Sorry for our absence! It’s been a busy few weeks here at OPD….

Before we get to the SBIR/STTR conference, I did want to take a second to say thank you and goodbye to one of OPD’s most valuable members, Kate Herron. Kate was our Research Development and Training Specialist for about a year and a half, and did a phenomenal job. I have no doubt that there are faculty members out there right now who will receive tenure and do great research, all because they met with Kate early on in their first semester. Kate has moved on to become an Assistant Director for Experiential Learning at the Career Center.

Last week I attended the 18th Annual HHS Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) conference in Orlando. It was a great three days of sessions with lots of presenters from small businesses, academic institutions, and HHS program directors. Many of you are familiar with the Department of Health and Human Services, but for those who aren’t HHS is the parent organization of some more well known agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, Center for Disease Control, and Food and Drug Administration.

So what are SBIR/STTR grants? Basically, these programs provide funding to move research from the lab to the market. They’re commercialization grants that allow you to take innovations from your research, and turn them into products that improve people’s lives.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, also known as America’s Seed Fund, are one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for technology commercialization in the United States. These programs allow US-owned and operated small businesses to engage in federal research and development that has a strong potential for commercialization. For example, the NIH SBIR program funds early stage small businesses that are seeking to commercialize innovative biomedical technologies.

The main characteristic that distinguishes SBIR and STTR grants is the requirement of small business involvement. For a SBIR grant, the small business must be the lead applicant, and the PI employed more than 50% of the time by the small business. For STTRs, a small business must perform at least 40% of the work, and the University 30%, with the remaining 30% split however they’d like. A STTR PI can come from either the university or the small business. I had two important take-aways from this conference:

1. The same things that get other proposals rejected get SBIR/STTR proposals rejected. I’m talking about things like unclear writing or half formed ideas, failing to address the priorities of the funding agency, not following the proper format from the solicitation, and not having a well thought out timeline and budget.

2. The business aspect of these is the most important. You have to clearly show that there is a demand for your product in the market place, that your company is a financially safe investment (within reason), and need to know who your competitors are.

Because of that last point, I’d strongly recommend anyone interested in applying for an SBIR/STTR to get in touch with the Office of Commercialization as soon as possible. That’s all for this week! Hope to get back into the swing of things now that the semester is winding down. As always feel free to call, comment, or email.