Department of Energy Announces $17 Million for Small Business Research and Development Grants

Newswise—Washington DC – The US Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling $17 million for small businesses in 25 states. The 77 projects are in the fields of advanced scientific computing and scientific instrumentation that support DOE’s clean energy mission.

“Small businesses play an important role in driving science forward. They help move innovations out of labs and into applications that serve the American public,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Director of the DOE Office of Science. “The SBIR program also plays a vital role in research by helping science adopt and implement new techniques and tools.”

American small business plays a critical role in facilitating the transition from discovery to innovation, helping create the bridge between the scientific laboratory and the commercial marketplace. DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards strive to transform DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs into commercial products and services. The awards also support the development of specialized technologies and instruments that aid in scientific discovery.

Through the SBIR and STTR programs across the federal government, thousands of jobs are created directly at US small businesses and indirectly in the local communities in which they reside.

Funded through the DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs, today’s selections are for Phase I research and development. Small businesses that demonstrated technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants will compete for funding for prototype or processes development during Phase II. The median Phase I award is $200,000 for a period of six to twelve months. The funding for the selected projects comes from the DOE’s Office of Science.

Projects selected for award include:

Advanced Ceramics Manufacturing LLC, Tucson, AZ. Structural Components with Corrosion Resistant Surface Layers for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Systems.

CapeSym, Inc., Natick, MA. High Spatial Resolution Detectors for Nuclear Physics Applications.

Carbon Solutions LLC, Bloomington, IN. Local Climate Air Emissions Tracking Atlas.

HighRI Optics, Oakland, CA. Highly Efficient Low Loss Fiber-Chip Light Coupling for Quantum Networks.

Om Bharti LLC, Wilmington, NC. Computer-aided modeling and analysis tools for bioprocess industrialization.

Osazda Energy, Albuquerque, NM. An Optimization-Based Design Ecosystem Targeting Performance, Reliability, and Stability of Photovoltaic Modules in Solar Energy.

Renascent Energy Management LLC, Houston, TX. Geothermal Energy Generation Using Dormant Wells in High-Temperature Shale Sedimentary Areas.

For more information about DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs, visit the Programs Office website.

More information about the projects announced today is available at the following link: https://science.osti.gov/sbir/awards/.