M-PRT Upgrade Showcases Local Companies
The Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit System (M-PRT) is the primary mode of transportation providing service for the students, faculty and staff of West Virginia. The M-PRT system is operated by West Virginia University and has transported over fifty million passengers with an unblemished safety record. The system has consistently maintained a system availability rate above 98.5% while operating entirely from fare revenues supplemented by state appropriations. In 1997, The New Electric Railway Journal rated M-PRT as the best overall in North America in the "People Mover" category over Disney World's Monorail system.
WVU recognized that immediate planning and action to correct problems of wear out and technology obsolescence of the computer system were required. M-PRT in conjunction with the WVU Research Corporation awarded Boeing Defense and Space Group, the original M-PRT system integrator, an grant to study what would be necessary to upgrade the M-PRT Computer systems. These recommendations became the basis for the design and implementation of the upgrade project.
Boeing headed the winning team and included three local firms: Azimuth, Inc., DSD Laboratories, and Electronic Warfare Associates, Inc. (EWA). This team along with the M-PRT staff worked together towards the completion of the re-engineering project. The work began in September 1997, with the task breakdown as such: Boeing, the prime contractor, finalizing the hardware, O/S platform and design of the system. They were also responsible for the new executive software, integrating all the new pieces during subsystem testing. Azimuth fabricated the new cables needed, upgraded the system drawings to electronic format, provided housing for all the computers, assisted the M-PRT technicians to build and troubleshoot the new hardware. DSD Laboratories provided the testing support and worked with M-PRT to verify that the test requirements were being met. They also provided some software support to EWA. EWA's duties included: translation of the code from Assembly to C, module testing the application tasks, upgrading the operator display, IOTE test software, and configuration management and release of the new software and support throughout the testing cycle.
The project time frame was actually shrunk from the planned fifteen months to less than a year to meet the requirement that the system be operational in time for the 1998 Fall Semester at WVU. The M-PRT upgrade was operational in mid-August 1998. The ability to complete this task is a testimony to the skills and the dedication of the professional companies in our high technology region.
A second phase was initiated in January 1999 and will end in May 1999. This phase added single station restart capabilities to the operational system. Also, Boeing and Azimuth designed a hardware troubleshooting device that will enable the M-PRT technicians to troubleshoot the hardware modules without having to disassemble the computers.
Having qualified electronic engineers, software engineers, electronic technicians and testing coordinators on the local companies' staff, created an environment which allowed timely responsiveness and mutual cooperation in task completion. The M-PRT project showcased the strong partnership between Azimuth, DSD, and EWA that exists on similar engineering tasks.
The M-PRT serves the West Virginia University campus
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, WV June 27, 1999
Azimuth Gets Excellence in Exporting Award
Azimuth, Inc., of Morgantown, has received the 1999 Governor's Award for Excellence in Exporting.
Inc. magazine named this developer of electronic systems to its list of 500 fastest growing companies in America.
Azimuth exports systems integration to Bosnia, Korea, Germany and the West Bank, and has significantly increased its export activity since 1997.
The Innovator, Fairmont, WV January/February 1999
Azimuth Recognized by Inc. Magazine
Azimuth, Inc. has the distinction of being the sole West Virginia company to be named to Inc. Magazine's list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States.
An affiliate member of the WVHTC Foundation with offices in Morgantown and the Alan B. Mollohan Innovation Center, Azimuth was one of the first companies in the original Consortium.
"I think we had two and a half people at that time," said Craig Hartzell, senior vice president. That number has risen to 92 today in Fairmont, Morgantown and six out-of-state locations.
Hartzell said that although he and Adam Macias, Azimuth's president and CEO, formed the company in 1989, they had been working together since they met in the military 26 years ago. They run the business with the able assistance of Tina Belt, vice president for finance and administration.
"We're working for some impressive federal organizations and some outstanding prime contractors," Hartzell said in a company assessment. "Our mentor protégé program with Electronic Warfare Associates (EWA) has been terrific. "We do Department of Defense-oriented work electronics, software and a fair amount of networking. We've been a network support contractor for Fairmont State College.
"We are a good people company with a very energetic staff. We spend a lot of money on equipment so people can do their jobs. It takes some high-quality equipment to produce a high-quality product.
"We're a small business with a very good reputation for hard work and integrity," Hartzell said. "We do hard-core research and development in electronics and software engineering. We build systems from the ground up."
"As a company," he said, "we're an up and comer. We have some terrific young people here. We take very good care of our staff. Our West Virginia crew is hard to beat."