The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced five awardees from the “Human Performance and Resiliency” solicitation which sought innovative technologies and methods to improve workforce safety and wellness for DHS personnel.
S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) issued the solicitation, which sought groundbreaking solutions to identify and resolve issues before reaching crisis levels, and to promote resilience and wellness tools that could serve the mission needs of DHS components and programs, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“The DHS workforce is often placed in situations of extreme stress while carrying out their mission-critical responsibilities,” said Melissa Oh, managing director of SVIP. “These health and wellness technologies will enhance DHS’s ability to support its employees as they work to secure the nation.”
S&T awarded Phase 1 Other Transaction Awards to five companies: Kenzen, Inc., Sana Health, Sentinel Occupational Safety, SlateSafety and Volt Athletics, Inc. Through a highly competitive process, these awardees presented innovative solutions that have the potential to provide immediate impacts to DHS:
- DHS S&T awarded $200,000 to SlateSafety, a Norcross, Georgia-based company, to develop a rugged armband that captures critical physiological information to prevent injuries to the military, industrial workers and emergency responders. The company’s advanced wearable passively collects detailed biometric information and sends the data through a variety of artificial intelligence platforms and algorithms for advanced analytics on important factors like sleep quality, recovery and fatigue levels.
- DHS S&T awarded $161,600 to Kenzen, Inc., a Kansas City, Missouri-based company, which is women-founded and led, to develop a heat illness prevention solution that uses a combination of wearable device, alerts, and advanced analytics to identify changes in core body temperature and other specific factors. The information identifies heat stress so responders can take preventative measures sooner, reducing the risk of serious illness. Kenzen’s heat-stress mitigation solution will deliver important information to DHS users working in extreme heat environments, addressing a critical health challenge that impacts the DHS mission.
- DHS S&T awarded $55,000 to Sana Health, a Denver, Colorado-based company to develop wearable technology that leverages audio-visual-stimulation to elicit brain states that enable enhanced relaxation and recovery for users. The benefits of deep relaxation are tied directly to the impact on sleep, rest, rehabilitation, energy levels, mood and perception of pain.
- DHS S&T awarded $119,678 to Sentinel Occupational Safety, a Fairborn, Ohio-based company, to develop safety monitoring technology. Sentinel’s Safeguard platform combines wearable sensors and wireless communications with artificial intelligence and analytics software to monitor health and safety. In addition to environmental sensing for dangerous gases or compounds, it can monitor factors such as body temperature, respiration, heart rate, motion levels, posture and noise exposure. Safeguard’s real-time alerts and data would allow DHS to address stressors in a personalized and timely manner.
- DHS S&T awarded $199,730 to Volt Athletics, a Seattle, Washington-based company, to further develop an artificial intelligence powered phone app that will help the DHS workforce improve its overall health and wellness, especially for those who operate in high-stress and dangerous conditions. Volt’s individualized and distributed physical fitness and training programs will help keep DHS personnel at a high level of physical and mental readiness needed to tackle challenging environments.
