January 28, 2008
Wyoming SBIR/STTR
Initiative (WSSI) Newsletter
No. 02-08
(Past Newsletter Issues)
This Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI) Newsletter is available in its entirety at http://www.uwyo.edu/sbir/newsletter/nwsltr_080128.htm.
It 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., 2/1/08; 4 days – submit to
WSSI@uwyo.edu Frontier Astronautics LLC, Chugwater SoftRay, Inc., Laramie Z4 Energy Systems, Laramie
The DoD STTR 2008.A solicitation has been pre-released at
http://www.dodsbir.net/solicitation. It invites small businesses and
research institutions to jointly propose cooperative research and development
efforts in response to topics in this solicitation. During the pre-release
period, which ends on February 18, 2008, you may contact the topic authors
directly (contact information is listed with the topic) to ask technical
questions about specific solicitation topics. The DoD will begin accepting
proposals on February 19, 2008 and will close to proposals on March 19, 2008 at
6am EST. Plan ahead and submit your proposal early to avoid the risk of website
inaccessibility due to heavy usage on the final day.
DHS SBIR:
due 2/4/08 - 7 days
DoD STTR
Contracts: due 3/19/08 - 51 days
HHS/NIH 2008
SBIR/STTR Grants: due 4/5/08 - 68 days
DOT: To Be Released 2/15/08;
due 5/1/08 - 94 days
2007 SBIR/STTR
SOLICITATION RELEASE SCHEDULE – All Agencies; Courtesy of ZYN Systems at
www.zyn.com
CONTENT
1.0 Congratulations To Our January Phase 0 Award Winners
2.0 DoD STTR Solicitation Pre-Released
3.0 NIH Regional Seminars on Program Funding and Grants
Administration
4.0 The Risk to SBIR Participants Under the False Claims Act
5.0 Accelerating the Commercialization of University Innovation
6.0 Congressional Earmarks for R&D Appropriations Causing
Concerns
7.0 The Patent Debate: Two Views of Innovation
8.0 DOE Energy Efficiency Weekly Newsletter
9.0 Angel Uprising Puts Pressure on VCs
10. Subscribe to W3W3 - an Interesting Source of Information for
Entrepreneurs
11. PHS 2008-2 Omnibus Solicitation of NIH, CDC and FDA
12. Acknowledgements and Publication Information
1.0
Congratulations to our January phase 0 award winner
Principal Investigator: Timothy Bendel
Email:
Timothy.Bendel@FrontierAstronautics.com
Phase 0 Title: Liquid Rocket Engine Combustion Instability Mitigation
Phase I Target: DoD-OSD
Principal Investigator: Paul Johnson
Email: pjohnson@uwyo.edu
Phase 0 Title: Low-Cost Point-of-Care System for Diagnoses of Fungal
Septicema
Phase I Target: NIH
Principal Investigator: Kevin Luke
Email:
Z4Energy@earthlink.net
Phase 0 Title: Solar Heating to Prevent Stock Tank Freezing
Phase I Target: USDA2.0
DoD STTR Solicitation pre-released
3.0 NIH Regional Seminars on Program Funding and Grants Administration
Registration for the 2008 NIH Regional Seminars is now open
March 25-26, 2008 – San
Antonio, Texas. This two day seminar will be hosted by the University of
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
June 19-20,
2008 – Chicago, Illinois. This two day seminar will be hosted by the
University of Illinois at Chicago.
The seminars provide a unique opportunity to interact with key NIH experts in
extramural program funding and grants administration and cover topics ranging
from opportunity identification and application preparation through post award
administration. Presentations are targeted towards research administrators, new
and experienced investigators, post docs and trainees. Here’s your opportunity
to meet experts from the NIH SBIR/STTR program, Division of Grants Policy,
Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, Office of Human Subject Protections,
Program Officers from several different NIH Institutes/Centers, Grants
Management Officers, and so many others – including a team of experts who will
be available to answer your specific Commons and electronic submission questions
at the eRA booth.
Don’t miss this opportunity to meet NIH experts face-to-face who are ready to
answer your questions.
Contact: Ms. Cynthia Dwyer (dwyerc@mail.nih.gov),
Communications and Outreach Specialist, Office of Extramural Research.
4.0 The Risk to SBIR PRogram Participants Under the False Claims Act (Cooley Alerts)
For early-stage technology-based companies, the U.S. Government’s Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) Program is an attractive source of R&D funding when private funding sources are unavailable or inadequate. Unfortunately, some companies fail to appreciate the different and significant risks associated with applying for public funding through the SBIR program. A recent case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in which a small technology company was found civilly liable under the False Claims Act for statements made in its SBIR proposals, illustrates the potentially severe consequences of unfamiliarity with the risks unique to doing business with Uncle Sam. See United States ex rel. Longhi v. Lithium Power Technologies, Inc., H-02-4329, Sept. 27, 2007; Jan. 3, 2008. See full-text review in Cooley Alerts by Cooley, Godward and Kronish, LLP.
5.0 Accelerating the Commercialization of University Innovation (NDE NEws)
An emerging approach to identifying, funding and
commercializing university-based innovation is proving quite effective at
seeding new companies, according to research conducted by the Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation and the Max Planck Institute of Economics. According to the
Kauffman Foundation, “proof of concept centers” are an effective vehicle to help
launch the commercialization of university innovation and to fill the seed-stage
funding gap for new technologies.
Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation (link to pdf document)
6.0 Congressional Earmarks for R&D Appropriations Cause Concerns (NASVF NetNEWS)
There's nothing quite like
delivering the bacon to your home state's research institutions. And influential
congressional legislators have resumed, in a big way, earmarking R&D
appropriations directed to projects benefiting states where they garner their
support for election. This analysis is part of an AAAS effort to enumerate
congressionally designated, performance specific R&D projects not appearing in
the agency's budget requests:
American Association for
the Advancement of Science
7.0 The Patent Debate: Two Views of Innovation ((NASVF Netnews)
As the Senate prepares to tinker with
the nation’s patent laws this spring, it’ s worth recalling the law of
unintended consequences. From the vantage point of a half-century, for example,
it’s clear that the formation of Silicon Valley involved serendipity more than
intentional design:
New York Times
8.0 DOE ENERGY EFFICIENCY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has a weekly newsletter. The EERE Network News is also available on the Web at: www.eere.energy.gov/news/enn.cfm
9.0 Angel Uprising Puts Pressure on VCs
Every time you hear a bell ring an angel gets its venture-capital wings. Or so
it seems. The line between venture capitalists and angel investors -- the
wealthy individuals that use personal cash to get startups off the ground -- is
blurring like never before. Their intense involvement, once frowned upon by VCs
who often called them "dumb money" during the tech boom, may have powerful
ramifications for the industry over the next few years:
VentureWire
10.0 Subscribe to the NEWSLR@W3W3.com - An Interesting Source for Entrepreneurs
Maturing of the SBIR Program Means Big Changes: $2.2
Billion at Stake
The good news is that successful commercialization from those receiving SBIR
funds (non dilutive to the receiver and are grants that don’t need to be paid
back) are working. The challenge is...
Read More >>
The World of Software is Changing for the Better for End Users
Buying software is being turned upside down and inside out. Getting stuck with
something you can’t use and not having customer support is something of the
past...Here’s more...
Read More >>
Multi-Disciplinary, Multi-Departmental, Multi-School Research
Oregon Health Sciences loses a research scientist in medicine with a stellar
reputation to UCDHSC and now oversees grants, contracts and the relationship
with University of Colorado TTO...Here’s More...
Read More >>
11.0 PHS 2008-2 Omnibus Solicitation of NIH, CDC and FDA
The PHS 2008-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC and FDA for SBIR/STTR Grant Applications and SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide for SBIR/STTR Grant Applications are now available. The solicitation consists of: (1) a parent funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for SBIR, (2) a parent FOA for STTR, and (3) narrative descriptions of the programs and research topics (in PDF and MS Word formats). The due dates for CY 2008 are April 5, August 5, and December 5. AIDS and AIDS-related applications are due May 7, September 7, 2008, and January 7, 2009.
12.0 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