A total of 23 projects will be funded through the department’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program with individual firms receiving up to $100,000 in one of five research areas for up to 6 months.
“I am pleased to announce this sixth set of awards to small businesses to develop innovative technology that will help meet the department’s mission to protect the homeland,” said Jay M. Cohen, Under Secretary for S&T. “We are already seeing excellent results from the first set of awards of April 2004, and I am confident that our SBIR program will continue to make great research contributions.”
In Phase I, firms will define the scientific, technical and commercial merit of a particular concept. Firms whose concepts prove successful in Phase I may be invited to apply for a 2-year Phase II award, which will not exceed $750,000, and furthers development of the original concept into a prototype stage.
Participation in the SBIR program is restricted to for-profit, small businesses in the United States with 500 or fewer employees, including all affiliated firms. Small businesses selected to enter negotiation for Phase I awards are:
System for Designing and Evaluating Chemical or Biological Agent Sensor Networks - Applied Nanotech Inc. (Austin, Tex.), Peerless Technologies Corp. (Fairborn, Ohio), RhinoCorps Ltd. (Albuquerque), Toyon Research Corp. (Goleta, Calif.)
Mobile Peripheral Device for Biological Analysis - Diagnostic Biosensors LLC (Minneapolis), Lynntech Inc., (College Station, Texas), Physical Optics Corp. (Torrance, Calif.), Westrack LLC (Prescott, Ariz.)
Advanced Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) Technologies - Biophan Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.), MCQ Inc. (Fredericksburg, Va.), Systems & Process Engineering Corp. (Austin, Tex.), Toyon Research Corp. (Goleta, Calif.), TPL Inc. (Albuquerque)
3-D Visualization System to Show First Responders and Assets within Building Structures in Urban Areas for Situational Awareness - 21st Century Systems, Inc. (Omaha, Neb.), Architecture Technology Corp. (Eden Prairie, N.M.), BALFOUR Technologies LLC (Bethpage, N.Y.), Kutta Consulting Inc. (Phoenix), UtopiaCompression Corp. (Los Angeles)
Automated Scenario/Script Builder for Simulation-Based Training Systems - Charles River Analytics Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.), Continuity Solutions LLC (Reston, Va.), Intelligent Systems Technology Inc. (Santa Monica, Calif.), Rite-Solutions Inc. (Middletown, R.I.), Quimba Software (San Mateo, Calif.)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate serves as the primary research and development arm of DHS.