FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 14, 2005
For more information contact:

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

Crile Carvey, Crile Carvey Consulting, Inc.
2187 Highway 34
Wheatland, WY 82201
Phone: 307-322-1823

Frank Cylvick, CF Electronics
2052 N. 3rd Street
Laramie, WY 82070
Phone: 307-742-8510

Zachary Gray, Wyoming Silicon LLC
354 W. Heald
Sheridan, WY 82801
Phone: 307-752-2615

Three firms win a total of $15,000 in grants for technology innovation

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Initiative (WSSI) awarded $15,000 in research grants to Wyoming firms this week under the Phase 0 program.

The SBIR Phase 0 Program helps Wyoming companies develop competitive proposals for the federal SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. 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.

One of the three companies receiving a $5,000 Phase 0 award this month was Crile Carvey Consulting Inc. of Wheatland. Crile Carvey is proposing a graphical user interface (GUI) which will significantly reduce the cost and time required to generate accurate outcomes and predictions within complex fire simulation environments. The Department of Defense (DoD) relies on detailed fire modeling computations to predict fire behavior when designing structures and aircraft. Crile Carvey’s team will utilize their expertise in GUI design software, process control and real-time physics visualization to bring significant productivity gains to the DoD engineering community.

CF Electronics of Laramie proposes a personal lowering device for Air Force airmen, whose parachute has become entangled in an obstruction, preventing them from reaching the ground. The current package is large and bulky and there is a need for a smaller package that will fit into a flight suit rather than attach to the parachute harness assembly. A smaller package must address anticipated problems of structural integrity and handling significant accumulated heat as braking action is applied to allow the personnel to descend at a controllable rate.

Wyoming Silicon of Sheridan is proposing a commercial version of a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) proprietary optical detector be developed. Based on an existing Electrically Substituted Bolometer (ESB) prototype developed at NIST, the commercial version will include improved control electronics and professional packaging of the detector in a custom cryogenic dewar. In Phase II, a viable manufacturing approach for producing gold-black absorptive coatings will be developed.

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 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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