Awards

Company Awards

APT made the 2009 Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America!

Inc. magazine has released its 2009 List of America’s 5000 fastest-growing private companies. APT is once again ranked among this prestigious group of businesses. Due to the APT employees creativity, dedication and hard work, APT has achieved this distinction twice within the last three years. We look forward to continued success in the coming years.

Beautification Award

We are pleased to announce that APT has been selected by the Huntsville Beautification Board to receive a Beautification Award for the year of 2009-2010!

APT made the 2007 Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America!

APT is the #1 fastest growing, Southeastern Regional Defense Contractor that has been in business for more than 15 years.
APT is the 9th fastest growing Defense Contractor that has been in business for more than 15 years.
APT is the 68th fastest growing Defense Contractor.
APT is the 778th fastest growing company that has been in business for more than 15 years.

2005 The System Safety Society Scientific Research and Development Award

Presented to Risk Summing Workshop in recognition of Outstanding Development of System Safety Engineering Methods.

2004 Commander's Award for Public Service

Presented by the Department of the Army to A-P-T Research, Inc. The Grissom High School JROTC wishes to acknowledge the generous support APT has provided to the program. Our mission is to motivate young Americans to be better citizens. The assistance APT has provided has enabled our training to be carried out successfully.

2003 System Safety Award for Achievement in Scientific Research and Development

The System Safety Society presented its Scientific Research and Development Award for 2002 to A-P-T Research, Inc. in recognition of "Outstanding Development of System Safety Engineering Methods." APT was recognized for the development tools Safety Assessment for Explosives Risk (SAFER) and Analysis of Death and Injuries Resulting from Explosions (DIRE).

2001 Small Business of the Year in Technology

A-P-T Research, Inc. won the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce's 2001 Small Business of the Year Award in the Technology Category. Criteria for winning a category were growth, company turnover, management strategy, financial strength, longevity and tenacity.

Personnel Awards

Space and Missile Defense Technical Achievement Award

Congratulations to Tom Webber! He has been selected by ASMDA to receive a 2009 Space and Missile Defense Technical Achievement Award – Contractor. Each year, ASMDA recognizes exceptional achievements accomplished by government and contractor personnel working directly on space and missile defense activities in support of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC), the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Joint Program Office (GMD JPO), Defense Intelligence Agency/Missiles and Space Intelligence Center (DIA/MISC), Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, and the PEO Missiles and Space (PEO-MS). Recipients of these awards have demonstrated exemplary dedication, professionalism, and significantly contributed to the development, test, and deployment of space and missile defense systems.

2010 Addy Awards

Congratulations to Brad Monk for winning a Silver Addy in the Tennessee Valley Advertising Federation Addy Awards for the design of the APT MiDAESS QSMA Team logo. The award was announced January 22, 2010 and presented at the Addy Awards Dinner held on February 27, 2010.

NATO Headquarters

Congratulations to Meredith Hardwick! She has received recognition from NATO HQ for her outstanding support to NATO AC/258/Risk Analysis Working Group and AC/326/Sub-Group 6.

International System Safety Society Professional Development

Saralyn Dwyer was awarded the Professional Development Award at the International System Safety Society Conference in Huntsville, AL on 7 August 2009 for her contributions to expanding the System Safety discipline and her work with the Society. The Professional Development award is the highest award given annually by the Society.

International System Safety Society Professional Development and Presidents Awards

Mr. Tom Pfitzer, Founder of A-P-T Research Inc. was awarded the Professional Development Award and the President's Award at the International System Safety Society Conference in Vancouver, Canada on 28 August 2008. The Professional Development award is the highest award given annually by the Society, and the Presidents Award is given for unusual contributions to the purposes of the society as selected by the society president. The awards read: “Mr. Pfitzer is a true innovator who leads by example. He continually seeks ways to bring discipline to the discipline of System Safety -- discipline as to both the engineering aspects and the underlying ethical principles of practice. He pushes the envelope and promotes development of leading edge system safety approaches to practical problem solving. He contributes to the good of the system safety profession by unselfishly volunteering use of company facilities and resources. He fosters and nurtures perpetual growth and professional advancement among his employees, whom he genuinely considers to be colleagues in practice. They, in turn, reward him with an extraordinarily low turnover rate. In addition, he seeks to promote change and initiatives that enhance the technical aspects of the system safety discipline -- for example, tailoring of the risk assessment matrix, developing and promoting risk-based explosives safety applications, identifying System Safety management “Goodness” measures, visualizing risk, and innovative techniques for risk summation.”

System Safety Society Vice President (2008)

Congratulations to Saralyn Dwyer, who has been elected Vice President of the System Safety Society!

2008 Addy Awards

Congratulations to Heather French for winning a Bronze Addy in the Tennessee Valley Advertising Federation Addy Awards. The award was for an APT advertisement design that was published in a publication of USASMDC. The award was presented at the Addy Awards on February 23rd, 2008.

Addy Award

Who's Who in IAASS

Tom Pfitzer was recognized in the June 2006 issue of the IAASS Newsletter as Chairman of the newly established IAASS Launch Range Safety Committee.

Safety Engineer of the Year (2007)

Congratulations to Susan Cantrell, who has been named "2007 Engineer of the Year" by the Huntsville chapter of the System Safety Society. The award was presented in June 2007.

System Safety Society's Manager of the Year Award (2007)

Congratulations to Bob Baker, who has been selected as the recipient of the System Safety Society's Manager of the Year Award for the Year 2007. This award is presented annually to an individual member of the Society who has made significant contributions through the implementation of an effective system safety management program for a major system effort.

Safety Engineer of the Year (2006)

Congratulations to Chris Olson, who has been named "2006 Engineer of the Year" by the Huntsville chapter of the System Safety Society. Chris received this award for his excellent system safety skills specifically in support of unmanned ground vehicles. The award was presented in June 2006.

System Safety Society's Manager of the Year Award (2006)

Congratulations to Rhonda Barnes, who has been selected as the recipient of the System Safety Society's Manager of the Year Award for the Year 2006. This award is presented annually to an individual member of the Society who has made significant contributions through the implementation of an effective system safety management program for a major system effort.

System Safety Society's Educator of the Year Award (2006)

Congratulations to Sid Smith, who has been selected as the recipient of the System Safety Society's Educator of the Year Award for the Year 2006. This award is presented annually to an individual or group for outstanding achievement in, or contribution to System Safety education and the advancement of the state of knowledge in System Safety. Sid's contributions over the last several years in presenting formal classes and seminars pertaining to the management and engineering of safety programs has contributed to the growth and advancement of this essential discipline.

Safety Engineer of the Year (2004)

Congratulations to Jerry Rufe, who has been named "2004 Engineer of the Year" by the Huntsville chapter of the System Safety Society. The award was presented in March 2004.

System Safety Professional of the Year (2003)

Congratulations to Howard Kuettner, who has been named "System Safety Professional of the Year" by the Huntsville chapter, System Safety Society. The award was presented at the Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS) luncheon on February 20.

System Safety Society Engineer of the Year (2002)

On August 8th at the International System Safety Society Awards banquet, Melissa Emery received the System Safety Society Engineer of the Year award for outstanding system safety performance.

Systems Safety Societies' Professional of the Year (2001)

Mr. Phil Owen, A-P-T Research Vice President and Chief System Safety Engineer was honored as being named the Systems Safety Societies' Professional of the Year. The award was presented at the Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS) Awards Dinner on 16 May 2001. Mr. Owen won this award for a life time of achievements in the area of system safety.

Military Applications Societies' Professional of the Year (2001)

Dr. John Hall, A-P-T Research Division Manager, Industrial Engineering, was also honored at the HATS Award Dinner. Dr. Hall was named the Military Applications Societies' Professional of the Year. Dr. Hall was recognized for his unique ability to find innovative solutions to difficult problems.

System Safety Society's Manager of the Year Award (1999)

Tom Pfitzer, a member of the Tennessee Valley Chapter, was the recipient of the Society's Manager of the Year Award for 1999. The Manager of the Year Award is presented annually to an individual member of the SSS who has made significant contributions through the implementation of an effective system safety management program for a major system effort. Tom's selection was based on system safety management actions that significantly contributed to the expansion of the discipline of system safety into other safety disciplines.
Related article: APT President Wins National Management Award

APT Annual Awards

	President's Award	Employee of the Year	Technical Excellence	Analysis Excellence	Program Mgmt Excellence	Admin Excellence
2009	Rhonda Barnes	John Barczynski	Kristy Newton	Wayne Devoid	John Tatom	Irene Bussey
2008	Tom Webber	Tim Browning	Heather French	Robb Laney	Jerry Rufe	Rachel Harwell
2007	Ron Huskey	Clark Kilgore	Mary Svoboda	Scott Pace	Chris Olson	Myra Swoope
2006	Melissa Emery	John Tatom	John Barczynski	Brandon Whitworth	Susan Cantrell	Troy Farmer
2005	Kevin Stoleson	Rachel Harwell	Al Webb	Mark Moon	Melissa Emery, Tom Webber	Brett Smith
2004	Nina Donath	Darlene Davenport	Meredith Hardwick	John Tatom, Scott Price	Don Van Name	Anita Agee
2003	Phil Owen, Betty Augsburger	Randy Strom
2002	Don Van Name	Saralyn Dwyer
2001	John Hall	Jenny Brown
2000	Jerry Rufe	Meredith Hardwick
1999	Pete Yutmeyer
1998	Paul Jarmello
1997	Bob Baker

"Hors Categorie" Award - Pat Clemens

Publication Awards

2009 Conference or Symposium Proceedings

John Tatom, et al., “Status of Testing Program to Benefit Explosives Safety Standards Development in the United States Department of Defense,” Proceedings from the 13th International Symposium on the Interactions of the Effects of Munitions with Structures, Bruehl, Germany, May 2009.
Howard Kuettner, “Identification of SIAP Safety-Critical Software Requirements,” ISSC 2009.
Howard Kuettner, “Application of Level of Rigor (LOR) to Software Verification,” ISSC 2009.
Nina Donath & Tom Pfitzer, “ART – APT Risk-Management Tool for Performing Risk Assessments,” ISSC 2009.
Mike Pessoney & Josh McNeil, “Software Safety Assessment Report – How It Can Be Built and How It Can Be Reported,” ISSC 2009.
Meredith Hardwick & Jerry Ward, “Development of a Risk-Based Model and Criteria for Explosives Safety,“ ISSC 2009.
Megan Stroud & Jerry Ward, “The Science of SAFER,” Minutes of the Ninth Annual Australian Explosive Ordnance Symposium,” Nov 2009.
John Tatom, Jesse Davis, et al., “Investigating the SAFER/SciPan Kinetic Energy/Mass Bin Concept,” Minutes of the Ninth Annual Australian Explosive Ordnance Symposium,” Nov 2009.
John Tatom, Jesse Davis, et al., “ISO-3 Debris Data Visualization and Comparison to ISO-1 Results,” Minutes of the Ninth Annual Australian Explosive Ordnance Symposium, Nov 2009.
John Tatom, et al., “ISO-3: Program Description and Progress,” Minutes of the Ninth Annual Australian Explosive Ordnance Symposium, Nov 2009.
John Tatom, et al., “SciPan 4: Program Description and Data Summary,” Minutes of the Ninth Annual Australian Explosive Ordnance Symposium, Nov 2009.

2009 Trade Journal or Periodical Publication

Howard Kuettner & Bill Christian, “Software Safety for Model-Driven Software Development,” Crosstalk, June/July, 2009.
Pat Clemens, “Modeling in System Safety—A Significant Source of Error,” Journal of System Safety, January-February, 2009, Vol. 45, No. 1.
Howard Kuettner, “A Summary of the System Safety Systems-of-Systems (SoS) Workshop at ISSC 2009,” to be published in Journal of System Safety.
Jeff Richards, “A Summary of the Levels of Rigor Workshop at ISSC 2009,” to be published in Journal of System Safety.

2009 Peer Reviewed Journal or Book

Susan Cantrell & Pat Clemens, “Finding All the Hazards,” Professional Safety Journal of the American Society of Safety Engineers, Nov 2009.
Tom Pfitzer, Max Tomlin, JP Rogers, book chapter on Space Safety Regulations and Standards.

"Apt" Solution Awards

2009

Melissa Emery, Howard Kuettner, Mike Pessoney, Rhonda Barnes, Steve Applebaum, Sid Smith, Kristy Campbell - Development of Software Safety Training Module
John Tatom, Jesse Davis, Adriaan Ostrander - Explosive Testing (ISO-3, DIRT 4.2)
Rhonda Barnes, Steve Applebaum, Bill Christian, Heather French, Howard Keuttner, Mike Pessoney, Jeff Richards - International System Safety Society Conference Planning and Support
Scott Pace, Mark Moon, Brandon Whitworth - TEES Development
Steve Applebaum - Software Safety Analysis
Nina Donath, Pat Clemens, Tom Pfitzer - ART Development Paper
William Yutmeyer, Nina Donath, Darlene Davenport, Troy Farmer, Brad Watson, JP Rogers - Beautification Award
Gerald Wood - Test Support

2008

Don Hanline - Software Regulation for AMCOM.
Brett Smith, Jesse Davis, Mike Kniest, Rick Hart, John Tatom - Sci Pan 4 Test.
Martin Nelson - Tropic Regions Test Center Suriname Work.
Kristy Newton - Development of multiple products.
Darlene Davenport - Development of multiple products for the AMCOM Safety Office.
Nina Donath, Mike Giroir, Jeff Richards, Danielle Debraccio - Development of the AMCOM Safety Tracking System (ASTS).
Robb Laney, Brenda Wall, Wayne Devoid, Tim Middendorf - Propellant Impact Risk Assessment (PIRAT).
Scott Pace, Brandon Whitworth, JP Rogers, Mark Moon, Bob Baker - Burnt Frost.
Jack Snyder - Yuma Test Center (YTC) Safety Release and Safety Confirmation Recommendations.

2007

Brett Smith, Brad Champion, Phil Eder, Jim Blanteno, Jerry Rufe, Darlene Davenport, Kristy Newton, Heather French, Brad Monk - Assistance with multiple Insensitive Munitions Final Hazard Classifications.
Melissa Emery, Rhonda Barnes, Ranjit Mann, Chris Olson, Mike Pessoney, Bill Christian - The development of the Unmanned Systems (UMS) Safety Guide for DoD Acquisition.
Nina Donath, Danielle DeBraccio, Jeff Richards, Wayne Devoid, Cheryl Wass - Development of Surface Danger Zone (SDZ) Calculator Version 1.2.
Jan Lasater - Adding significant professionalism to the APT contracting process.
Heather French - Designing many high profile templates, graphics, and promotional items for APT and the AMCOM Safety Office.
Megan Stroud - Development of the SAFER-MEC Excel protocol tool.
JP Rogers - In recognition of the innovative implementation of Krigging Methodology used to assess risks posed to aircraft by engagement debris and developing a new hours budget tool.
Mark Moon, Brandon Whitworth - In recognition of upgrades to the SafeLab Range Safety Toolkit.
Bill Pfitzer, Bob Baker, Phil Owen - Performing two independent studies for GMD.
Don Hanline, Howard Kuettner, Mike Pessoney, Max Tomlin - Developing the APT Software Safety Process.

2006

Rhonda Barnes - Increasing APT's Software System Safety capabilities.
Scott Pace, Mark Moon - Developing a new approach for calculating flyout risks to space launch vehicles from cataloged debris.
Susan Cantrell, Darlene Davenport, Jerry Rufe, Brad Monk - Support of the GMD FCO Test at Eglin AFB.
Meredith Hardwick, John Tatom, Megan Stroud, Nina Donath, Mike Giroir - Support of the development and delivery of the IMESAFR software.
Heather French - Efforts in the redesign of the APT Website.
Rachel Harwell - Leading the effort to fully document all of APT's accounting processes.
Anita Agee - Creating Resume and Security Document Tracking Databases.

2005

Mark Moon, Herb Burton, Alice Correa, J.P. Rogers, Scott Pace, Scott Price, Bob Baker - Flight Test Planning and Range Safety Team.
Meredith Hardwick, John Tatom, Nina Donath, Mike Giroir, Danielle DeBraccio, Darlene Davenport - SAFER 3 Team.
Pat Clemens, Bill Pfitzer, Sid Smith, Jerry Rufe, and Kristy Newton - Training Development Team.
Randy Strom - Accreditation and mission implementation of the Space Asset Risk Analysis (SARA) tool.
Don Hanline, Howard Kuettner, Jerry Rufe, Nina Donath, and Melissa Emery - Outstanding support in developing and implementing a software system safety training process for Lockheed Martin Missile Defense National Team C2BMC (MDNTB).
Mary Svoboda - Ms. Svoboda's knowledge, skill, dedication, and focus on customer support directly resulted in a greatly improved Yuma Proving Ground Radiation Protection Program.
Clint McBride - Establishment of the Yuma Proving Ground Mission Industrial Hygiene Program.
Herb Burton, Mark Moon, and Scott Pace - Development and implementation of an innovative approach for assessing test-unique risks to space assets.
Sid Smith, Chris Olson, Darlene Davenport, and Saralyn Dwyer - Development of the PRST Integrated Flight Safety Process.

2004

Nina Donath and Danielle DeBraccio - SAFER Version 2 Peer Review.
Kevin Stoleson, Gerald Wood, John Grossklas, John Barczynski, Jack Grass, Steve Austin, and Fred Bookwalter - Support of critical test programs and development of unique "Apt" technical solutions.
Jerry Rufe, Clark Kilgore, and Ron Huskey - Produced Recommended Initial Deployment Operations Missile Field Safing Levels during Mission Critical Procedures.
Danielle DeBraccio, Mike Giroir, Jeff Richards, and Darlene Davenport - Developed and delivered APT's first web-based and SQL server-based software program, the Range Test Scheduling System (RTSS).
Melissa Emery - Established a program System Safety Support for AMCOM and "Apt"-ly represented corporate goals within the G-48 committee and as a national officer in the System Safety Society.
Howard Kuettner, Susan Cantrell, and Richard Vance - Supported preparation of an independent GMD safety assessment for the initial defensive operations systems.

2003

Jenny Brown and Rachel Harwell - Invaluable support in Accounting.
Scott Price - Advanced APT capabilities for assessing Missile Malfunction Turns.
John Barczynski - Invaluable support to the Stryker Program.
Meredith Hardwick - Completed three major studies using the SAFER software.
John Tatom - Lead an effort to analyze data from a large-scale explosives test.
Paul Moran - Report entitled "Base Closure Report of 91B Sites" lead to establishment of major program to evaluate contaminated sites on military bases.
Darlene Davenport - Invaluable support in maintaining a high and consistent quality standard for all APT products.
Nina Donath and Danielle Debraccio - Use of APT software development processes which were highly complimented by the SAFER 2 peer review team.

2002

Howard Kuettner, Melissa Emery, Clark Kilgore, Melissa Waters - Development of a software safety website to consolidate software safety information.
Danielle DeBraccio - Invaluable support to the development of the SAFER Version 2 software.
John Tatom, Nina Donath, Mike Giroir - Development of DIRE.
Kristy Newton - Addition of the capability to model the uncertainty in the risk computation was a major upgrade to the SAFER model.

2001

Don Van Name - Developed an effective process to establish a remote support organization.
John Tatom - Developed a Minuteman silo model to be used as a Potential Explosive Site (PES) in the SAFER model.
Nina Donath - Developed and implemented the package of APT policy and procedures for software development.
Bob Baker, Randy Strom, John Hall - SSS Conference Support: Accepting Necessary Risk.
Jerry Rufe, Tom Pfitzer - Criteria Selection for Risk-Based Explosives Safety Standards.
Randy Strom, Kristy Newton - Using the RCC 8-Step Process to Perform Quantitative Risk Assessments on Reusable Launch Vehicles.
Tom Pfitzer, Meredith Hardwick, Saralyn Dwyer - Pascal and the Risk Assessment Code Matrix.
John Hall, Randy Strom, Tom Pfitzer - Prediction of the Probability of an Event by the Comparative Experience Method.
Howard Kuettner, Phil Owen - Definition and Verification of Critical Safety Functions in Software.
Pete Yutmeyer, Meredith Hardwick - Explosive Safety Tutorial.

2000

Howard Kuettner - Organized and coordinated the Software Safety effort for the GBI program.
Kristy Newton - Created a dynamic presentation of the X-34 footprint trace for presentation to the NASA Environmental Office and to the Eastern Range Safety Representatives at Kennedy Space Center.
Phil Owen - Performed an independent assessment of inadvertent ignition risk for the GBI system.

1999

Jenny Brown - Assuming accounting responsibilities.
Margaret Stapp - Primary developer of SAFER.
Brett Smith - Responsible for organization and preparation of final hazard classification packages.
John Hall, Meredith Hardwick, Randy Strom - Outstanding contribution to analysis and documentation of the GBI silo construction risk assessment study.

1998

Saralyn Dwyer - Compiled and presented a briefing and demonstration on the SMDC HTS.
Randy Strom - Developed flight test scenarios that demonstrated feasibility of full performance interceptor testing at KMR.
Meredith Hardwick - Compiled and contributed to the advancement of the Risk-Based Explosive Safety Criteria Development team.