November 27, 2006
Wyoming SBIR/STTR
Initiative (WSSI) Newsletter
No. 12-06
(Past Newsletter Issues)
The November 27, 2006 Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI) Newsletter is available in its entirety at http://www.uwyo.edu/sbir/newsletter/nwsltr_061127.htm.
This monthly newsletter is published by the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI). Please visit our website at www.uwyo.edu/sbir for complete program information (including links to participating federal agencies, support agencies, conferences, archives of this newsletter, etc.) Contact WSSI@uwyo.edu to be added to or removed from the Distribution List for this newsletter.
SOLICITATION COUNTDOWN
WSSI Phase 0:
due
5:00 p.m., 12/1/06; 4 days – submit to
WSSI@uwyo.edu
Windmill Video Productions LLC Wyoming Silicon, LLC Z4 Energy Systems
Wickman
Spacecraft & Propulsion Company (WSPC) of Casper has won a $738,000 Air Force
Phase II SBIR contract to continue the development of rapid response small
launch vehicle (SLV) technologies. WSPC has proposed an SLV that can put 2,000
pounds of payload into low earth orbit using innovative solid rocket motors with
special nozzles to provide real time thrust control and steering.
Congratulations to John Wickman and WSPC.
For those
planning to submit an SBIR contract proposal in response to the open 2007.1
solicitation, you may talk directly with the topic authors until December 5,
2006. After that date, communication will be allowed only by written questions
submitted to SITIS. Contact information for topic authors is listed within each
solicitation topic. The 2007.1 solicitation has topics from the Air Force, Navy,
OSD, SOCOM, DTRA & CBD.
Effective January 1, 2007, the standard submission dates for SBIR and STTR
applications will be April 5, August 5, and December 5. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT THE
DECEMBER 1, 2006 OR THE JANUARY 2, 2007 AIDs AND AIDS-RELATED SUBMISSION DATES.
Submission dates for all NIH grant mechanisms have been spread out to
accommodate the high volume peaks in the electronic submission process.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is eliminating the
Disclosure Document Program effective Feb. 1, 2007. The Disclosure Document
Program was created to provide an alternative form of evidence of conception of
an invention to other less satisfactory methods, such as mailing a copy to
oneself (which is not recognized by the USPTO or courts of law). There are now
better alternatives to the Disclosure Document, such as the Provisional
Application for Patent. Since the Disclosure Document was also abused by
invention promotion scams, the USPTO proposed eliminating the program and the
Final Rule was recently published. For further information, contact: Dawn Rohan
As public attention remains focused on global offshoring,
we sometimes forget that many of America’s smaller communities are becoming
quite competitive in the quest to attract information technology (IT) businesses
and resources. A new study from Information Week examines this phenomenon. When
it comes to locating a data center, America’s heartland is an attractive place
to be. It’s cheaper, and it’s less risky in terms of the potential for terrorist
attacks or natural disasters. In its ranking of the best locations for IT data
centers, all of the top 10 sites are located in the middle parts of the US. The
top three sites are (in rank order): Sioux Falls, SD, San Antonio, TX, and Ames,
IA. These sites all rank highly on the key criteria of a skilled workforce,
relatively low labor and utility costs, and telecom infrastructure. IT industry
analysts expect that data center operations will be a major source of new jobs
in many regions of America’s Midwest. For decades, the economic
news from the Great Plains states has been pretty grim. But, the Great Plains
region also has tremendous strengths and competitive advantages that can be
developed to revitalize the region and build strong and prosperous local
economies. A new study sponsored by the New American Foundation presents a
compelling agenda for revitalizing America’s heartland. The Heartland’s main
advantage lies in its ample acreage and abundant natural resources, but the
authors don’t simply envision the region as a supplier of food and energy.
Instead, they recommend that the region’s leaders build on these assets so that
their communities can thrive in a knowledge-based economy. Specifically, they
recommend that the region seek to stimulate opportunities for small and medium
sized food-related businesses; they also call for expanded research into new
energy technologies such as ethanol, biodiesel and wind power. They call for
enactment of a new Homestead Act that would provide education and housing
incentives for people who move into the region, and they also recommend creation
of a new $10 billion American Heartland Development Bank to invest in critical
infrastructure. All in all, Kotkin and Zimmerman recommend that we no longer
view rural America as an “endangered landscape,” but instead as a tremendous
asset that can help build a more competitive American economy.
Half of all college students in the Boston area leave after graduation,
according to a 2003 chamber study, and 15.8 percent of the area's 20- to
34-year-olds left between 1990 and 2000, a "brain drain" that became the
catalyst for the program, the goal of which is to keep as many students here
after graduation as possible:
HHS/NIH SBIR/STTR/GRANTS: due 12/1/06; 4 days
NSF SBIR/STTR GRANTS:
due 12/4/06; 8 days
DEPT.
OF EDUCATION: due 1/8/07; 43 days
D0D SBIR
2007.1: due 1/10/07; 45 days
NOAA
SBIR: Due 1/17/07; 52 days
2006 SBIR/STTR
SOLICITATION RELEASE SCHEDULE – All Agencies
CONTENT
1.0 Congratulations To Our November Phase 0 Award Winners
2.0 Congratulations to Wickman Spacecraft & Propulsion - A
$738,000 DoD Phase II SBIR Award
3.0 DoD Topic Authors are Available Until December 5
4.0 NIH Announces Changes in SBIR/STTR Due Dates
5.0 USPTO Eliminates Disclosure Document Program
6.0 Information Technology in the Heartland
7.0 Revitalizing the Heartland
8.0 Plugging Massachusetts Brain Drain - Wyoming Isn't Alone!
9.0 Jackson WSSI Seminar Attracts 25 Attendees
10.0
Acknowledgements And Publication Information
1.0
Congratulations to
our November phase 0 award winners
Principal Investigator: Jack Morgan Kelly
Email: jmorgank48@hotmail.com
Phase 0 Title: Nutritional Foods Television Pilot Show and TV series
Phase I Target: CDC
Principal Investigator: Zachary Gray
Email:
zg@wyomingSilicon.co
Phase 0 Title: Miniature Long-Life Archival Tag
Phase I Target: NOAA
Principal Investigator: Kevin M. Luke
Email: z4energy@earthlink.net
Phase 0 Title: AC-to-AC power converter for small-scale, variable-speed
wind turbines for grid integration applications
Phase I Target: DOE
2.0
congratulations!!! - wickman
spacecraft & propulsion wins air force phase ii sbir award
3.0 December
5 is the deadline for direct communication with DoD topic authors
4.0 NIH announces
changes in sbir/STTR submission dates
(From www.sbirworld.com)
Additional information may be found in the recently released notice that was
placed in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-001.html. 5.0
uspto eliminates disclosure document program
Intellectual Property Librarian
Wyoming State Library
Cheyenne, WY 82002
drohan@state.wy.us
307-777-72816.0 Information Technology in the Heartland
(From the National
Dialogue on Entrepreneurship www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde)
“The Best and Worst Cities for Data Centers,” by Darrell Dunn, appears in the
October 23, 2006 issue of Information Week. It is also available on-line at:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193401105.7.0 revitalizing
the heartland
(From the National Dialogue on
Entrepreneurship www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde)
To access the October 2006 New America Foundation report, Rebuilding America’s
Productive Economy: A Heartland Development Strategy, by Joel Kotkin and Delore
Zimmerman, visit
http://www.n2tec.org/pdfs/NAF_HeartlandReport_Final.pdf.
8.0 Plugging
Massachusetts Brain Drain - Wyoming Isn't Alone!
Boston Globe.
9.0 Jackson WSSI Seminar Attracts 25 Attendees
A November 15 Wyoming regional SBIR seminar attracted 25 Jackson area residents to learn about using the program to develop new technologies and businesses. Jointly sponsored by the Wyoming Business Council, Imagine Jackson and the WSSI, the all-day seminar was conducted by SBIR presentation wizards, Mark Henry of TechBizSolutions in Longmont, Colorado, and Randy Dipner of Meeting The Challenge in Colorado Springs. The program included two stimulating presentations by Mark Peterman of Alces Technology and Bob Viola of Square One Systems Design who related how the SBIR program was critical in launching their respective technology businesses. And Mark Obringer described how Imagine Jackson sponsored the Wyoming Business Ready Communities grant that enabled Square One to occupy and improve their new facility. Lunch was served and a good time was had by all.
10.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND PUBLICATION INFORMATION
TO BE ADDED TO OR REMOVED FROM THE DISTRIBUTION LIST FOR THIS NEWSLETTER, SEND NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, AND EMAIL ADDRESS TO WSSI@uwyo.edu
This newsletter is published monthly as part of the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI). The mission of the Initiative is to increase the number of federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program awards to Wyoming. The Wyoming Business Council (WBC) funds the initiative which is administered by the University of Wyoming Research Office. Please contact Gene Watson ewatson@wyoming.com with your comments.
END