Volpe Center Employee Recipient of Federal 100 Award

Volpe Center Photo

Henry Wychorski

Henry Wychorski, a senior electrical engineer and project manager in the Marine Systems Division of RITA's Volpe Center, was the recipient of a prestigious Federal 100 Award in March, in recognition of his role as an "agent of change" among other individuals from government, industry, and academia who have significantly influenced how the federal government buys, uses, or manages information technology. The award is sponsored by Federal Computer Week.

Wychorski leads the team that developed and demonstrated an ambitious commercial maritime traffic monitoring system, called the Maritime Security and Safety Information System (MSSIS), which tracks the movement of international maritime traffic in real time in the territorial waters of more than 30 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

The Volpe team of engineers and software developers worked closely with senior naval officers and science advisors in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and NATO countries to design, develop, and make the system operational in 2007. While developing a global system of any kind is time consuming and expensive, Wychorski was able to use existing technology, combined with the strong willingness of foreign countries to participate, to build a low-cost, easily deployable, and expandable system that provides unprecedented information on international commercial vessel movements, all through an internet-based, password-protected system.