Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

B. The Small Business Innovation Research Program and NSF SBIR Commercialization Results
Pages 129-167

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 129...
... Yet, in spite of excellent performance and growth in numbers, small firms have always had a difficult time obtaining R&D funding and receive only four percent of government R&D. SBIR BACKGROUND The forerunner of the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR)
From page 130...
... The latter is usually judged from a commercialization plan and written commitment for Phase III follow-on funding provided by the company, as well as the track record of the company in commercializing any previous SBIR projects it has received. Both Phase I and Phase II cover all allowable costs and allow for a modest profit consistent with government R&D funding practices; both phases are subject to audit.
From page 131...
... Included in the Annex are 50 examples of the NSF SBIR research to date that have achieved commercialization.2 They include both direct and indirect results ~ See U.S. General Accounting Office, 1989, Federal research: Assessment of Small Business Innovation Research program.
From page 132...
... . Please discuss these and other results that, in your opinion, probably would not have occurred, or would not have taken place in the same time frame, had there no SBIR program or NSF SBIR award, such as breakthroughs, sales, exports, private investment, job growth, collaborations and other benefits.
From page 133...
... and 732 foreign patents that related directly or indirectly to SBIR research or funding, a total of 1,109 patents. · Research Collaborations: The companies had 959 research collaborations.
From page 134...
... THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAM Viable non-contacting, electronic robotic arc welding sensing system Ultra high pressure abrasive waterjet cutting tools Innovative unidirectional surface acoustic wave (SAW Device) trans Growing commercial tank-farmed striped bass (rockfish)
From page 135...
... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION SELECTED EXAMPLES OF NSF SBIR COMMERCIALIZATION RESULTS 1977-1995 1. Relational Technology Inc., later Ingres Corporation, Berkeley and Alameda, CA This SBIR research project resulted in a major technical breakthrough and commercial success.
From page 136...
... The former president, now a venture capitalist, attributes this success, too, indirectly to the initial NSF SBIR award that resulted in a technical breakthrough that allowed Ingres to get the critical lead time in the field and attracted the key people who did it. Combined employment directly and indirectly related to Ingres is estimated at more than 2500.
From page 137...
... is a leading firm in the development and manufacture of advanced electronic components for the fast growing communications field. It attributes its success to its first SBIR research grant from NSF on "Theoretical Modeling of an Innovative Unidirectional Surface Acoustic Wave Transducer." The company had five employees when they spun off from Texas Instruments in 1979 and immediately prepared an NSF SBIR proposal.
From page 138...
... Sales have grown an average of 28 percent each year for the last six years. RFM attributes its survival and growth to the early SBIR awards that were willing to finance new concepts for emerging technology.
From page 139...
... Collaborative's genetics award from NSF, the possibilities for the emerging genetics field and the commercialization objectives of SBIR research led to a large investment by Dow Chemical. This attracted other venture capital; a total of $36 million of equity funding was obtained by a company that had 33 employees at the time of the Phase I award.
From page 140...
... Other thin film sales total another $10 million and an EPA SBIR has resulted in $30 million sales of environmental control equipment for semiconductor manufacturing. Other major customers include Motorola, HP, TI, Intel, Digital, Samsung and Hyundai.
From page 141...
... Other materials such as ceramics, stainless steel and zinc can be applied as corrosion resistant coatings. Nelson Browning spun off from the Dartmouth College faculty prior to SBIR but he was unable to pursue his innovative idea until receiving the NSF SBIR award.
From page 142...
... The NSF SBIR grant facilitated a UT scientist's receiving a $400,000 grant from the state to continue his research and collaboration with the company. The SBIR research results leveraged Nova's obtaining $3 million in venture capital and later, substantial additional investment from BE Goodrich.
From page 143...
... IDM did not receive an SBIR award but its existence is a direct result of the SBIR program. IDM is a spinoff from Scientific Measurement Systems using the same NSF SBIR funded technology, high-resolution tomographic measurement, for other applications.
From page 144...
... This has been created through more than 150 SBIR awards over 17 years from many agencies. The company has 22 patents and 12 research collaborations with the universities of Oregon, Oregon State, Portland State, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Minnesota and Colorado and also with Pfizer, WR Grace, Teledyne, Western Gas and Sandia.
From page 145...
... It is also strong in low-temperature physics sensors and instruments for research, testing and industrial use. All of this capability is directly related to the development of ideas for the use of thin films as temperature sensors under the SBIR research grant.
From page 146...
... There are two important NSF related patents. Research collaborations have been with Motorola, Micron, the following universities: Ohio State, Michigan, MIT, Brown, Johns Hopkins and Tokyo; with Argonne and Los Alamos National Laboratories; and with an Ohio State consortia of 200 companies.
From page 147...
... 19. Charles Evans & Associates, Redwood City, CA Charles Evans & Associates had 10 employees at the time of their first NSF SBIR award in 1981 for research on "An Advanced Detection System for Quantitative Three-Dimensional Ion Microscopy." Through many SBIR awards from a number of agencies, particularly NSF, NIH and DOD the company has been a very successful designer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry systems (SIMS)
From page 148...
... Pritsker was one of the first to apply simulation technology to develop operational manufacturing schedules through the use of operations research algorithms and later expert systems. Direct, indirect and licensed sales total $70 million with 30 percent exported.
From page 149...
... It collaborates closely with Yale and states that it produced a number of breakthroughs in commercial parallel computing software from NSF SBIR awards. These include important innovations such as: "Linda" the first robust, portable codes for the first parallel computers; "Network Linda" which was the first to use the idle cycles on workstations; "Paradise" that allowed the use of the supercomputer by smaller computers down to PC's; and software to allow the writing of parallel codes in diverse disciplines, such as quantum chemistry and sophisticated financial analysis, with real-time programming to PC's.
From page 150...
... The company received NSF SBIR awards in 1979, 1982 and 1983 related to growing pure crystals of ruby, titanium doped sapphire and cobalt doped magnesium. The titanium-doped sapphire started a new class of extremely high quality, electronic crystals that had a wider range of tunability that made tunable lasers far more feasible than ever before.
From page 151...
... NSF SBIR research has made significant contributions to their success by funding early stage ideas, in both the service and product fields, that often needed to show promise between the idea and a prototype before oil industry support could be obtained. Terra Tek received an SBIR award in the first SBIR program solicitation for proposals at NSF in 1977 on the need for Simplification of Methods for Measuring (Metal)
From page 152...
... NSF related sales total $82 million with 5 percent exports, mostly to France, the UK and Singapore. Major customers have been Defense, NASA, DOE, Aerojet, TI, Hughes, TRW, GE, Motorola, Lockheed, Honeywell and Howmet.
From page 153...
... Customers include GM, DuPont, Ford, Rockwell, Eagle-Picher, Ferro, Reynolds, BASE, Thomson, Bayer, Ciba-Geigy, Glaxo and AKZO. Employment since first NSF SBIR award has increased from 11 to 43 today.
From page 154...
... The company obtained 6 NSF related patents and had research collaborations with UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Lockheed, EPRI and the Gas Research Institute. It also had 4 spinoffs, all of which received SBIR awards.
From page 155...
... NSF and the SBIR awards also played a big role in the sale of the company discussions with Kodak." Kodak bought the company for $11.5 million and, 10 years after acquiring Cyclotomics, moved it to Rochester, NY in December 1995.
From page 156...
... It became a world leader in producing of mammalian cells for parentral biopharmaceuticals used by biotech firms and the pharmaceutical industry. The breakthroughs attracted $2 million from Eli Lilly which in turn attracted another $41 million from venture capital and large industrial firms.
From page 157...
... Major SBIR funding has also come from Defense and NASA. Sales total $14 million from five SBIR related product-lines with 40 percent exported, primarily to the UK, Germany, Italy and Japan.
From page 158...
... Millitech has produced 5 instruments at approximately $500,000 each, which came from NSF and NASA SBIR research projects. Sales total $2.5 million with 20 percent exported.
From page 159...
... There are 24 patents and three collaborations, the latter with the University of Colorado, Hewlett and with NASA for MIR. The NSF SBIR award was the first outside funding that Sievers' obtained and SBIR awards from NSF, DOE, NASA and EPA have financed their R&D ideas.
From page 160...
... SBIR has resulted in the company attracting additional private funding, venture capital and industrial investment totaling $6 million. At the time of the earl NSF awards AstroPower was a 30 employee division of AstroSystems, Inc.
From page 161...
... According to Martek of finials, "SBIR was the company's major support for R&D up until 1993. The NSF SBIR allowed us to convert an idea into technical results which were the key to raising $8 million in venture capital, $53 million from public offerings and $16 million from other sources.
From page 162...
... Ecogen wouldn't be here today without it. SBIR research results are the basis of the company's business".
From page 163...
... Displaytech has attracted $3 million in venture capital and employment has increased from 6 at the time of their first SBIR award to 42. The company has 10 related patents and research collaborations with the University of Colorado and MIT.
From page 164...
... Chase Manhattan and GNMA are recent converts. The president of CIC said that "The SBIR awards came at a critical time for CIC in terms of the market opening and the company's need for financing after going through its own $1 million.
From page 165...
... The company has raised $11 million of venture capital, has 6 patents and 6 research collaborations. The latter are with Johns Hopkins, George Washington, Yale, Emory, St.
From page 166...
... The firm received an NSF SBIR research award in its first year of operation on Highly Magnetoresistive Thin Film Multilayers and another from NASA proved to be basic to the company's new technology and its rapid acceptance in the marketplace. Sales total $5 million and customers include ITT (brakes)
From page 167...
... ASTeX has 12 related patents and 7 collaborations. The collaborations include Boston University, NC State, Penn State, MIT, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Applied Materials.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.