NASA has revealed its latest batch of small business grants, providing more than 300 businesses a total of $51 million in crucial early-stage financing. These “stage I” projects receive approximately $125,000 to help bring new technologies to market.
The Small Business Innovation Research/Technology Transfer programs assist entrepreneurs and developers shift their work from lab to industrial schedule. The cash resembles a grant, not a financial investment, and Stage I recipients are qualified for bigger Phase II grants if they’re necessitated.
This year’s choices, as always, cover lots of disciplines and apply to a vast array of industries. Amongst NASA’s own highlights in a press release are high-power solar selections, a clever air traffic control system for urban flight, a water purification system for usage on the moon and improved lithium-ion batteries.
There’s even one award for a company making “a compact sterilizer for usage on spacecraft materials” that might also be used by health workers.
Perusing the lists I was struck by the variety of neuromorphic computing efforts, from radiation-hardened chips to software strategies. I take these to be chips and techniques that utilize and speed up artificial intelligence techniques, rather than attempts at computers that really employ the spikes and plasticity of real neuronal networks.
The 2020 Stage II announcements will not come for a while– NASA simply released 2019’s last month.
The SBIR program is among the federal government’s inadvertently best-kept secrets, with billions allocated to a lots firms to disperse to small companies. You can discover more at SBIR.gov.
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