Vishwa Robotics wins Phase I SBIR Grant

InteliSpark client Vishwa Robotics has been awarded a $149,999 SBIR Phase I grant for their project, “Vishwa Space Debris Engagement and Deorbiting System”. This project will focus on developing a miniature space craft to engage with tumbling Spent Rocket Bodies (SRB) and stabilize them, and also perform a controlled deorbiting maneuver.

SRBs are from decades of the launching of satellites into Earth’s orbit. They are also the largest component of space debris by mass. This poses a significant problem to the present and future operation of space systems into certain orbits. A majority of these objects will remain place for several more decades, before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and eventually burning up. Current concepts for mitigating the debris and de-orbiting space junk have included attaching propulsion modules, electrodynamic tethers, and drag enhancement devices such as sails and balloons. However, there is need for a long-term reduction in the number of large SRBs in low earth orbits. Especially focused for near-polar and sun synchronous orbits in efforts to help preserve and extend the effective use of space.

Vishwa Robotics’ proposal addresses these interests and concerns. With the SBIR Phase I Grant, they will now be able to start work on developing technology for a novel, low cost, use and lose, miniature space craft. This miniature space craft will engage with a tumbling SRB, then stabilize it, and perform a controlled deorbiting maneuver without the use of any eternal tether or power source like solar panels, RTGs, ect. The only necessary component will be a small battery.

Enable Biosciences, Inc. wins Phase II SBIR Grant

InteliSpark client Enable Biosciences, Inc. has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant totaling $750,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Their project “development of an ultrasensitive, high-throughput autoantibody discovery platform using agglutination-PCR” will provide work towards developing a platform technology for detecting autoantibody markers for research and clinical diagnostics.

Currently, precision medicine is in need of the development of more powerful bioanalytic technologies to diagnose disease and direct target therapies. Enable Biosciences has developed a platform, the Antibody Detection by Agglutination-PCR (ADAP), that uses a ligation-based DNA barcoding technology for improved antibody detection, with increased analytical sensitivity and multiplex power to detect more at the most clinically useful time. Additionally, their product is able to detect numerous clinically-relevant autoantibodies that are refractory to common techniques like ELISA. Current technologies scale poorly due to cross-analyte interference, and lack of analytical sensitivity to detect crippling diseases.

This platform holds the potential of accelerating the development of lifesaving diagnostics in a variety of human diseases. In the Phase II project, Enable Biosciences will develop the first solution-phase, ultrasensitive, and multiplex antibody assay platform for early detection, monitoring, and treatment of human diseases. Enable Biosciences will now be able to validate the multiplex ADAP assay for clinical diagnostics, high-throughput automation of the multiplex ADAP assay technology for clinical diagnostics, manufacture and establish quality control standards, and demonstrate the applicability of the platform for a broader set of antibodies.

Selfarray wins SBIR Phase II Grant

InteliSpark client, Selfarray has been granted a $740,027 SBIR Phase II grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project “diamagnetically directed self-assembly of light emitting diodes for fabricating large area, direct view displays”. This Phase II project is expected to revolutionize large area LED array assembly manufacturing, and ultimately lead to unprecedented growth of the direct view LED display market.

Direct view LED display, or video walls, are becoming more present every day. They are often seen in sports stadiums, and have now been appearing in retail advertising, cinemas, and control rooms. These displays are brighter, have better contrast rations, faster refresh rates, and are more energy efficient. However, despite the advantages, adoption of these current displays is extremely slow due to the cost and timely manufacturing limitations.

 Selfarray has addressed these manufacturing concerns by proposing a technology utilizing magnetic fields to quickly and simply emplace hundreds or thousands of LEDs into a neat and structured grid-array. They have established an objective of achieving assembly at least 5 times faster than the current technology used. Selfarray will focus research the effects of LED size and geometry on the necessary accuracy, rate, and yield. With the Phase II grant, they will be able to determine a system to more rapidly assemble thousands of LED die with precision for high-resolution displays and determine a fully operational LED display panel constructed with the technology to demonstrate the manufacturing potential.

Wicked Device LLC Wins Phase II $742,000 Grant

InteliSpark client Wicked Device, LLC. has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant worth $742,550 from the National Science Foundation. The grant is for the SBIR project “A STEM toolkit enabling global air quality experiments.” 

Wicked Device, LLC. seeks to develop an internet-of-things (IoT) data collection and analysis platform for collaborative STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and big data research and education, that enables collaborative, geographically dispersed collection of data from internet enabled scientific instruments.

This project fulfills the requests of the federal government and leading-edge STEM educators that both secondary and post-secondary institutions teach science in a way that engages students with real-world problems. The expectation is that this project will make big data accessible, while providing rewarding and appealing hands-on learning opportunities that will increase data literacy; increase scientific collaboration in education across geographic and interdisciplinary lines; and increase scientific literacy and interest across demographics, thus increasing the likelihood that students will continue to pursue scientific careers.

The proposed technology will be the first collaborative educational IoT STEM platform to be developed, and is innovative in the field of Educational Technology, which has yet to adopt web-connected sensors that generate big data on a global scale. Right now, there is no mechanism for schools to collect and share real data between classrooms and schools in an organized way. The proposed innovation allows users to communicate via a global network and is capable of being paired with an unlimited variety of scientific instruments and data sources, to support versatile, engaging, coordinated, multi-school experiments and data sharing.

In Phase 1, feasibility of approach was firmly established. Phase II objectives will be to expand the educational platform developed in Phase I to optimize national/global impact and support applicability to big data research as well as a range of sensors. Goals include to expand tools to view and analyze data, refine and expand curriculum, develop an Application Programming Interface and create software tools to manipulate and share data/curriculum.

Versatope Therapeutics, Inc. wins Phase I SBIR Grant

InteliSpark client Versatope Therapeutics, Inc. has been awarded $225,000 by the National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) for the research project “Universal Influenza Vaccine”. Their project will focus on development of recombinant outer membrane vesicle (rOMV) strains capable of protection against pandemic influenza, with projected advancements for a larger scale.

Versatope is in the works of developing a universal vaccine that addresses the limitations of current pandemic and seasonal flu vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated the current economic impact of seasonal influenza to range from $10 to $16 billion and the pandemic influenza to range from $71.3 to $166.5 billion, in the United States alone. Their research and developments will increase the range of protection and reduce the overall economic impact.

The OMV vaccine delivery is a significant advancement because it has been genetically engineered to detoxify lipopolysaccharide (LPS) more than 100-fold and increase OMV formation more than 30-fold, compared to the current parental strain of pro-biotic bacteria.  The societal impact and commercial opportunity is also displayed by a test of the model, which concluded a 50% reduction in infection, hospitalization and death rates.

They are developing a unique influenza M2e antigen construct, that will be capable of protecting against all strains of influenza. It has already shown significant improvement over the traditional vaccine candidates, with lower reactogenicity and inflammatory responses. Their research will continue to develop new rOMV strains with the capability of protection against influenza, focusing on large scale commercial production.

Smart Walls Construction, LLC. wins SBIR Phase II Grant

InteliSpark client Smart Walls Contruction, LLC. has been awarded a $749,057 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a Phase II SBIR project, “telescopic structural flood walls”. The research project is aimed to develop and commercialize an innovative extendable/retractable telescopic structural wall for flood protection.

The development of these telescopic structural flood walls will allow for more resilient infrastructure in flood-prone areas, such as coastal cities and riverine communities. The World Bank has estimated that 50 billion dollars a year is spent worldwide, towards measures to mitigate flooding hazards. Specifically, in the US, 7.9 billion dollars are spent in flood damages and causing 82 fatalities per year, making it to be one of the costliest and deadliest natural hazards. Smart Walls Construction has addressed a challenge faced by city officials and the engineering community by providing a solution of hazard-resilient infrastructure for populations near bodies of water.

Smart Walls Construction’s technology will provide a paradigm shift for the prefabricated concrete industry. Their product will employ a unique concept where structural boxes can be deployed telescopically to withstand forces from external sources, and then return to a retracted position. With the Phase II SBIR grant, they will now be able to focus on assessing the technical features of the walls, based on lead-off customer sites. Smart Walls Constructions will conduct studies on the local and overall structural responses of the walls and the functionality of the mechanical components. They will also create analytical and numerical models, validated by testing on specific components. From there, full-scale models will be tested against storm-surges, hurricane, tsunami, slow-rising waters, and debris forces. Smart Walls Construction will then be able to provide the necessary framework for design guidelines for theses telescopic structural flood walls to be built virtually anywhere flood protection is needed.

Vishwa Robotics wins Phase II SBIR Grant

InteliSpark client Vishwa Robotics has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Grant worth $449,437. This Phase II Grant is for their project, “Development of a Novel Transmission for Helicopter Applications” which focuses on developing a novel gear box for rotorcrafts.

The US Army utilizes a wide variety of vehicles across ground and air platforms, where mechanical transmissions are used to transmit power from the engine to the drive shaft. The gears are used to create a torque and speed conversion with mechanical contact between the gear teeth surfaces. Lubrication is necessary for these vehicles, to create a protective film between rolling and sliding surfaces and provide sufficient cooling to prevent failure. Resultantly, mechanical contact transmissions are highly vulnerable to loss of lubrication events and require regular maintenance for their lubrication system. Specifically, there is a need for a solution to reduce mechanical contacts within helicopter transmissions to alleviate the lubrication loss related to catastrophic failures.

Vishwa Robotics has proposed a gear box for rotorcrafts, which results in simplification of the overall structure with substantial reduction in GTOW by circumventing the lubrication package. Focusing on helicopter rotor mechanisms, they have enhanced these structures by removing the lubrication system and reduction of different mechanical frictional tribological mechanism. This allows for increase in transmission life expectancy, robustness, and a dramatic increase in reliability. Vishwa Robotics’ concept can enable future scaling up to the power class of a utility, attack, or cargo class helicopter.

Ecolectro, Inc. wins Phase I SBIR Grant

InteliSpark client Ecolectro, Inc. has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant worth $225,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant is for the SBIR project “Ultrathin Polymer Electrolyte Composites with Exceptional Conductivity, Mechanical Strength and Chemical Durability.”  The goal of the SBIR project is to produce polymer composites that enable commercialization of alkaline electrochemical devices, such fuel cells and electrolyzers.

The use of fuel cell technologies will help preserve the environment, mitigate climate change, decreasing our carbon footprint and securing renewable energy supply. Electrolyzers are an increasingly attractive method of producing ultrapure hydrogen, an essential chemical feedstock and fuel.

Currently, widespread adoption of these technologies is prevented by the high system costs, which are driven by the platinum catalysts. Alkaline exchange membranes (AEMs) will be less expensive to produce and recyclable at the end of lifetime, unlike the existing polymer electrolytes, further decreasing the cost of devices. Producing commercially viable AEMs enables the widespread deployment of fuel cell and electrolyzer systems by making the technology economically competitive with incumbent fossil fuel based energy sources.

This SBIR Phase I project proposes to produce polymer electrolyte composites that meet the stringent performance criteria for a commercially viable AEM, including durability, hydroxide conductivity and mechanical strength under alkaline operating conditions. The combination of our unique polymer composition and a structural support that maximizes conductivity without losing mechanical strength, is a crucial milestone for the commercialization of our technology.

Neurovascular Diagnostics, Inc. wins Phase I SBIR Grant

InteliSpark client Neurovascular Diagnostics, Inc. has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant worth $224,032 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant is for the SBIR project “A Blood-Based Test to Identify Patients with Intracranial Aneurysm.”  The goal of the SBIR project is to develop a novel blood diagnostic to detect unruptured intracranial aneurysms (IA) in asymptomatic patients.

About 2-5% of the U.S. population (about 6-17 million Americans) have an unruptured IA, and these individuals are largely asymptomatic and thus unaware of the potential danger they are in. Currently, there are not any good screening tools to identify patients with unruptured IAs. Due to inefficient technology, about 30,000 Americans suffer IA rupture each year without warning. The diagnostic screening technology developed in this project will identify people who have unruptured IAs, enabling patients to be monitored and receive preventative treatment, which can drastically reduce the rate of rupture. This project aims to develop a molecular diagnostic to detect biomarkers of unruptured aneurysms using the transcriptomes of circulating neutrophils. Preliminary results have shown that circulating neutrophils isolated from blood samples could be used to predict unruptured IA presence with 80% accuracy.

This Phase I project will increase the sample size of the previous discovery and validation cohorts to give more confidence in the discovered biomarkers as well as increase the accuracy of the proposed diagnostic.

Senti Biosciences, Inc. wins Phase I SBIR Grant

InteliSpark client Senti Biosciences, Inc. has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant worth $225,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant is for the SBIR project “An Engineering Platform for Adaptive Medicines.”  The goal of the SBIR project is to develop a cell-based platform technology that can sense inflammatory sites and respond by producing anti-inflammatory factors to treat autoimmune diseases.

“There are more than 80 types of autoimmune disease with more than 23.5 million Americans affected. Autoimmune diseases are the number one cause of morbidity for women in the U.S., and one of the top 10 causes of death for women under 65 years old.” Current treatments for autoimmune diseases are effective for some patients, but a majority either are not receptive or become unmanageable. Standard drugs result in systemic immune suppression, which can cause severe and chronic side effects. There is a substantial market need for anti-inflammatory drugs that can act locally at the site of inflammation, and deliver the "right dose at the right time" depending on the severity of the flare. If successful, the adaptive cell therapy platform being developed in this proposal will serve as the basis for a next-generation therapy to existing biologics.

The substantial technical and clinical progress made in recent years in synthetic biology and cell therapies is enabling development of this type of product. The goal is to design and optimize synthetic gene circuits to program cells to locally sense inflammatory signals such as TNFalpha and release anti-TNF drugs. The plan is to introduce these circuits into adult stem cells that have been used safely in numerous clinical trials against autoimmune diseases and have a well-established commercial development path. The engineered cells will be tested in culture to show input/output response to different levels of TNFalpha, and then tested in mouse models of disease. If successful, lead candidates will be further developed in a Phase II application.