SBIR phase I & II prototype demonstrations Oct. 20

On Oct. 20, seventeen companies will be part of this fall’s Team Orlando/NCS Industry Capability Day. Taking on a slightly different spin than previous capability days, this event will showcase prototypes that resulted from Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I & II awards.

This is a great opportunity for members of Team Orlando, as well as other government and industry representatives, to see some leading edge technology, and how it works. It will also give those interested in pursuing SBIR grants a chance to speak with companies who have been successful in their attempts, and ask what was it that made the difference for them.

Tara Wagner, deputy for Small Business Programs, Office of Small Business Programs, U.S. ARMY PEO STRI, said that when she has the opportunity to speak with small business owners about why they decided to take the risk to leave big business and start their own businesses, there are usually a variety of reasons.

“One thing, however, they have in common is how hard they have to work at simply getting opportunities to get in front of the right office,” Wagner said. “Providing opportunities to small businesses is more than simply achieving goals, especially for those small businesses that have ideas and prototypes that just do not have a ‘home’ due to lack of exposure.”

Angela Alban, president and CEO of SIMETRI, Inc., is one of the small businesses that will be featuring a medical training product her company developed to help fill a need for the U.S. Army.

“We are grateful to have been awarded an SBIR Phase II grant for the development and commercialization of a medical training capability that will train the Warfighter to better provide care on the battlefield,” Alban said. “We value our relationship with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and know that together, we will be able to successfully fill a training gap in critical care on the battlefield.”

Benjamin Bell, Ph.D., president of Eduworks Government Solutions, said that Eduworks is pleased to be participating in the SBIR demonstration day, and is proud to be working with premier DoD R&D organizations in developing phase II SBIR technologies that advance how Warfighters are educated and trained.

“We appreciate the opportunity to demonstrate technology, developed with the Army Research Laboratory, that employs data mining and computational linguistics to substantially reduce the time and effort required to build engaging adaptive tutoring systems,” Bell said. “We are also grateful for the chance to showcase work we are performing for the Air Force Research Laboratory that employs a powerful, activity-based simulation to investigate how air combat forces and their automation systems collaborate in contested environments.”

Through this event, NCS and Team Orlando want to provide a platform that will assist businesses in their commercialization objectives, ultimately leading to future acquisition opportunities. The event is Oct. 20 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the UCF Partnership II building, room 321A/B. Attendance for the event is free and it is a come-and-go format style.