GSN Magazine June 2016 Digital Edition

Winners’ Portraits: GSN 2016 Airport, Seaport, Border Security Awa
Implant Sciences:
2016 Winner, Best Explosives Detection Solution
By Adrian Courtenay
June 24, 2016 – As airports and
nations around the globe become
more concerned with every new act
of terrorism, the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security’s Transportation
Security Administration (TSA)
has committed tens of millions of
dollars to an explosive trace detection
(ETD) product: the Implant
Sciences QS-B220.
The TSA, considered the leading
ETD evaluation agency in the
world, qualified the QS-B220 for
passenger and baggage screening in
August of 2014. Shortly thereafter,
the product became the first to pass
Europeas stringent laboratory testing
protocol in October 2014. Since
that time, the TSA has awarded Implant
Sciences an exclusive ID/IQ
(basically an open purchase order)
for $162 million, followed by an order
for 1,170 units. These units are
being installed right now.
In Europe, the QSB220 has been
deployed at airports in The Netherlands,
France, Germany, Belgium,
Norway, Austria, the Czech Republic,
Romania, Cyprus and Poland.
Among the many reasons for this
overwhelming leadership, according
to Dr. Darryl Jones, Executive
Vice President of Implant Sciences,
“the QS-B220 provides fast, accurate
real-time detection of trace amounts
of a wide variety of military, commercial
and homemade explosives,
as well as drugs. Featuring a low total
cost of ownership , the system is
easy to use, with intuitive controls
that eliminate or reduce training requirements.
“A patented automatic internal
calibration system simplifies operations
of the system and minimizes
the need for manual calibration
using costly consumables – and
its small footprint is well suited to
crowded security checkpoints. Unlike
some competing systems, its
low false alarm rate keeps airport
operators on track. Furthermore,
fewer false alarms means faster passenger
through-put at checkpoints
and fewer distractions for screening
personnel. “
According to President Robert
Liscouski, a regular commentator
on CNN, Fox News and other business
and security media, who was
36
appointed by President George W.
Bush as the first Assistant Secretary
for Infrastructure Protection at the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
“Implant Sciences continues
to innovate, earning its 19th patent,
which significantly enhances the
company’s non-contact sampling
capability, making it an ideal tool
for next generation ETD technology.
In fact,” said Liscouski, “we have
been awarded a developmental contract
worth up to $2 million by the
Department of Homeland Security
to develop advanced ETD solutions.
That contract is set to commence
shortly.”
Implant Sciences Markets
As a leading manufacturer of explosive
trace detection (ETD) and
drugs trade detection solutions for
homeland security applications, Implant
Sciences products meet the
needs of a wide variety of security
venues:
AVIATION
The QS-B220 desktop ETD is the
first product of its kind without radioactive
materials to pass testing
with both Transportation Security