SAIC + Cybernet = A Perfect Match

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) recently welcomed Cybernet Systems Corporation to its award-winning mentor-protégé family. The relationship originated through a Department of Defense (DoD) program designed to help small businesses like Cybernet develop the capabilities needed to become suppliers for the defense industry.

"SAIC thinks they picked us, but in reality, we picked them, too. It's a little bit like dating," joked Heidi Jacobus, Cybernet's founder, chairman, and chief executive officer. "We spent a lot of time researching companies that would be the best match for us, and we think SAIC has the right mix of capabilities to complement ours."

SAIC Senior Vice President John Gully agreed. "Cybernet is a good fit for SAIC because they complement our work in critical defense areas such as robotics, networking solutions, sensors, and virtual reality systems. We expect this agreement will be yet another example in our long and proven history of successful mentor-protégé relationships."

The DoD Mentor-Protégé Program helps small businesses successfully compete for prime contract and subcontract awards by teaming with large companies under individual, project-based agreements. SAIC has been active and successful in federal mentor-protégé programs for 20 years, mentoring 90 small businesses and winning the DoD Nunn-Perry Award for exceptional mentor performance 14 times since 1998. Currently, SAIC has 18 active mentor-protégé agreements.

"We see the mentor-protégé program as a key pillar of our small business program," said Babak Nouri, SAIC's small business director. "Our success has enabled us to create a discriminator with respect to our overall small business program. We appreciate the fact that DoD sees the potential that the Cybernet-SAIC pairing can bring to the warfighter."

What Works for Peanuts Works for Ammo

In addition to the areas mentioned previously, Cybernet focuses on developing technologies that advance human performance in human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, and medical instrumentation. They also specialize in delivering comprehensive information assurance services.

"Cybernet excels at using technology to help people do their jobs better," said Jacobus.

For example, Cybernet developed a 6,000-pound robot designed to rapidly sort and inspect loose small arms ammunition for the military.

A military officer visiting an ammunition inspecting and sorting facility in Kuwait had an "aha" moment when he saw 50 people performing the work by hand, working around-the-clock shifts. The officer's brother had recently visited a peanut butter factory and recounted to him how the factory used robots to inspect peanuts for mold. The robots discarded the moldy peanuts and sent the good ones to be made into peanut butter. It occurred to the officer that a robot could more effectively and efficiently sort and inspect the ammunition as it could the peanuts.

Cybernet held a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with a branch of the military, so it competed for and landed the work to produce the robot. Within 90 days of contract award, Cybernet delivered the robot, fully automating the classification and sorting process. More than 5,000 rounds per hour are now sorted by the robot, a far cry from the traditional, time-consuming methods of hand sorting.

Collaboration Yields Benefits for Both Parties

The basic period of performance for the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program agreement is one year, with options to extend the relationship by an additional two years.

SAIC will provide assistance to Cybernet in the areas of marketing and business development, program management, and strategic planning. Cybernet will also have access to SAIC University, providing them with the opportunity to take advantage of hundreds of online classes and professional development courses at no cost.

Rich History Bodes Well for Future Work

Jacobus is looking forward to the opportunities that working and teaming with a large company such as SAIC holds for a small company like Cybernet, which has about 60 employees.

"This relationship will help us field, test, and deploy systems we develop on a larger scale," she explained. "We simply don't have the manpower or resources to do that on our own at this point."

Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Cybernet is a certified 8(a), woman-owned small business and one of the country's largest SBIR contract winners. Over the past three years, Cybernet has won 23 SBIR Phase I contracts and nine SBIR Phase II contracts and has developed more than 20 original devices and systems resulting in 32 patents. Most recently, the company received a patent for developing a method for consolidating medical records through the World Wide Web.

Jacobus founded the company in 1989 while pursuing her doctorate in computer science from the University of Illinois in Urbana. With Chuck Jacobus, her husband, Heidi Jacobus launched the company with the ultimate objective of "blurring the lines of human interaction with devices to the point where such interaction becomes transparent."

Heidi Jacobus has high hopes for Cybernet's relationship with SAIC. "SAIC's trusted name and reputation will open a lot of doors for us," she explained. "We're looking forward to that big win."