NSF PR 98-42 - August 6, 1998
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National Science Foundation is Taking Small Business
Into a New Phase of Innovation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) will award four
grants in a new pilot program intended to bridge the
gap between technology research and commercialization
by providing incentives for Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) grantees to seek partnerships with
investors. The new SBIR Phase IIB Pilot Program supplements
the already successful SBIR effort at NSF.
"SBIR has always been a catalyst for the growth of
small high-tech businesses," said Kesh Narayanan,
NSF director of industrial innovation. We found that
the top 50 successful small business grantees (representing
about 10 percent of all Phase II grantees) have accounted
for $2.2 billion in direct sales and created 10,000
jobs. The pilot program will help give other small
high-tech companies the opportunity to make this sort
of impact."
NSF selected four small businesses to participate
in the pilot program based on the intellectual merit
and potential impact of their research: Polatomic
Corporation, for a miniaturized device to measure
the properties of planetary magnetic fields; Pericle
Communications Company, for their work to develop
a method to double the signal capacity of cellular
radio networks; New Light Industries, for the design
and application of a holographic printer; and Auxein
Corporation, for the development of a metabolic primer
to enhance plant growth.
SBIR is a congressionally mandated program initiated
at the NSF in 1977 to promote the development of innovative
technologies by small science and technology-based
businesses. SBIR grants are awarded in two phases.
Projects under Phase I are funded for a six-month
feasibility study. If the projects are determined
eligible, they may receive funding for the principal
research effort under Phase II. After Phase II, grant
recipients are expected to pursue commercial applications
of their research without the support of government
funding.
The Phase IIB Pilot Program allows small businesses
to continue their research while securing the support
of third-party investors. This financial support,
in fact, is the main requirement for receiving Phase
IIB grants. To be eligible, the third-party investor
must commit a minimum of $100,000. NSF will then match
up to 50 percent of funds received, but no more than
$100,000.
Grant recipients can use the third-party money to
tailor their technologies to the specific needs of
the investors. However, they can only use the NSF
funds to continue research related to the ongoing
Phase II work.
"Not all projects in Phase II necessarily need Phase
IIB funding," said Narayanan. "We see the new pilot
program as a way to encourage SBIR grantees to bring
their high-tech products to the marketplace by forming
partnerships with investors."
Attachment: SBIR Phase
IIB Projects
Attachment
SBIR Phase IIB Projects
A Three-dimensional Holographic Hardcopy Printer
New Light Industries, Ltd., Spokane, Washington
A holographic printer, the Holocomposer, is a significant
advancement in the creation of three-dimensional holograms
for security purposes. The biggest advantage to a
holographic portrait on an ID card is that it is unique
to the individual, like a photograph or a fingerprint.
New Light Industries is building into the Holocomposer
the ability to include covert security features that
will make any counterfeits easy to detect. The materials
used to print a hologram with Holocomposer remain
unique, since the technology to create both the printers
and the printing materials is proprietary. This makes
it nearly impossible for counterfeiters to match.
{Contact: Steve McGrew, (509) 456-8321/stevem@iea.com}
A Metabolic Primer To Increase Plant Growth and
Productivity
Auxein Corporation Lansing, Michigan
The Auxein Corporation will use the Phase IIB grant
to commercialize its AuxiGroTM Wp Plant
Metabolic Primer. AuxigroTM enhances plant
growth and productivity by improving how well a plant
uses nutrients. The active ingredients of AuxigroTM
occur naturally in all plants and therefore do not
pose a threat to the environment as do some fertilizers,
pesticides and plant growth regulators.
Auxein has already demonstrated the effectiveness
of AuxigroTM in the laboratory, greenhouse
and field. Currently, AuxigroTM is labeled
for use only on a limited variety of crops, so Auxein
will conduct further field trials to demonstrate the
product's ability to enhance production of other crops
such as grapes, citrus and nuts. Researchers also
seek to establish the value of applying their product
to row crops, such as corn, and for bedding and garden
plants. {Contact: Alan Kinnersley, (517) 336-4675/kinnersleya@auxein.com}
A Vector/Scalar Magnetometer To Study Planets From
Orbit
Polatomic, Inc. Richardson, Texas
With Phase IIB funding, Polatomic will produce a prototype
laser magnetometer designed to measure planetary magnetic
fields from an orbiting spacecraft. The self-calibrating
laser magnetometer will provide researchers with unique
information on the structure and dynamics of planetary
interiors and fluid flow within and on the surface
of the earth and other planets.
A miniaturized helium cell allows Polatomic to create
an inexpensive device with many practical applications.
Polatomic's founder, Robert Slocum, is convinced that
it will play an essential role in collecting data
from orbit in future studies of long term climate
change on Earth as well as on solar magnetic storms
and for new advances in the earth sciences.
The helium cell of the laser magnetometer has a resonance
frequency proportional to the size of the magnetic
field that surrounds a planet. The instrument tracks
this frequency, measures the magnetic field to one
part in 250,000,000 and calculates the directional
components of the magnetic field. {Contact:
Bob Slocum, (972) 690-0099/Bob_Slocum@polatomic.com}
An Adaptive Rate Wireless Phone For Cellular Radio
Networks
Pericle Communications Co. Colorado Springs, Colorado
The goal of this project is to double the capacity
of the current digital cellular radio network by compressing
the human speech to the lowest data rate possible
without degrading the voice quality. Currently, Time
Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is one of four main
airlink standards used in the U.S. Pericle has divined
a method to double TDMA capacity by increasing the
average modem bit rate in a single time slot from
4kbps to 9.6kpbs.
To keep up with this high rate of transmission, Pericle
has developed a variable rate vocoder, or voice encoder/decoder.
The vocoder, which converts the human voice to an
electronic signal and then back again, operates at
a rate of about 9.6kpbs while the modem varies the
speed of the information fed through the channel.
By varying the speeds of the modem and vocoder, this
technology increases voice quality while lowering
costs and doubling the network capacity of digital
cellular telephones. {Contact: Jay Jacobsmeyer,
(719) 548-1040/Jacobsmeyer@compuserve.com}
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