Federal 100: Raymond Higgins

Higgins developed a handheld bidirectional remote video terminal that enables soldiers in the field to get more direct, real-time imagery from unmanned aerial systems.

Soldiers typically use radios to ask remote operators to send such images, a slow process that could become life-threatening during combat. Higgins first had to convince the program manager’s chief scientist that the terminal would work, then he persuaded the Army Research Office to fund its development.

“Ray has an amazing ability to pull ideas together from disparate domains,” said Keith Arthur, team leader for Teaming and Intelligent Systems at the Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate. The terminal "has opened the eyes of the Army to other potential uses of the system.”

Read more about the 2010 Federal 100 award winners.