NIST Announces 12 Small Business Innovation Research Awards

September 4, 2012. The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced nearly $2 million in Phase I and Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards to 12 U.S. businesses. These awards provide funding to help companies develop technologies that could lead to commercial and public benefit.

The recipients are involved in areas including information technology and cybersecurity as well as manufacturing. Specific projects deal with fingerprint sensing, broadband connectors, laser diodes for optical metrology, CAD/CAE integration, nanofiber film characterization, microcalorimeters, MRI calibration, and environmental chambers.

“We are delighted by the high quality of SBIR proposals we received, and congratulate all the awardees,” said Phillip Singerman, associate director for innovation and industry services at NIST. “Over the past year, NIST updated the solicitation process to focus on critical national priorities and provide maximum opportunities for businesses that are just starting out. With three-fourths of the Phase I recipients in business fewer than 10 years and two-thirds of them with 12 employees or fewer, the results of the solicitation demonstrate the success of that process.”

NIST's SBIR program is a competitive funding opportunity that provides contracts to small businesses for federal research and development. In Phase I, small businesses can receive up to $90,000 to establish the scientific or technical merit or feasibility of ideas that support the commercial potential of their research. If after six months the Phase I awardees have accomplished their goals, they can compete for Phase II funding of up to $300,000 to continue their research and development efforts for up to two years. 

The SBIR program's goal is that companies will go on to commercialize their technologies, where appropriate, in Phase III, but this phase is not funded by the SBIR program.

NIST will provide the awardees with technical assistance and direct assistance as allowed by the SBIR statute, and direct them to additional resources through NIST's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

The Phase I awardees are as follows:

Information Technology & Cybersecurity

• Fulcrum Biometrics, LLC (San Antonio, TX), $90,000.

Fulcrum Biometrics' Plan for Research and Development of WS-BD Conformant Handheld Fingerprint Sensor

This project seeks to explore the development of new wireless biometric sensors that deliver biometric data over secure Web services and to understand technical challenges and limitations of such a framework for communicating and controlling the device, while also exploring a new state-of-the-art secure system on chips for future commercial development efforts. The end goal will be the development of a fully operational prototype device.

• Nuvotronics, LLC (Radford, VA), $89,995.

Microfabricated Broadband Connectors for Frequencies Above 100 GHz

Developing information and communications technologies at high frequencies is hampered by a lack of broadband connectors both for system integration and test. Nuvotronics will develop a new class of connectors and adapters for operation at high frequencies, based on the company's extensive background in microfabrication of devices at millimeter wave frequencies.

• SBG Labs (Sunnyvale, CA), $89,918.

A Compact, Tamper-Resistant, Portable Fingerprint Scanner

SBG Labs has developed a portable scanner based on proprietary holographic technology that features a compact, high-resolution scanner integrated with a smart, hardware data encrypted, GPS-enabled tablet. It can rapidly capture multi-fingerprint images that are fully compliant with FBI standards. In Phase 1, the company proposes to implement a NIST-compliant protocol for wirelessly communicating with and controlling the operation of our biometric device.

Manufacturing

• Ceebco, LLC (Charlotte, NC), $89,985.

Low-Cost Stabilized Laser Diode System

Ceebco aims to develop a frequency-stabilized laser diode system suitable for application in optical metrology and in displacement measurement. The compact design of the semiconductor laser lends itself to many applications where a coherent light source is required and space is at a premium.

• Intact Solutions, LLC (Sun Prairie, WI) $90,000.

Query-Based Interoperability and CAD/CAE Integration in Assemblies

Intact Solutions will design and implement a set of computer-aided design (CAD) queries by which to achieve model interchangeability in assemblies, model interoperability, and model integration for CAD/computer-aided engineering (CAE). The proposed query-based approach to support interoperability for advanced manufacturing is expected to sidestep many of the problems of a data-centric approach.

• PaneraTech Inc. (Falls Church, VA), $89,916.

Non-Contact Inline Material Sensor for Measurement of Electrical Properties of Nanofiber Films

PaneraTech proposes a non-contact dual sensor for broadband and real-time characterization of thin nanofiber films during manufacturing. The solution offers several unique aspects that are ideal for this application, such as using a dual coplanar waveguide (CPW) sensor for low frequencies and a free-space transmission system for higher frequency bands.

• STAR Cryoelectronics (Santa Fe, NM), $89,970.

Improved Microcalorimeter Detectors for X-Ray Chemical Shift Mappin

STAR Cryoelectronics will develop the necessary processes to fabricate improved superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) detectors and integrate them into the company's energy dispersive microcalorimeter X-ray spectrometer for chemical shift mapping. This will significantly enhance the power of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy as an analytical tool for a broad range of applications.

• X-wave Innovations Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD), $89,994.

An Automated Lapping Apparatus and Process for High-Process Fabrication of High-Precision Random Profile Roughness Specimens

The measurement and quality control for smooth engineering surfaces are becoming more and more important in modern science and technology due to their important engineering functions and high production costs. X-wave Innovations Inc. proposes an automated lapping apparatus and process for fabricating high-precision, random profile roughness specimens. These will offer advantages such as high manufacturing throughput, high reproducibility, and low operation cost.

The Phase II awardees are as follows:

Information Technology

• G2 Inc. (Annapolis Junction, MD), $299,066.

SCAP Content Editor

The barrier to entry for Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) content creation is the requirement to have in-depth knowledge of the underlying specifications. This project aims to allow security experts to create SCAP content without the need to be an expert in the specification.

Manufacturing

• Sigma-K Corp. (Durham, NC), $300,000.

Production Methods and Software for NIST Calibration Phantoms

Sigma-K proposes to develop a complete manufacturing method that will produce 50 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) phantoms that ensure measurement traceability of all parameters for MRI calibration. The work performed during Phase 2 will allow Sigma-K to immediately begin a production process that will allow this phantom to be purchased for less than $2,500.

• Measurement Analysis Corp. (Torrance, CA) $300,000.

Irradiated Environmental Chambers

Using a novel concept for humidity control based on a proprietary saturated air source, Measurement Analysis Corp. will construct and evaluate a prototype of an environmental chamber for use with NIST's SPHERE ultraviolet (UV) source for weathering or other UV degradation studies.

• Sepax Technologies Inc. (Newark, DL), $300,000.

Anion-Exchange Resin for Chirality-Based Separation of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Sepax Technologies has identified a new type of anion-exchange resin that separates single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with greater than 80% recovery yield. Improvement and scale-up of the targeted resin production will facilitate the separation of chiral nanotubes for academic research and industrial application.

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