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The Hecht-Nielsen Neurocomputer Corp. (HNC) was founded by Robert Hecht-Nielsen and Todd Gutschow in 1986, winning its first SBIR award in 1988. To date, HNC Software has received 15 SBIR Phase I awards and 14 SBIR Phase II awards, for more than $6.7 million. DoD SBIR funding has allowed HNC to research & develop artificial intelligence, neural networks, decision-support application software, and the SIMD Neural Array Processor (SNAP). Combining these technologies, HNC has developed a new class of application software known as Predictive Software Solutions (PSS). Playing an integral role in HNC’s growth, PSS and SNAP were initially designed for the Army and the Navy to enhance mobile target identification capabilities. HNC later adapted and applied them to the bulk of HNC’s commercial products.
Improved target recognition technology is a continual need of the Defense Department. Under a variety of DoD SBIR contracts for DARPA, BMDO, Army, Navy and Air Force, HNC developed PSS and SNAP to meet this need. Both technologies have been tested on simulated battlefield imagery. They work together to speed up target recognition and provide improved accuracy. PSS predicts behavior and automates decision-making by analyzing complex and subtle patterns in data. When applied to commercial applications, such as credit card fraud detection, PSS analyzes detailed transaction-level data in real time to predict future behavior. SNAP acts as a high-speed computational device that works with PSS target recognition software to allow a tank crew to quickly and efficiently identify their targets -- saving time and lives in a battlefield environment. HNC’s SNAP processor was also adapted for Navy sonar recognition systems, allowing submarines to process sonar signals and detect objects in an underwater environment more efficiently.
HNC’s success has emerged through commercial applications of core technologies including PSS, SNAP and neural networks. Technologies not only for military use, but for commercial and business applications as well. HNC products address a number of problems in the financial, retail, insurance, telecommunications, and Internet commerce markets. HNC’s suite of Predictive Software Solutions can provide real-time insight into customer behavior, helping business to customer companies manage their relationships with individual customers. By accurately predicting customer behaviors, these companies can create initiatives to improve customer service, develop marketing programs that enhance profitability, and detect fraudulent customer transactions.
One example is the HNC Falcon™ system -- a patented PSS developed for the bank card industry to detect a wide range of credit and debit card fraud in real-time to protect financial institutions and consumers. Falcon learns patterns and relationships in data, accurately detecting unusual purchasing behavior at the transaction level. Falcon technology has been applied to detecting Medicare and Medicaid fraud as well as the detection and management of Internet credit card fraud for on-line merchants and consumers. HNC’s customers range from financial to retail and include Sears, Fireman's Fund, Brooks Brothers, The Home Shopping Network and Sprint Communications.
HNC went public in 1995 (NASDAQ: HNCS) and is a leading provider of Predictive Customer Relationship Management solutions for service industries. Forbes named HNC one of the Top Ten Most Dynamic Software Companies in 1998 and Fortune magazine listed HNC Software as one of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies in 1999.
Melinda Bateman
Tel. 619/799-3881
Fax. 619/ 799-3810
Website. http://www.hnc.com
