Oak Ridge Today

MartinFed acquires Xcel Engineering

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MartinFed, based in Alabama, has acquired Xcel Engineering Incorporated, located in Commerce Park in Oak Ridge.

MartinFed, based in Alabama, has acquired Xcel Engineering Incorporated of Oak Ridge.

“The acquisition of Xcel Engineering is a strategic move for MartinFed as it continues to expand its presence in the federal marketplace,” a press release said.

MartinFed is based in Huntsville, Alabama. The company offers services to federal agencies and contractors in cybersecurity, information technology, training, contract vehicles, and engineering and technical solutions, according to its website.

Xcel Engineering, which is located in Commerce Park, provides information technology and engineering services. The services include IT staffing and solutions, environmental engineering, and project management and consulting, the press release said.

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Cybersecurity expert shares career opportunities with Roane State students

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Cybersecurity expert Rob Ashcraft of Sword & Shield Enterprise Security discusses career opportunities with Roane State students. (Submitted photo)

Cybersecurity expert Rob Ashcraft of Sword & Shield Enterprise Security discusses career opportunities with Roane State students. (Submitted photo)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

In this era of online hacking and ransomware, jobs in cybersecurity are booming, and they pay extremely well, an expert in the field told Roane State Community College faculty and students.

Rob Ashcraft, with the state’s largest firm of its kind—Sword & Shield Enterprise Security of Knoxville—recently gave an overview of the various positions available in the profession.

The demand for those jobs is growing 350 percent faster than other information technology positions, and those with the appropriate certifications can make as much as $55 an hour.

“I think you made a good choice,” Ashcraft told students now enrolled in Roane State’s new cyber defense program, which was launched in the fall 2017 semester. “It’s a great career, and it’s a lot of fun.” [Read more…]

High school students begin new automotive repair class

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orhs-auto-shop-1

A new course, Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair, started this fall at Oak Ridge High School as part of Oak Ridge Schools’ College, Career and Technical Education (CCTE) program. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Submitted by Sarah Self/City of Oak Ridge

Students at Oak Ridge High School now have an opportunity to learn the skills they need to begin yet another high-demand, high-wage occupation after graduating.

The newest course, Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair, started with the 2016 fall semester as part of Oak Ridge Schools’ College, Career, and Technical Education, or CCTE, program. The class currently has 14 students enrolled for a fall and spring session.

Upon completing two full years of the class, each student will have worked with engine systems, transmissions, suspensions, steering, brakes, electrical, and HVAC. Students earn a full year’s worth of credit hours in one semester. The credits are recognized by the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) as part of a dual enrollment program and will count toward further certifications with TCAT. Students can also obtain some Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certifications while still in high school. [Read more…]

County agrees to spend up to $100,000 to fix computer security breach

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Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—A computer security breach in Anderson County could have affected about 1,800 full-time and part-time government employees, and the Anderson County Commission has agreed to spend up to $100,000 to fix it.

Officials said the breach was discovered in the “later part of July.” But they declined to say who discovered it and how. The breach is under investigation by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, with technical support from other unnamed law enforcement agencies.

Natalie Erb, the new finance director in Anderson County, offered potential solutions to commissioners during a Monday evening meeting. The options included a lower-cost option of reformatting the computer equipment, or magnetically “wiping” it, and possibly reusing the gear, or a more expensive option of replacing the machines, including two servers in the Accounting Department and 26 workstations.

The consensus among commissioners—especially since confidential employee information could have been jeopardized—was that it would be better to start over with new, more state-of-the-art equipment that would not have any potential security risks remaining inside, at least not from the security breach that is currently being investigated. Commissioners voted 16-0 to spend up to $100,000 to address the problem. That motion was made by Commissioner Chuck Fritts, who was one of those who raised concerns about how employees might have been affected. [Read more…]

DOE names IIa as woman-owned small business of year

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Bonnie C. Carroll, IIa founder and CEO, center, receives the DOE Woman-owned Small Business Award for Fiscal Year 2014 from John Hale III, director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for DOE. (Photo courtesy IIa)

Bonnie C. Carroll, IIa founder and CEO, center, receives the DOE Woman-owned Small Business Award for Fiscal Year 2014 from John Hale III, director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for DOE. (Photo courtesy IIa)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has named Information International Associates, or IIa, its Woman-owned Small Business for Fiscal Year 2014.

Bonnie C. Carroll, IIa founder and chief executive officer, accepted the award at the 14th Annual DOE Small Business Forum and Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 17, 2015, from John Hale III, director of the DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

Each year, DOE recognizes the exceptional performance of a woman-owned small business directly contributing to the accomplishments of core DOE mission objectives and requirements, a press release said. In presenting the award, Hale cited IIa’s innovation and technical solutions, which exceeded contract requirements in responding to cyber security concerns, as well as its exceptional customer service and efficiency, the release said.

DOE, the largest civilian contracting agency within the federal government, awarded a total of $6.6 billion in contracts in FY 2014 to prime and subcontracts. [Read more…]

Roane State to offer new programs in medical informatics, financial services

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Roane State Community College Harriman Campus

The main Roane State Community College campus in Harriman. The college also has a branch campus in Oak Ridge.

 

Roane State Community College will offer two new programs beginning in fall 2014: an associate of applied science in medical informatics and an associate of applied science in financial services.

The Tennessee Board of Regents approved the programs at its June meeting.

The two-year medical informatics program combines information technology, or IT, and health care. As health care providers increasingly use complex computerized records, they need qualified employees with computer skills and expertise in digital health care record-keeping.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to grow 20 percent through 2018. Technicians who also have IT skills are expected to be in particularly high demand. [Read more…]

IIa wins major U.S. Patent and Trademark Office contract

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Information International Associates

Pictured above is the headquarters of Information International Associates on Union Valley Road in Oak Ridge.

Five-year contract could be worth $135 million

Information International Associates, or IIa, has been awarded a major 100-person, multi-year contract with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to provide a wide range of information technology support, a press release said.

The USPTO is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and it is an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Its mission is “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writing and discoveries” and to support the federal registration of trademarks.

“IIa continues to grow and to be recognized as a leader in IT services,” said IIa owner and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie C. Carroll. “In the past year alone, we have been awarded multiple new IT contracts in addition to our ongoing support to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information operations in Oak Ridge and at DOE Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and our contracts for IT infrastructure at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Maryland.”

In September 2013, II was awarded a U.S. Department of Defense contract to operate the DoD Homeland Defense and Security Information Analysis Center. In January 2014, IIa won a major, basic ordering agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to provide a wide range of IT support to the laboratory during the next five years. [Read more…]

Information International wins major ORNL IT support contract

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Information International Associates

Pictured above is the headquarters of Information International Associates on Union Valley Road in Oak Ridge.

Information International Associates has won a five-year contract worth up to $24 million to provide information technology support to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The contract includes a one-year base and four one-year options. IIa will lead a team that includes Science Applications International Corp. and other partners with special capabilities, including Qbase, CADRE5, and EMC2 Corp., a press release said.

The work will include application development, systems administration, cyber security, help desk support, and data center management.

 

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DOE’s Oak Ridge Office awards $10 million information technology contract

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office has awarded a $10.6 million contract to Global Engineering and Technology-Nuclear Safety Associates LLC, or GET-NSA, for information technology support services. The three-year contract will employ about 30 people in Oak Ridge and at the Pacific Northwest Site Office, a press release said.

“We are pleased with the selection of GET-NSA as the next information technology support contractor for the Oak Ridge Office,” ORO Manager Larry Kelly said. “The services provided under this contract are vital to our success, and we look forward to building a productive, professional relationship with GET-NSA.”

Tasks performed under the contract include a broad array of support activities that include cyber security operations, network operations, information engineering and systems development, and end-user support and help-desk type services.

The press release said GET-NSA is based in Oak Ridge, and it is a joint venture between Global Engineering and Technology Inc., based in Miami, Fla., and Nuclear Safety Associates Inc. of Johnson City. The contract’s period of performance is three years, including all options, the release said.