Curt Disibio considers himself fortunate, despite being snowed in at his Lake Tahoe cabin. Then again, a lot of things might not seem so bad when your company has a US$52.2 million government contract in hand and a promise of more on the way.
Disibio's company, InVision Technologies, was tapped by the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday to deliver 54 of its explosive-detection systems to US airports in 1997, the first of which are scheduled for installation next month. The FAA did not disclose the locations and exact timing of the installations.
"It doesn't usually happen this quickly," said Disibio, InVision's chief financial officer, noting that the negotiations over the federal contract lasted only four months.
The FAA award is the culmination of a year that has seen InVision's value triple, from $50 million after its initial public offering in April to $150 million as of Friday. Disibio said the company has received additional orders from France, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia since September. Belgium was the first country to show an interest in InVision's CTX 5000 SP scanner, and the company has roughly 12 machines installed in six countries.
But the attention lavished on InVision is hardly new. The small California-based company has been a major focus of the government's plans to step up security at US airports. On 3 September, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security issued a recommendation that the FAA purchase a number of high-technology explosive-detection systems.
To date, InVision is the only US company to develop a detection system that passes muster for federal guidelines set down for these systems.
Born in the wake of the 1988 Pan Am 103 explosion, InVision has come of age at a time when terrorist tools have grown more sophisticated. Bombs are smaller, and made from materials such as plastic and ceramic that escape the electronic gaze of traditional X-ray machines.
InVision, once a part of a medical technology firm, decided that medical CAT-scan technology, which takes cross-sectional images of people and objects, would prove to be a better eye for explosives in luggage. The images, taken from 500 different angles, are analyzed by software that can sound an alarm or blink lights when it detects an object that resembles a bomb.
The company received an FAA grant in 1992 to help develop this system, and so far, Disibio said, the government has contributed a third of the research and development costs through the $8 million grant. The other two-thirds have come from private resources.
But now, with a public company and contracts for more scanners, Disibio is thinking about expansion. First off, InVision will look to double its work force to 200. The company may also look to develop a form of the CTX 5000 SP for use in scanning carry-on luggage, since at present, the devices are being used to scan only checked baggage.
Disibio said the technology could also be used for drug detection, though for now, InVision will focus on explosives.
