Letter From the National Science Foundation 19 systems, and biomembranes are now being produced and sold. University collaboration is with Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and North Carolina. Employment has increased from 4 at the time of the first SBIR award to 63. O Browning Engineering, Inc. of Hanover, New Hampshire received an SBIR award in 1979 for extreme impact velocity metal and ceramic deposition. This research resulted in a process used by G.E. and Rolls Royce to coat turbine compressor blades. The process was also licensed initially to Cabot Corporation which sold the division to a California company. Royalties, R&D and consulting relevant to the project exceed $1 million. A new generation Plaz Jet process has been developed for abrasive coatings. Sales exceed $400,000 but are expected to increase sharply since a major licensing agreement is in process. University collaboration is with Dartmouth and MIT. Direct employment has not grown because the company licenses its products to others. Summary: Small high technology firms are important to technological innovation and economic growth, including increases in domestic employment. There is evidence that they represent one of the most efficient mechanisms for the conversion of science and technology to commercial products. They increase technological competitiveness and appear to be especially effective when these firms are coupled to universities, large industrial companies and venture capital. The Foundation's SBIR program is designed to take advantage of this route to commercial use of Federal research and development. 4. COMMENTS ON THE EFFECT OF THE PROGRAM The Small Business Innovation Act of 1982 (amended) requires the judgment of the director of the National Science Foundation "as to the effect of this Act on research programs."10 Technology Transfer. While the present report deals with the four explicit mandated objectives, there also should be mention of an important additional objective, technology transfer, merely implied under the first goal, Innovation, and the second goal, Federal R&d Needs. In this case SBIR provided an important linking mechanism between basic research and the market place. While many studies can be cited, the Rand Corporation study of 198411 showed clearly that the results of basic research do not readily find their way to the market place without the use of intermediate mechanisms. SBIR 10 PL 97-219, Sect.6. 11 Tora K. Bikson, Barbara E. Quint, Leland L. Johnson, "Scientific and Technical Information Transfer" Rand Corporation, Report to the National Science Foundation, N-2131-NSF, March, 1984. Letter From the National Science Foundation 20 provides such a mechanism and further has demonstrated that the program provides feedback to basic research through the creation of new research instruments, sensors, and materials. This may be attributed to NSF procedures which routinely call for the research divisions to formulate research topics for the solicitation. Judgment. The NSF SBIR program has shown persistent growth and success over the past ten years. It is a worthy peer among the Foundation's activities, useful nationally, validated through additional investments by other agencies and by a variety of private sector capital sources. This, in turn has generated new products, processes, techniques and has provided new jobs. It has attracted proposals from targeted audiences like minorities and the disadvantaged and has rewarded promising applicants with financial support. It has contributed to technology transfer and provided feedback to NSF basic research. The overall data for the program as reviewed and assessed in this report bear this out, and show that the NSF SBIR program has moved strongly in line with Congressional findings and intent, while leaving room for additional efforts and achievements. Letter From the Nuclear Regulatory This responds to your request to Chairman Lando W. Zech, Jr. for an assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). NRC has participated in the SBIR program since FY 1983 and fully supports the NRC believes that the SBIR program offers an opportunity for Federal research program managers to take advantage of new ideas which might not surface through normal contracting avenues. Innovative proposals with commercial applicability can be quickly reviewed because of the simplified SBIR procedures, and the feasibility of ideas can be tested at a relatively low cost. Since the program's inception the NRC has received 548 Phase I proposals and has funded 42 Phase I awards to determine the technical feasibility of promising ideas. From this group, we have funded 15 Phase II awards for only those projects which we considered to have the greatest likelihood of success. The enclosed briefs describe those completed Phase II projects which we believe have a moderate to high potential for commercial success. Despite the advantages of the program, our current research budget has taken a On April 14, 1988, I met with Representative John J. LaFalce, Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, to review NRC's concerns. During that meeting, I explained that our level of participation in FY 1988 was directly related to the impact of the NRC's FY 1988 appropriation reduction of $35 million and on our ability to maintain necessary safety research program funding levels. Following this discussion we reevaluated our FY 1988 situation (based upon our mid-fiscal year review) and have concluded that we can participate in the FY 1988 SBIR Program at a level of approximately $500,000. The specific number of Phase I and Phase II awards will depend on the quality and merit of the proposals received. Our level of participation in the FY 1989 program will be based on future budget developments. I appreciate the opportunity to express our opinions and relate our experience Sincerely, Enclosures: As stated Victor Stello, Jr. REMOTEC designed and built a tethered survey/inspection robot (SURBOT) utilizing commercially available, low-cost robotic components. The SURBOT is capable of: high resolution TV viewing of components; measurement of radiation levels, temperature, and humidity; two-way sound communication with work crews; air and surface contamination sample collection; and, has a remote controlled arm capable of light maintenance tasks. In 1986 SURBOT was successfully demonstrated at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Nondestructive Testing Center. The development and successful demonstration of the robot permits NRC staff to better evaluate licensee proposals to use automated technology. NRC participation in this SBIR project was an opportunity for the agency to further the utilization of what appears to be a cost effective dose reduction technology. The ability to perform more frequent and more sensitive in-service inspection, as demonstrated in this project, will also enhance plant safety. REMOTEC is marketing four optional concepts featuring SURBOT in wheeled and tracked models with combinations of inspection equipment and operational arms. Considerable interest has been evidenced in the nuclear, defense and security markets. In addition, REMOTEC, partly due to its success on the NRC contract, has been selected to conduct three new SBIR demonstration projects for DOD and DOE. |