Frederick, MD
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September 19, 2008 - By Ed Waters Jr., News-Post Staff
Visual Analytics Inc. recently moved from Poolesville to Creekside Plaza at 50 Citizens Way in Frederick. From left are Chris Westphal, CEO; David J. O'Connor, president and CTO, and Bennett McPhatter, COO.
The next time you watch one of those crime-scene TV shows and a technician uses a database to find the suspect, you can imagine that a Frederick company's product is being used in that search.
Visual Analytics Inc., recently relocated from Poolesville, makes software to analyze crime data, said CEO Chris Westphal.
"Our software helps connect the dots, see how things relate," Westphal said. "We help find the bad guy. We work a lot with law enforcement, fraud detection."
The firm's products support information sharing to investigate money laundering, financial crimes, narcotics trafficking, terrorism, border security, and embezzlement and fraud in commercial and government markets.
The software aids various agencies in linking data. Some of the firm's products include Data Clarity Suite, which allows data mining from disparate sources; VisualLinks, which looks at patterns and trends and hidden networks; Digital Information Gateway, for data management and information sharing, and DIG Symphony, a data management software.
Visual Analytics has clients in law enforcement and at intelligence agencies, including Homeland Security in the U.S., as well as in Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East.
"It's sort of high tech comes to old town," Westphal said.
His company moved to the new office at 50 Citizens Way in Frederick for the amenities, he said.
"It far exceeds anything in the area for old-town charm, restaurants, shops," he said. "It is a great place to bring clients to."
Plus, he said, most of the 35 employees of Visual Analytics live within 15 to 20 minutes of downtown Frederick.
"They are programmers, software developers, technical guys. It is a good working group, we are like family," Westphal said.
The company started in Poolesville, mainly because it offered lower costs. But in the 10 years since, Visual Analytics outgrew the location and looked to Frederick.
"We have a brand-new office building that we could tailor to our needs," he said of the building along Carroll Creek.
Since moving in, the company realized it needed even more space, and is acquiring additional room for a total of more than 8,000 square feet.
Westphal, a co-founder of Visual Analytics, is a graduate of Tulane University and author of books on data mining. He has been in the field for more than 20 years.
David O'Connor, also a co-founder, is president and chief technical officer. A Marine Corps veteran and University of Maryland graduate, he has more than 12 years of experience in developing large-scale distributed systems and artificial intelligence technology.
The third co-founder is Bennett McPhatter, chief operating officer, also a Marine Corps veteran, with 10 years of technical and management experience with databases and related technologies.
Along with their employees, they have been involved in the creation of their various products and continue to develop new products and tailor them to the specific needs of worldwide clients.
About Visual Analytics
Visual Analytics Inc. (VAI) is a leading provider of data analytics, decision support, and information sharing solutions
for investigating money laundering, financial crimes, narcotics trafficking, terrorism, border security, embezzlement,
and fraud in domestic and international commercial and government markets. The Visual Analytics Data Clarity Suite is
the gold standard for unparalleled, enterprise-level analytics for organizations requiring the ability to integrate,
access, and analyze any size and type of internal, shared, and/or public data stores. VAI's tools are delivering
unprecedented results to the analytical community and satisfying the need for better and faster technologies for
data analysis and investigative support around the globe. More information on Visual Analytics can be found at
www.visualanalytics.com.
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