Welcome to the fi rst edition of our “new look” Air Force Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) quarterly newsletter! We put a lot of thought into bringing you a readable, valuable and timely publication, and I’m convinced it will help change the way you look at (and use) SBIR/STTR. Within these pages you’ll see the schedule of near-term opportunities for involvement, an example of successful SBIR technology integration, perspectives of stakeholders in that integration, and other useful insights for getting the most out of the program. Discover, Innovate, Leverage The Air Force has been working very hard to ensure that SBIR/STTR is helping to “meet the mission.” First, the SBIR/STTR programs can be used to discover completely new ideas for reaching long-term goals. The SBIR/STTR programs can also be used to tweak, prototype, test or otherwise innovate technologies that will help meet nearer-term goals. Finally, there are a lot of promising technologies that are nearing the end of (or have of promising technologies that are nearing the end of (or have

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IN THIS ISSUE

Distribution A: Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

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Biological data is collected from a research subject, 1st Lt. Erik Armbrust, a collaborative technology scientist, through the use of sensors in the Human Universal Measurement and Assessment Network Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. See story on page 3. (Courtesy photo)

New focus for Air Force SBIR/STTR newsletter

Viewpoint 1New focus fornewsletter

Contracts 2Resources forPhase I awardees

Spotlight 2Company builds on bus success

Innovation 3 Stitching SBIR projects together

Events 4SBIR/STTR 2012 NationalConference

DISCOVER - INNOVATE - LEVERAGE

Augustine Vu

There are a lot of things going on in the program that can help you leverage existing SBIR/STTR-developed technologies in the very near-term.

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Viewpoint

by Augustine Vu, Air Force SIBR/STTR Program Manager

Conferences, workshops and exhibitions of interest to SBIR/STTR personnel and program participants.

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Succeed with the U.S. Air Force’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs

October 2012

See Viewpoint on page 4

� e Air Force Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) website at www.afsbirsttr.com is being updated to provide a number of resources for SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I contract recipients.

Although focused on Phase I awardees, this repository assists all SBIR/STTR stakeholders by providing useful information in the form of guidance, instructions and access to valuable information such as current legislation, accounting standards and other helpful links. Small-business users can learn how to write and submit an e� ective Phase II proposal or gain insight into the Fast Track and Commercialization Readiness programs.

CONTRACT ASSISTANCEHelp for the small business before and after a SBIR/STTR contract is awarded.

Site o� ers more resources for Phase I awardees Users have previously expressed a need for receiving timely and complete guidance related to program changes. � is is a primary objective of the SBIR/STTR web-development team. � erefore, the site’s content is reviewed frequently to ensure current information is available.

In the future we hope to expand these resources and possibly include tutorials and webinars. If you cannot � nd what you need or simply have suggestions, we would like to hear from you: Contact us at info@afsbirsttr.com.

Our goal is to help you achieve the ultimate program objective: commercialized innovative technology. v

SPOTLIGHT ON: TECHNOLOGY

Avionics toolset increases its commercial success

A Small Business Innovation Research program that helps mitigate problems associated with an aging/overtaxed avionics network architecture on operational B-2 aircraft continues to enjoy commercial success. The Bus Characterization and Integrity Toolset (BCIT) network analyzer, developed by ITCN, Inc., Dayton, Ohio, has been sold to more customers, including to the Navy for F/A-18 and EA-6B aircraft and to the Royal Australian Air Force for P-3 Orion aircraft. It is an all-in-one test instrument for troubleshooting 1553 cables, diagnosing bus health and monitoring system performance. The BCIT also has potential use for additional military and commercial applications.

If you are a prospective customer for a data bus network, you can review the 2009 success story at www.afsbirsttr.com (search for “B-2 MIL-STD-1553 Avionics Bus Characterization and Integrity Toolset”) and visit the ITCN website at www.itcninc.com to learn more about the BCIT.

For more resources, visit http://www.afsbirsttr.com.(Courtesy photo)

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CONTACT US

Air Force SBIR/STTR Program Offi ceAir Force Research LaboratoryAFRL/XPPBldg 15, Rm 2251864 4th StreetWright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433

Toll Free: 1-800-222-0336Fax: 937-255-2219Email: info@afsbirsttr.comWeb: www.afsbirsttr.com

Single repository of guidelines and instructions

Roadmap for Phase I awardees

Resources that are current and simple to use

Help to bridge the gap from award to success

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An Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) researcher recently realized he could use completed Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects as part of an evolving acquisition strategy for AFRL’s Human Universal Measurement and Assessment Network Laboratory, called the “HUMAN Lab.”

Th e chief of AFRL’s Neuro-Inspired Adaptive Aiding Section at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Dr. Scott Galster, is a proponent of the Air Force’s SBIR program.

“SBIR projects are completed research and development opportunities waiting to be leveraged and applied to current and future challenges,” Galster said. He used an innovative best-practice concept of “stitching” multiple, completed Phase II SBIR projects together in pursuit of well-defi ned end objectives.

“If you wish to bake a cake, you need to identify and have access to all of the ingredients,” he explained. “Th ink of an individual SBIR project as one necessary technological capability to the accomplishment of a goal, just as a single ingredient is essential to the successful baking of a cake.

“In contrast to the more common practice of focusing a Phase III contract around just a single SBIR project, ‘stitching’ allows researchers to extend their horizons by leveraging several SBIR projects within one Phase III contract.”

Th e goal of the HUMAN program is to demonstrate that neurological and psycho-physiological technology can be used to measure an operator’s body signals which, in turn, may be used to assess and classify operator states.

“HUMAN is equipped with a state-of-the-art multimodal data acquisition system, including sensors to monitor brain, heart, muscle-activity, eye movement, respiration, galvanic skin response and other body signals,” Galster said.

Data is collected and analyzed along with performance data to compile a comprehensive picture of drivers that may aff ect an operator’s workload and decision-making ability. Th e HUMAN program will enable warfi ghters to optimize performance and successfully accomplish their missions by alleviating cognitive overload.

Since the HUMAN program is still in development, there is a continuing eff ort underway to mature and elevate its capabilities. When considering the acquisition strategy for the second phase of the HUMAN program, Galster started looking for a more cost-eff ective alternative to meet the selected program objectives.

After completing the initial phase of the HUMAN program with the assistance of a prime contractor under Advanced Technology Development (6.3) funding, he noticed the prime contractor had sub-contracted more than 50 percent of the work to a small business. Capitalizing upon his past experience as a technical point of contact within the Air Force SBIR program, he examined the possibility of creating a Phase III contract where the SBIR-stitching concept would be adopted.

April Courtice, an Air Force Research Laboratory scientist, discusses research with Ethan Blackford, a Wright State University intern, in AFRL’s HUMAN laboratory. (Courtesy photo)

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Site off ers more resources for Phase I awardees

Scott Galster

By leveraging existing SBIR technology results, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

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The HUMAN Lab’s new SBIR Phase III contract will meet the following technical objectives:

Workload Monitoring. Extend the Monitoring MIssion MODels for Increased Mission Understanding tools for modelling workfl ows of individuals and teams by incorporating activities and psycho-physiological state of the operator to defi ne mitigation strategies.

Human Performance Modeling. AFRL’s Learning Estimates of Aggregate Performance tool will incorporate psycho-physiological data to increase the accuracy of operator error models and performance estimates.

Operational Performance Measurement. Offi ce of Naval Research’s Collaborative Visualization Environment software tool will incorporate psycho-physiological sensor data, providing a richer performance measure by using operator state variables.

See Case Study on page 4

October 2012Innovation

Case Study: Stitching SBIR projects together maximizes benefi ts

UPCOMING EVENTSConferences, workshops and exhibitions of interest to SBIR/STTR personnel and program participants.

SBIR/STTR 2012 National Conference: Crack the Code November 13-15 | Portland, Ore.

This conference will provide critical information to small businesses competing for SBIR/STTR grants and contracts, which amount to approximately $2.5 billion in funding annually.

Who should attend:• Entrepreneurs engaged in innovative research • Small businesses• Venture capital and angel investors • IP, securities and corporate counsel • Research scientists from public and private labs • Audit, accounting and tax professionals • Commercial lenders • Pubic and private laboratory managers• Corporate CEOs/COOs/CFOs• Prime contractor procurement representatives

graduated from) Phase II that can be leveraged in the very near-term. In short, SBIR and STTR are here to bring you useful technologies by starting with real Air Force needs and then build bridges from technology development all the way to the end-user. Enjoy the newsletter! See you next quarter. v

Viewpoint...continued from page 1

Case Study...continued from page 3

“After reviewing SBIR-developed technologies that might be appropriate to HUMAN Lab needs,” Galster said, “I found several candidate projects that were worthy of consideration. To make the SBIR-incorporation process more manageable in a Phase III contract, I went through a down-selection process to find the best SBIR and small-business combination for our purpose.” The HUMAN Lab ultimately worked with Aptima, Inc., to combine three of the company’s past SBIR Phase II projects to meet the program’s technical objectives, resulting in a Phase III contract that leverages the emerging neurological and psycho-physiological data from the HUMAN program.

So what should we take away from this case study? “The key to success in SBIR stitching is to initially deconstruct your program objectives,” Galster said. “I broke down the HUMAN program objectives and looked for Phase II projects that could help maximize the overall benefit. There are hundreds of SBIR projects available for review, and it really doesn’t take that long to survey current and past topics of interest.”

Galster also noted ongoing and completed SBIR projects are valuable sources of research and development (R&D) in which millions of dollars have already been invested by the government.

“Several SBIR projects fail to get to transition or commercialization status and fall into the SBIR ‘Valley of Death,’ with a lot of R&D never being leveraged,” he said.

“By leveraging existing SBIR technology results, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

“The SBIR-stitching business model offers a way to get a payback on already completed government R&D investments as well as a method to build upon the technical progress achieved during the SBIR projects, thereby saving time, as well as money.

“I am a strong advocate of the SBIR stitching concept.” v

Contact Information:• info@oregonsbir.com (general information) • leon@oregonsbir.com (speakers)Web: www.oregonsbir.com

• Economic development, workforce development and private business services providers• University technology transfer, grant and contract administrators • Public officials interested in learning how they can participate in the growth of technology • State SBIR program representatives

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