The National Institute of Standards and Technology www.nist.gov asked me to make sure that NanoBusiness Alliance members are aware of an important funding opportunity. Through July 15th, NIST is accepting proposals for the 2010 Technology Innovation Program.

The TIP program is designed to address societal challenges by supporting technology innovation in areas of critical national need. Individual companies can receive up to $3M over 3 years, which can support up to 50% of the direct costs of an R&D project. Joint ventures involving two or more companies, universities, or research laboratories are eligible for even larger awards, up to a maximum of $9M over 5 years (again with a minimum 50% of cost sharing).

Last year, NanoBusiness Alliance members and other nanotechnology companies responded enthusiastically to the TIP program call for advanced manufacturing concepts. They were rewarded with 6 funded projects in the application area Process Scale Up, Integration and Design – Nanomaterials.

NIST expects to give out approximately $25M in new awards in the 2010 TIP competition. The overall theme is Manufacturing and Biomanufacturing: Materials Advances and Critical Processes. There are three subtopics:
1) Process scale-up, integration, and design for materials advances
2) Predictive modeling for materials advances and materials processing
3) Critical process advances related to the manufacturability of materials and the manufacture of both new and existing products
Nanomaterials are called out as an area of interest in all three areas (along with superalloy and smart materials, composites, ceramics, and glasses).

For more detailed information on the 2010 NIST call for TIP proposals, all of which are available on the TIP website, see the following:

White paper http://www.nist.gov/tip/cur_comp/upload/manufacturing_biomanufacturing_matls_adv_crit_proc_04_2010_wp.pdf

PowerPoint presentation by TIP managers http://www.nist.gov/tip/upload/2010_pc_slides_final_gburgweb.pdf

Formal call for proposals http://www.nist.gov/tip/cur_comp/upload/2010_ffo_competition_0410.pdf

NanoBusiness Alliance members may want to discuss another recently announced federal funding opportunity with fellow technology innovators in their state or region. The Department of Commerce, through the Economic Development Agency, is teaming up with the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health in a new program called the i6 Challenge http://www.eda.gov/i6FAQs in order to encourage groundbreaking approaches to innovation and entrepreneurship. EDA will provide up to $1M in funding to 6 regional teams. Eligible NSF or NIH SBIR awardees http://www.eda.gov/i6sbir (Phase II or Fast Track) participating in a team can receive an additional $100,000 – each of the 6 winning teams could potentially receive $2M. A minimum $500,000 non-federal match is required. This program also has a July 15th deadline, but letters of intent are required by June 15th so read the full program announcement http://www.eda.gov/PDF/i6%20Challenge%20FFO%20FINAL%204-30-10.pdf and talk to your potential teammates ASAP.

Regards,

Vincent Caprio “It’s Green, It’s Clean, It’s Never Seen – That’s Nanotechnology”
www.vincentcaprio.org
Executive Director
NanoBusiness Alliance
203-733-1949
vincentcaprio@nynanobusiness.org