Funding program has awarded six small businesses grants for technology developments that meet the needs of DHS S&T and/or USAMRMC
COLUMBIA, Md. (April 30, 2012) – The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced today that six Maryland technology companies have received a total of $457,154 in funding to develop technologies that meet the needs of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC). TRX Systems, Inc.; Smart Imaging Systems, Inc.; ES&T, Inc.; GenArraytion, Inc.; QuickSilver Analytics, Inc. and BioFactura, Inc. each received $75,000 or more from TEDCO’s two-year Joint Technology Transfer Initiative (JTTI). Through this Congressionally-funded program, a total of $825,000 will be awarded to 11 small businesses developing technologies that meet the needs of DHS and/or USAMRMC including companies licensing and commercializing DHS and/or USAMRMC technologies.
“This funding is good news for Maryland’s public-private partnerships working to keep our nation safe and our economy rolling,” said Senator Mikulski, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Through the Joint Technology Transfer Initiative, Maryland small businesses will continue to lead the way in developing the next generation of tools to keep us safe and secure. I’m proud to put funds in the federal checkbook to support Maryland’s research and innovation economy, creating jobs today and jobs tomorrow.”
“The Joint Technology Transfer Initiative is a tremendous example of effective collaboration between government, nonprofit organizations and Maryland private businesses,” said Rob Rosenbaum, president and executive director of TEDCO. “This program will allow companies to continue research and commercialize technologies that focus on the country’s military defense system, first responders and the Homeland Security enterprise.”
JTTI funding is for collaborative projects between small businesses and DHS and/or USAMRMC. Additionally, the Frederick County Office of Economic Development (OED) provides business planning and development assistance to JTTI awardees as needed. The program operates on an open submissions process with a 60-day review cycle. The proposal review process begins on the 15th of each month and will be reviewed by an advisory review committee and a formal board consisting of senior members from DHS, USAMRMC, and TEDCO providing the final review and approval. The six awards that have been granted are:
- TRX Systems, Inc., located in Greenbelt, Md., has developed the Sentrix system, which provides the capability to track personnel in GPS-denied environments. The Sentrix system uses ranging data to provide corrections to the estimated position of the tracked individuals.
- Smart Imaging Systems, Inc., located in Beltsville, Md., is building the world’s smallest X-ray scanner mounted on a small robot for inspection of unidentified and suspicious objects. The system can be driven inside buildings and can be easily deployed by soldiers, customs and border patrol as well as first responders.
- ES&T, Inc., located in Boonsboro, Md., has developed an early-stage technology, MEDUSA, to disable blasting caps by introducing electrical energy in a specific sequence of voltage, current and waveforms. This technology has the promise to become an effective counter-improvised explosive device solution.
- GenArraytion, Inc., located in Rockville, Md., in conjunction with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, is conducting detailed molecular genotyping of clinical bacterial isolates in order to develop a multiplexed molecular polymerase chain reaction.
- QuickSilver Analytics, Inc., located in Abingdon, Md., is looking to commercialize a field sampling kit developed by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense for collecting and processing human urine samples in the field. This new technology avoids shipping a biological liquid sample by utilizing a dry prepare/processed sample, instead of ice packs and refrigeration.
- BioFactura, Inc., located in Rockville, Md., is developing a therapeutic for the treatment of Ebola, a highpriority biothreat. Secondarily, this effort will serve to demonstrate the capability of BioFactura’s RHAGe™ system for biodefense countermeasure development. A successful outcome could have broad commercial drug development applications.
Proposals for JTTI funding are currently being accepted through the TEDCO website and will be reviewed according to the official application guidelines (www.MarylandTEDCO.org).
Funding Briefings: TEDCO hosts briefings to teach companies how to use TEDCO’s funding programs to help develop, transfer and commercialize technology from Maryland universities and federal laboratories to the Maryland marketplace. A session will be held at TEDCO’s office in Columbia from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 11. The briefing is free; however registration is required. To register, please visit the TEDCO registration website or http://www.marylandtedco.org/calendarofevents/calendar.cfm.