What is SBIR?  SBIR is a federal program where small businesses compete for up to $670,000 to research, develop and commercialize a new technology.  A legislated federal research & development set-aside for small high-technology firms  A way for government to use the innovation & efficiency of small high-technology firms and research institutions assist in accomplishing agency missions

SBIR Bidders  Average size of participating firm is 12 persons  Approximately 20% are lone individuals wanting to start their own company

So which agencies?  National Aeronautics and Space Administration  Department of Defense  Department of Energy  National Institutes of Health  National Science Foundation  Department of Agriculture  Environmental Protection Agency  Department of Transportation  Department of Commerce  Department of Education

Three Phase Program  Phase I evaluates the technical feasibility or proof-of- concept. Awards are up to six months for amounts up to $70,000.  Phase II expands on the results of and further pursues the development of Phase I. Awards are up to two years in amounts up to $600,000.  Phase III commercializes the results of Phase II and requires use of private or non-SBIR federal funding.

Details  NASA SBIR 2003 Phase I Solicitation –Solicitation Period: July 7 - September 9, 2004  Phase I submitted proposals to awards = 8:1  Approximately 40% of Phase 1 proposals are selected down to Phase II

2003 SBIR Solicitation  Participating under (Lead Center - ARC) –E3.01 Automation and Planning  The Automation and Planning Subtopic solicits proposals that allow either spacecraft or ground systems to robustly perform complex tasks given high-level goals with minimal human direction. Technology innovations include, but are not limited to: –1) automation and autonomous systems that support high-level command abstraction; –2) efficient and effective techniques for processing large volumes of data (commonly available on the Internet) into useful information; –3) intelligent search of large, distributed data archives, and data discovery through searches of heterogeneous data sets and architecture; and –4) automation of routine, labor intensive tasks that either increase reliability or throughput of current process

2003 SBIR Solicitation  Participating under (Lead Center – ARC) –E3.02 Distributed Information Systems and Numerical Simulation  This subtopic seeks advances in tools, techniques, and technologies for distributed information systems and large-scale numerical simulation.  The goal of this work is to: –create an autonomous information and computing environment that enables NASA scientists to work naturally with distributed teams and resources to dramatically reduce total time-to-solution (i.e., time to discovery, understanding, or prediction), –vastly increase the feasible scale and complexity of analysis and data assimilation, and –greatly accelerate model advancement cycles.

Advantages of SBIR  Small firms CAN win  No debt incurred  Alternative to venture capital  Attracts future venture capital  Establishes a sole-source marketing position with government

... more advantages  Retain full rights to inventions and data  Retain all cash (no payback requirements)  Each Agency provides a specific “shopping list” for small firms  Provides credibility to winning companies  Fund innovative, high risk, early stage projects  Offers a simplified route to obtaining federal R&D funds  Procedures are less complex than regular federal procurement  Failure only expends your time, not your cash

Expense of Money Risk of Project Venture Capital DebtSalesSBIRSBIR DebtSales Higher Lower

Who Qualifies  Employ <500 people, including affiliates  Must be organized for profit  Small business must be independently owned and operated in the United States by U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens  The PI is considered key to the success of the effort; therefore, a PI's involvement with the project must be substantial  The PI must be primarily employed by the small business at the time of contract award

SBIR as a Transition Vehicle  Can SARP researchers use SBIR as a transition vehicle? –Quick answer = YES  All SBIR funded research must begin with the Phase I feasibility study, so… –Cannot propose to simply transition previously funded SARP research –Research must be a new and unproven extension of previous work  Must meet SBIR criteria

Technology Criteria  Must be in program solicitation (No unsolicited proposals)  Must have a potentially profitable commercial application  Must be useful to a government agency

Protecting intellectual property  Inventions & designs can be protected with patents  Technical data  Computer software  Writings that can be protected with copyright  Government gets royalty free use  Data is not published until 4 years after completion of Phase II

Proposing  All proposals are submitted electronically via the Internet  Proposals are screened for administrative completeness and then sent to the managing NASA Center for technical review  Evaluation Criteria –Scientific/Technical Merit and Feasibility –Experience, Qualifications, and Facilities –Effectiveness of the Proposed Work Plan –Commercial Merit and Feasibility