SAIC Invests in Ultra-Scan Fingerprint Applications

By Nick Wakeman, Senior Editor

AUG. 28 - Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego has signed a strategic alliance and made an equity investment of an unspecified amount in Ultra-Scan Corp. of Amherst, N.Y.

Ultra-Scan makes automated personal identification systems for live-scan fingerprint applications.

SACI will be integrating the Ultra-Scan technology into solutions it sells to law enforcement, health care, welfare, financial and security-related customers. Applications include fraud detection, suspect identification, patient movement and child care systems.

"We plan to use Ultra-Scan hardware and software in our systems integration projects because of the significant improvement in identification accuracy that Ultra-Scan's products offer under routine environmental conditions," said Dana Hall, SAIC vice president and group manager.

Ultra-Scan's patented ultrasonic imaging techniques and associated high-speed fingerprint matching algorithms can be substituted for conventional optical-based identification systems. Ultra-Scan technology uses ultrasound, which has the advantage of more consistently providing a near perfect image of the fingerprint almost regardless of the cleanliness of the finger or the age of the person being identified.

Through its subsidiary, SAIC Venture Capital Corp., SAIC is making an equity investment in Ultra-Scan. SAIC will have a minority ownership position and will provide Ultra-Scan with the funding to continue further product development. Mark V. Hughes, SAIC sector vice president, will join Ultra-Scan's board of directors to provide guidance in the growth of the company.

"We believe that Ultra-Scan Corporation has the potential to develop identification technology that could have a far-reaching impact on the industry," Hughes said.

John K. Schneider, president, chief executive and co-founder of Ultra-Scan, said, "We feel we have found a perfect match with SAIC. They have the large systems integration expertise that we needed, while we have the superior performing identification products to provide them a unique discriminator in competitive procurements."