Sometimes it does take a Rocket Scientist!

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I decided a couple of months ago that beating the SBIR drum was just making noise that no one (but a few of us in what's loosely called the Advocacy) cared about. I was getting a headache and decided I'd had enough. I wasn't going to write any more about SBIR reauthorization until something significant happened.

Well, nothing significant (or at least that's made any difference in getting a bill passed) has occurred, except for some behind-the-scenes (don'tcha just love the transparency) maneuvering to get the Senate's compromise worded so both the House and Senate can agree on something. They couldn't get it done by the end of July, so it's now September 30th before we'll, probably at the last minute, see a bill. Hopefully. But, frankly, after what's gone on this year, nothing our legislators do will surprise me. (Monitor www.SBIRreauthorization.com and Rick Shindell's SBIR Insider for updates.)

This isn't rocket science. It shouldn't be so hard to come up with an SBIR compromise if everyone involved really was interested in defining a program that worked better than what we've got. Wishful thinking perhaps, but ya' know, maybe they need to engage rocket scientists to work on this instead of lawyers. At some point, everyone needs a rocket scientist to get past a really tough problem and make things work better.

Hmmm... Don'tcha wish you could call up a "hire a rocket scientist" service and quickly get one to work on a tough problem you've got? No strings attached? And that service be free? ... Actually you can. Really!

I had coffee last week with Shaun Tinoco of The Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP). I thought I knew just about everything available to small technology businesses, especially the free (and non-dilutive) support opportunities, but the SATOP opportunity had eluded my ken.

As Shaun enthusiastically explained: "The SATOP program helps those small businesses and entrepreneurs that have hit a bump in the road during their product development. By simply submitting a short Request for Technical Assistance (RTA) via our website: http://www.spacetechsolutions.com/, they will be put in touch with the brightest engineers and researchers to solve their specific issue within 40 hours. This gets them back on the road to future revenue generation in a short time-frame and at no financial cost."

While this is a NASA supported program, no NASA connection is necessary. Any small business may apply. And the technologies involved need not be just ones NASA might be interested in. Just take a gander at their "Success Stories". A couple dozen industries have been helped, including consumer products and food processing.

And did you catch that this "rocket scientist" (likely to be an employee of one of the big NASA prime contractors) you'll be engaging with comes absolutely free of charge? In fact, more than 50 different aerospace companies, universities, and NASA centers have committed in excess of 30,000 hours to providing this free assistance to small businesses via SATOP. In the famous words of NASA legend Wernher von Braun, "It verks!"

Want an informative 2-page SATOP flyer? Click on the Astronaut to download it.


Shaun's final word: "Small businesses should not pass up this opportunity for free NASA support while federal funding is in place." I agree, Shaun!

There's so much more to talk about than reauthorization. I got in a rut about it, but have climbed out, and picked up the "pen" again. Expect more from me on a more regular basis. Thanks to the many of you who have encouraged me to write.
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SBIR Reauthorization Redux? No Such Luck.

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Here we are -- just a few days from expiration of the third SBIR Reauthorization Continuing Resolution. Is there any hope for resolution by the end of the month? Nope.

Word from behind the scenes is that discussions are pretty much at a standstill. Staffers on the various Committees are standing firm on their bosses' positions. Provisions to significantly open up eligibility, provide special preferences having nothing to do with technology, eliminate the Phase I vetting process, have multiple Phase II awards possible, and increase funding caps without increasing the funding base just aren't going away. There's as much spirit of compromise here as there is on the health care debate. Nada. Zilch.

The University lobby has been pushing hard for just plain letting the SBIR program expire. They've been consistent over the years on this. They want "their" $2B back! Research is "their" game. Tech Transfer royalties from commercialization of innovations is "their" reward -- never mind that they, for the most part, can't figure out how to do it!

The VC/BIO lobby has been keeping up the drumbeat too. BIO had a press conference yesterday where they expressed how they were "very pleased with the result of the vote on the reauthorization bill in the House." They repeated the "Big Lie" that the bill was "an attempt to overturn "fairly arbitrary" administrative agency decisions that prevented venture capital-funded companies from participating." Arbitrary? Participating? Sheesh! Perception management at its best.

There are actually provisions in the House bill that move SBIR administration out of the SBA and into the Department of Commerce with oversight controlled by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. If this happens, SBIR becomes a politicized innovation economy program, with true small businesses frozen out of participation.

Some will argue that this is a good thing; that it will improve the Government's ROI on R&D investment. Perhaps it will. But, the vision of Arthur Obermayer, Roland Tibbetts, the late Ted Kennedy, and many others, for fostering innovation from true entrepreneurs, will be lost. That would be a shame.

The SBA is in trouble folks. SBIR isn't the only SBA administered program that is languishing in Committee and facing expiration. Will they survive as an independent agency? I fear not. SBIR being moved out is, in my opinion, an omen.

My prediction, shared by many in the SBIR Advocacy: we'll get another SBIR Continuing Resolution. How long? I say six months -- taking us to next March.

Some of the Agencies aren't waiting for Congress to act. Some are independently increasing funding caps. DOE and NSF, for example, are now providing $150K for Phase I, and DOE is doing $1M for Phase II. Others, like DOD and NASA, are standing pat. NIH generally ignores caps anyhow. It's really getting confusing -- helps justify the need for a coach! (smile)

So, the SBIR game is still being played, although the rule book is being very liberally interpreted. Check out the Gateway for proposal opportunities, and monitor www.SBIRreauthorization.com for updates on what Congress is (or isn't) doing.

The SBIR Coach will be at the NASVF Conference next week, and at the DOD sponsored Beyond Phase II Conference the week after that. My columns will report on what I learn there. Stay tuned.
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NASA and the NTTC Join Forces to Support SBIR Technology Commercialization

In my last Blog posting (on Oct 29th) I talked about things that the DOD is doing to support Phase III commercialization of SBIR-funded technologies. Today it's NASA's turn.

I had lunch today with two very interesting people: Carl Ray, the SBIR Program Manager for NASA, and Darwin Molnar, the VP for SBIR and NASA Tech Transfer for the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC). We talked about the difficulties that small businesses face when attempting to transition technology being developed under NASA SBIRs to the commercial marketplace, and what's being done to aid that process.

Carl and I have been friends ever since he became NASA's SBIR chief back in the early 90s. NASA has always been focused on funding those SBIR projects that have the greatest likelihood of eventually being deployed into NASA systems. We've disagreed on some of NASA's communication policies, but have always agreed on one thing: Getting an SBIR project to Phase III must be actively supported. Companies need guidance in the culture change in moving out of R&D mode into commercialization, and they need the funding to get there.

NASA first turned to the NTTC for support to effect transferring space program technology to general marketplace utilization back in 1989. Some of the NTTC/NASA partnership successes include smoke detectors, CT scanners, GPS, and the cordless drill. Just a couple of years ago the NASA/NTTC team created the Small Business Innovative Partnerships Program (SBIPP) to provide direct support to "help small companies develop [SBIR-funded] research into technologies that both fit the needs of NASA’s mission systems and contribute to American quality of life through commercialization."

The SBIPP has been steadily improved as information has been added to the set of "portfolios" -- actually a CD highlighting relevant SBIR-funded technologies -- that are sent out to interested technology integrators, which include NASA Centers as well as interests outside of NASA. The most recent version of the portfolios actually includes applicable DoD SBIR technologies along with the NASA projects. Good stuff! To inquire about availability of the CD, contact Darwin Molnar. His contact information is on the SBIPP website (www.SBIPP.com) which also contains a sample of what's on the CD. Check it out.

I asked Carl what was special about this effort from the NASA perspective, and he stressed the effort that's been made to express the technology's taxonomy in terms that avoid using NASA jargon. The commercial world should have a much easier time understanding what's being offered.

Carl and I did chat briefly about what the Obama victory might mean for the SBIR reauthorization process in the Congress. One thing seems certain -- Senator Kerry will probably be assuming a more prominent role in the new administration, and his Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will be headed by someone else who might not have his same passion for SBIR support. (See Rick Shindell's analysis on his new Insider Report on the SBIR Gateway.) Carl did tell me that he'd prefer to not see the SBIR funding base raised (his NASA responsibilities are actually much broader than just SBIR and he doesn't want the SBIR percentage of his budget changed), but he'd not object to a raising of the funding caps -- so long as his Agency had the option to fund at a lower level.

Next week is the National SBIR Conference in Hartford, CT. The SBIR Coach will be there, and I'll report on "what's new" in next week's Blog.
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Promoting paths to SBIR technology commercialization

The SBIR Coach is at the DOD sponsored "Beyond Phase II" SBIR technology commercialization conference in Palm Desert CA this week. In addition to hearing excellent "technology transition" presentations from NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense, I'm enjoying meeting and chatting with the key SBIR liaisons at some of the country's biggest Prime contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. I'm representing the interests of several clients who can't be here, and have made some very promising contacts for them.

The Agencies and the Prime contractors are actively working together to encourage integration of SBIR funded technologies into systems produced by the larger companies and ultimately deployed into end use. For the SBIR companies it's the follow-on funding (called Phase III) that turns prototypes into products. For the big companies it's the opportunity to integrate innovative bits of technology that improve performance into their systems. For the Agencies, it's solving problems and fulfilling missions. Everybody wins.

The Conference organizers, led by my friend Andy Talbert, have provided all of the presentations on a USB drive given to each attendee -- the welcome replacement to the big books of presentations we used to get! Click HERE (and then click "Agenda") to see the Conference Agenda. If there's a particular presentation you'd like to see and chat about, send me an email and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Today, among other things, we hear much more about the DOD's Commercialization Pilot Program and what the States are doing to support SBIR technology transition into commercialization. More on this in tommorow's post.

Boeing wants to help you win NASA SBIRs

The Boeing Corporation takes a proactive view of incorporating SBIR and STTR funded technology development into Boeing programs by scanning all SBIR solicitations for topics of interest to Boeing. They offer collaboration support to companies who wish to include them in the application process (providing letters of support when appropriate) with the objective of participation in development (Phases I and II) leading to the ultimate commercialization of the developed technology (Phase III) .

Boeing just released their Topic Interest list for the NASA SBIR/STTR solicitation that closes on September 4th. If you'd like a copy, please send me an email request. My website has my email address.

Fred