Case study-small business technology infusion

The successful development and market insertion of a financially successful new product requires technology, marketing, manufacturing, and luck. This suggests various steps in the process that are critical to success. More specifically, the paper deals with the special problems encountered by small business. The analysis is presented in light of the Small Business Innovative Research program (SBIR) which is an effort by the US government to enable the development of new high technology products and the successful establishment of business enterprises that will ultimately contribute to the GNP and tax base. It is not an entitlement program. Competition for contracts is fierce. This identities a chain of events that must be successfully navigated in order to insure small enterprise survival and profitable product insertion into the US business base. A model program is used to define and describe how each step in the process was accomplished toward the ultimate success of the product. This model is an actual SBIR derivative event that has resulted in a successful product that not only completely satisfied the customer demands, but also resulted in the spin-off of a family of other products that have since been sold into other commercial applications. The purpose of this is to highlight some of the issues that must be addressed by small business when attempting to both develop a high technology product and introduce it into the marketplace. This will be done by examining a successful product development history. It is done in the interest of “lessons learned” that may be of value for future small business enterprises. The example chosen happened to be a Phase 3 SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) program. For this reason, a brief introduction of the SBIR process comes first.

We empirically determine the impact of the NASA Small Business innovation Research (SBIR) Program on invention and innovation. The NASA SBIR program selects a portfolio of technology proposals, submitted by small businesses to an annual solicitation. Funding may be awarded in two tranches, a 6-month phase I award and a subsequent, 2-year phase II award. Over the last decade, the total annual awarded funding was about $100–140M with Phase I awards growing from $100–125K and phase II awards from $500–750K. Typically, about 15–20% of submitted Phase I proposals are awarded and only these awards are eligible to submit a phase II proposal. The success rate at phase II is about 40%. We looked at NASA SBIR data between 1999 and 2006 to determine the impact of receiving a phase II award on invention and innovation by using patent activity as a proxy. Data from all NASA Mission Directorates and over a range of years were considered and combined into a statistically significant collection. We examined the phase II proposed technologies and the subsequent patent history of the submitting companies in the five years after the award cycle. We find that phase II awarded companies had a significantly greater number of awarded and cited patents, over this time frame, than companies not awarded an SBIR phase II. Specifically, we find an overall increase in awarded patents of 39% for SBIR awarded companies versus non-awarded companies. This difference is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. We also examined subsets for these data to quantify the effects of company size and previous patent awards on these trends.

The Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 created the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to stimulate technological innovation, to use small businesses of 500 or fewer employees to meet federal R&D needs, to foster and encourage participation of minority and disadvantaged persons in technological innovation, and to increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal R&D. In 1983, this set-aside program totaled $45 million. The SBIR program grew to nearly $2 billion by 2008 when Congress failed to reauthorize it. For several years it survived through a series of multi-month extensions, and at the end of December 2011 it was finally reauthorized for another six years.

Evaluating the NASA small business innovation research program: preliminary evidence of a trade-off between commercialization and basic research

In order to explore how the extent of commercialization changes over time, longitudinal surveys were conducted by telephoning several sets of awardees in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. A model was formulated that predicts how the distribution of SBIR projects among five commercialisation levels changes from one year to the next. It was found that the distribution in any given year is dependent on the distribution in the previous year only. Projections show that as many as 30% of SBIR projects may eventually achieve commercialization.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program conducted by the Japanese government is intended to enable the rapid growth of small firms. Using comprehensive empirical data, this study examines the performances of firms that are directly affected by the program. First, to provide an outline, this study compares the changes in sales, employment, and the number of patents between SBIR awardees and matched firms. It cannot be shown that SBIR awardees have better performance using those indices. Second, this study conducts regression analyses to control for firm sizes, multiple awards, technological levels, the value of venture capital in a region, and population in regions. As a result, this study does not find that SBIR awardees have advantages after applying these detailed controls. This study shows that further detailed investigation is required to prove the benefit of the SBIR program.

Pulse voltammetry (PV) encompasses a range of electroanalytical techniques utilizing a series of voltage pulses to study electrochemical reactions. These techniques provide numerous advantages over other electroanalytical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and impedance spectroscopy by providing high sensitivity and discrimination against charging currents. Critically, this enables a more quantitative analysis of the voltammogram than is typical. In conjunction with mathematical models, PV can provide valuable quantitative information on the reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, and consistency with a hypothetical mechanism. Regression of experimental PV data against simulations, as opposed to comparing a limited set of features such as peak heights or full width at half-height, also enables the researcher to evaluate statistical confidence in the model and estimated parameters. The objective of this work is to develop a pulse voltammetry analysis toolkit (PVAT) to automate kinetic parameter estimation, determine confidence, and enable mechanism discrimination using PV experimental data. The desired toolkit will address multiple PV techniques including square wave voltammetry (SWV), one of the most popular pulse techniques, and other common waveforms including normal pulse (NPV) and staircase (SC). As different pulse waveforms are best suited for elucidating different physical phenomena, the ability to analyze several techniques simultaneously provides significant value. Additional objectives include providing statistical analysis and sensitivity to mechanism parameters. Evaluating sensitivity to the PV parameters (e.g. pulse width, pulse height) is also desired, so that the analyst can improve the experimental design to further reduce uncertainty in kinetic, transport, and thermodynamic parameters. A long-term goal is to extend and apply these techniques to porous electrodes, to enable quantitative evaluation of emerging electroactive materials in batteries and fuel cells. This presentation will include examples demonstrating the application of the developed PV toolkit to quantitative analysis of several PV studies using both experimental and simulated data. Support for multiple techniques has been successfully enabled through a modular toolkit design. Applications of the toolkit in simulation mode, which simply outputs the predicted voltammogram for a user specified pulse profile and mechanism, will be presented to verify the toolkit against prior work. The focus will be on the toolkit application in parameter estimation mode, which utilizes experimental data to determine the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters (e.g. rate constants, half-wave potential) for one or more mechanisms which best fit the observed data. Examples of statistical evaluation of multiple mechanisms against voltammogram data will be shown, demonstrating quantitative comparison to determine the most applicable mechanism for a given system. Currently, PVAT can simulate a sequence of any number of sequential single step electron transfer reactions on a planar electrode, with or without homogeneous reactions affecting any of the intermediates. Analysis of multi-step mechanisms including surface adsorption/desorption coupled with surface-confined electron transfer reaction will also be presented. An example application will show PVAT analysis of the oxidation of acetaminophen under acidic, neutral, and basic pH of cyclic using square wave experimental data. Acetaminophen oxidation was selected as a test case because the pH dependence of the mechanism provides a simple means to generate data with several reaction pathways. The estimated parameters were consistent with available literature data and statistical analysis was able to discriminate among the candidate mechanisms and the modeled voltammograms agreed well with experimental data, as shown in Figure 1. The presentation will conclude with preliminary results for analysis of electrochemical reactions in porous electrodes. Development of a computationally efficient software to utilize PV experiments on porous electrodes will enable rapid characterization of novel candidate electrode materials in battery and fuel cell operations more efficiently and confidently than traditional cycling at various rates. The resulting kinetic, thermodynamic, and transport properties will provide critical input for models to accelerate the insertion of promising electrodes into prototype hardware. Ideally, the data obtained from PV experiments on porous electrodes will allow for prediction of battery and fuel cell behavior operating under a range of use conditions. Acknowledgements This material is based upon work supported by the Army Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Office under Contract Number: W911NF-17-C-0026. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Army Small Business Innovation Research Program Office or the Army Research Office. Figure 1: CSWV Net Voltammograms Comparing Experimental (Markers) and Model (Lines) Using CE-Mechanism of the Oxidation of Acetaminophen at pH1. The Square Wave Frequencies Ranged from 2.5 – 50 Hz. Figure 1

: In Section 252 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2006, Research and Developments Efforts for purposes of Small Business Research, Congress adopted four wide-ranging reforms to the Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs in order to increase the effectiveness of SBIR and STTR for both the DoD and the defense industry. First, Section 252 directed closer alignment between R&D and acquisition goals of SBIR and STTR. Second, Section 252 authorized and funded creation by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the military services of the Commercialization Pilot Program (CPP) to facilitate transition of SBIR technologies into the acquisition process. Congress conditioned the use of CPP funds on detailed evaluative reporting to Congress. Third, Congress codified into statutory law President George W. Bush's Executive Order 13329, Encouraging Innovation in Manufacturing, which incentivized manufacturing technologies through the SBIR and STTR programs. Fourth, Congress clarified the authority to conduct testing and evaluation of SBIR and STTR technologies in SBIR and STTR Phases II and III. The implementation requirements were specified in the text of Section 252 and the Congressional Guidance Letter issued by the House and the Senate Small Business Committees. This study analyzes the implementation of Section 252 by the Secretaries of Defense, the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. It reflects the results of literature review and a survey of SBIR and STTR. The study questions are based on Section 252 text and the Congressional Guidance letter, as well as best practices identified in relevant academic and professional literature. The study finds that, while the DoD and the military departments have begun implementation of the DoD SBIR CPP program and other Section 252 reforms, progress is uneven.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is one of the most successful public programs designed to support small firm innovation. The purpose and structure of the program, however, are often misunderstood. This paper clarifies the goals and rationale for the SBIR program and reviews recent findings regarding the program's impact. The paper identifies five dimensions of the innovation capital gap and outlines a possible extension of the program to better address this finance gap.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) serve as one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for technology commercialization in the United States (US). In FY2021, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) SBIR and STTR Programs provided approximately $182M in non-dilutive funding to US small businesses and managed over 400 different projects. By supporting startups and other small businesses in the cancer space, the NCI SBIR and STTR Programs act as catalysts of innovation for novel technologies and products to achieve NCI’s mission to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer. Staffed by a dedicated team of scientists with wide-ranging technology and industry experience, the NCI SBIR Development Center provides both funding and non-funding resources to US small businesses all aimed at translating technologies to the clinic to help cancer patients and providers. During the past 5 years, NCI has provided SBIR/STTR funding to approximately 25 companies who are developing novel cancer prevention agents. Companies focused on prevention of several indications such as colorectal cancer, oral squamous cell carcinomas, and human papillomavirus-related cancers. Award sizes ranged from $200k-$2M and included support for companies with technologies in the preclinical and clinical stages of development. NCI provided opportunities for non-funding support as well, including entrepreneurial training programs such as I-Corps™ at NIH and programs to facilitate connections between innovators and potential investors. Whether a technology is in the preclinical or clinical stage of development, NCI can help small businesses translate their innovative research to the marketplace so they become available to healthcare providers and their patients. Citation Format: Jonathan Franca-Koh. National Cancer Institute Small Business Innovation Research Development Center NCI SBIR & STTR resources for commercializing innovative cancer prevention [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second Biennial NCI Meeting: Translational Advances in Cancer Prevention Agent Development (TACPAD); 2022 Sep 7-9. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2022;15(12 Suppl_2): Abstract nr IA009.

Small business innovation research (SBIR) in the USA is heralded as a major program to support innovative new technologies by SMEs that will grow afterwards by selling products and services in the market. Instead we found, in the solar photovoltaic sector, that SMEs supported by the Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration are mostly acting as internal services of these federal agencies: their products serve mainly, if not exclusively, these two defence-related organisations. Their future growth would thus be curtailed. The paper calls for a more accurate analysis of small business innovation research program and maybe other innovation policies.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program enables DOE to obtain effective, innovative solutions to important problems through the private sector, which has a commercial incentive to pursue the resulting technology and bring it to the marketplace. The growing number of awardees, many of them started in business in response to SBIR solicitations, is becoming a significant resource for the solution of high risk, high technology problems for the Department. As detailed here, this publication describes the technical efforts for SBIR Phase 1 awards in 1994. It is intended for the educated layman, and may be of particular interest to potential investors who wish to get in on the ground floor of exciting opportunities. Contained in this booklet are abstracts of the Phase 1 awards made in FY 1994 under the DOE SBIR program. The 212 Phase 1 projects described here were selected in a highly competitive process from a total of 2,276 grant applications received in response to the 1994 DOE annual SBIR Solicitation. The selections for awards were made on scientific and technical merit, as judged against the specific criteria listed in the Solicitation. Conclusions were reached on the basis of detailed reports returned by reviewers drawn from DOE laboratories, universities, private industry, and government. (Any discrepancies noted in prior DOE releases naming the firms selected for awards are due either to the firm changing its name after the award selection or to the firm not proceeding to a signed grant.) It is expected that between one-third and one-half of the Phase 1 projects will be continued into Phase 2. The work described in the abstracts is novel, high-risk research, but the benefits will also be potentially high if the objectives are met. Brief comments on the potential applications are given after each abstract. Individuals and organizations with an interest in the research described are encouraged to contact the appropriate small business directly.

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

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) invites small businesses, or those with 500 employees or less, to write for a copy of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program solicitation, to be issued January 2, 1985. To receive a copy, contact the SBIR Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20545; telephone 301‐353‐5707. The closing date for this solicitation is March 15, 1985.

The Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program, funded by various United States government agencies (DOD, DOE, NSF, etc.), provides funds for Research and Development (R&D) of nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques and equipment, thereby supplying valuable money for NDT development by small businesses and stimulating cooperative university programs. A review and critical assessment of the SBIR program as related to NDT is presented and should provide insight into reasons for or against pursuing this source of R&D funding.