Aptima Awarded Five 'Innovative Research' Department of Defense Contracts Totaling $3.74M; 100% win rate covers intelligence/information operations, Army future combat systems, and other innovative technologies.

WOBURN, Mass. -- Aptima, Inc., a leader in human-centered engineering, today announced that it has been awarded five Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II awards totaling $3.74M from the Department of Defense. Aptima was invited to apply for the five Phase II awards by the U.S. Army and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) after successfully demonstrating the scientific, technical, and commercial merit of its work through the preceding Phase I SBIR efforts. The five contracts include:

Simulation of Cultural Identities for Prediction of Reactions - 'SCIPR' is a simulation tool to predict the reactions of culturally diverse groups, such as insurgents, political factions, or civilian populations, to U.S.-based events or adversarial actions. By modeling responses and behaviors to 'what-if' scenarios such as reconstruction or military intervention, SCIPR helps to gauge the effects of alternative courses of action on the identities and belief systems of friends, foes, and ambivalent groups.

Ersatz Brain Project - A computing architecture based on human neurology, to enable future software applications such as natural language understanding, concept-based internet search, natural human-computer interfaces, cognitively based data-mining, and image analysis. The architecture is based on the future use of massive parallel computing employing approximately a million simple CPUs.

TRACE-SE - A resource to help engineers better design and incorporate 'cognitive' capabilities into newly designed systems. By improving the fit between humans and technology, rather than attempting to 'train away' problems downline, TRACE-SE will help create battle systems that better support the warfighter's ability to understand, react, and make fast-paced combat decisions.

WorkRITE - This research supports the challenge of how to organize the flow of information and the tools used as the military moves to an increasingly network-centric architecture requiring faster response times across distributed environments. WorkRITE will help to ensure that the right people do the right tasks at the right time in changing, real-time workflow collaboration environments.

PERFORM - A predictive tool that helps determine the relationship between simulator design and training effectiveness. It will aid training designers in determining what knowledge and skills can effectively be trained within simulators of varying levels of fidelity, such as modifying the degree of realism and feedback from the simulation technology.

Aptima CEO, John Shaw, offered, "The 100% win rate on five Phase II awards is a validation of Aptima's unique human-centered approach to solving the complex problems faced by the military today. We have enjoyed a very strong relationship with AFRL over the past 10 years, and look forward to supporting them in these mission-critical areas.

Once proven in the military domain, Aptima will expand these technologies to business, law enforcement, and industrial settings.

About Aptima

Aptima is a leader in the field of human-centered engineering, solving the problems of human performance in today's complex, sociotechnical systems. Aptima's unique approach couples social science principles with quantitative, computational methods. The company provides products and services focused on the design of organizations, user-centered technology, and training systems. In the Intelligence Community, Aptima applies this expertise to design tools for diagnosing and disrupting adversarial networks.

Recognized by The Boston Business Journal as one of the 50 Fastest Growing Private Companies in Massachusetts (2006), Aptima is headquartered in Woburn, MA with offices in Washington, DC. www.aptima.com.