In 1996 the University of Wyoming (UW) Research Office launched the Wyoming SBIR Initiative to encourage participation of Wyoming individuals and small businesses in the SBIR and STTR programs. Initially funded by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program as a model for other rural states to emulate, the Initiative was immediately successful—Wyoming small businesses received more SBIR awards in 1996/1997 than in the previous thirteen years combined.
As a result of this outstanding performance, the 1998 Wyoming legislature authorized the Wyoming Business Council (WBC) to continue funding the program. At the same time, the WBC also sponsored the creation of the unique Wyoming Phase 0 Program providing up to 24 awards annually of $5,000 each to assist Wyoming small businesses in the preparation of competitive Phase I SBIR/STTR proposals.
The WSSI is a program of statewide outreach through conferences, workshops and one-on-one mentoring in cooperation with personnel from the Wyoming Business Council (WBC), Manufacturing-Works (a manufacturing extension partnership), the Wyoming Small Business Development Centers (WSBDC), the UW Research Products Center (UWRPC), the Wyoming Technology Business Center, the UW Research Office, and UW faculty and staff.
In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a growing high tech community, several companies have taken advantage of the WSSI program and are continuing to make strides, giving significant recognition to the opportunities Wyoming is presenting to its entrepreneurial businesses.
ALCES Technology, Inc.
www.alcestechnology.com
Alces Technology develops innovative tools, techniques, and applications of microfabrication for academic, medical, and industrial laboratories. Potential customers include researchers interested in microfluidics, microcontact printing, tissue engineering, cellular patterning, biomolecular arrays, and cellular microenvironments.
Founded in 2003 to explore microfabrication with soft materials, Alces Technology develops tools and applications for innovative micro-technologies. With funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop soft lithography tools for ophthalmic tissue engineering, David Bloom and Mark Peterman began work on microcontact printing instrumentation. This original goal expanded, as Alces became a “model shop” for innovative micro-technologies. Our business scope now includes maskless lithography tools and micro-mechanical light-valve technologies for advanced displays and rapid prototyping. The company’s revenue comes from federal grants, commercial development contracts, and technology licensing.
Alces Technology submitted a Phase 0 grant proposal to the Wyoming Business Council that could give United States manufacturers a leg up on foreign competition.
Stereolithography is a manufacturing tool used to prototype three-dimensional components quickly using a large vat of liquid which, once you shine a light on the liquid, becomes a solid. Then, a laser writes out one layer at a time until the solid becomes a three-dimensional object. Alces Technology’s Mark Peterman said this process is very popular in the auto industry.
“The auto industry can use this to do something like build a new design for a car door,” Peterman said. “They can see the door and they can feel the door. It is made of plastic, but at least they can get a feel for the design without having to actually build a car door out of steel.
The downside of the stereolithography is that it is a slow process as only one or two laser beams are used at a time. Alces will use their grant money to perform a feasibility study of their process, which uses a Light Line Modulator to split the laser source into thousands of individual beams, making the process much faster.
“Splitting one beam into 1,000 beams should, in theory, make the process 1,000 times faster, but that is what we will be studying,” Peterman said.
Square One Systems Design
www.sqr-1.com
Square One Systems Design is widely considered to be one of the most innovative of a new generation of automation outsource companies. The Square One team is responsible for a wide range of robotic technologies now used for photomask handling and inspection. Their staff, drawn from both academics and the private sector, are experts at developing elegant manufacturing solutions tailored to a customer’s specific needs.
Their systems are widely deployed in the manufacture of both magnetic and optical data storage devices. Square One also works closely with the Department of Energy to create specialized machines for the unique needs of the scientific community. With the spiraling complexity of today’s high-tech products, manufacturing automation has become an ever more crucial component of business success.
Aggressive demands for extreme precision, through-put and cleanliness often require that futuristic machines completely replace human workers on the modern assembly line. But the technical challenges of implementing this level of mechanization are significant and few companies can afford dedicated, in-house automation teams.
Consequently, more and more companies are turning to outside specialists to supply the necessary automation wizardry. “Our vision was to assemble some of the best minds in the business in an idyllic location, equip them with the latest design tools and then turn them loose on a wide variety of automation projects”, explains co-founder Bob Viola.
“We believe our unconventional setting fosters original thinking.” Viola is quick to add that while Square One may pride itself on blue sky creativity, their engineers are also realists with a ruthless devotion to each customer’s bottom line. As the trend towards outsourcing accelerates, companies will increasingly turn to custom automation suppliers such as Square One in order to cost-effectively meet their manufacturing challenges.
AquaMatrix International
www.aquamatrixinternational.com
AquaMatrix International, Inc. is a group of highly motivated fisheries professionals who provide innovative technologies and solutions to enable sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development, worldwide.
Founded in 1987, the company has a continuing mandate of guiding sustainable fisheries projects throughout the developing and developed world. Having completed fisheries/aquaculture projects in Southeast and Central Asia; the Americas and Western Europe; the Middle East; and in West, South and East Africa.
Dr. Woiwode, Fisheries Scientist and President of AquaMatrix International, Inc., has provided fisheries/aquaculture technical services and expertise worldwide. His active participation in and vision for international fisheries development began 30 years ago as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines, where he functioned as hatchery manager, producing Asiatic Carps and tilapia for regional distribution. His education includes B.Sc. Fisheries and Wildlife Resources and M.Sc. Fishery Resources degrees from the University of Idaho, and Ph.D. Fisheries degree from the University of Minnesota.
In November/December, 2004, as part of the U.S. - West African Free Trade Agreement, Dr. Woiwode guided commercial fishers and fish processors in three West African countries (Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania) to U.S. FSIS sanitation and HACCP processing standards for product entry into the United States. As a result of this initiative, fishers and processors from these countries were represented at the 2005 U.S. seafood trade show in Boston, establishing trade links into the United States.
AquaMatrix was awarded 500,000 as part of the SBIR Phase II project with the intent to develop a process that uses halophytic plants and aquaculture effluent to treat highly aline coal bed methane (CBM) discharge water. According to AquaMatrix, vast volumes of water are a necessary though unwanted byproduct of the gas drilling process. The saline discharge is widely viewed as an environmental liability. Discharges into streams are essentially forbidden, while indiscriminant surface discharge causes soil salination. Prior Phase I work had shown that halophytic plants may be successful in sequestering significant amounts of sodium when irrigated with CBM discharge waters. This Phase II project will confirm Phase I greenhouse data with field trials of plants irrigated with CBM water and fish effluent when compared with controls under otherwise normal farming practices.
AquaMatrix relayed the commercial application of this project was to alleviate the negative impact of CBM discharges on the environment in Wyoming, and to open up huge areas of land for responsible CBM exploration and recovery.
Companies or individuals interested in the grants are encouraged to visit the Web site www.uwyo.edu/sbir for more information.The University of Wyoming Research Office started the initiative in 1996. In 1998, the Legislature authorized the Wyoming Business Council to continue funding the program. The Business Council also sponsors the phase 0 program, which has been widely emulated. Since the inception of the Small Business Innovation Research program in 1982, Wyoming companies have received over $27 million in federal grants and contracts. Eleven federal agencies help fund the program.
