Shown left to right in photo: Jim DiBurro, Round Rock Consulting; Ronald Trombley, Greater Haverhill Foundation; Lisa Fitzpatrick, The Burgess Business Center; Lane Glenn, Northern Essex Community College; John Michitson, Haverhill City Council; Mike McGonagle, McGonagle Staffing; and Rich Breault, Lightspeed Mfg

Each company will present a 20-minute pitch which will be evaluated by a panel of judges including Rich Byrne, senior vice president and general manager of the Mitre Corporation’s Command and Control Center, Randolph Sablich, president and chief executive officer of Metrigraphics, LLC, and Michael Mullaley, chief marketing officer, Symmetric Computing.

“We’re very pleased with the caliber of the companies that will be competing,” said John Michitson, a member of the Haverhill City Council. “Included in the group is Bounce Imaging which was named one of the top 25 best inventions of 2012 by Time Magazine.”

Developed by an MIT student and an Army Ranger, Bounce Imaging’s entry is a tool that will give firefighters, police officers, and other first responders a full picture of a burning building or a hostage situation. The baseball sized unit is tossed into the area and six cameras take photos while sensors detect air quality temperature, radiation, and other hazards.

Several of the round two entries are in health care, including a wireless patch that measures heart rates, and a wearable and mobile technology for measuring acute and chronic stress.

One entry came from a team of students and professors at Merrimack College in North Andover. The Synthesis Project is a set of microcomputer peripherals, programs, and activities that challenge young minds by combining art with engineering.

Here’s a full list of the thirteen companies that will be competing on Dec. 18.

Judges will evaluate 20-minute pitches from each company as well as the written applications and select three to six companies to go on to round three, the accelerator stage. During that stage, finalists will be connected to resources they are missing and prepare for the final judging, April 1-12.

The Haverhill Hardware Horizons Challenge is a partnership between Greater Haverhill business, civic, and educational organizations—including Northern Essex Community College— designed to promote Haverhill as a creative business community with the infrastructure, talent, space, and technology that businesses need to succeed.

The winning electronics design will receive up to a half dozen free printed circuit board versions culminating with a working prototype to realize their idea. The overall winner will receive $10,000 in cash. Finalists will have access to Lightspeed’s design services and production facility, access to free and discounted work space at the Burgess Business Center Incubator, located in the Burgess Building in downtown Haverhill, and free consultation and connections to supply chain resources for production. Finalists will also receive free workshops and mentoring on topics such as business, finance, marketing, and technology.

For more information on the challenge, contact Michitson at michitson@mitre.org or 330-221-2276.