The National Science Foundation has issued it’s 2011 STTR solicitation. Proposals will begin being accepted on October 17th and will be due no later than November 17th. Budgets may not exceed $150,000.
The STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) will require a partnership between a small business and a non-profit research institute (usually a university). The researchers at the research institute must play a significant intellectual role in the STTR project, but the Principal Investigator (PI) must be primarily employed with the small business and the small business must still conduct at least 40% of the technical effort.
The only topic for this solicitation is “Digital Gaming for Education” (DGE). Within that main topic, there are 4 subtopics. Proposals that do not fit within one of these 4 subtopics will NOT be accepted:
Digital Gaming in Education for Learning:
A. Informal (I)
B. Formal (F)
Digital Gaming in Education for Culture and Society:
C. Cross Cultural Dialogue and Discoveries (CCDD)
D. Platforms for Healthy Living (PHL)
Details and instructions are found in the solicitation.
The Department of Defense has pre-issued two solicitations simultaneously: an SBIR (SBIR 2010.3) and an STTR (STTR 2010.B). There are separate topics for each solicitation, so you cannot submit an SBIR proposal for an STTR topic and vice versa. Utilize the DOD Topic Search Engine to find topics that match your company’s capabilities.
Read the solicitations in detail as SBIR and STTR are slightly different. Also, read the separate Component-specific (Army, AF, DARPA, MDA, etc.) instructions as proposal requirements vary among the Components.
The DOD will begin accepting proposals on August 17th and all proposals must be submitted before 6:00 AM on September 15th. You are urged to contact the topic Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) to ask additional technical questions not found in the topic itself. You may NOT make direct contact with the TPOC after August 16th–don’t wait until the last minute to ask questions and expect them to respond to you ASAP, it might take some time for them to get back with you.
Your company will need a Tax ID #, DUNs #, and CAGE code before you register to submit your proposal. If you do not have these numbers, you need to start soon as obtaining these numbers might take some time. See the document “Registration Requirements” for more information.
Do you have a technology that might be useful in the Gulf Oil Crisis? The National Science Foundation is exploring all options. Even if the leak is capped today, there will be a problem in the Gulf and surrounding areas for months and even years. Solutions related to all facets of impact will be needed.
NSF issued a RAPID (Grants for Rapid Response Research) for the Gulf Crisis at the end of May. RAPIDs are used to enable research on unanticipated events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or any event where timely presence is required to enable the research.
NSF is seeking brief proposals (2-5 pages) before September 30th. Research awards will be made up to $200Kif justified. Unlike the standard NSF review process, these proposals will only go through an internal review before the awards are made, reducing the timeline.
PI(s) must contact the NSF program officer(s) whose expertise is most germane to the proposal topic before submitting a RAPID proposal. This will facilitate determining whether the proposed work is appropriate for RAPID funding.
For more details see: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf10_1/gpg_2.jsp#IID1.
All questions regarding this RAPID, should be directed to Dr. Don Senich (dsenich@nsf.gov) or Mr. Kevin Simmons (kesimmons@nsf.gov).
NASA has pre-released its 2010 SBIR and STTR solicitations. The full combined SBIR/STTR solicitation will be available on July 19th. The NASA SBIR and STTR 2010 technical topics and subtopics support the NASA Mission Directorates of Space Operations, Aeronautics Research, Science, and Exploration Systems. To write an effective proposal, be sure to understand the purpose and focus of the Mission Directorate–understand how your proposed solution will help fulfill that specific Mission.
There will be many topics and subtopics that fall within these Mission Directorates. Full list of Topics and Subtopics will be available on the 19th. Meanwhile, take a look at last years’ 2009 solicitation topics to give you an indication of projected 2010 topic areas.
All contractual and technical questions must be submitted in writing via email to Cassandra Williams, Contracting Officer (cassandra.williams-1@nasa.gov), not later than August 13, 2010. NOTE: To ensure fairness, questions relating to the intent and/or content of research topics in this Solicitation will not be addressed during the Phase 1 solicitation period. Only questions requesting clarification of proposal instructions and administrative matters will be addressed.
When the solicitation opens on the 19th, it will be posted on NASA’s SBIR/STTR site.
All Phase I proposals will be due on September 4th.
The USDA has released it’s FY 2011 SBIR solicitation. Proposals will be due no later than September 2nd and must include a budget of no more than $100,000 for an 8-month period.
The USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has identified five primary “societal challenge areas”. Proposals that fit in one of the topics below AND address these challenge areas are highly encouraged:
1. Global Food Security and Hunger
2. Climate Change
3. Sustainable Bioenergy
4. Childhood Obesity
5. Food Safety
Proposals are also encouraged in these government-wide initiatives:
1. Agriculturally-related Manufacturing Technology
2. Energy Efficiency and Alternative and Renewable Energy
The Topics for this solicitiation are:
8.1-Forests and Related Resources;
8.2-Plant Production and Protection – Biology;
8.3-Animal Production and Protection;
8.4-Air, Soil and Water Resources;
8.5-Food Science and Nutrition;
8.6-Rural and Community Development;
8.7-Aquaculture;
8.8- Biofuels and Biobased Products;
8.12-Small and Mid Size Farms;
8.13-Plant Production and Protection – Engineering
Please be sure to read the solicitation for proposal preparation instructions and topic descriptions.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate has an open SBIR Solicitation. Proposals are due on June 24th and could result in Phase I Awards up to $100,000. Companies may contact the DHS with technical questions before June 10th. Topics in this solicitation are:
- Detector for Smuggled Currency
- Next Generation Vacuum Systems for Hand-held Mass Spectrometers
- Large-Scale Network Survivability, Rapid Recovery, and Reconstitution
- Non-Detonable, Non-Hazardous, Low-Cost, Hexamethylene Triperoxide Diamine (HMTD) Training Aids for Canines
- Automated Tool for Assessing Usability
- Helmet with Embedded Active Display for Emergency Responders (HEADER)
- Accelerating the Deployment of DHS Center of Excellence Research through Advanced Business Practices
- Handheld Multisensor Wand for the Detection of Threat or Illicit Objects on Persons
- Personal Situational Awareness App
Read the solicitation for further details.
NOTE: DHS encourages submission of topics for future solicitations. Check their site out for more details.
Hothead Technologies, Inc. and Sivix Logistics LLC announced a partnership today to adapt the Sivix key computing fob and associated sensor monitoring module to its lineup of heat sensing safety solutions. These solutions are based upon the H.O.T.™ System, a patent-pending system that embeds a heat sensing unit inside the helmet of an athlete, firefighter, soldier, or other personnel and collects and relays periodic temperature readings from that person’s skin to a portable data collector . The portable device is used to alert the individual or an observer that the person’s body temperature has exceeded a pre-determined threshold. The Sivix offering includes a mobile device the size of a car remote, and ultra low power micro sensor modules that monitor without obstructing the athletic performance.
The H.O.T.™ System, which stands for HEAT OBSERVATION TECHNOLOGY, was the first line of heat monitoring tools created to assist individuals and groups in getting a step ahead on the dangerous and silent attack of heat illness. Football was the first line of entry for the H.O.T.™ System. The company is now positioned to support markets such as the military, public safety (Firefighters, SWAT, HAZMAT), and industrial, as well as other sports. Hothead Technologies Received the BEST OF WHAT’S NEW Award from Popular Science Magazine for being one of the Top 100 most innovative inventions of 2009.
ATDC member company, Hothead Technologies, has entered an agreement with Shafer Medical Devices, a Division of Shafer Enterprises, LLC, to develop and distribute a medical application of the H.O.T.(TM) System. Shafer Medical Devices will integrate the H.O.T.(TM) System with their Hypo/Hyperthermic Pad to help manage normothermia in patients, during pre-op, surgery, and post op.
The H.O.T.(TM) System, created by Hothead Technologies, wirelessly monitors body temperature, sending warning signals if the individual’s temperature goes above or below a pre-determined threshold. The H.O.T.(TM) System is the detection component for this medical solution.
Shafer Enterprises, LLC manufactures personal cooling systems for a variety of applications including the Hypo/Hyperthermic Pad which keeps a person’s body temperature at a safe level to prevent them from overheating or becoming too cold.
Together, the system is called SafeTemp (a normothermia monitoring and management system). By integrating the H.O.T.(TM) System with the Hypo/Hyperthermic Pad solution, medical staff will have the ability to monitor multiple subjects to maintain optimum body temperatures (which may reduce the risk of post-surgical infections). Staff can view any patient’s temperature from a wireless handheld PDA (personal digital assistant), and if temperature increases or decreases, the H.O.T.(TM) system can send a wireless command to the Hypo/Hyperthermic Pad to adjust the temperature to maintain normothermia.
The Department of Defense has released its DOD 2010.2 SBIR solicitation. There are over 400 topics in this solicitation. Not every DOD Component participates in every SBIR solicitation; the participating Components in this DOD solicitation are:
- Army
- Navy
- DARPA
- DMEA
- DTRA
- OSD
The military is looking for very specific solutions to their problems, but if you have the capabilities to solve their problems, not only could you receive up to $850,000 for Phase I and Phase II SBIR funding, you are positioned to possibly receive additional follow-on funding.
Proposals are due June 23rd at 6:00 AM, but you only have until May 19th to contact the topic’s technical point of contact to ask additional technical questions. The full solicitation contains the specific proposal details, but be sure to also read and follow the Component’s specific instructions to get a list of topics and topic descriptions.
Topics are quite diverse. Do not rule out the DOD just because your company does not have “military-related technologies.” Here is a sample of the 400+ topics found in this solicitation:
- Real-time Resource Allocation Co-Processor
- Artificial Tissue Matrices for Bone Repair
- Large Scale Graphene Synthesis Technology
- Forensic DNA Analysis Kit for Genetic Intelligence
- Shipboard Clothes Dryers, “Green Technology”
- Lithium Ion Batteries with Wide Operating Temperature Range
- Many Many MANY more!
Do a few keyword topic searches in the DOD Search Engine to see what the DOD needs–topics might surprise you!
The Department of Transportation Released its FY10.2 SBIR Solicitation. DOT is looking for technologies that address a focused list of topics:
*Driver Detecting Cell Phone Blocker System
*Global Positioning System (GPS) and Related Data Compression Algorithms
*Transportation System Performance Measurement Using Existing Loop Infrastructure
*Mobile Device Application Component
A Phase I Award for a 6-month feasibility study is $100,000. Proposals are due May 14th. See Program Solicitation for more details and topic descriptions.