FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 16, 2005
For more information contact:

Gene Watson, WSSI Project Manager, WSSI program
Cell: 307.760.0456

Big Horn Valve, Sheridan
Principal Investigator: Ronn Smith
Phone: (307) 672-5443

DeltaNu, Laramie
Principal Investigator: Keith Carron
Phone: (307) 745-9148

Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D., P.C., Jackson
Principal Investigator: Dr. Kevin J. Fleming
Phone: (307) 733-4580

Square One Systems Design, Jackson
Principal Investigator: Robert Viola
Phone: (307) 739-0946

WyoBiGen, Laramie
Principal Investigator: Donald L. Jarvis
Phone: (307) 766-4282

Wyoming Silicon, Sheridan
Principal Investigator: Zachary Gray
Phone: (307) 752-2615

Six firms win a total of $30,000 in grants for technology innovation

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Imitative (WSSI) awarded $30,000 in grants this week to six firms from around Wyoming. These WSSI grants are made possible through a program funded by the Wyoming Business Council and administered through the University of Wyoming Research office.

Of the six awards, two firms each are located in Sheridan, Jackson and Laramie.
Among the winners was Square One Systems Design of Jackson Hole.

Square One Systems Design proposes a novel robotic workcell based on lightweight, interlocking linear modules. Experiments by the space science community have demonstrated the feasibility of large, plant-based bioregenerative systems. These experiments identify crop production automation as a critical enabling technology.

Advanced sensory capabilities and a sophisticated end effecter exchange system will allow this workcell to perform delicate seeding and propagation tasks, transplant seedlings, arrange growing trays, monitor the physiological development of individual plants, harvest fruit and tubers and clear inedible biomass.

WyoBiGen of Laramie seeks to develop a system for the production of useful spider silk fibers. Silks have important biomedical applications such as sutures, artificial ligaments, and more. Silk fibers are composed of proteins, among which spider silk proteins are the best characterized. Cloning of spider silk genes has enabled biotechnological production of synthetic spider silks.

Dr. Kevin J. Fleming of Jackson says the goal of his Phase Zero project is to prove the feasibility of applying innovative executive/corporate change models to health behavior transformation and to effectively deliver those services at a low cost in underserved, rural settings.

Laramie firm DeltaNu won an award for a project that will develop a handheld biological warfare detection system. This system will use Raman spectroscopy as the method of detection. DeltaNu proposes to make 25 different barcodes to enable an assay to detect 25 different biological warfare agents at a time.

Sheridan’s Wyoming Silicon is trying to develop a miniaturized sensor electronics package, which will be based on newly released commercial integrated circuit. The package will occupy a volume roughly equal to a deck of playing cards and yet provide the computational equivalent of a 200 MHz PC. It will be optimized for analog and digital I/O to support sensors used in rocket propulsion testing.

Big Horn Valve hopes to develop a miniature cryogenic control valve using patented Venturi-Offset Technology (VOSTTM). Intended for in-space use on next generation Joule-Thompson cryocoolers, the valve will exhibit precise mass flow control with low-pressure drop, low energy requirements, low mass, and excellent thermal performance.

The federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs make up the WSSI alliance and provide more than $2 billion annually in Research and Development (R&D)grants and contracts to qualified small businesses.

Eleven federal agencies are required by law to provide these funds by setting aside 2.5 percent of their annual extra-mural R&D budgets for use exclusively by U.S. small businesses for new product R&D. Hence, these programs provide a unique source of start-up and seed capital for small businesses to develop new innovative product concepts.

The SBIR Phase 0 Program helps Wyoming companies develop competitive proposals for the federal SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Under these programs, Wyoming businesses have the potential to receive up to $850,000 in federal funding to develop their ideas into products through a two-stage process. The SBIR Phase 0 program is a project of the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI).

The WSSI initiative is funded by the Wyoming Business Council and gives out $120,000 in Phase 0 grants each year.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.

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