SBA Announces Winners of 2011 Tibbetts Awards

Inaugural SBIR Hall of Fame Companies are Leaders in Innovation and Job Creation

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forty-Four small businesses and eight individuals were honored today for the critical role they play in research and development for the government and for their success in driving innovation and creating new jobs.

“Winning the future requires redoubling our commitment to supporting innovative entrepreneurs like those we honor with Tibbetts Awards”

The Tibbetts Awards, given by the U.S. Small Business Administration, honor outstanding small businesses and individuals who participate in the SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Eight past participants in SBIR who represent the very best of the 30-year SBIR program were named to the Inaugural SBIR Hall of Fame class.

“Winning the future requires redoubling our commitment to supporting innovative entrepreneurs like those we honor with Tibbetts Awards,” said Karen Mills, SBA administrator. “In particular, our eight Hall of Famers started small, but their growth has powered our economy for years. Their stories illustrate the promise of the new generation of innovative entrepreneurs and remind us all how central the success of one high growth small business can be to our competitiveness as a nation.”

The Tibbetts Awards, named after Roland Tibbetts, who was instrumental in developing the SBIR program, are presented to companies and individuals from all over the United States who are beacons of promise and models of excellence in high technology.

Tibbetts award winners are selected based on the economic impact of their technological innovation, and on whether they have met federal research and development needs, encouraged diverse participation in technological innovation, and increased the commercialization of federal research.

Two types of Tibbetts Awards exist: awards for businesses that have participated in the SBIR Phase I and II award programs, and awards for individuals who have supported the SBIR Program but who have not received economic assistance from the program.

New for 2011 are the SBIR Hall of Fame Awards which recognize companies with a long period of extraordinary success of research, innovation, and commercialization within the SBIR program.

The SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research program accounted for approximately $2.5 billion in FY 2010 in federal research and development funds and is coordinated by the SBA in cooperation with 11 federal agencies.

The presentations were made at the Washington, D.C. Marriott with Qualcomm, Inc. co-founder Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs serving as keynote speaker. A reception for the Hall of Fame class was held later at a reception at the White House.

Companies

3-C ISD – Cary, N.C.; Adaptive Technologies – Blacksburg, Va.; Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. – Lancaster, Pa.; Aerius Photonics, LLC – Ventura, Calif.; Analysis and Measurement Services Corp. – Knoxville, Tenn.; ANP Technologies – Newark, Del.; ATC-NY – Ithaca, N.Y.; Balfour Technologies LLC – Bethpage, N.Y.; BryCoat, Inc. – Oldsmar, Fla.; Colorado Engineering, Inc. – Colorado Springs, Colo.; Cornerstone Research Group – Dayton, Ohio; Corvid Technologies – Mooresville, N.C.; Fiber Materials – Biddeford, Maine; FIRST RF Corporation – Boulder, Colo.; Harris Vaccines – Ames, Iowa; Hummingbird Scientific – Lacey, Wash.; Kitware, Inc. - Clifton Park, N.Y.; Kutta Technologies, Inc. – Phoenix, Ariz.; M4 Sciences - West Lafayette, Ind.; MedShape Solutions, Inc. –Atlanta, Ga.; Nanohmics, Inc. – Austin, Texas; Network Foundation Technologies, LLC –Ruston, La.; Numerica – Loveland, Colo.; Ocean Farm Technologies – Morrill, Maine; Operational Technologies Corp. - San Antonio, Texas; Opto-Knowledge Systems, Inc. -Torrance, Calif.; Precision Photonics Corp. – Boulder, Colo.; Quality Electrodynamics, LLC -Mayfield Village, Ohio; Radiance Technologies, Inc. – Huntsville, Ala.; RE2, Inc. – Pittsburgh, Pa.; SA Photonics, LLC - Los Gatos, Calif.; Safety Dynamics, Inc. – Louisville, Colo.; Space Micro, Inc. - San Diego, Calif.; Total Quality Systems, Inc. – Roy, Utah; Touch Graphics, Inc. - New York, N.Y.; Trex Hawaii-Advanced Materials Group – Lihue, Hawaii; Variation Reduction Solutions, Inc. – Plymouth, Mich.; Vecna Technologies, Inc. – Cambridge, Mass.; ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. – Corvallis, Ore.; Viocare, Inc. – Princeton, N.J.; Weidlinger Associates, Inc. - Mountain View, Calif.; Williams-Pyro, Inc. – Fort Worth, Texas; Windmill International, Inc. – Nashua, N.H.; Wyatt Technology – Santa Barbara, Calif.

Individuals

Abraham Abuchowski, Prolong Pharmaceuticals - South Plainfield, N.J.; Marti Elder -Bozeman, Mont.; U.S. Dept. of Energy – Wash., DC; Douglas Maughan – Wash., DC; John H. Ruehe, Phacil, Inc. - Fort Belvoir, Va.; Mikhail Plam – Boulder, Colo.; James Stover – Nashville, Tenn.; NAVAIR Team – Md.

Hall of Fame

A123 Systems – Watertown, Mass.; Advanced Ceramics Research (BAE Systems) – Tucson, Ariz.; ATMI – Danbury, Conn.; iROBOT Corp. – Bedford, Mass.; MARTEK Corp. – Columbia, Md.; Qualcomm, Inc. – San Diego, Calif.; Symantec - Mountain View, Calif.; ViaSat, Inc. – Carlsbad, Calif.

For more information about SBIR, please visit SBA’s extensive Web site at http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-innovation-research-program-sbir-0

Release Number: 11-13