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News Releases
11/21/08
Noted Robotics Designer Chi Won to Join Vecna
Robotics designer Chi Won has agreed to join Vecna's robotics division. Mr. Won worked at iRobot™ for several years and was the designer of both the Packbot™ and Roomba™ robots.
“iRobot,” “Packbot,” and “Roomba” are trademarks of the iRobot Corporation.
9/19/08
Vecna Open House on Sept. 23, 3-6 PM
Please join Vecna at our Cambridge Research Lab's open house this Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 from 3pm - 6pm. Come tour our facility, see our robots, meet our engineers and enjoy refreshments. We are conveniently located next to the Alewife T station in Cambridge.
8/11/08
BEAR robot featured on Discovery Military Channel
Vecna's Battelefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR), along with its team of engineering caretakers, is currently featured on the Discovery Military Channel's program “Backyard to Battlefield” beginning Monday, August 11th. The program will follow the BEAR's development from loose parts, to standing tall, highlighting how engineering ingenuity and persistance can positively affect lives on the battlefield and beyond. “Backyard to Battlefield” will be airing regularly, so check your television schedules for details.
6/18/08
Vecna Clinical Analyst Jenn Noppenberger Cook speaks with Department of Veterans Affairs ICP's about upcoming QC PathFinder VA Implementations
Jennifer Noppenberger Cook, RN, CIC, presented to a group of VA Infection Control Practitioners led by Gina Oda, Associate Director of the VHA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research. At a meeting held during the Annual National APIC Conference, Ms. Cook highlighted the upcoming implementation of QC PathFinder's™ automated infection control surveillance system at additional sites across the Veterans Administration facilities. Ms. Cook's presentation focused on upcoming training, including on-site training and training tools, as well as a review of the structured tiered system post-implementation. Representatives from the next “Go Live” sites expressed enthusiasm for participating in the upcoming implementations.
2/9/08
Vecna CEO Deborah Theobald presents at Industry Conference
Vecna's CEO, Deborah Theobald, presented “The State of Healthcare Technology” at the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium Healthcare IT Conference. Ms. Theobald emphasized that if financial institutions can be successful, so can healthcare in moving services beyond the limitations of physical institutions for on-demand patient consumption. Vecna is leading the way in healthcare technology advances by providing patient self-service solutions including automated check-in, registration and triage/assessment kiosks and extended web-based capabilities.
9/24/07
Vecna to Sponsor 3rd Annual College Park Cares 10K & Festival
Benefit on November 3
Vecna will host the 3rd
annual College Park Cares 10K on
Saturday, November 3rd at City Hall in College Park, MD. Autumn weather, cash
awards and AMB ChipX timing on a flat, scenic route through College Park's neighborhoods
and parklands, make this race ideal for runners of all levels. Back at City Hall,
a variety of activities (including a 3K Fun Walk, Kids Race, free t-shirts, refreshments,
entertainment, etc.), will make this an event the whole family can enjoy. Sponsored
by Vecna and other organizations with a commitment to giving back to the community,
all proceeds from the race go to local charities that are dedicated to improving
access to quality healthcare in Prince George's County in Maryland. Volunteers
are needed too. Register at www.collegeparkcares.com.
9/3/07
PBS features Vecna CEO Deborah Theobald and BEAR robot in New Technology Series
The Public Broadcasting
System (PBS) will spotlight Vecna CEO Deborah
Theobald together with Vecna Robotics' Battlefield
Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR) in "Design
Squad,"
a new technology series that is premiering this fall. Design Squad follows
a reality TV contest format, in which two teams of 4 teenagers each,
with the help of two professional mechanical-engineer "consultants,"
design and build solutions to meet that week's challenge. Appearing in
Episode
6, "A Collective Collaboration," Theobald stars with the
BEAR Robot in a "Pro File," a 3-minute spotlight of real world
inventors and engineers (and their creations). The Design Squad website
hosts videos of
all its shows and segments, where you can view or download the
Pro File on Theobald & BEAR.
8/15/07
Vecna Medical Releases Update to its QC PathFinder™ Infection
Control Surveillance Software
Vecna Medical™ announces
the release of Version 3.5 of QC
PathFinder™, the automated infection-control software solution of choice
for healthcare institutions around the nation. QC PathFinder 3.5 features an
enhanced user interface that allows users to navigate even more efficiently and
more intuitively than before. The flagship of Vecna Medical's Quality Care (QC)
Works™ suite of innovative healtcare IT solutions, QC PathFinder saves
hospitals millions of dollars each year by decreasing the time between detection
and management of healthcare associated infections. Automated reports and alerts,
easier than ever to create and view in QC PathFinder 3.5, save infection control
teams hundreds of hours each month previously spent performing tedious manual
data mining and reporting. QC PathFinder uses real-time microbiology, pharmacy,
surgical and other clinical data feeds, together with advanced analysis to predict
and prevent outbreaks of hospital-acquired infections (HAI's) before they become
epidemics.
8/1/07
Vecna Researchers Win Army Grant to Develop Biological
Defense Analysis System
Vecna recently received a US Army grant to construct an information
repository and analysis system to help researchers study and detect potentially
harmful microbes. At the heart of this system is a relational database that
will warehouse biological threat research and detection data collected
from diagnostic systems at research sites throughout the US. The web-based
system will be the first of its kind, able to collect and manage multiple
sources of real-time diagnostic data. It will also enable its users to
analyze data, study the physiological impact of pathogens, produce research
reports, and look for patterns of potential biohazards using new computational
tools.
7/16/07
Vecna Medical Releases QC EMR™, Open-Source Electronic
Medical Record Solution
Vecna Medical today announced the release of QC EMR™, an open-source
electronic medical records system based on QC VistA. QC EMR™ joins the growing
QC Works™ integrated suite of innovative technology solutions for the
healthcare community, which also includes tools for automated infectious disease
surveillance and patient self-service kiosks. QC EMR™ features the best of modern
EMR systems, such as electronic order/entry (CPOE), appointments & scheduling,
and secure provider messaging, together with all the benefits of open-source
systems.
7/02/07
Vecna Medical sponsors APIC 2007 Annual Conference
and Pre-conference Disease Surveillance Workshop
As part of Vecna Medical's commitment to improving healthcare through its
QC PathFinder™ Automated Infection Surveillance control software, Vecna Medical proudly sponsored the APIC 2007 Annual Conference in San Jose, CA in late June. APIC's Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting is considered the premier educational opportunity for healthcare professionals in all settings who have infection control and prevention responsibilities.
6/15/07
Vecna Inc. Integrates New Intelligent Conflict Resolution
Scheduling Feature into GoalMind™
Vecna announced that GoalMind,
the company's flagship intelligent Enterprise Resource Management (ERM)
software solution, has integrated Dynamic
Resource Management (DRM) for intelligently scheduling appointments into
its suite of expansion modules. DRM uses
genetic algorithms to recommend appointment times that need to be scheduled
(or rescheduled) in real-time for organizations with complex sets of scheduling
constraints. DRM enables these organizations to optimize productivity
for people, equipment and other resources.
6/9/07
Vecna BEAR Robot Featured on BBC, CNN, Fox & Comedy
Central in Media Storm
Vecna's Battlefield
Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR) has recently been featured
on the BBC, Fox News and CNN. In an online
article from the BBC, Gary Gilbert, from the US Army's Telemedicine and
Advanced Technology Research Center, discusses the friendly appearance and
capabilities of BEAR. In this
video, CNN discusses the advanced features of BEAR. On Comedy Central's "The
Colbert Report," the Vecna BEAR is featured in
a segment.
5/15/07
Vecna to Form Strategic Research Alliance With National Rehabilitation Hospital
Vecna Inc. announces a strategic partnership with Dr. Alexander Libin
of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in
Washington, DC, to develop therapeutic robot applications that facilitate
rehabilitation and positive outcomes in patients with various maladies
in a range of age groups. Working closely with the NRH team, Vecna will
design and develop the robot prototypes. The NRH team will conduct
research studies on the devices in interaction with hospital patients,
to gauge response and therapeutic benefits.
4/15/07
New Version of BEAR Robot Featured on Cover of
ROBOT Magazine
ROBOT magazine recently obtained an up-close
peek of Vecna Robotics' Version 7 BEAR
robot at
the Vecna Technologies Cambridge Research Laboratory near Boston. ROBOT's extended
online article offers an overview of this project, already being
funded by Congress with a 2007 grant in excess of $1
million.
3/15/07
Vecna Assessed at CMMI Level Three for High Quality of Process Management
Vecna Technologies, Inc. was recently assessed at Capability
Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level Three. CMMI is a process
to evaluate the effectiveness and maturity level of companies that
create software. Level
Three indicates the high quality of Vecna's processes, excellence
in record keeping, adherence to deadlines, communication within teams,
and testing methodologies. According to Michael Bearman, Vecna's VP
of State and Federal Solutions and General Counsel, "We are extremely
pleased and proud to be assessed at CMMI Maturity Level 3. This assessment
is an independent validation of Vecna's consistent commitment to excellence
- excellence in our organizational processes and our development processes,
which form the core of everything we do."
2/2/07
Vecna Robotics Secures Follow-On Funding to Develop
BEAR
The U.S. Congress has directed that $1.1 million of its 2007 budget
go to develop Vecna Robotics' Battlefield
Extraction-Assist Robot.
The funding represents the growing
awareness of the importance of the BEAR robot, both in military and
civilian arenas. This grant will be used to develop a new torso
for the robot, in addition to a self-balancing legged mobility system
that is capable of lowering BEAR closer to the ground to better lift
those in need.
1/22/07
Vecna announces Installation of GoalMind for the
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT)
Vecna has successfully installed GoalMind for the entire
Maryland Department of Transportation, a diverse 8,300 person organization.
GoalMind manages up to 2500 logins per day, accommodating all three shifts
and six different divisions without any interruptions in service. Additionally,
Vecna engineers have integrated GoalMind with MDOT's legacy payroll and
employee management systems. Betty Conners, MDOT’s Financial Section Chief,
said: "Working
with the GoalMind team was a very satisfying and successful experience.
They partnered with us in a very professional way to ensure that they understood
our unique needs and went above and beyond to make sure we were successful.
Thanks to the flexibility of GoalMind and the excellent support we received,
this implementation has been a great success."
12/1/06
Time Magazine: Vecna BEAR Robot "Best Invention
of 2006"
Time Magazine has selected Vecna Robotics' Battlefield
Extraction-Assist Robot, or BEAR, as one of its "Best Inventions
of 2006." Time publishes its special edition detailing the most
significant innovations for the year annually.
11/15/06
Vecna Updates
GoalMind ERM Suite to v7.5
Vecna Technologies announced the release
of Version 7.5 of its flagship GoalMind Enterprise Resource Management
Suite. Version 7.5 sports a streamlined user interface, support for
integration with SAP and Peoplesoft, and other improvements.
11/1/06
US Congress earmarks $1.1mm to develop BEAR robot
Congress has set aside $1.1 Million to develop Vecna Robotics' Battlefield Extraction-Assist
Robot in its 2007 budget. The funding appropriation represents the
growing awareness of the importance of the BEAR robot, both to rescue
fallen servicemembers in the military, as well as provide significant
healthcare benefits in the civilian sector. President Bush has signed
the budget into law, to make funds available for fiscal year 2007
development.
10/15/06
Fox News Profiles QC PathFinder, BEAR Robot
Fox News in Washington DC is profiling Vecna's QC PathFinder infection control surveillance systems and the BEAR rescue robot as part of a series on the future of healthcare. The BEAR robot segment aired on the morning of October 17. The QC PathFinder segment is scheduled to be aired in the near future.
10/1/06
Vecna wins HIPAA contract from US Military Health Services
TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) has awarded a contract to Vecna Technologies
to provide HIPAA compliance consulting services in support of the Military
Health System (MHS). HIPAA, which stands for the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996, puts in place strict privacy, security
and electronic data interchange standards for the US health care industry.
September 16, 2006
Vecna Releases Version 1.0 of Healthcare RFID Tracking System
Vecna Technologies today released a commercial system for hospitals
and other healthcare institutions to track resources using advanced
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging technology.
August 28, 2006
Vecna Medical Signs 5-Hospital Implementation
Contract for QC PathFinder™ in Florida
The QC PathFinder Infection Control Surveillance software system is to be implemented in all five hospitals owned by Baptist Health of South Florida.
August 20, 2006
Vecna
Readies Release of GoalMind™ 7.5
Version 7.5 of the versatile GoalMind Enterprise Resource Management
Software System is on track for release at the end of September, company officials
announced.
August 12, 2006
Vecna
CEO Speaks on Robot Ethics at NA-CAP Conference
Deborah Theobald presented an invited talk at the 2006 annual meeting of the North American
Computing and Philosophy Conference, held at Renssalear Polytechnic Institute
in Troy, NY on August 12. She spoke about"the Ethics of Robots in War."
August 9, 2006
Nana-Technology: Tools Help Seniors Be Independent
The Vecna BEAR robot is featured as an assistant to lift and carry
people with mobility impairments, including "hospital and nursing
home patients, or older people who live alone and fall." Appeared
in USA
Today 8/9/06.
July 14, 2006
Vecna Expands NIH
BioHealthBase Website Capability
The BioHealthBase site supports scientists around the world
in their studies of pathogenic organisms that could be used for bio-warfare
and bio-terrorist activities, many of which also pose an ongoing threat
to public health.
July 1, 2006
Vecna Sponsors
Second Annual "College Park Cares 10K and Fun Walk" Benefit
The benefit event, held once again at City
Hall in College Park, MD, raised money to provide needed medical services
for children in low income families who are uninsured. Vecna contributed
over 850 hours to this year's event, which it has organized since 2005. >more
June 12, 2006
Vecna
finishes working prototype of RFID Healthcare System
Vecna has created a complete working prototype of a new,
NIH-funded system that uses RFID tags to enable hospitals to track vital
resources as well as paths of infection spread, information that can
prove vital in controlling outbreaks of infectious diseases.
May 26, 2006
BEAR robot's
eldercare capabilities highlighted in talk at MIT
The BEAR robot's immense capabilities to help keep seniors
independent was the highlight of a talk presented by Vecna to an international
group of sponsors of the MIT Media Laboratory in Cambridge, MA. >more
April 1, 2006
Vecna Wins NSF
Phase II Grant Award for Innovative RFID Research Vecna
Technologies, Inc. announced today that the National Science Foundation
(NSF) has awarded the company a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research
(SBIR) grant for patient tracking in hospitals using Radio Frequency
Identifier (RFID) technology.
February 10, 2006
Vecna Contributes Over 12,000 Hours in Community Service
Over 12,000 hours of community service time has been devoted by Vecna
to various regional and national community projects since Vecna's Service
Mission inception in 1999.
>more
January 1, 2006
Vecna Wins
NIH Phase II SBIR Grant to Develop Dynamic Schedule Management System
The system enables hospitals and other organizations to optimize highly
complex schedules on the fly, to adjust to inevitable cancellations,
unexpected leave, late arrivals and other issues, boosting productivity
and improving patient care.
July 4, 2005
"College Park Cares 10K
and Fun Walk" Fundraiser for the Medical Care for Children Partnership
Vecna Technologies, Inc. inaugurated its first annual fundraiser in College Park,
MD to help local needy children with medical care. >more
June 16, 2005
QC PathFinder Receives Partners Certification for Use at Boston Hospital
Vecna's QC PathFinder received certification as a Partners application, allowing it to be used by major teaching affiliates of Harvard Medical School.
>more
March 31, 2005
Vecna Wins NSF Phase I SBIR Award for RFID Research
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Vecna a Phase I SBIR grant for patient tracking in hospitals using Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) technology.
>more
October 31, 2004
Vecna Awarded DoD Phase I SBIR Grant for Dynamic Patient Scheduling
Vecna won a $100,000 Phase I SBIR award from the DoD for dynamic patient scheduling and resource allocation.
>more
October 25, 2004
Jonathan Klein Presents at the 2004 Future
of Health Technology Summit
Jonathan Klein, Vecna's Director of Robotics, recently presented a lecture at
the Future of Health Technology (FHT) Summit at MIT. >more
September 9, 2004
Vecna Assists Northrop Grumman with NIAID
Bioinformatics Resource Center Contract
Vecna Technologies, Inc. will help Northrop Grumman develop a comprehensive
database for pathogens to combat bio-terrorism and to promote public
health. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
awarded Northrop Grumman a five-year, $16.9 million contract for developing
the bioinformatics resource center database. >more
Vecna Insight (Company Newsletter)
Summer 2005 Issue (PDF):
Spring 2005 Issue (PDF):
Winter 2004-05
Issue (PDF):
Fall 2004 Issue
(PDF):
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