AWARD RECIPIENT / TECHNOLOGY
As a former U.S. Navy member in the field of technology, Adam Jay Harrison knows first hand the value of defensive technology to the survival of deployed soldiers. His passion for helping protect those who serve in the military eventually led him to award-winning success guiding a special endeavor for the Department of the Army, focused on the rapid deployment of new technologies into the battlefield.
But Harrison felt limited in his ability to change the way the Department of Defense acquired new technologies. He wanted to do even more. So in 2007, he personally funded and cofounded Mav6 LLC. The Vicksburg, Miss.-based company develops and incubates rapidly conceived, concept-to-implementation technology solutions designed for “edgefighters” — those at the front lines of war.
As managing director, Harrison has been able to successfully differentiate Mav6 from competitors by deviating from industry norms. The company focuses on leveraging and enhancing existing technologies as opposed to spending a lot of time and money on research and development.
It also deviates from the 100-percent-tested standard, operating under the idiom that a 70 percent solution delivered when it’s needed is better than a 100 percent solution delivered too late.
But most notably, Mav6 is different because the company doesn’t cater to Department of Defense specifications. Instead, the company reaches out directly to its products users — soldiers in the field — while leveraging an extended network of collaborators across industries and academia.
Mav6 used its design-based business model to develop the soon-to-be-launched M1400 airship. The M1400 is equipped with advanced technology that allows the airship to gather, sort and distribute valuable information more efficiently and at a much-reduced cost. When completed, the airship will be the largest unmanned aircraft ever to fly. ■
HOW TO REACH: Mav6 LLC, www.mav6.com
