Ottawa-based Brash has been awarded almost $200,000 from the Department of National Defence to test and prototype a personnel tracking system on board naval vessels.
Through the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program, Brash received $199,859 to research, develop and test a proof-of-concept system of proprietary devices and software that can rapidly locate and identify personnel inside ships at critical moments. The system must also be able to enhance and automate record-keeping and day-to-day activities aboard navy vessels.
“We are absolutely honoured to be one of the teams selected for this challenge,” said Richard Beranek, managing partner at Brash. “We’ve worked on a few innovation challenges from different branches of the Canadian government, but this challenge in particular caught our interest because we could incorporate and modify an internal side project turned startup on a very worthy cause – keeping the members of our armed forces safe.”
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Brash plans to modify its asset tracking system-turned-spinoff company, Velavu, to meet the requirements of this innovation challenge, which was titled “We Sea You: Digital Tracking and Accounting on Navy Vessels.”
Brash is a product development firm that offers design and engineering services for clients around the world looking to bring a new product or device to market.
The IDEaS program funds and accelerates the Canadian defence ecosystem by asking innovators to propose viable solutions to challenges faced by the Canadian Armed Forces.