Small Business Innovation Research Program Research Articles

Challenges in Electrolyzer Development and Translation from Lab to Product

Transition from discoveries at the bench scale to commercial product often involves much more time, expense, and trial and error than initially expected. Even when successful, subsequent scale up in size and production volume can have additional complications and unexpected issues. Electrolyzer systems are a good case study to demonstrate these challenges, based on the many technical elements that have to come together for a successful product.Proton OnSite was founded in 1996 with the goal to develop and produce affordable distributed hydrogen through proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis. Over the last decade and a half, Proton has commercialized products of larger and larger scale, and has continued to advance performance and reliability in the existing platforms. The range of stack sizes in production or under development is shown in Figure 1. Proton also maintains a strong technology roadmap including projects ranging from near term advancements to existing products to longer term product development and new technology development. This talk will discuss several of the challenges in transitioning the output of successful programs such as Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) projects to commercialization, even when progress within the SBIR program has reached a fairly high level of technology readiness and testing fidelity.Proton currently manufactures electrolyzer systems from the membrane electrode assembly level through stack and system assembly. Our position as the product integrator is somewhat reversed from many small/large business interactions, in that we are the technology expert and developer, and source components from very large companies. We are the central entity with access to information from many sources, and have to determine how to combine the various pieces together. This process can be very challenging especially when trying to leverage federal funding across diverse, non-overlapping programs and fit them together synergistically. For example, Proton may work with one collaborator on a new membrane material with improvements in one parameter, while having awareness of another collaborator’s success in another area. Based on confidentiality agreements with both partners, the information resides only with Proton, making it difficult to leverage both advancements simultaneously. In addition, a catalyst approach may work very well but may require special adjustments to work with an existing formulation or membrane. However, particularly on the electrolysis side, there have not been sufficient funds to build larger, team-based, collaborative projects which take technology all the way from concept to pilot scale.In addition, in development of cell embodiment parts, often initial prototypes are made with different techniques than the final design intent, in order to prove the form, fit and function of the part before finalizing expensive tooling or running a large amount of parts on production level equipment. Therefore, there can be significant additional work involved once a design has been proven, to adjust tolerances, investigate interactions with adjacent parts, and validate the design. Definition of inspection criteria and quality control methods can also add development time and expense.

What Types of Start-ups Receive Funding from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program?: Evidence from the Kauffman Firm Survey

This paper integrates the Kauffman Firm Survey with the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) recipient dataset to examine in more depth the characteristics of small business start-ups that received R&D subsidy from SBIR. Our selection analysis first shows that SBIR program funds are distributed disproportionately to start-ups whose owner has a post-graduate education. The odds of being granted SBIR R&D subsidies are also higher for those who had prior R&D experience and owned patents at the start of their business operations. Start-ups that are operating in the high-technology sector are also more likely to receive SBIR funds than start-ups in traditional sectors. Surprisingly, start-ups that did not sell goods and services are more likely to receive SBIR grants. Interestingly, location matters but at a different direction: start-ups located in states that are not known for their R&D performance are more likely to receive SBIR funding.

Under-Body Blast Mitigation: Stand-Alone Seat Safety Activation System

This work is based on a current project funded by the United States Army Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and is being conducted with the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) Ground Systems Survivability (GSS) Team and Paradigm Research and Engineering. The focus of this project is to develop an advanced and novel sensing and activation strategy for Pyrotechnic Restraint Systems, Air Bags and other systems that may require activation. The overriding technical challenge is to activate these systems to effectively protect the Soldier during blast events in addition to Crash, Rollover and Other Injury Causing events. These activations of Pyrotechnic systems must occur in fractions of milliseconds as compared to typical automotive crashes. By investigating systems outside of typical accelerometer based applications and activations, the potential exists to exploit systems that require little power, are self-contained and provide the required output for the desired result. As such Constant-Flux Magnetostrictive Sensors shall be evaluated in a self-contained environment to provide the output during these events. By activating the Pyrotechnic Restraint Systems and Air Bag Systems early in Blast Events, the systems can Restrain the Occupant and provide flail protection from surfaces within the vehicle. As the system is developed various test scenarios will be introduced to activate these systems and design a robust sensing and activating strategy. Language: en

Characterization of Circuit Blocks for Configurable Analog-Front-End

Analog functions have been implemented in a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) process optimized for high-temperature (>225°C) operation. These include a linear regulator/reference block that supports input voltages up to 50V and provides multiple independent voltage outputs. Additional blocks provide configurable sensor excitation levels of up to 10V DC and/or 20V AC-differential, with current limiting and monitoring. A dual-channel Programmable-Gain-Instrumentation Amplifier (PGIA) and a high-level AC input block with programmable gain and offset serve signal conditioning, gain, and scaling needs. A multiplexer and analog buffer provide an output that is scaled and centered for down-stream A-to-D conversion. Limited component availability and high component counts deter development of sensing and control electronics for extreme temperature (>200°) applications. Systems require front-end power conditioning, sensor excitation and monitoring, response amplification, scaling, and multiplexing. Back-end Analog-to-Digital conversion and digital processing/control can be implemented using one or two integrated circuit chips, whereas the front-end functions require component counts in the dozens. The low level of integration in the available portfolio of SOI devices results in high component count when constructing signal conditioning interfaces for aerospace sensors. These include quasi-DC sensors such as thermo-couples, strain-gauges, bridge transducers as well as AC-coupled sensors and position transducers, such as Linear Variable Differential Transducers (LVDT's). Furthermore, a majority of sensor applications are best served by excitation/response voltage ranges that typically exceed the voltage range of digital electronics (either 5V or 3.3V in currently available digital IC's for use above 200°C). These constraints led Embedded Systems LLC to design a generic device which was implemented by Honeywell as an analog ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). This paper will describe the ASIC block-level capabilities in the context of the typical applications and present characterization data from wafer-level testing at the target temperature range (225C). This material is based upon work performed by Honeywell International under a subcontract from Embedded Systems LLC, funding for which was provided by the U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovative Research program.

A System On Chip (SOC) ASIC chipset for Aerospace and Energy Exploration Applications

This paper describes the design, key features and applications of a System On Chip (SOC) ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) chipset which was developed by Embedded Systems LLC as a part of the Smart Node based distributed control system architecture under an Air Force SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) program {4}. The analog part of the SOC chipset has been implemented by Honeywell International under a subcontract using their high temperature SOI (Silicon On Insulator) Process. The complete chipset is expected to be available in early 2015. The key feature of the SOC chipset is that it is a reconfigurable and scalable building block that can be used to interface with most typical aerospace control system sensors and actuators. The SOC chipset captures all of the necessary functions required to power and interface with sensors such as RTD (Resistance Temperature Detectors), Strain Gauges (SG), Thermo Couples (TC) and transducers for measuring mass flow, speed, position or angle. The SOC chipset also contains all of the pre- and post-processing functions to convert electrical signals into digital words and send them on a data bus under the control of a host microprocessor. Finally, the SOC chipset contains PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) circuitry required to interface with external drives for actuators, motors, shutoff Valves etc. The SOC chipset can be powered from a Mil-Std-704F compliant power source or a conditioned DC power source. The chipset can be combined with other devices, such as memory, processor and A to D Converter to implement a high temperature capable Smart Node for localized management of sensors and actuators as a part of a distributed architecture or used as a scalable building block in a more complex function such as a FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control). It is believed that the versatility of the SOC chipset makes it a well suited, affordable, scalable building block for not only aerospace controls but also for diverse applications such as down-hole drilling, energy exploration, wind farms etc. where high temperature electronics and /or high level of miniaturization is required.

Beyond innovation: the Small Business Innovation Research program as entrepreneurship policy

Entrepreneurship or new firm formation plays an increasingly important role in knowledge-based economic development. Public policy to encourage new firm formation has not focused on high quality, high potential firms, and the search for entrepreneurship policy with high economic impact is still needed. This research evaluates the efficacy of the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program from the perspective of promoting high technology entrepreneurship. In particular, we examine whether the local presence of SBIR awards is associated with increased new firm formation rates in the high technology sector. Although the primary objective of SBIR is to facilitate technological commercialization in small businesses, our policy analysis based on spatial multivariate methods suggests that this program may also serve as an effective entrepreneurship policy.

Private Equity and the Innovation Strategies of Entrepreneurial Firms: Empirical Evidence from the Small Business Innovation Research Program

There is great interest in evaluating the impact of private equity investments on innovation and economic growth. However, there is no direct empirical evidence on the effects of such transactions on the innovation strategies of entrepreneurial firms. We fill this gap by examining a rich project‐level data set consisting of entrepreneurial firms receiving Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program research awards. We find that SBIR firms attracting private equity investments are significantly more likely to license and sell their technology rights and engage in collaborative research and development agreements. Our results suggest that private equity investments accelerate the development and commercialization of research‐based technologies, thus contributing to economic growth. We conclude that both public and private investments have a positive effect on innovation performance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Public R&D subsidies, outside private support, and employment growth

In the aftermath of the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the employment effects of public subsidies have been scrutinized because of new emphasis on public accountability and transparency. In this paper, we investigate conditions in which public subsidies of research and development (R&D) in small firms stimulate employment growth. We find, based on an empirical analysis of employment growth induced by US Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research program awards, that the stimulated employment growth is greater under two conditions: one, the presence of outside investors providing additional funding for the R&D and, two, when an exceptional amount of intellectual property is created by the publicly subsidized R&D. In addition to outside investors, other firms that make commercial agreements with the subsidized firm appear important for the employment growth of the subsidized firm. Cooperation between the small business doing the R&D and other firms is an important determinant of the commercial success of the technologies created with the support of public funds.

How to Write a Good SBIR/STTR Grant Proposal with a Specific Focus on Gaming: An Opportunity for Digital Media Products Funding

I have had the opportunity to serve as a reviewer on several National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program panels in the subject areas of information technology and education applications. The SBIR/STTR program is a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to get funding for exciting, potentially lucrative products in digital media. Funding is provided for innovative and risky projects that push the boundaries of existing technologies. The program seeks specifically to fund ambitious, entrepreneurial companies that have developed new products for which there is a demonstrated market. Successful phase I grantees are then eligible for phase II grants, which can total more than US$1 million. However, many in the game development community are either unaware of the existence of this funding opportunity or they have little experience in writing good grant proposals. In my experience, the quality of the proposals submitted for funding in this area is lower than the quality of proposals in other areas such as human-computer interaction or user interface design. The goal of this article is to provide information about the program and help authors write solid proposals so that excellent ideas from the game development community can get funded.

Regional Appropriation of University-Based Knowledge and Technology for Economic Development

Economic development practitioners and scholars recognize the link between universities and regional economic development. It is predicated on the spillover of knowledge from universities to commercialization. The literature has focused on the supply side, which involves university research and technology transfer mechanisms. We examine the role played by the demand for university-based knowledge and university-developed technology. We identify links between businesses and the university as a key conduit facilitating the spillover of knowledge using data on the Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We provide supply-side evidence on university research relationships and how the use of knowledge and technologies that flow from a university affect economic growth. We identify the role that SBIR-funded businesses play in the spillover of knowledge from the creating organization to where that knowledge is used and commercialized. Our results suggest that knowledge is systematically transmitted through university-related research.

Application of Systems Engineering to USAF Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)

The US Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a vital element of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) portfolio. The SBIR program funds early-stage R&D projects at small technology companies that support a US Department of Defense (DoD) need and have the potential for commercialization in private sector and/or military markets. We report on research measuring the application of Systems Engineering (SE) and the degree of Systems Engineering applied in SBIR projects through analysis of subject-matter expert (SME) interviews. SMEs were sampled from AFRL as well as other USAF organizations. The research methodology assessed the current application of SE in SBIR as well the SE expectations government offices have for SBIR projects. The research specifically examined current US DoD and US Air Force Systems Engineering Policy and found that it does not adequately address SBIR projects. SE processes are not well documented within the community. We then identified applicable SE tasks found in Air Force SE policy and suggest a tailored Systems Engineering approach for SBIR projects. We present a SBIR SE checklist recommended for use by SBIR program managers tailored according to the phase and scope of any SBIR project.

Employment growth from public support of innovation in small firms

Herein, we investigate the impacts of the US publicly funded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program's funding on the overall employment growth of SBIR award-recipient firms. This paper is motivated by the US Congress’ continued emphasis on employment growth during its deliberations on the reauthorization of the SBIR program. We set forth a model of employment growth; the model offers a framework through which we can compare a firm's actual level of employment after receipt of an SBIR award and completion of the research project to the level of employment predicted by the firm's characteristics prior to the award. Using data collected by the National Research Council within the National Academies, we estimate our model, and we conclude that, on average, the overall employment effects associated with the SBIR program are large absolutely and relative to dollars of funding, but these effects are, in general, not statistically significant.

Universities as research partners in publicly supported entrepreneurial firms

Partnerships between universities and industrial firms can play a key role in enhancing competitiveness because they provide a conduit for the spillover of knowledge from the academic organization where knowledge is created to the firm where it is transformed into innovative activity. We set forth in this paper a model of industry/university participation, and we test the model empirically, using research project data on entrepreneurial firms that were funded through the US Department of Energy's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We find that larger firms are more likely to be involved in a research partnership with a university, in general, as are firms with founders who have an academic background. We find the latter result holds across disaggregated types of university partnerships, as well. We find no empirical evidence that the size of the SBIR award influences the likelihood of a research partnership.

Massively collaborative problem solving: new security solutions and new security risks

We present the initial discoveries from an investigation of massively collaborative problem solving (MCPS) assembled from two independent projects attempting to foster large scale distributed collaboration to solve complex problems, including those relevant to local and national security. Two preliminary investigations for a DARPA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program are discussed herein. Instead of a linear approach to problem solving, in which many people are asked to perform a similar task until consensus is reached, the described problem solving environments encourage deep reasoning to emerge by combining small contributions from many individuals to solve dynamic and previously unsolved problems. The environments encourage problem solvers to decompose a complex problem into parts so that it can be solved by a community with diverse skills and experiences. Social consensus then plays a role in crafting the aggregate solution. However, as the number of collaborators goes up, the number of disruptive attempts by malicious individuals to derail the solution may also increase. We discuss potential applications of MCPS for security and intelligence, and system security issues MCPS must address.

Private Equity and the Innovation Strategies of Entrepreneurial Firms: Empirical Evidence from the Small Business Innovation Research Program

There is great interest in evaluating the impact of private equity investments on innovation and economic growth. However, there is no direct empirical evidence on the effects of such transactions on the innovation strategies of entrepreneurial firms. We fill this gap by examining a rich project-level data set consisting of entrepreneurial firms receiving Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program research awards. We find that SBIR firms attracting private equity investments are significantly more likely to license and sell their technology rights and engage in collaborative research and development agreements. Our results suggest that private equity investments accelerate the development and commercialization of research-based technologies, thus contributing to economic growth. We conclude that both public and private investment have a positive effect on innovation performance.

Exploiting Multimedia in Reproductive Science Education: Research Findings

Education in reproductive science is operating from an outdated paradigm of teaching and learning. Traditionally, reproductive education follows the pattern where students read a textbook, listen to instructor presentations, re-read the textbook and class notes and then complete a test. This paradigm is inefficient, costly and has not incorporated the potential that technology can offer with respect to increases in student learning. Further, teachers of reproductive science (and all of science for that matter) have little training in the use of documented methods of instructional design and cognitive psychology. Thus, most of us have learned to teach by repeating the approaches our mentors used (both good and bad). The technology now exists to explain complex topics using multimedia presentations in which digital animation and three-dimensional anatomical reconstructions greatly reduce time required for delivery while at the same time improving student understanding. With funding from the Small Business Innovation Research program through the U.S. Department of Education, we have developed and tested a multimedia approach to teaching complex concepts in reproductive physiology. The results of five separate experiments involving 1058 university students and 122 patients in an OB/GYN clinic indicate that students and patients learned as much or more in less time when viewing the multimedia presentations when compared to traditional teaching methodologies.

Harnessing Academia, Government, and Industry

One of the goals of the recent workshop, “An Eye on Glaucoma: New Opportunities for Treatment,” was to highlight areas of glaucoma research that, with appropriate funding, are ripe for major advancement for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Another goal was the exploration of collaborative partnership and the process for facilitating translation of these areas, not just for glaucoma but for all diseases affecting visual function. In this article, I address the second of the two goals. Since the National Eye Institute (NEI) was established in 1968, its mission has been to “conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind” in all areas of vision research. As part of the federal government, the NEI has distinct guidelines and rules that govern how it can foster vision science along the continuum from basic research, to clinical application, to acceptance and adoption by the medical community as the standard of care. Vision research is a collaborative process shown to be successful through engaged scientific discussion, investigator-driven hypotheses, and responsible program management and support. How does the vision research community best interact with the NEI to foster successful vision research? Most members of the community are familiar with the more traditional mechanisms of interaction (i.e., grants and contracts), but the topic “Harnessing Academia, Government, and Industry” gives us the opportunity to discuss other, perhaps less well-known partnership mechanisms. The purpose of this article is to explore the NEI toolbox and the various support mechanisms available for fostering research in eye disease, through partnerships between NEI, academia, and industry. NEI AND THE VISION COMMUNITY: SUPPORT MECHANISMS The NEI conducts and supports laboratory and patient-oriented research through both intramural and extramural programs. The intramural program encompasses strong basic, translational, and clinical programs in molecular genetics, retinal degenerations, retinal circuits, neuroprotection, angiogenesis, immunology, and visual processing. The extramural program supports a diverse portfolio of vision research on retina; cornea; lens and cataract; glaucoma; strabismus, amblyopia, and visual processing; low vision and its rehabilitation; oculomotor systems and neuro-ophthalmology; myopia and refractive error; ocular genetics; ocular inflammation; infections; and immunology. The most well-known mechanism of partnership between the federal government and its respective research communities is through the Office of Extramural Research’s contracts and grants programs. The NEI’s Division of Extramural Research (http://www.nei.nih.gov/funding/) supports approximately 1600 research grants and training awards made to scientists at more than 250 medical centers, hospitals, universities, and other institutions across the country and around the world. In fiscal year 2011, the NEI had a budget of $700.8 million. More than 86% of the total NEI budget was spent extramurally on grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with the vision research community (Fig. 1). Given that the focus of the workshop was glaucoma, it is worth noting that approximately 10% of the extramural budget was directly spent on glaucoma and the optic neuropathies. Other Mechanisms for Collaboration There are other mechanisms, perhaps less well known than the extramurally supported grants, collaborative agreements, and contracts that can be used to partner academia, industry, and government. They include the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), the Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), the Clinical Trials Agreement (CTA), and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Agreements. The MTA is used for the exchange of materials with outside organizations for research purposes. In 2003, the NEI had 20 MTAs with outside organizations; in 2010, the number was more than 100. This mechanism—although technically a type of partnership—is not necessarily the best mechanism to use in the spirit of a “true” research partnership,

The exploitation of publicly funded technology

In this paper we focus on technology that resulted from R&D projects funded by US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II awards. We ask: Is there evidence that strategic commercial agreements allow foreign firms to exploit the technologies developed through the SBIR program and funded by US taxpayers? Based on descriptive information from Phase II SBIR-funded project data collected by the National Research Council within the National Academies, we conclude that SBIR funds for Phase II projects and the technologies associated with those projects are not, to a pronounced extent, benefitting foreign firms through agreements with SBIR firms or investors. In that sense, there is no evidence that the technologies developed with funds from US taxpayers are, to any significant extent, being exploited by foreign firms through commercial agreements with SBIR firms.

Public gains from entrepreneurial research: Inferences about the economic value of public support of the Small Business Innovation Research program

This article presents a systematic analysis of the net economic benefits associated with the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We offer a derivation of producer and consumer surplus to estimate economic benefits. Fundamental to the implementation of these models is a specific value of the elasticity of demand, but in its absence we estimate what its value would be when the benefit-to-cost ratio associated with public support of the SBIR program equals unity. We infer from these calculations, and from general knowledge about the ability of SBIR-funded firms to exploit their monopoly position, that the SBIR program likely generates positive net economic benefits to society.

Beyond Innovation: The Small Business Innovation Research Program as Entrepreneurship Policy

Beyond Innovation: The Small Business Innovation Research Program as Entrepreneurship Policy