Funded through DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, today’s selections are for Phase I research and development

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US DOE to grant $32m to SMBs. (Credit: Pixabay/3D Animation Production Company)

Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) will award 158 grants totaling $32 million to 118 small businesses in 32 states.  Funded through DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, today’s selections are for Phase I research and development.

The Phase I grants will allow small businesses to research technical feasibility of new innovations that advance the mission of the Office of Science. Phase I grants are 6-12 months in duration with a median award amount of $200,000.  Successful Phase I grantees will be eligible to apply for Phase II awards in fiscal year 2021 that will allow them to develop novel prototypes or processes to validate their Phase I research findings. Phase II grants have a median award amount of $1,100,000 and a duration up to 2 years.

Highlighted below are selected grants for each of the research and development programs that provided funding for these projects:

Office of Advanced Scientific Computing

Ultra-bright Quantum Light Source Using Entangled Two-Mode State

An Accessible High-Performance Application for Nanophotonics Design and Optimization

A Unified Profiling Infrastructure and Tool for Extreme-scale Deep Learning

Office of Basic Energy Sciences

Low Cost Air Separation Via Magnetic Microchannel Arrays

Nanoionics Proton Conducting Electrolyte

Novel ionomer and polymer-electrolyte membrane development for solar-energy-driven carbon dioxide conversion

Perfectly-absorbing photoconductive metasurfaces for high efficiency ultrafast optoelectronic switches

Office of Biological and Environmental Research

Multiarray Sensors for Real Time Detection of Microbial Metabolites in Watersheds and Sub-surface Systems

A New Digital Holographic Microscope for the Study of Biological Systems

Low Cost Shortwave Spectroradiometer for Retrieval of Cloud Properties

Office of Nuclear Physics

Use of the Magnetic Isotope Effect for Silicon Isotopomer Chemical Separations

A novel approach to production of highly spin polarized electrons from III-V semiconductor/half-metal hybrid multilayers

Novel Proton Alignment Aid for Isotope Production

Small businesses play a major role in spurring innovation and creating jobs in the U.S. economy.  The SBIR and STTR programs were created by Congress to leverage small businesses to advance innovation at federal agencies.

Source: Company Press Release