SBIR/STTR at the Department of Energy (2016) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E: Case Studies
Appendix E: Case Studies
Pages 273-367
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From page 273... ...
Some firms focused solely on serving the national labs, while others focused on commercialization through the private sector. Overall, this portfolio sought to capture many of the types of companies that participate in the SBIR/STTR programs.
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is a private company founded in 1984 as sole proprietorship by Melvin Piestrup and incorporated 2 years later in 1986. The company produces a range of high energy neutron sources for industrial and research applications.
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In 2013, in collaboration with the University of Florida, Adelphi won a second R&D 100 award for its DD109X High Flux Fast Neutron Source. 2 Adelphi maintains research relationships with a broad range of academic, government, and corporate organizations such as the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Florida, Yale University, Indiana University, Rapiscan, Inc., Engility, Inc., and the Savannah River National Laboratory.
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From page 276... ...
The neutron sources developed by Adelphi have much lower capital and operational costs and, although lacking the flux density of these research reactors, are enabling broader use of neutron scattering in research and in industrial applications. 4 Adelphi neutron sources contain compact linear accelerators that produce neutrons by fusing isotopes of hydrogen together.
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"These generators make excellent fast epithermal and thermal neutron sources for laboratories and industrial applications that require neutrons with safe operation, small footprint, low cost and small regulatory burden." 6 Deuterium -- Tritium Sources Deuterium -- tritium (DT) sources produce much more energetic neutrons (14.1 MeV)
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From page 278... ...
Of this, DoE accounted for approximately 41 percent, NIH 25 percent, and NSF 17 percent, with the remaining 17 percent from the DoD, NASA, the Department of TABLE E-1 Adelphi Technology Patents Patent Number Patent Year 7,177,389 X-ray tomography and laminography 2007 6,992,313 X-ray and neutron imaging 2006 6,765,197 Methods of imaging, focusing and conditioning neutrons 2004 6,674,583 Fabrication of unit lenses for compound refractive lenses 2004 6,545,436 Magnetic containment system for the production of 2003 radiation from high energy electrons using solid targets 6,269,145 Compound refractive lens for x-rays 2001 6,201,851 Internal target radiator using a betatron 2001 5,107,508 X-ray laser 1992 5,077,774 X-ray lithography source 1991 4,951,304 Focused x-ray source 1990 SOURCE: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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From page 279... ...
Dr. Gary observed that typically 30 percent of SBIR funding and 40 percent of STTR funding is used for subcontracts.
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The company specializes in the design and development of high power electron beam devices, including electron guns and RF sources. In addition to product and service _______________ 7 Primary sources for this case study are an interview with Dr.
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While an employee, he reviewed SBIR proposals, and, after starting his company, immediately sought SBIR funding, winning two DoE projects. In both cases, Phase II's were subsequently awarded and provided a foundation for the company in both financial and technical terms -- the technology developed for one of the awards is still the most advanced in the world, according to Dr.
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From page 282... ...
Technology and Products Electron Beam Devices Although semiconductors have displaced vacuum tubes in many logic and communications applications, there remain important niche applications in television transmitters, satellite communications, material processing, defense, and particle accelerators. CCR designs and develops a broad range of high power, short wavelength devices and components for these applications.
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Design Services CCR provides design and development services for many electron beam devices. Additionally, it also licenses simulation and computational tools that CCR has developed to design such devices more effectively.
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He noted that recent proposed changes in Congress impacting the patenting process would have a highly negative effect on small innovative companies like CCR. Business Model CCR is not reliant on SBIR/STTR for revenues.
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CCR is also successful in licensing intellectual property developed through SBIR funding. In 2010, Ceradyne acquired the intellectual property rights for "sintered wire" technology that enables the production of a tungsten, reservoir, dispenser cathode with applications in electronic counter measures (ECM)
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Dr. Ives noted that STTR provides an appropriate structure for partnering with research institutions and also offers access to the creativity and enthusiasm of graduate students.
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Recent experience with a national laboratory suggests that operations within agencies are not following the Phase III directives in the current SBIR law. Phase III is currently not seen as a responsibility of the SBIR/STTR Program Office, and it does not appear that it is the responsibility of any other office within the agencies.
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(CMS) is a private company founded in 1993 by Stuart Nemser.
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18 "Products," Compact Membrane Systems, Inc." http://www.environmental-expert.com/ companies/compact-membrane-systems-inc-8184/products.
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20 "Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants," United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 800-R-11-002 (November, 2011) , http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/ P100DCJI.PDF?
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even if the CMS brand is still not widely recognized among end users. The company is now strategically focused on growth in a number of sectors, including marine, where it plans to use a current EPA/Coastguard _______________ 21 "SBIR/STTR Success: Compact Membrane Systems," https://www.sbir.gov/sites/default/files/ SBAsuccess_CompactMembraneSystemsFINAL.pdf.
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The balance derives from the NSF, DoD, NASA, and Commerce. SBIR awards account for 92 percent of the total by value.
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Mr. Nemser noted that the responsiveness of topic managers varied widely, and did not always compare favorably with responses at other agencies -- he found managers at EPA and the USDA to be especially responsive.
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They also support longer sequences of work that develop platform technologies and then permit a range of applications. For example, the Phase III accelerator program helped CMS launch its oil dehydration systems.
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CREARE, INC. 23 Creare LLC is a private company founded in 1961 by Robert Dean.
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At the same time, it also works with these numerous prime contractors including LMACo, NGC, BHT, ATK, P&W 25 as well as Tier 1 suppliers. Engineering Services Creare provides engineering services to a diverse, international customer base, including both government and industrial clients, in a broad range of industries.
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From page 297... ...
This work again blends strengths in fluid flow and heat transfer, control systems, hardware, and fabrication. Creare's Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC)
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This disciplinary area merges corporate competencies in fluid flow, heat transfer, combustion, cryogenics, machine design, and power electronics. Examples include design and testing of gas turbines based on a recuperated Rankine cycle, design of evaporators and condensers for thermal-toelectric conversion cells, and development of heat exchanger technology for a pressurized-air energy storage system.
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From page 299... ...
government and other clients purchased additional engineering services from Creare that totaled 10 times the magnitude of the initial SBIR funding in this area. The failure of the cooling system for the infrared imaging device on the Hubble telescope provided an opportunity to demonstrate practical application of this body of technical knowledge.
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Started in 1983, where Creare used early SBIR funding to develop FLUENT™, a general purpose code for computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
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APPENDIX E 301 TABLE E-3 Creare Patents Patent Number Patent Year 8,777,529 Mechanism for delivering cryogenic coolant to a rotating tool 2014 8,656,908 Aerosol delivery systems and methods 2014 8,544,462 Systems and methods for aerosol delivery of agents 2013 Device for axial delivery of cryogenic fluids through a 2012 8,303,220 machine spindle 8,215,878 Indirect cooling of a rotary cutting tool 2012 8,061,241 Indirect cooling of a cutting tool 2011 8,021,737 Panelized cover system including a corrosion inhibitor 2011 7,954,486 Aerosol delivery systems and methods 2011 Protective cover system including a corrosion inhibitor and 2010 7,759,265 method of inhibiting corrosion of a metallic object 7,699,804 Fluid ejection system 2010 Magnet locating apparatus and method of locating a magnet 2009 7,561,051 using such apparatus Self-contained breathing apparatus facepiece pressure 2008 7,373,943 control method 7,225,807 Systems and methods for aerosol delivery of agents 2007 7,189,468 Lightweight direct methanol fuel cell 2007 7,183,230 Protective cover system including a corrosion inhibitor 2006 7,100,628 Electromechanically-assisted regulator control assembly 2006 7,053,012 Flexible corrosion-inhibiting cover for a metallic object 2006 6,874,676 Method and structure for welding an air-sensitive metal in air 2005 6,833,334 Flexible corrosion-inhibiting cover for a metallic object 2004 6,794,317 Protective cover system including a corrosion inhibitor 2004 6,444,595 Flexible corrosion-inhibiting cover for a metallic object 2002 6,397,936 Freeze-tolerant condenser for a closed-loop heat-transfer system 2002 6,379,789 Thermally-sprayed composite selective emitter 2002 6,212,568 Ring buffered network bus data management system 2001 6,170,568 Radial flow heat exchanger 2001 6,023,420 Three-phase inverter for small high speed motors 2000 Multilayer ultrasonic transducer array including very thin layer 1999 5,938,612 of transducer elements Ultrasound system and method of administering ultrasound 1999 5,906,580 including a plurality of multi-layer transducer elements 5,748,005 Radial displacement sensor for non-contact bearings 1998 5,399,825 Inductor-charged electric discharge machining power supply 1995 5,145,001 High heat flux compact heat exchanger having a permeable 1992
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From page 302... ...
Verax 1999 Verax was founded to commercialize technology to detect bacterial Biomedical contamination of cells and tissues intended for transfusion and transplantation. They have received seven rounds totaling $28.2 million in venture funding.c Edare 2011 Edare provides manufacturing and product development services intended to transition innovative technologies into low- and medium-volume production.d a "Dimatix Acquisition by Fuji Reflects Strong Growth Opportunity For Its Innovative Ink Jet Technology," (June 13, 2006)
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This particular technology does not lend itself to the creation of a standalone spin-off single technology company, nor -- because of low volumes -- is it well suited to a licensing agreement with a large company.
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From page 304... ...
This could mean developing a specialty product -- e.g., the cryocooler for Hubble and other space programs, or the turbo pumps developed for the first Mars rovers with NASA SBIR funding, which have now been adapted for other space program at NASA such as the Curiosity Mars rover. While these are specialized technologies, Dr.
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From page 305... ...
APPENDIX E 305 SBIR/STTR for that purpose. The work now coming under way at Edare to address non-contract metrology originated in discussions with Lockheed, who had encouraged the Air Force to publish a topic, under which Creare won an award to develop the relevant technology solution.
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From page 306... ...
Too heavy a focus on immediate commercialization would result in missed opportunities, and he recommended that the agency retain the STTR program and use it to focus on these longer term projects.
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Solid state transistors offer higher reliability, longer component life, and higher power conversion efficiencies than competing high power vacuum tubes. SBIR funding was of critical importance to DTI in developing the PowerMod™ technology.
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. In 2003, SBIR funding from the Environmental Protection Agency allowed DIT to investigate the application of Pulsed Electric Field (PEF)
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For power supply applications, ranging from radar, magnet control, magnetron heating, lasers, electron beams, and RF transmitters, DTI ‘s technology enables voltage regulation to within ±0.1 percent tolerance and maximum voltage ripple of less than 0.01 percent. High efficiency and a small footprint mean DTI power supplies can significantly reduce space and power costs.
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From page 310... ...
High Energy Physics The DoE's national laboratories and leading universities worldwide use DTI modulators and power supplies in RF power systems for accelerators and fusion systems. Both applications require careful control of voltage, pulsewidth, and pulse repetition frequency at very high power (more than 20 MW)
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Initially the company focused on high end modulators for European installations and for National Labs, which cost up to $1 million plus each. This has been a low volume and somewhat variable market over the last 15 years, according to Mr.
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Successful Phase I and Phase II awards have led to a Phase III contract from NAVAIR to upgrade every one of the approximately 100 units currently in operation.
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Contracting in the DoE sector comes through DTI's work with the National Labs.
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Overall DTI converts 48 percent of Phase I grants into Phase II awards. Although DTI continues to receive SBIR funding, the company appears to have successfully transitioned to commercial activities based mostly on other product and service revenues.
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Kempkes. Some people in National Labs have figured out how to use SBIR to help them accomplish their programs, and do what they need to do.
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SBIR proposals are considerably stronger when they are bolstered by letters of support from potential users. However, National Labs are not asked for such letters because that could prevent the specific lab (or contact)
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He recommended that DoE should require each Lab to develop a plan to integrate SBIR technologies into their programs, as SBIR funding, in effect, makes the Labs acquisition agencies. At minimum, National Labs should be required to report back on the uses of SBIR/STTR technologies that they have sponsored, and how these technologies are being incorporated into their programs.
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From page 318... ...
In the 1980s, the company successfully developed fluorescent dye-based instrumentation systems for DNA sequencing and entered the biosciences business. At the same time, with the help of SBIR funding, it developed key technologies for measuring gas exchange in global climate change research.
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While these product lines are distinct, they are based on the shared need to measure biological parameters based on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and physical matter. Environment LI-COR instruments have become the global standard for measuring gas exchange between the atmosphere and various sources such as landfills, plants and the oceans.
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These products have been used by scientists seeking better estimates of greenhouse gas exchange in locations world-wide, including forests, deserts, cities, and landfills. Biotechnology LI-COR also pioneered the development of infrared fluorescence labeling and detection systems for life science domains, such as protein analysis and DNA sequencing.
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From page 321... ...
As a result, LICOR has always managed its own sales and distribution channels, now in part served by subsidiaries located in Germany and the UK. The company founder is an engineer, and the company was built because scientists and engineers from many countries requested his product; as a result, infrastructure for marketing and customer service was deployed immediately, and LI-COR has grown as a product oriented, customer focused entity since its inception.
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Dr. McDermitt observes that SBIR funding never covered total out of pocket costs for a project, and certainly did not cover the opportunity cost of devoting company resources to the project.
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From page 323... ...
The second SBIR Phase I and Phase II awards had led to the LI 7700 open path methane analyzer, now sold as a product primarily for methane emissions from natural ecosystems, from landfills, and natural gas leak detection. The third SBIR award was used to develop a three-gas analyzer for CO2, water vapor, and methane.
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It had involved a considerable amount of paperwork and issues related to intellectual property that were hard to resolve. As a result of this experience, the company has not applied for STTR awards since that time.
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Dr. Johnson spent most of his career at National Labs, initially Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
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Muons also hires post docs who work within research partner national labs while supported by the company. Muons supports PhD students working on SBIR/STTR grant topics, of whom three women and one man received their degrees in the past 2 years.
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electrical power usage for more than 1,000 years. Burning the spent nuclear fuel from the current fleet of nuclear reactors is vastly superior to throwing away its enormous internal energy and just piling it in a hole in the ground for 100,000 years.
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Muon cooling depends on strong and efficient superconducting magnets, which Muons also develops. These magnets are extremely demanding, as some of them need to create extremely strong magnetic fields in complex shapes with forces that require sophisticated engineering.
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Besides contracts with its usual research partners, Muons has won nonSBIR/STTR contracts with Los Alamos National Lab and Pacific Northwest National Lab. Non-SBIR/STTR contracts have generated almost $2 million in revenues, mostly in the past 5 years, according to Dr.
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From page 330... ...
that are sometimes required for STTR grants with National Labs often include a section detailing how the labs will make available specific lab and office space." The company first used STTR grants to develop new ideas for a muon collider, addressing the technical problems of cooling beams of muons so they are dense enough to make such a machine possible. Muons subsequently branched out to related technologies and then some less related areas.
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From page 331... ...
Because Muons has such long and deep connections with national labs, its staff know most of their counterparts at the labs, so the connection is always positive. Still, lab administrators in general tend to view STTR awards as small projects.
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SBIR/STTR awards led to a considerable amount of positive press, Dr. Lalli noted, and this led to more awards and then on to three separate Phase III contracts within three years.
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NanoSonic has made no effort to raise third party funding, even though NanoSonic's metal rubber products had attracted VC interest, in part because the company is able to bootstrap growth through sales and in part because venture funding entailed potential risks. The company works with all different sizes and types of companies and organizations, and clients include NASA, DoD, and DOT, providing services that cover all phases of product development; R&D, design and development, and manufacturing.
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The company sells metal rubber electrodes in packs of five 1.5" x 0.5" strips, for $500. Sensors also come in packs of five strips for $500.
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From page 335... ...
The company anticipates that the HybridShield® Thermal Array will be used for flame/heat protective clothing (firefighting suits in particular) , equipment, structures, and vehicles, and has partnered with Shelby Specialty Gloves to create the next generation of firefighting gloves.
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From page 336... ...
Business Model NanoSonic's business model is unusual. While most revenues are still derived either from SBIR/STTR awards or from sales of products and services to businesses or to government agencies, it is also now entering direct to consumer sales, for example its glove for firefighters (developed in partnership with a larger company, Shelby Inc. -- see below)
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SBIR/STTR NanoSonic has received 281 SBIR/STTR awards, 243 SBIR and 38 STTR. (206 were Phase I and 75 Phase II)
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(PSI) is a private company founded in 1973 by Robert Weiss, Kurt Wray, Michael Finson, George Caledonia, and other colleagues from the Avco-Everett Research Laboratory.
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From page 339... ...
Green points out, PSI has always served an array of markets and SBIR/STTR funding has never been more than 50 percent of annual revenues. At its headquarters in Andover, Massachusetts, PSI operates over 68,000 square feet of general office, laboratory, and prototyping space.
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From page 340... ...
Current areas of research include magnetometry for measurement of local magnetic fields by drones, surface contamination for detecting environmental chemical agents (explosive or industrial waste) , hyperspectral imaging for sensing chemical residues on remote surfaces, and low cost acoustic sensors for determining right-of-way encroachment and excavation activity near a pipeline.
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Since its founding, RSI has received 44 SBIR/STTR awards, worth $7.8 million. Twelve percent by value have been STTR awards.
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In addition to engineering services, Faraday also markets rectification equipment and effluent decontamination reactor hardware. Faraday Technology has had success generating SBIR/STTR funding, receiving 90 SBIR/STTR awards, worth $21.0 million.
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, a laser sensor used worldwide to detect natural gas leaks. PSI began RMLD™ development in 1999, initially funded by EPA Phase I and Phase II SBIR grants and subsequently with funding from the Department of Energy and industry partners.
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Partnerships PSI maintains research relationships with a broad range of university, government, and corporate R&D organizations. For example, PSI has recently successfully licensed technology for ophthalmic instrumentation to both an incumbent and two start-ups.
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From page 345... ...
The remaining 10 percent were funded by the Department of Agriculture, the EPA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency. Over the more than 30 years that PSI has received SBIR/STTR funding, STTR awards account for just under ten percent by value.
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PSI has had a number of successful STTR projects. One focused on imaging of the retina, and stretched over several STTR awards, starting with NIH support.
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PSI works with RIs through both programs, and finds that RIs are brought into projects because they are needed. There is in his view no difference in the company's management of SBIR and STTR programs.
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From page 348... ...
After completing graduate school, he had started Vista Clara as a technology consulting company in Tucson, and it had been growing slowly but steadily when he decided to start applying for SBIR funding. The resulting awards allowed the company to develop its core technology (see SBIR/STTR and Vista Clara section below)
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The sensing using NMR is a two-step process. First, the magnetic spins in a sample are aligned using a magnetic field, and second a radio pulse perturbs the aligned fields.
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Corona is a portable system for evaluating the hydrological characteristics of soil cores. Using the same technology as a MRI scanner, _______________ 64 David Walsh, "Multicoil low-field nuclear magnetic resonance detection and imaging apparatus and method," U.S.
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As a result, systems are typically bought by government agencies or their prime contractors, according to Dr. Walsh, which tends to mean a slow sales cycle.
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Vista Clara reported recently that it has won four of its last five competitively bid proposals in China, the most recent of which resulted in the sale of three GMR surface NMR instrumentation systems. 65 _______________ 65 "Vista Clara secures leading position in China," http://www.vista-clara.com/news/vista-clarasecures-leading-position-in-china/.
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From page 353... ...
Starting in 2008, Vista Clara received further Phase II SBIR and STTR awards from DoE, which have according to Dr. Walsh allowed it to gain substantial ground on its competitors and develop fully finished products.
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However, despite the funding and interest expressed through SBIR awards sponsored by the office of subsurface biology, Vista Clara has as yet made no sales to DoE.
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He received two SBIR awards in 2005-2006 which were sufficient to make the company a going concern.
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From page 356... ...
, but current duration varies. Some fusion chambers use shorter electrical pulses, where a passive stabilization approach can contain the conditions (a well-designed wall, possibly with copper plates, bars, or in some cases a flux-conformal first wall, or flux conserver)
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From page 357... ...
• Magnetic field coils custom made for specific pulsed power applications in fusion energy. These coils are used in many products such as magnets that operate in the strongest man-made vacuums, used in settings like the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX)
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From page 358... ...
Design and Engineering Services WSI offers consulting in all stages of the device development process: concept design, engineering design, procurement, fabrication, installation, testing, and operations. Business Model and Commercialization Since the initial SBIR awards, WSI has primarily provided consulting services to the fusion research community.
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From page 359... ...
Overall, WSI has to date received $2.3 million in DoE SBIR funding, and has been approved for a further $1 million award in 2015. Commercialization Support Dr.
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From page 360... ...
is a private company founded in 1988 by William Warburton. The company invents, develops and markets advanced digital spectrometers for x-ray, gamma-ray, and other radiation detector applications in university research, national laboratories and industry.
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From page 361... ...
69 The company maintains research relationships with a broad range of academic, government, and corporate entities such as University of California, Davis; University of Texas at Austin; Michigan State University; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Institute for Nuclear Physics (Germany) ; Radiation Protection Bureau; Health Canada; Alameda Applied Science Corporation; and IBM, to name only a few.
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From page 362... ...
Other applications include handheld metal detectors using x-ray fluorescence, high-rate gamma spectroscopy for assaying spent nuclear fuel, discrimination of alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radioactivity for detectors sensitive to the full range of radiation events, and synchrotron-based spectroscopy for characterizing materials properties in pharmaceutical, engineering, and material science. Product Architectures XIA's product line falls into three main digital data acquisition architectures: DXP (Digital X-ray Processor)
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From page 363... ...
This is a factor of 50 or more time lower than can be achieved using the current state of the art proportional counting systems. The Ultra Lo 1800 was developed to improve quality control processes in the semiconductor manufacturing industry with SBIR funding from NIST and DoE.
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From page 364... ...
He noted that, while a prototype of XIA's Ultra-Lo product emerged successfully following two small SBIR awards (DoE Phase I and NIST Phase I and Phase II) , The company then invested approximately $3.5 million in the product over a period of ten years, to develop instruments with a much larger potential market selling for approximately $80,000 each.
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From page 365... ...
Dr. Warburton also observed that using commercialization as the only metric for assessing the success of SBIR awards was misguided.
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National Labs have few incentives to cooperate fully with small businesses, Dr. Warburton observed.
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From page 367... ...
The collaboration had now lasted 10 years, advanced the state of the art, and should be seen as quite successful. XIA has not worked collaboratively with the national labs outside the SBIR/STTR program.
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