Small Business Innovation Research Phase Research Articles

Bringing technology to market: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute SBIR Phase IIB projects

Abstract The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is the fourth largest institute in the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Surprisingly, there is a conspicuous void of policy studies related to the research activities of NHLBI in comparison to NIH or the National Cancer Institute. This paper investigates the likelihood that a business funded through NHLBI’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program will commercialize from its Phase IIB translational support. Commercialization is one performance metric that quantifies a policy dimension of the success of the funded SBIR project. Based on an empirical analysis of sixty-one Phase IIB projects, we find that the most significant covariate with the likelihood of commercialization is the growth in human capital within the business since the Phase IIB award.

Innovation Transition Success: Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect

The authors of this research examine and evaluate organizational factors associated with commercialization under the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Their objective is to improve return on investment. The data set used was the SBIR Phase II program data set, which contains information on 433 SBIR topics with closed contracts reported during Department of Defense (DoD) fiscal years (FYs) 2015 to 2018. Each data point contained characteristics of the topic, including commercialization. Military capability or topic areas were hypothesized to have varying commercialization rates. Incumbency was theorized to be a characteristic of successful programs, while increased company size was theorized as a characteristic of unsuccessful programs. Variables were analyzed through graphs and logistic regression. Small businesses (1 to 31 employees) have a 2.6% increased commercialization rate compared to large businesses (32 to 499 employees); this increase is significant when compared to the 8.8% global success rate of SBIR projects. No learning effect or improved performance was observed between companies new to the SBIR program (fewer than 14 contracts) and incumbents (15–419 contracts). The opposite—learning—was observed with new entrants outperforming incumbents. A bump in the data appears for newer entrants with some experience. In FY 2019, DoD obligated $1.8 billion in SBIR funding, and previous research indicated the commercialization rate of SBIR Phase II contracts is approximately 8.8%. This exploratory research looks at factors and trends seen in successful programs. Findings indicate factors that may guide investment choices to improve commercialization rates.

Refining a Digital Therapeutic Platform for Home Care Agencies in Dementia Care to Elicit Stakeholder Feedback: Focus Group Study With Stakeholders.

BackgroundPersons living with dementia require increasing levels of care, and the care model has evolved. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is transitioning long-term care services from institutional care to home- or community-based services, including reimbursement for nonclinical services. Although home care companies are positioned to handle this transition, they need innovative solutions to address the special challenges posed by caring for persons living with dementia. To live at home longer, these persons require support from formal caregivers (FCGs; ie, paid professionals), who often lack knowledge of their personal histories and have high turnover, or informal caregivers (eg, family or friends), who may have difficulty coping with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. The Generation Connect platform was developed to support these individuals and their formal and informal caregivers. In preliminary studies, the platform improved mood and influenced caregiver satisfaction. To enhance platform effectiveness, Generation Connect received a grant from the National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research to improve clinical outcomes, reduce health care costs, and lower out-of-pocket costs for persons living with dementia who receive care through home care agencies.ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate information elicited from a series of stakeholder focus groups to understand existing processes, needs, barriers, and goals for the use of the Generation Connect platform by home care agencies and formal and informal caregivers.MethodsA series of focus groups were conducted with home care agency corporate leadership, home care agency franchise owners, home care agency FCGs, and informal caregivers of persons living with dementia. The qualitative approach allowed for unrestricted idea generation that best informed the platform development to enable home care providers to differentiate their dementia care services, involve informal caregivers, improve FCG well-being, and extend the ability of persons living with dementia to age in place. Using the Technology-Enabled Caregiving in the Home framework, an inductive and iterative content analysis was conducted to identify thematic categories from the transcripts.ResultsOverall, 39 participants participated across the 6 stakeholder focus groups. The following five overarching themes were identified: technology related; care services; data, documentation, and outcomes; cost, finance, and resources; and resources for caregivers. Within each theme, the most frequent subthemes were identified. Exemplar stakeholder group statements provided support for each of the identified themes.ConclusionsThe focus group results will inform the further development of the Generation Connect platform to reduce the burden of caregiving for persons living with dementia, evaluate changes in cognition, preserve functional independence, and promote caregiver engagement between these individuals. The next step is to evaluate the effectiveness of the revised platform in the National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research phase 2 clinical trial to assess the efficacy of its evidence-based interventions and market viability.

FY2020 Small Business Innovation Research Phase II (DOC)

Federal Grants & ContractsVolume 44, Issue 18 p. 6-6 Grants Alerts FY2020 Small Business Innovation Research Phase II (DOC) First published: 17 August 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/fgc.31251Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume44, Issue1820 August 2020Pages 6-6 RelatedInformation

Field Compensation in Electron-Ion Collider Magnets With a Passive Superconducting Shield

This paper presents work under a Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant to Particle Beam Lasers, Inc. and Brookhaven National Laboratory to develop a passive superconducting shield as an alternative to the present design of an active shield with superconducting coils. This shielding provides a nearly field-free region for the electron beam near the high-gradient quadrupole for the proton beam in the interaction region (IR) of the proposed electron ion collider. Several materials are being examined for this shielding-tubes of low- or high-temperature superconductors (LTS or HTS), LTS sheets, and HTS tapes. Supplementing this shielding is an iron ring between the superconducting shield and beam tube to counter any decay in shielding currents. If successfully developed, demonstrated, and shown to be compatible with the magnet designs of all the IR magnets, this technique will provide an economical and technically excellent solution that reduces the need to operate IR magnets at higher current. This paper will summarize the latest design studies and test results both at 77 K for the shielding by the bulk-HTS tube and at 4 K for the shielding by tubes of HTS or LTS.

Modular High Field Quadrupole Design for Electron–Ion Collider

The proposed electron-ion collider (EIC) needs high-gradient, large-aperture quadrupole magnets in the interaction region (IR). This paper presents the work under a Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant to Particle Beam Lasers, Inc., and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to develop a novel modular design for EIC quadrupoles based on racetrack coils, which need no expensive tooling to build. It also enables the same coils to be used in Nb3Sn magnets of a range of apertures. Such a modular program may greatly facilitate R&D and reduce its costs, which often dominate the total cost of magnets that are one-of-a-kind or produced in limited numbers. For the EIC IR, the same coils are used in four R&D quadrupoles: one Nb3Sn quadrupole as proposed for the BNL eRHIC and three Nb3Sn quadrupoles as proposed by Jefferson Laboratory for JLEIC. This paper will present the basic magnetic and mechanical design of the several IR quadrupoles for the proposed EIC.

Multilevel public funding for small business innovation: a review of US state SBIR match programs

US State governments invest in early-stage innovative activity as an economic development strategy. Nevertheless, attention directed at the public sector’s role in this capacity has been placed on federal policy actions overlooking the growing role of states. The primary aims of this paper are two-fold: (1) to articulate the motivations for multilevel public support for small business innovative activity, placing emphasis on state level incentives directed towards entrepreneurial activity; and (2) to empirically evaluate the State Match Phase I (SMP-I) program. The SMP-I program is a diffuse state level policy designed to complement the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program by offering noncompetitive matching funds to the state’s successful SBIR Phase I recipients. This offers an opportunity to examine the marginal impact of public R&D given the state intervention. This paper employs a state and year fixed effects model and considers two outcome variables—SBIR Phase II success rates and SBIR Phase I application activity. To account for industrial heterogeneity, the data are stratified by the federal mission agencies. Results from the empirical analysis indicate that the state match increases the Phase II success rates for firms participating in the National Science Foundation SBIR program.

Are Pediatricians "Game"? Reducing Childhood Obesity by Training Clinicians to Use Motivational Interviewing Through Role-Play Simulations with Avatars.

The results of a feasibility study funded by a National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 grant to assess the potential of using online, avatar-based simulation technology to increase pediatricians' use of motivational interviewing techniques to reduce childhood obesity are promising, with potentially positive implications for individual and public health outcomes.

Economic implications of raising the threshold funding limits on US Small Business Innovation Research awards

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we investigate empirically the economic implications of increasing the threshold funding limits on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards. Specifically, we estimate the impact of an increase in an SBIR Phase II research award amount on the likelihood that the funded project will reach technical completion, that is, it will not be discontinued early or fail. Although an increase in the threshold amount of Phase II awards was mandated by the Act of 1992, and although a recent SBIR policy directive allows such, the economic implications of an increase have yet to be considered in any systematic manner. Second, we offer a call for a further evaluation of the SBIR program, and more broadly a prospective evaluation of public-private partnership science and technology programs, along the lines of an investigation of the determinants of milestone successes and failures. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Highly Sensitive and Selective Explosive Detector Based on Nanoporous Silicon Photonic Crystal Infiltrated with Emissive Organics [Nanoproducts

Emitech Inc. (www.emitechinc.com) is developing a porous silicon (PSi) microcavity (MC)-based fluorescent detector for explosives. It was initially funded by the Army Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract (Figure 1). The sensory part of the device is composed of a nano-PSi photonic crystal with MC, infiltrated with fluorescent organics that are specific to target explosive vapors and particulates. It is important that the nanodevice structure provides an extremely large interfacial area between the sensory material and the analyte vapors leading to its highest sensitivity, which is critical for fast trace detection of low vapor pressure explosives. An important feature of the nanodevice is the real-time sampling system (integrated with sensory head) based on the proprietary thermal air-jet technology.

Predicting USMC SBIR Phase I to II Transition Success by Evaluating Use of Systems Engineering Capabilities

:Defense research and development budget cuts, increased pressure from the acquisition community to find research funding, and a congressional directive enforced by the under secretary of defense for acquisition and technology have created a climate where the U.S. Marine Corps Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program must improve its ability to transition technology it develops into acquisition programs. One approach to accomplishing this is by applying systems engineering to the SBIR process. Though no formal systems engineering process exists for its SBIR program, the Marine Corps wishes to understand the relationship between the systems engineering capability of Phase I SBIR projects and the likelihood of transition to Phase II. This study seeks to shed light on this relationship.

Electronic X-Ray Systems For Field Aircraft Inspection

ABSTRACTSelected electronic, digital x-ray imaging systems and techniques were evaluated as possible replacements for the use of x-ray film at Air Force field aircraft maintenance facilities. Incentives for the introduction of digital systems include the elimination of recurring costs of film, processing, and waste disposal, and the advantages of electronic data analysis, digital signal processing, and the ease of storage, retrieval, and transfer of digital data. Initial experimental evaluations included photostimulable storage phosphors, scintillator-camera systems, flat panel imagers and the reverse geometry method. The technical evaluations were conducted with a test object consisting of typical honeycomb structure containing various faults, line pair gages, and image quality indicators on ¼–inch aluminum. Several electronic systems were capable of meeting most of the technical requirements for x-ray inspection, with system prices attractive for field locations with annual film costs in the range of $15,000 or more. All the electronic methods eliminate processing chemicals and offer advantages in certain applications. However, the storage phosphor systems were particularly well suited for field implementation because of their similarity to film, but without most of the recurring costs and the environmental problems associated with the use of film. These evaluations were conducted under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I program. More extensive system evaluations are planned as the program continues into an SBIR Phase II project.

Development of graded reference radiographs for aluminum welds. Phase 1

Abstract : The purpose of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project was to develop a data bank for graded sets of reference radiographs of aluminum welds. Reference radiographic documents of this type are extremely valuable for procurements related to ships, aircraft, other vehicles, construction and similar projects that include aluminum welds. The reference radiographs serve as a recognized way of acceptance or rejection of welds. There are no recognized standards for graded reference radiographs of aluminum welds. The only alternative at present is to use graded sets of reference radiographs for steel welds such as ASTM standard E-390. This is not a technically acceptable alternative because the radiographic contrasts and general appearance are different for steel welds as compared to aluminum welds. During this Phase I project, a data bank of production radiographs of aluminum welds was collected. Several thousand radiographs are presently in the data bank. From this data bank, a set of proposed reference radiographs has been assembled. These include five grades of reference radiographs for three types of porosity, fine scattered porosity, coarse scattered porosity and linear porosity. The suggested reference radiograph document also includes three grades of clustered porosity, two illustrations of inadequate penetration, two illustrations of tungsten inclusions, and examples of longitudinal and transverse cracks, lack of fusion and undercut. (JES)

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding: A case study in bringing a computer‐based speech training aid into the marketplace

University research projects occasionally involve applications of speech technology that are intended to produce a commercial product, such as the development of a microcomputer‐based speech training aid (ISTRA) at Indiana University. Even though initially funded as basic research, such projects, when successful, eventually require an alternative source of funds. SBIR programs in most federal agencies have been mandated by Congress to support research and development in small businesses. This presentation will describe SBIR programs and the funding process, from the perspective of investigators who attempt to form small businesses outside of the university womb. [Research support by NSF and NIH, SBIR Phase I grants.]