January 1, 2014
Joseph Polk Received 2014 Celestial Torch Award
January 2014 -- Vantage President & CEO, Joseph Polk, received the 2014 Celestial Torch Award for Aerospace Entrepreneur of the Year. This distinguished honor was awarded at the annual National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Aerospace Systems Conference held in Los Angeles, California. The award recognizes aerospace professionals who have made significant contributions in their respective fields. It is given to outstanding contributors in the aerospace community who exemplify NSBE’s mission, “To increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.”
Joe was also invited as a quest speaker for the Conference’s “Small Business Challenges, Opportunities and Achievements in Outer Space” Forum. The forum was intended to stimulate discussions leading to future collaborative aerospace initiatives involving Black-owned aerospace companies.
The 4-day conference, held at the Los Angeles Sheraton Gateway Hotel, is a biennial forum for the presentation of aerospace technical data and is the largest known gathering of Black aerospace technical professionals. Attendees are presented with state-of-the-art aerospace technologies and challenged to develop new capabilities and skills. In 2006, NSBE Space partnered with the National Space Society to organize and hold a mini conference, out of which the NSBE conference was birthed. The inaugural NSBE Aerospace Systems Conference was held February 5-10, 2006.
October 18, 2013
Joseph D. Polk Recognized As Top 100 MBE® Award Winner
Lanham, Maryland (18 October 2013)– Joseph D. Polk, President & CEO of Vantage Systems, Inc.,has been selected to receive the distinguished 2013 Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise Award. The Top 100 MBE® ceremony is designed to acknowledge and pay tribute to outstanding women and minority business owners in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. The Top 100 MBE® Award is given to enterprising women and minority entrepreneurs that fuel the region’s economy through their innovation, sacrifices, and dedication. These business owners are living their dreams and making significant contributions to their clients, professions, industries, and communities. Mr. Polk currently resides in Bowie, MD and is a 35-year resident of Prince George’s County.
The awards ceremony is scheduled during Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Week, on Wednesday, October 30th at 5:30 p.m. at the War Memorial located at 101 Gay Street in downtown Baltimore.
“I am both humbled and excited to receive an award as one of the Mid-Atlantic region’s Top 100 MBEs,” said Mr. Polk. “My family, my colleagues at Vantage, our clients, and my counterparts within the community have been a tremendous influence and help throughout my career, but above all a strong belief in business integrity has been the cornerstone of my success. I am grateful to Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake and the selection committee for this great honor.”
February 12, 2013
NASA Launches the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)
NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft launched onboard an Atlas V on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that will continue the Landsat Program's 40-year data record of monitoring the Earth's landscapes from space. Vantage personnel contributed to this important mission, providing a variety of engineering, fabrication, testing, integration and launch site support services for the LDCM TIRS Instrument along with LDCM Project Support. “Continuing to collect important earth environmental data is vital to scientists that are grappling with issues such as global warming. Vantage congratulates the entire NASA and contractor team for the successful launch of LDCM. Vantage is proud to have been a part of this mission, continuing our legacy of contribution to NASA’s premier space science programs," said Joseph Polk, President/CEO of Vantage Systems, Inc.
January 23, 2013
Vantage Employee, Dwayne Kiefer, Awarded NASA Silver Snoopy Award
On January 18, 2013, at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Vantage Partners’ employee Dwayne Kiefer was awarded the prestigious NASA Silver Snoopy Award by astronaut Doug Wheelock for his service to NASA.
Dwayne was awarded the Silver Snoopy Award in appreciation of his exemplary dedication, technical excellence, and leadership as the manager of external interfaces for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed project. Dwayne Kiefer personally forged new relationships with other NASA centers which enabled the project to save over $100,000 in equipment costs, reduce impact to the critical path, and provide integration products of exceptional quality to the ISS Program and the JAXA HTV-II Program.
The Silver Snoopy award is a special honor awarded to NASA employees and contractors for outstanding achievements related to human flight safety or mission success. The award is given personally by NASA astronauts as it represents the astronauts' own recognition of excellence. The award depicts Snoopy, a character from the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz. The award consists of a sterling silver "Silver Snoopy" lapel pin flown during a NASA mission, a commendation letter (stating the mission the Silver Snoopy pin was flown on) and a signed, framed Silver Snoopy certificate. Snoopy decals and posters are also given to the recipient. It is presented at the workplace of the recipient with the recipient's coworkers present.
October 12, 2012
Vantage Opens Office in Wallops Island, Virginia
Vantage Systems, Inc., is growing! In support of Vantage’s team at Wallops Flight Facility, Vantage opened the doors of their new Wallops Island office at 33551 Chincoteague Road, Wallops Island, VA 23337, on October 1, 2012. Five days later, Vantage was a proud sponsor of Chincoteague’s 40th Annual Oyster Festival in support of the local community and the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce. The popular event showcased oysters straight from the island, served on the half shell, single fried and steamed. Thousands of visitors packed Tom’s Cove Campground to savor and celebrate Shore seafood at the 40th annual Oyster Festival.
“NASA Wallops is a unique national space asset providing rapid and low cost science. Wallops Island is also growing in importance to NASA’s commercial space initiative with the upcoming launch of Antares for commercial ISS resupply. Vantage is proud to serve NASA Wallops and we have some great people there working on balloon, sounding rocket, and aircraft flight projects”, remarked Joe Polk, President of Vantage Systems Inc.
“Wallops Island is a tight knit community centered around the Wallops Island facility. Today Vantage is a subcontractor to Wallops Code 500, and we seek to grow that role to a prime contractor level in 2013. As such our responsibility to be a good corporate citizen in the Wallops community grows. We are pleased to increase our activity in the community and will be doing more as we grow our role there”, remarked Mike Fatig, Senior Vice President at Vantage.
