News Release

Sandia awards licensing agreement to NeoSafety

Business Announcement

DOE/Sandia National Laboratories

The company will market, co-develop RAMPART™ risk software

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories has awarded a worldwide licensing agreement to NeoSafety, a workplace risk solutions company, to market the RAMPART™ method and software and co-develop a suite of complementary products.

RAMPART™, for Risk Assessment Method - Property Analysis and Ranking Tool, is a screening-level software program developed by Sandia researchers to determine the risk to a building by natural hazards, crime and terrorism. A group of recognized industry advisors found the RAMPART™ method to be a highly effective tool to determine facility risk.

Sandia initially designed the software to help the General Services Administration (GSA) assess the risk of threatening events to the nearly 8,000 federal buildings it manages nationwide.

NeoSafety has been working with Sandia on the project since July.

"NeoSafety performed a company viability study under a Testing and Evaluation Agreement with Sandia to determine market acceptance," says NeoSafety President Brian Healey. "The RAMPART™ software is our centerpiece solution to a host of integrated applications. Our solution set will provide an intuitive and simplified way to address facility risk vulnerability. We plan to market the RAMPART™ suite of products to government, municipalities, schools/universities and commercial/industry facilities."

The RAMPART™ software consists of a user interface, a threatening-events database and an expert system of rules that embody an agency's knowledge about buildings and tenants and Sandia's knowledge of risk analysis. Using the software, it takes less than two hours to complete a building risk analysis. All users have to do is point and click their way through an assessment, answering basic questions about the building regarding location, construction and security monitoring. The software determines the level of risk.

The software development is part of Sandia's Architectural Surety(r) program, which uses technology to make homes, shopping malls, offices, public buildings and infrastructures safer in a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

Regina Hunter, Sandia's technical lead for the project, says she is pleased at the prospect of working with NeoSafety to further develop the software.

"This agreement will get the software into more hands, giving government agencies, private industry, and other large institutions or companies a way to determine weaknesses of their facilities, make the corrections and, as a result, better protect their facilities," Hunter says.

###

More information about the RAMPART™ method can be found at http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2002/rampart.htm.

Founded in 1997, NeoSafety assists government agencies, insurance companies, property owners and industry to identify and manage workplace risks. Software applications include business continuity planning, compliance and safety training, communication management and property risk assessment More information about NeoSafety can be found at www.neosafety.com.

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.

Story available at www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2002/rampart2.htm

Sandia Media Relations Contact: Chris Burroughs, (505) 844-0948, coburro@sandia.gov

Sandia Technical Contacts:
Regina Hunter, 844-5837, rlhunte@sandia.gov
Darryl Drayer, (505) 844-8479, dddraye@sandia.gov

Sandia National Laboratories' World Wide Web home page is located at http://www.sandia.gov. Sandia news releases, news tips, science photo gallery, and periodicals can be found at the News and Events button.

Sandia National Laboratories
A Department of Energy National Laboratory
Managed and Operated by Sandia Corporation
ALBUQUERQUE, NM LIVERMORE, CA
MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT MS 0165
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87185-0165
PHONE: (505) 844-8066 FAX: (505) 844-0645


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.