Company name: Viken Detection
Headquarters: Burlington, Mass.
Signature Products: Nighthawk X-ray imaging system and Foxhound chemical analyzer
Website: https://www.vikendetection.com/
1. Where did your company name originate from?
Viken is derived from “sixth sense.” Our name combines VI, the roman numeral for six, and “ken,” Latin for knowledge or range of sight. Along with our tagline, “One Sense Ahead,” our name signifies our company’s focus on detecting public threats with breakthrough technologies.
2. What is your signature product and how does it work?
Viken has developed a variety of security and detection solutions designed to help authorities safeguard against drug trafficking, terrorism, hazardous environmental threats, among others.
Our Nighthawk X-ray imaging system sees what is invisible to the human eye, detecting the presence of concealed contraband, weapons, narcotics, and explosives in luggage, barrels, vehicles, upholstery and many other applications. This powerful handheld tool is the ideal union of image quality, penetration, portability, ergonomics and safety in the field.
Our Foxhound chemical analyzer is a non-radioactive trace narcotics detector that rapidly identifies drugs using high-resolution ion-mobility spectroscopy (IMS) and machine learning. This compact system analyzes samples in 10 seconds or less and is equipped with multi-modal functionality for analyzing visible and non-visible trace samples in the field.
Viken also has several other solutions for vehicle scanning, body scanning and lead detection.
3. Why do you believe your products are essential to the police community?
Those at the front lines of keeping their communities safe have incredibly difficult jobs. Not only must they keep the public safe from harm, but their own safety is also paramount. It’s through this lens that we look to develop products and technologies that are superior in their detection capabilities and in their safety for the end user. If our products can help lower the risks associated with manual searches, take millions of dollars of opioids and other illegal substances off the streets, or prevent tragic events like mass shootings or terrorist attacks, then we’ve done our job.
4. What has been the biggest challenge your company has faced?
Our biggest challenge continues to be the ever-changing nature of threats in today’s world. As criminals and cartels get smarter, we constantly evolve our technologies so that our customers can stay one step ahead and keep their communities safe from harm.
5. What makes your company unique?The team at Viken lives our mission, vision and company values each and every day. We come from many different backgrounds, but we all work toward a common goal of helping to keep communities (and those that protect them) safe from harm by making the most innovative detection technology to the markets that need them most.
6. What do your customers like best about you and your products?
Many of us at Viken have walked in our customers’ shoes as members of law enforcement, the military and longtime security industry veterans. We deeply understand our customers’ challenges and genuinely want to help solve them so they can be successful in their missions. We also take integrity very seriously – as individuals working together with our customers for the greater good and live it every day as one of the core values of our company.
What’s more, our customers like the fact that we want them to be successful, appreciate that the Viken team speaks their language and that we are thoughtful in developing smart detection products that take the nuances of complicated field work into account.
7. What is the most rewarding part of serving the first responder community?
There is nothing more rewarding to us than hearing from our customers about how they’ve used our products to detect illegal drugs or guns or stopped tragic events before they occur. When our customers win, we celebrate right along with them.
8. Do you support any charitable organizations within public safety or the community? Tell us more.
Viken has been a longtime supporter of local charities that serve communities in and around our headquarters in the Boston-area. In addition, the company donates free and/or at-cost refurbished Nighthawk X-ray imagers to underfunded police departments through its VALOR program.
9. What’s next for your company? Any upcoming new projects or initiatives?
The team at Viken is always innovating to stay ahead of the latest threats.