Last Call for Registration: Technology Commercialization Seminar December 5th: RTP, NC REGISTRATION: www.sbtdc.org/events/sbir/techcomm WHAT: We are pleased to announce that Registration is Open for the "SBIR Commercialization Seminar". Leading the seminar will be Lisa Kurek. Lisa is back by popular demand after receiving stellar reviews from her commercialization seminar at the Spring 2007 SBIR National Conference in NC. WHEN: December 5th from 9AM - 4PM WHERE: Research Triangle Park, NC at the NC Biotechnology Center WHO: Whether you are new to the SBIR program, in the midst of Phase 1 or 2 or are a veteran of the program, you will learn from an expert how to nail your commercialization plan. WHY: Approximately 40-50% of a proposal's merit at some agencies is based upon the commercial potential of the end product. As many as half of Phase II awardees are unable to convert their SBIR funded R&D into products that are sold. HOW: Registration and more information available online. Seating is indeed limited - registration is first come, first served. Fee includes, full day seminar, handout materials, lunch and breaks. For $79, can you afford to miss this seminar?

SBIR Statistics of Interest

• $16 Billion Awarded via 70,000 Awards Since 1983
• 1.45 million persons are employed with SBIR firms
• 450,000 have grad degrees in engineering and science (more than all academic institutions combined)
• 1 in 9 firms have attracted equity financing
• Of the currently SBIR funded firms government has funded $3B which has attracted $35B in equity funding
• The number of new firms entering into the SBIR program is declining drastically.
  

Success Story: Scribner Associates Receives NASA Award to Develop Sensor Array Analyzer for Mars Rover

Artist's conception of the ExoMars rover. Source: ESA

Southern Pines, North Carolina (October 24, 2007) - Scribner Associates Inc. has been awarded a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contract to develop an advanced sensor array analyzer for a planned mission to Mars. Scribner Associates will work with planetary scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to develop the measurement electronics and measurement methods for a suite of sensors that are part of JPL's Urey instrument. The Urey instrument has been selected for the payload in the European Space Agency's (ESA's) ExoMars rover mission scheduled to launch in 2013 and is considered a fundamental instrument to achieve the mission's scientific objectives. Urey incorporates an array of sensors designed to profile the chemical reactivity of the Martian surface and atmosphere.

Future planetary exploration missions require definitive chemical and biological measurement technologies that will help answer fundamental questions about the composition of planetary atmospheres, surface and sub-surfaces materials, and the presence of biomarkers of extinct or extant life. Read more...

SBIR Solicitations

DOE: Closes 11/27
http://www.science.doe.gov/sbir/

NSF: Closes 12/4
http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/

NIH (Grants): Closes 12/5
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm

Future Solicitations: http://www.zyn.com/sbir/scomp.htm#future