both client companies of the UCF Business Incubation Program, were recently notified they rank among the 2,400 U.S. businesses permitted to bid on an estimated $5.3 billion in annual Seaport-E contracts. Seaport-E organizes the supply of professional services for 22 functional defense areas that range from engineering to modeling and simulation to supplies, provisioning and training. For RSS Logistics, which focuses on Integrated Product Support, Systems Engineering, Test and Evaluation and Manufacturing services, Seaport-E significantly expands the company’s market scope. RSS Logistics already has more than 15 years of experience providing defense industry services. RSS partnered with three large defense contractors and another incubator client – H2 IT Solutions – in their proposal. H2 IT will combine their software design and logistics expertise with that of RSS to provide a more comprehensive solution to a number of Navy and Marine Corps needs. Last year, as a subcontractor to another company, RSS Logistics provided Integrated Logistics Support to modify the Italian Navy’s AV-8B Harrier II Trainer and Simulator. Vision Engineering provides engineering services in optics and photonics for aerospace applications. Vision is already doing work for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division. Seaport-E provides the opportunity to be a prime contractor on additional work for Dahlgren as well as other Naval commands. Since opening an operations facility at Kennedy Space Center in 2012, Vision Engineering has grown from seven to 17 specialized technology workers. “RSS Logistics and Vision Engineering are two examples that illustrate the benefits of programs to support the growth of startup enterprises,” said Gordon Hogan, director of the UCF Business Incubation Program. “Both companies have made remarkable strides in their fields, and the benefits that accrue to Central Florida in terms of well-paid technology jobs are enormous,” Hogan said.

Winter Springs-Based Anti-Counterfeiting Technology Company Adds New Channel Partner Developer to Corporate Staff

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. – Spectrum Dynamix Inc. has hired David Fonseca as senior vice president of channel development. Fonseca – who has been in the barcode/RFID item-tracking industry since the mid-1980s – previously partnered with pioneering companies such as Telxon, Symbol Technologies and Metrologic, all of which now are part of other major companies like Google and Honeywell. In his new role, Fonseca – a channel sales executive with more than 30 years of national and international business-to-business experience – will be charged with recruiting other companies to become partners with Spectrum Dynamix, the developer of SpectraSure™, a chemically-based security additive that makes it impossible to counterfeit a marked product. The co-branding relationship between Spectrum Dynamix and channel partner businesses will help legitimate manufacturers retain some of the more than $750 billion that is lost to counterfeiters annually, explained Russell Case, chief executive officer of Spectrum Dynamix. Spectrum Dynamix is a client company of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program located in Winter Springs

UCF Researchers Discover Accurate Early Cancer Test that uses $1 worth of Gold Nanoparticles

ORLANDO, Fla. --- A University of Central Florida research team and local startup company are developing a new and improved way to detect cancer early with a screening test that uses a drop of blood, about $1 worth of gold nanoparticles, and produces results in just minutes. Dr. Qun Huo, associate professor in the NanoScience Technology Center at the University of Central Florida and CEO of Nano Discovery, Inc. reported her team’s findings last month in the online edition of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, a publication of the American Chemical Society for research results demonstrating how newly-discovered materials and interfacial processes can be developed and used for specific applications Dr. Huo said the UCF team’s test could lead the way to a universal screening test for early cancer detection and risk assessment. In two Defense Department studies at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute, the UCF team focused on prostate cancer, a relatively common disease with well known characteristics. The best Protein-Specific Antigen Test (PAT) for prostate cancer is far from accurate, often leading to unnecessary and expensive biopsies. “Most studies today are attempting to identify tumor-specific antigens and detect antibodies specific to them," Dr. Huo explained. The UCF team discovered that tumor-fighting autoantibodies quickly attach to the surface of molecule-size gold nanoparticles, where they can be detected quickly and unerringly with specialized equipment. While the UCF team’s new test doesn’t identify which type of cancer induces those autoantibodies, Dr. Huo believes the test could become a universal “gold standard” test to tell doctors that cancer is present and point to further tests to find and locate any tumors. That means the earliest possible cancer detection, when treatment costs are lowest, patient stress is the least, and results most effective. A simple, easy, low-cost test to accurately detect cancer at its earliest stage could offer enormous benefits worldwide, Dr. Huo reasons. Nano Discovery, Inc. is a client company of the UCF Business Incubation Program located at Central Florida Research Park in East Orange County.

Sundog Software Renders Genesis Creation Story on Computer Screens with Awesome Realism

ORLANDO, Fla. --- In the beginning, Genesis tells us, God created the earth and the heavens, and the earth was covered with water. Sundog Software at the UCF Business Incubator is recreating those elements---the oceans and the heavens---with startling realism for computer screens used in the gaming industry and military and commercial training simulators. For the past two years Sundog has ranked as the industry leader for its realistic depiction of ocean waves and currents. The software is used by gaming developers and simulation designers to train maritime professionals onshore. Sundog recently released SilverLining 4, its most advanced software suite, which depicts a realistic sky. Any sky. Operators can create stratus and overcast cloud layers with three dimensional depth, and a physically rigorous simulation of how light scatters within thick cloud formations. “SilverLining’s new stratus clouds are so realistic you’ll even see effects like fogbows, glories, and anti-solar points, and it just falls naturally out of the math behind it all,” says Frank Kane, founder of Sundog Software. SilverLining 4 achieves these effects by rigorously simulating the scattering of light within clouds using the best model available: Mie scattering, which is simulated down to 0.1 degree resolution at multiple wavelengths. By taking advantage of the capabilities of modern graphics cards, this level of detail can be applied to cloud layers 200 kilometers across, while still running at over 60 frames per second. “It’s all about creating an immersive virtual environment,” Kane said. “In an outdoor scene, an overcast sky might make up half of the image. If it doesn’t look real, your brain will pick up on that and we don’t want that to happen in flight training and simulation where the reduced visibility associated with these clouds is a big deal,” he explained. SilverLining 4 is available for licensing today at http://www.sundog-soft.com/. Free trial versions and demos are also offered for evaluation purposes. Sundog Software is a client company of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program located at Central Florida Research Park in East Orange County.

Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty Agents Log Sales totaling $6.65 Million in less than 30 Days in East Volusia

PORT ORANGE, Fla. --- The Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty team of Associates Debbie Keilin and Rachel McGrath at the firm’s Spruce Creek Fly-In Marketing Center had a remarkable 30-day period between March and April. Roger Soderstrom, founder and owner of the firm, said from March 5 through April 1, Keilin and McGrath had seven transactions totaling $6,650,000, all located in the Ormond Beach, Port Orange and Spruce Creek Fly-In areas. Keilin and McGrath were both listing and selling agents on the most significant sale of a Spruce Creek Fly-In hangar residence that was completely remodeled and sold for $2,000,000. “This significant sale was based on the size of the hangar – over 5,000 square feet with two hydro-swing doors situated on two taxiways,” said Keilin and McGrath. “The market is truly rebounding, not only in the Spruce Creek Fly-In, but all over Volusia County. The inventory of Volusia County homes that were stagnant are finally selling.”

CEO of AceApplications Shares His Inspirational Story to Encourage Students to “Dream Big and Work Hard”

Orlando, Fla. -- Courtney Powell, president and CEO of AceApplications, an Orlando software development and IT consulting firm, had to make his own toys growing up in Jamaica because his family couldn’t afford to buy any. But he didn’t let that stop him from achieving his dreams of going to college and becoming a successful businessman. Powell recently shared his story with students at Liberty Middle School’s Digital Festival commemorating Black History month. Powell graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in electrical engineering and earned his MBA from Rollins College. He worked as a software engineer for Lockheed Martin and Director of Technology for CNL Financial Group before starting AceApplications. Drawing from his life as a child growing up in Jamaica, Powell explained that it’s not about how you start, but how well you finish. He impressed upon the students to dream big, and to work hard to achieve their goals. Powell serves on the City of Orlando’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, and shared with the students how Dr. King didn’t let earning a “C” in speech class stop him from being one of the world’s greatest orators. Liberty Spanish Teacher Alexandra Moa said Powell’s speech “really motivated our students, parents and staff. It helped them realize the value of college and career dreams and that obstacles can be overcome.” Powell regularly gives of his time and experience to inspire children to “dream big”. He is a key sponsor of Collegiate Pathways programs such as Tech Sassy Girlz. In 2010, in partnership with the Orlando Magic and Kia Motors, Bright House Networks and Hunt Construction, AceApplications provided the technical expertise to put a state-of-the-art computer lab in Nap Ford Community School in Orlando. AceApplications delivers software applications and projects for businesses and agencies. Local clients include Orlando International Airport, Central Florida Expressway Authority, Central Florida Research Park and OCPS schools. The company is a client of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program in the Central Florida Research Park in east Orange County.

NAI Realvest Earns “Top 10” CoStar Power Broker Awards for Commercial Real Estate Sales, Leasing and Industrial Broker for 2014

ORLANDO, Fla. --- NAI Realvest, one of Central Florida’s most active commercial property leasing, sales and management companies, recently was ranked among the top 10 commercial real estate firms in the Orlando area by CoStar Group, Inc. Michael Heidrich, a principal at NAI Realvest, was named one of the Top 10 CoStar Power Brokers in the region for Industrial Property Leasing in 2014. NAI Realvest earned two more spots on CoStar 2014 Top Ten Power Broker list in Orlando – in both the Leasing and Sales categories – according to Managing Director Robin Webb. CoStar Group, the nation’s leading real estate information company, ranks real estate companies based on transaction volume and dollar value. Recipients of the 2014 CoStar Power Broker™ Awards are recognized as professionals who perform at the highest levels in commercial real estate brokerage CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP) is the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces.