As we prepare to celebrate International Women’s day on March 8^th, it provides us the opportunity to assess how far women have come in various fields and professions.

In the world of engineering and fastener design, ARaymond is one global firm that recognizes the importance of female voices in their current and future endeavors. In addition to actively recruiting talented female team members, they also recognize the importance of listening to women’s voices at the highest levels of business development.  

Laurence Fayand, who serves as President and Managing Director of ARaymond’s Business Incubator and Accelerator, leads a team that is responsible for developing technologies of the future at ARaymond — including the latest advances in fastening, fluid handling portfolios, and data & digital service. ARaymond is based in France but has a U.S. headquarters in Michigan and a presence throughout the globe in more than two dozen countries. Fayand’s background prior to ARaymond includes serving as CFO at multiple technology companies including Kayentis and Tronics Microsystems, and a lengthy stint in key management roles at HP.

Fayand recently answered several questions about her role at the ARaymond Incubator, and why it’s important to grow the number of women in STEM roles as well as business/leadership positions. 

Editor's Note: In the article below, StradVision CEO Junhwan Kim talks about the advances being made in autonomous vehicle safety, and what it will take to get that technology to the masses in the coming years.

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By Junhwan Kim, StradVision CEO  

As the number of vehicles around the world rapidly expands, the occurrence of traffic accidents and their fatality rate is increasing. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.3 million people worldwide die in road accidents every year, and traffic accidents kill one person every 24 seconds.

An increase in the number of elderly drivers is also emerging as a new concern. In most developed countries, the proportion of elderly drivers over the age of 65 started to increase steadily in the 2000s, and by 2019, it increased by more than 50 percent. For example, the number of drivers over the age of 65 in the U.S., compiled by the U.S. NHTSA in 2019, exceeded 54.1 million, which is a significant increase of 35% compared to 2010. The reason we need to prepare for the aging of drivers is because of the high fatality rate in that age range, compared to other age groups in the event of a traffic accident. According to a survey of senior driver safety conducted by RAND Corporation, these drivers over the age of 65 have a lower accident rate than the average adult driver, but are 573% more likely to die in an accident.

Many countries are devising automobile safety policies to reduce traffic accidents and mortality, and recommend that automakers reflect these safety policies in driving technology. In response to these changes in government policy, OEMs are expanding the introduction of the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for the safety of drivers and pedestrians. According to data released in 2021 by Strategy Analytics, the global ADAS industry size has already exceeded $20 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $49.3 billion by 2025, a rapid growth rate of 17.7% per year.

StradVision, a pioneer in AI-based vision processing technology for Autonomous Vehicles and ADAS systems, today announced that it will introduce 'Sensor Fusion', a groundbreaking perception technology with significant precision improvement compared to existing technology, through a collaboration with Vueron Technology, a leading South Korean provider of Lidar perception software and autonomous driving technology. 

This technology is powered by StradVision's AI-based camera perception software 'SVNet' and Vueron Technology's Lidar -based perception solution 'View.One'. Working together, the two companies plan to deliver industry-leading ‘Sensor Fusion’ technology to the global automotive industry. This next-generation solution combines the camera’s advantages in object classification and lane detection with Lidar’s advantages in object detection and velocity prediction.

“We are excited to announce our collaboration with Vueron Technology for this innovative technology that is highly anticipated in the automobile industry. We believe that ‘Sensor Fusion’ can dramatically improve the limitations of the existing perception technology. We will work closely to prove our technology and provide the most advanced solutions to the automotive industry”, said Junhwan Kim, CEO of StradVision.

StradVision, a leading innovator in AI-based camera perception software for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Vehicles, announced that its SVNet software has achieved ISO 27001:2013 certification — a recognition of its proven commitment to the highest level of information security management. 

ISO 27001:2013 is one of the most widely recognized and internationally accepted information security standards — mandating continuous controls of operations, monitoring, maintenance and continuous improvement of the information security management system.

StradVision’s AI-based object recognition software, SVNet, is currently used in mass production models of ADAS and autonomous driving vehicles that support SAE Levels 2 to 4, and will be deployed in more than 8.8 million vehicles worldwide.

Kyyba Innovations LLC, a Michigan-based technical solutions corporation focused on solving global issues, has announced its weTrace app to help municipalities across the U.S. flatten the curve and reduce the spread of COVID-19 by more quickly identifying those at risk and micro hot spots. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has gripped the world, causing anxiety and fear. The new app will help track symptoms of thousands of users across the country, while still protecting user privacy. Kyyba Innovations will partner with local health units to use this data to assess how best to support high-risk communities in Michigan and beyond as we fight this pandemic.

“The app uses technology to connect people with health systems and vice-versa,” said Kyyba Innovations Managing Director Tel Ganesan. “COVID-19 news and information changes daily and we are all in a silo, operating in our own bubble. This app will help us communicate and empower ourselves with safe tools and trusted resources.”

Accurate vision processing software is critical for the development of autonomous vehicles in the mass market, and at the core of this technology is strong deep-learning ability of the camera software.

Sunny Lee, COO at StradVision, spoke at the Autotech Council Meeting: Sensor Innovation for Transportation and Mobility at the Sensors Expo & Conference in San Jose about the bold advances being made in camera technology for autonomous vehicles.

Lee spoke about the breakthroughs being made via StradVision’s lean SVNet software, which can be run on automotive chipsets at significantly more affordable cost levels. StradVision aims to provide the first deep learning-based software provider fully compatible with Automotive Safety Integrity Level B (ASIL B), for functional safety.