WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced that two New Mexico businesses were awarded $2,100,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) to support research and development and advance innovation.
Mesa Photonics LLC and Woodruff Scientific Inc., both based in Santa Fe, were awarded $1,100,000 and $1,000,000, respectively. The funding will allow Mesa Photonics to develop high precision instruments to lower the cost of telecommunications and technology development. Woodruff Scientific will use the funds to develop virtual reality and augmented reality devices that allow new methods for data visualization and collaboration in science and engineering.
“Small businesses like Mesa Photonics and Woodruff Scientific strengthen our communities by creating jobs and driving our economy into the future –their work is a great example of New Mexico’s leadership in emerging and innovative technologies,” said Udall. “I will always champion funding opportunities such as this— so we can continue to build a world class high-tech sector and support small businesses in our state.”
“As an engineer, I appreciate the value of emerging technologies. New Mexico can tap into the extraordinary research and development that is already being conducted in our backyard by supporting creative, homegrown companies,” said Heinrich. “Small businesses are job creators and at the heart of our state's economy, and I am committed to helping innovative companies like Mesa Photonics and Woodruff Scientific thrive.”
The announcement follows a May visit by Senator Heinrich to Mesa Photonics where he toured the facility to learn more about the projects the company is currently developing with NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The SBIR and STTR programs were created by Congress to leverage small businesses to advance innovation at federal agencies. Small businesses that demonstrated technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants competed for funding for prototype or processes development during Phase II. In addition, prior Phase II awardees competed for second or third Phase II awards to continue prototype and process development. The median Phase II award is $1,050,000 for a period of two years. Additional information on DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs is available here:
http://science.energy.gov/sbir/
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