PDC Buzz: Issue 001

TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING EXTENSION SERVICE (TEEX)
ISSUE 1
PDC BUZZ
WHAT’S NEW AT TEEX PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CENTER
IACP TOP
Check out the top technology picks of our team from the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Philadelphia. >>> page 6
TECHS
D2R 2017
SHOWCASE
Highlights from the 2017 Defense to Respose Showcase and spotlights on our three winners! >>> page 20
PLUS
Final thoughts in TEEX PDC Center Manager, Caleb Holt. A follow on to 3 minutes in Holt’s head.
page 27
CLIENT GOES
VIRAL
Inventor and PDC Client Keith Platt has been getting viral social media traffic for his product, Baby’s Auto Lifesaver. PDC lays out the details on the prototype work. >>> page 26
BURN IT, BREAK IT, BLOW IT UP. TEEXPDC.COM


2
INFO MEET THE TEAM
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
Shelby Payne Marketing/Design Lead shelby.payne@teex. tamu.edu
CREATIVE DIRECTION
Caleb Holt
PDC Center Manager [email protected]. edu
DESIGN / PRODUCTION
Erin Mabry Allison Shaffer Colby Humphrey
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ryan Mills Paul Siebert Erin Mabry Caleb Holt
PRINTING
TEEX Printing Services College Station, TX printed on 100# Sterling Ultra Matte, a recycled stock
Published Quarterly by TEEX Product Development Center, 800 Raymond Stotzer Parkway
College Station, TX
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
SHELBY “THE PHYSICIST” PAYNE
leads the Design Team at the PDC. Her team focuses on prototyping, 3D modeling, animation and flat graphic deisign, as well as all things print and digital marketing.
CALEB “THE INNOVATOR” HOLT‘s ears are always on alert for new technology and ways to creatively market
it. As Center Manager Caleb manages tech through the entire lifecycle.
RYAN “THE BARBER” MILLS
Ryan Mills has championed our Prototype to Production (P2P) program. This program focuses on assisting tech- nologies in preparing for full scale manufacturing.
PAUL “THE FIRE GUY” SIEBERT
Past Assistant Chief for the Frisco, Texas Fire Department, Paul brings years of experi- ence in the fire industry to the PDC. Paul also manages all things Robotics.
LOU “THE EXCEL WIZARD” BLINN As business manager for the PDC, Lou runs all internal finances, contract- ing, invoicing and more. Lou is also known to the team as the Queen of Excel spreadsheets.


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
WELCOME TO PDC BUZZ
“We cannot solve our problems using the same thinking as we did when we created them.”- Albert Einstein
We live in a world that is chang-
ing at a rapid pace. More importantly than the rate of this change is
the speed of our ability to distribute information. The tap of a screen allows us
to absorb infinite amounts
of knowledge and the tap of a share button allows us to reach millions in an instant. This access to information has exploded innovation in all areas of technology, but technology is only useful
if we can apply it to the
operational world and use it for the greater good. For this reason we created the PDC Buzz. We want to sift through the haystack of public safety technologies and highlight the needles. We want to show the first responders and organizations who are adopt- ing and helping create inno- vation. We want to influence this market and become a go to resource for public safety innovation.
It has always been my passion to discover great
ideas and help bring them
to life, but there is some- thing even more rewarding about doing it for the people who put their life on the line for us everyday. If I can play even a small part in reduc- ing line of duty deaths, or making responder’s jobs easier, that would be the greatest success.
Shelby Payne
ON THE COVER
The International Association of Chiefs of Police, held in Philadelphia was packed with hundreds of vendors offering an overwhelm- ing amount of gadgets and gizmo’s for Law Enforcement. Our Team canvased the show- room floor to bring you’re their top techs.
Defense to Response held its 2nd D2R Showcase and it was on fire...literally.
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CONTENTS
» p.12
» p.18
» p.10
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
6 IACP TOP TECHS Not only was TEEX PDC
an exhibitor at the 2017 International Association
of Chiefs of Police Conference in Philadelphia, our team scouted out the coolest technologies we could find.
10 FEATURED FIRST RESPONDER INNOVATOR
Each quarter we will
be highlighting a first responder who is known for his or her use of innovative technology. This quarter we hear from Cheif Jeff Saunders of Texas Task Force 1. He sheds some light on Hurricane Harvey and other disasters,
giving an inside look at how these incidents were handled. Chief Saunders also expresses his hopes for future technololgies for Urban Search and Rescue.
13 TEEX TESTED®
The TEEX TESTED® mark
is our latest offering for designing and executing testing for disruptive and innovative technologies. TEEX TESTED® is a sign that a technology performs reliably as intended under acceptable, repeatable
and real-world conditions. TEEX TESTED® goes beyond standards.
14 PDC PROCESS PDC offers 9 services
in a unique, tried and true process we call THINK. BUILD. SELL. We take companies from the point of ideation to the final revenue generating product.
16 PDC PORTFOLIO Market intelligence,
testing, 3D modeling, rapid prototyping, manufacturing drawings, videos, package
20
design, website design and even more fill the Product Development Center portfolio. From child safety products to ballistics armor, our deliverables span all industries.
D2R 2017 SHOWCASE
One of our biggest events of the year is easily the D2R Showcase. Bringing DoD funded companies from across the nation to College Station, Texas and putting them in the first responder driver seat has quickly generated buzz. Hear more about what these companies went through to be named one of three D2R winners.
22 2017 D2R WINNERS Tactical lighting, non-
pyrotecnic flash bangs and a novel drug detection system are the new techs


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
to make the top three cut. More to come as we take each through our THINK. BUILD. SELL. process. Stay tuned!
24 P2P
You have an idea for a
world changing product, and you may even have a working prototype of this product, but how do you close the gap between prototype and fulll scale manufacturing? Ryan
Mills takes you through our Prototype to Product program to show you how.
26 VIRAL CHILD SAFETY CLIENT
Inventor Keith Platt came to PDC with an idea to save the lives of children everywhere. PDC helped bring his vision to life with a working prototype. Keith took to social media, posting a video of his product demo. This video has since reached 13 Million people.
27 CLOSING THOUGHTS IN HOLT’S HEAD Center Manager Caleb
Holt released a video “3 minutes in Holt’s head” and has some final thoughts to close out his 2017 experiences working in the world of first responder innovation.
» p.22
» p.26
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TOP TECHS
PAUL’S TOP TECH
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
Automatic Injury Detection, or AID, is a wearable technology which detects penetration of the material and sends notification of the injury automatically to designated recipients. AID
command staff for near-real time situational awareness.
step forward in provid-
ing improved response time following an injury to the wearer, especially if the injury incapacitates the wearer. This is the kind of technology that is directly improving the safety of first responders across the nation.
For more information, visit www.datasoft.com
TOP TECHS
can measure the wearer’s heartrate, providing that information as well as the
Created by a company
called Datasoft, AID fits current body armor and goes
wearer’s location as soon as the penetration occurs. This improves the notification time for backup officers, medical responders and
unnoticed by the wearer, silently working until it is needed.
This technology is a giant


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
RYAN’S TOP TECH
synthesizes the video stream into a 360° easy-to-under- stand panoramic view. The display uses an automatic clock orientation to keep the operator fully informed. When officers are in their vehicle focused on filling out a Field Interview report, or looking
at their Mobile Data Terminal, their focus and field of view narrows to what’s in front of them. The ODR watches their back and alerts them to any movement from their blind side. This force multiplier makes sure that an officer
is notified of any potential threat as it approaches.
For more information, visit www.mistralinc.com
Eyes in the back of your head. Each morning (or evening,
depending on the shift)
men and women across American wake up, put on their uniform and head to the police station to begin their shift. They took an oath to protect and serve the citizens of their community. At the TEEX Product Development
Center, we value that commitment and consistently strive to find new and innovative technology to give our first responders every advantage possible. It would only stand to reason that those on the sharp edge of the sword receive cutting edge technology. This year at the 2017 IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) Conference, there were an abundance of great and new technologies but
one stood out to me. The saying “we back the blue” was in my mind when I found a technology that would
literally watch the backs of those in blue.
The ODRTM LV system provides a 360° real-time, continuous panoramic view. ODRTM LV can easily be mounted on any vehicle’s roof. The system includes two external imaging arrays with three perime-
ter cameras each, a control and display unit, and an
optional pan, tilt and zoom camera with NIR illumination. Image manipulation software
It would only stand to reason that those on the sharp edge of the sword, receive cutting edge technology.
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TOP TECHS
SHELBY’S TOP TECH
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
When train-
ing for emer- gency response often the most difficult issue is simulating the anxiety, adrenaline and realness of a scenario. When it comes to emergency medical train-
ing, Operative Experience
is getting you as close to reality as it comes. Their robotic patients go beyond simulation with biofi-
delic emulation (truly emulating the biologi-
cal responses). These soft tissue, full body manikins, emulate a variety of realis- tic trauma and surgical appli- cations. Operative Experience has three suites of simula- tors- Tactical, Surgery, and Labor and Delivery. Their Tactical Hemorrhage Control Trainer, focused on training
first responders, has the ability for tourni-
quet appli- cation,
wound packing, airway man- agement and more.
In emergency medical sce- narios first responders must make quick assesments, eval- uating injuries based both on stage and type. This asses- ment often proves to be
the difference between life and death of a victim. This product produces realistic injuries to allow for respond- ers to train and make asses- ments comparable to a real casualty scenario. Not only can they make assesments
of injury, but they can act to address injury and the sim- ulator will respond just
as a victim would- bleeding,
breath-
ing and in some cases even giving birth. Yes, that’s what I said, full birth capabili- ties. Unlike most simulators that have staged birthings, the RealMom line of product simulates labor from fetus within the uterus through the entire labor and delivery process.
The military has a focus
in full immersion training
by using Hollywood battle- field special effects, wound makeup effects, and role players. Results from this training have been stagger- ing. Not only is the training more effective for responding to incidents, but physiologi- cally there is a reduction in stress inducing chemicals in the body.
Overall, this training can reduce post tramatic stress and better address anxiety disorders in the long run for both military and responders.
For more information, visit www. operativeexperience.
com


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FEATURED FIRST RESPONDER INNOVATOR
We need to do the most good, in the least amount of time, for the most
people.
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
CHIEF JEFF SAUNDERS
Cheif Saunders of Texas Task Force 1 (one of FEMA’s 28 Urban Search and Rescue Teams), and an early adopter of technology discusses how it can help in major disasters.
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM HURRICANE HARVEY?
The thing that stands out the most as a state asset is to have a good working rela- tionship with state disaster management and local juris- dictions. Without these rela- tionships, we wouldn’t be able to have accomplished what we did. We had previ- ously worked the Texas areas over the past several years. Part of the response success was the pre-planning and ARR (after action review).
HOW DID YOU HANDLE THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA DURING THIS DISASTER?
There was a huge need
to try and digest more inci- dent clues that were popping up on social media. With
the oversaturation of local dispatche and many calls going to secondary sites, the general public was frustrated. They were calling multiple times, working apps, social media etc. and not all were
in affected area. others were
concerned about relatives. We had to help triage that infor- mation and this took a lot
of people at every level. We were working with units in the field and working with the US Coast Guard who was doing the same thing. Social media will be more and more prevalent with disaster tech- nology and how we figure out where victims are. We need
to do the most good in the least amount of time, for the most people.


TELL US MORE ABOUT THE NEW VEHICLES BROUGHT IN FOR HURRICANE RESPONSE.
We had both high profile and amphibious vehicles. Putting people in high profile vehicles usually means you can get them to a safer place rather than having to drop them off in an area that is still dangerous. Adding the amphibious vehicle is some- thing I’ve wanted to do for
a while. I never could justify the need, this incident high- lighted that need and we’re hoping our capabilities will
be increased by being able to do broken water scenar- ios better. By being in an amphibious vehicle you can better move and manage the terrain. These vehicles hold up to 24 people and that’s putting a dent in it
ANY ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON HURRICANE IRMA OR MARIA?
Maria is a whole differ- ent story. There’s no way
to surge the amount of resources into an island that we did to Texas, because the
airports and portst only have a certain throughput. At one point Texas had over 21,000 responders in including mili- tary- national guard, general land, etc. I would guess there was double that number with secondary responders coming
30+ YEARS
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
A look at the life of service in rst response- Chief Saunders.
“ The thing that people don’t realize is, a good ski area is based o of emergency management. If the lift shuts down and its 20 below, you are going to have to do mass rescue.”
21 years in snow ski industry
Colorado Volunteer
Fire Department
“ I started in Colorado volunteer re ghting and working in wildland in CO in the early 80’s.”
“ I did a lot of work with air ambulances out of Albuquerque and was active with the search and rescue partners out of NM. We often volunteered to help with technical rescue.”
Air Ambulance
TF-1
“I applied for the job and hired to be program manager for TX TF-1 and moved to Aggieland. Since I have had 65 deployments with TX TF-1.”
Texas Task Force 1
NM Fire and EMS
“We had one ambulance for 500 square miles, average transport time of 2 hours. My EMS skills were honed in that time.”
New Mexico TF-1
“I got involved with NM Task Force 1. Eventually worked my way through that org, and picked as a Task Force leader.”
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PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
in. That’s a huge amount of man power. How do you tie all that together?
IN YOUR 30+ YEAR CAREER,
certain we had developed a common operating picture for Search and Rescue.
A LOT OF PEOPLE WANT YOU TO
that we have no idea about. Based off military needs and uses, there are many solu- tions that would overlap into our lexicon of activities, but a lot of that tech is priced outside of the realm of what we can effectively afford.
WHAT NEW TECHNOLOGY DO YOU MOST WANT?
I truly believe there will
be technology to get us off the ground and let us rescue people in any condition. Whether it’s a hover bike,
car or truck I don’t think the hovercraft the right tool, it must have enough lift to stay off the water. Whitewater is not friendly to hovercraft; whitewater is air and a hov- ercraft can’t push against
air. I’ve seen a lot of hover- crafts crash and go floating down the river. Certainly, a manned or unmanned hover system would take us to the next level.
CAN YOU NAME ONE OR TWO DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES THAT CHANGED YOUR OPERATION?
Cell phone. Really, also the smartphone. The fact that we’ve got google earth, that everyone can see the same map from any device is huge. Orthophotography, satellite technology for satellite radios has changed how we work. We’re also using a common operating picture utilized
by Task Force 1 and 2 called Geosuite, from a company called Infocus. I first saw it 6 years ago at a summer insti- tute, by General Dynamics and Edge Consortium. Just as it was sitting there as a mili- tary product, we realized we had an 80% solution. Working with Dr. Murphy and center for informatics, we did a 2 year initial build and alpha and beta test where we were
TRY OUT NEW TECH, HOW DO YOU PRIORITIZE TECHNOLOGY?
We need to continue to train our people even on old technology, both from a capa- bility and safety standpoint. We ask, what are the issues you will run into? Are there hidden pitfalls that would keep this technology from working in the field? One of the important things is cost versus benefit. There are
lots of technologies that are public knowlege and others


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
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PDC PROCESS
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
BUSINESS PLANNING
Have you utilized market intelligence to optimize a plan for pricing, distribution and a marketing strategy?
ASSESSMENT
Have you identi ed barriers to entry, distribution channels, competitors and industry?
IDEA
VALIDATION
Have you identi ed and validated a market need for your product or service?
DESIGN
Do you have a 3D model or initial design of your product?
MARKET
TEEX PDC MISSION
To provide technical and engineering services, market intelligence and end-user expertise to private and public product developers and manufacturers, enabling them to introduce new products in a global market.


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
PROTOTYPE
Do you have a working prototype to show manufacturers, distributors and investors?
TEST
Have you tested your technology to see that it performs reliably as intended under acceptable and repeatable real-world conditions?
MANUFACTURE
Do you have a long term and scalable manufacturing solution for your product?
MARKET
Do you have a comprehensive, multi-media marketing plan?
SELL
Are you generating growing revenue?
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PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
PDC PORTFOLIO
WE HAVE LOTS OF SUCCESS ST
IDEA VALIDATION | MARKET ASSESSMENT | BUSINESS PLANNING | DESIGN | P
Will yours be next?
O
R


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
RIES...
ROTOTYPE | TEST | MANUFACTURE | MARKET | DELIVER
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PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
132 SPECIFIC TRAINING STATIONS OFFER EMERGENCY RESPONDERS INSTRUCTION IN FIREFIGHTING, RESCUE, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, MARINE,
AIRCRAFT, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
BRAYTON FIRE T
REALISTIC, LARGE-
WWW.TEE


RAINING FIELD
SCALE, HANDS-ON
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
X.ORG/FIRE
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DEFENSE TO RESPONSE
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
2017 D2R SHOWCASE
“Burn it. Break it. Blow it up.” Immediately upon reading this, what
do these words mean to
you? These words might ini- tially pose different mean- ings for many people, but for us, these words tell a story.
by Erin Mabry
responders safe. We keep this motto in mind when evaluat- ing defense technology. It is not enough to merely have a product and a concept. Can this product stand the test and make it to market? How will this technology advance
the DoD funding we received. Our goal at the PDC is to bring the best first responder technology to the market. This year on September
18-20, we hosted our second D2R Showcase. Out of the many companies from all over the United States that applied for our D2R program, 11 of these companies were selected to be a part of the D2R Showcase. Only three
of these companies would emerge victorious in the end, receiving a total of $110,000 in services from the PDC.
The D2R Showcase is one of our biggest events of the year, and as such, we go to great lengths to ensure that the event is an experience to remember for all who partic- ipate. And believe me...this
is an experience you won’t soon forget. To kick off this event, we hosted a Welcome Dinner and Reception at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and had a special per- formance by a world-famous
They tell the story of tre- mendous success and tem- porary failure. If a product does not stand the test, we go back to the drawing board until we get it right. Failure is only acceptable if it leads to greater improvements down the road that do stand the test, and ultimately, a product that keeps our first
the first responder commu- nity as a whole? And with that, we put these defense technologies through the fire in our first round of testing: the D2R Showcase.
Early on in 2016, the TEEX PDC earned a 3-year, $1.5 million contract with the Department of Defense. With


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
DEFENSE TO RESPONSE
group that is near and dear
to the heart of Aggie tra- dition: The Texas A&M University Singing Cadets. It was the perfect opening night to start off our 2017 D2R Showcase.
Day two of the D2R Showcase was a bevy of excitement, from the technology pitches presented during small group meetings with SMEs, (Subject Matter Experts) all the way
to our “First Responder Experience.” While half of
our finalists got to talk technology throughout the morning breakout sessions, the other half of our final- ists got to suit up and get their hands dirty through our “First Responder Experience.” Everyone not only got a
tour of the Disaster City® and Brayton Fire Training Field facilities to see how
the professionals train, but they also got to join in on
the action. After all, who wouldn’t want to be a fire- fighter for a day? In what is said to be an “unbelievable” experience by D2R finalist Jim Kelly, our participants got to do everything from cutting up a car utilizing the jaws of life while wearing bunker gear to operating a water cannon on a fire apparatus. Of course,
we could not have a fun day out at the fire field without talking about defense tech- nology. We offered all of our finalists a series of break- out sessions where they had the opportunity to work with subject matter experts to perfect their presentation pitches and open their minds up to new possibilities.
During day three, we turned up the heat with presenta- tions from all of the com- panies. Each finalist went through an extensive round of judging, where a panel
of hand-selected business leaders, chiefs and inves- tors listened to their presen- tations and graded the final- ists accordingly. We con- ducted innovation demos and ended the day with a relax- ing dinner to send our final- ists off in good spirits. When asked what he thought about the D2R showcase, finalist and winner Juan Cienfuegos stated, “I haven’t done a lot of these events, but of the ones I have done I have to say you are number one.”
Many of you are probably
wondering if we had any sur- vivors. While we enjoyed every second of getting acquainted with these inno- vative companies and their technologies, only three
of the eleven companies could be victorious. An extremely tough choice, but the winners of the 2017 D2R Showcase include: Southwest
Synergistic Solutions, DetectaChem LLC, and Applied Research Associates Inc. These companies have been assigned a product manager, a business advisor and a subject matter expert in emergency response as they move through our notorious THINK. BULD. SELL. process
of product development. We have customized testing and evaluation plans for these companies, and each technol- ogy will have to pass exten- sive testing before being deemed TEEX Tested®. We are thrilled to work with these companies and their technol- ogies, and we look forward
to a successful third year of our D2R Showcase! As always, “Burn it. Break it. Blow it up.”
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2017 D2R WINNERS
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
DETECTACHEM
MobileDetect from DetectaChem is the next evolution of products following DetectaChem’s top-selling SEEKER line
of handheld automated colorimetric detection devices. DetectaChem’s detection engine that powers the MobileDetect app enables automated colorimetric detection with a smartphone as an orthogonal approach in presumptive testing of substances of interest. With the growing opioid epidemic and the dangers of Fentanyl and Carfentanil, every police officer and first responder needs a cost effective and safe way to detect the presence of these substances so they may identify them and handle them appropriately.
APPLIED RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is an international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically excellent solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. Their mission is to provide in-depth and diversified research, engineering, and technical support services. ARA has a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil engineering, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and blast testing and measurement.
SOUTHWEST SYNERGISTIC SOLUTIONS
The technology was originally developed at the request of
a Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) medic who was carrying four bags of chemical lights to triage patients. The
E/T light combines four colors red, yellow, green, blue or infrared, red, green, blue into one combat proven, lightweight, durable, illuminated marker that functions in all austere environments. The E/T light has countless applications for emergency responders such as tagging team members, patients and equipment. In addition to first responders there are uses in hunting, kayaking, fishing, back-up lighting, camping, scuba diving and boating.


PDC 2016 IN REVIEW
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DEAL FLOW
EXPANDING NETWORK
NERRTC LAW
Baby’s Auto Life Saver, Protect the Force, Savachild, Hearing Armor, Cultural Quotient, MERV-Marine USA, QuickClip, United Safety, and more
ESTI ITSI
2016 REVIEW
3 NEW FULL-TIME
TEAM MEMBERS
growing list of CLIENTS
KE
TTF-1
$1.5M CONTRACTS
OUR TEAM
OUR TEAM
of PDC ROCKSTARS
of PDC ROCKSTARS +
300+ each year
85 proposals
45 contracts
$1.5M
6 MAJOR COLLABORATORS
& TALENTED
CLIENTS
& TALENTED
STUDENT WORKERS
THERE’S ALWAYS A LOT GOING ON AT THE PDC #HUSTLE
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
11 FINALISTS
3 WINNERS


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P2P
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCTION
Ryan Mills
It all starts with an electrical pulse. Neurotransmitters are
released. They cross the cell membrane into the synap-
tic gap and you have an idea. You feverishly work to turn your thoughts into something tangible and you create your first prototype.
Great ideas happen all the time... but in the end, they are nothing more than thoughts. Not to try and stifle the imagination or dis- count the greatness of ideas
but there is a long - and sometimes - rocky road to go from “I have a great idea” to “Now shipping”.
So let’s clean off the table, lay out the map, and plot
a course from prototype to production.
Simply put, prototyping is the design verification phase of product development used to demonstrate or prove aspects of a design. This includes taking the design, any-
thing from a cocktail napkin
drawing or a paper doodle, and progressing to a virtual model and moving it into the physical form After various revisions and iterations, a final prototype that closely resembles a finished product is produced.
The first step into production is to methodically document the design. Creating detailed drawings for the individual parts and model construction are all included in this crit- ical step. This means docu- mentation for assembling the product (where appropriate), including bolt torque specs, adhesives application, paint- ing, labeling, assembly order, etc.
Another important part, not to be overlooked, is design optimization, with the intent of minimizing costs in man- ufacturing. It is beneficial to build these cost-saving design factors in early, but keep in mind, various man- ufacturing facilities will be


able to further lean out the production process. Each facility is different, and can help achieve the desired end
Depending on the product and manufacturing options, assembly may be an addi- tional service that must be
multiple quotes. One rule the PDC always follows is “never sole source”.
Once your product is rolling off the assembly line, all that is left is... packaging, mar- keting material, instructions, shipping cost, and distribu- tion networks. We will leave that for another article, but until then, dream big and keep making things!
PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
Simply put, prototyping is the design verification phase of product development used to demonstrate or prove aspects of a design.
result while simultaneously minimizing waste and cost.
The production processes
and costs will differ widely for each product, manu- facturing process and each location. Some items (like plastic injection molds, casting patterns or dies) can take months to make and be very expensive. Some items require special tooling or fix- tures that must be designed and validated along the way. In any case, the production process is always involved and is usually time consum- ing. It can also be quite costly.
sought out, while some com- panies offer a full turnkey service. It is important to cast a wide net and to gather
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PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018


PDC BUZZ Magazine | January 2018
FINAL THOUGHTS IN HOLT’S HEAD
HOLT’S HEAD
Caleb Holt
“To identify the most innovative technolo- gies in the world that
will enhance public safety and homeland security, with a specific interest in technol- ogies that mitigate or reduce line of duty deaths (LODDs) and/or loss of life.”
Every day I think about this and I have been extremely fortunate to surround myself with team members and part- ners that share this mission. I am beyond proud of the leadership, engagement, cre- ativity and ownership our team shows our clients, part- ners and first responders every day. PDC Buzz is one way we will showcase innova- tions (Pg. 8, 9, 13), introduce you to our team members
(Pg. 2,5,9), showcase tech- nologies that we are helping transition from DoD with Defense to Response | D2R (Pg. 16) and highlight early technology adopters with our First Responder Innovation Spotlight (Pg. 16). We all owe Shelby Payne our gratitude for bringing PDC Buzz to life.
The programming we have lined up for 2018 is stra- tegically targeting first responder technolo-
gies, #ResponderTech and thought leaders to plow paths for public safety technology adoption. I am proud to admit that at TEEX we have a selfish ini- tiative, “to find the most
College Station, Texas. We
will invite the 20 most inno- vative technologies in public safety to town for two rounds of judging, with 10 advanc- ing to technology demonstra- tions at Disaster City® on day 2 and the opportunity to win cash prizes. See the back cover for details and website information.
innovative technologies for first responders and see
if we can develop curric- ulum or incorporate them into trainings for our stu- dents, First Responders.” In continued pursuit of this vision, we are excited to announce Under Fire
| Response Innovation Showdown that will be held March 8-9, 2018 in
Final Thought: PDC Buzz, D2R and Under Fire are the culmi- nation of 10 years of friend- ships, partnerships, col- leagues, entrepreneurs, investors, first respond-
ers and The PDC Rockstars. We THINK it takes a village (Pg. 9, I love this Page). We are looking for neighbors. [email protected]
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