Success Stories by Department of Defense

Wyatt Technology Corporation
Santa Barbara, CA 93117

The success of Wyatt Technologies started with a misdirected phone call.

While cleaning up the pieces of a failed company, founder Dr. Phil Wyatt received a phone call from the Department of Defense. They thought they were calling the old company, also named “Wyatt,” letting him know he’d won a contract award to study water quality. From that award, granted by the Defense SmallBusiness Advanced Technology program (a precursor to the SBIR Program) was born a company that today is the world’s leading producer of laser-based instrumentation used to measure the masses, sizes, and colligative properties of large macromolecules such as proteins and polymers (plastics).

The company’s extensive instrument line provides unique and powerful tools for many different areas of analytical chemistry, including quality control, process control, molecular weight and size determinations, and a host of other...

iRobot
Bedford, MA, 01730

Highlights: iRobot wins U.S. Army, Navy and DARPA contracts worth a total of $4.4 Million

iRobot Corp. (IRBT), a leader in delivering robotic technology-based solutions, was selected as one of eight companies to receive the first annual Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Hall of Fame Award.

The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Technology administers the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Through this competitive program, SBA ensures that the nation's small, high-tech, innovative businesses are a significant part of the federal government's research and development efforts.

“We’re thrilled to receive the SBIR Hall of Fame Award,” said Colin Angle, chairman and chief executive officer of iRobot. “I can say with absolute certainty that without the help of the SBIR program, iRobot could not have become the industry leader we are today.”

The SBIR Hall of Fame...

Creare Inc.
Hanover, NH 03755

Cutting fluids used during the machining process can pose risks to human health and the environment. Creare, Inc., has created the Indirect Cooling System (ICS), which is a low-cost system that indirectly cools the cutting tool without the use of cutting fluids. Creare’s ICS prevents the environmental and occupational health problems caused by conventional cutting fluids and reduces the cost of the process compared to both dry cutting and jet cooling with a synthetic coolant. ICS increases tool life by up to 700 percent and decreases part production costs while improving final part quality. The ICS cools the cutting tool indirectly using an inert working fluid. This provides several additional environmental and cost benefits, including zero toxic emissions. The system produces only inert gas that can be vented easily into the environment without further treatment, and the gas is produced at a flow rate 250 times lower than...

NanoMech, Inc.
Fayetteville, AR 72701

Cutting fluids used during the machining process are expensive,can be toxic, and produce a significant waste stream. NanoMech,Inc., developed a patented, innovative nanostructured coating for cutting tools based on the principles of biomimicry. The TuffTek® coating contains the hard phase deposited in a nodular structure similar to a lotus leaf’s surface, and the soft phases in the micro-reservoirs surrounded by the nodules, keeping the contact surface refreshed with lubricants.  The TuffTek® coating can improve tool life by 300 percent or more in certain applications. The technology was called “coating’s holy grail” by Cutting Tool Engineering (October 2008). NanoMech has successfully marketed TuffTek® coatings to cutting tool manufacturers and users in the automotive and other manufacturing industries, but its coating technology has applications in numerous markets, including manufacturing, biomedical,...