Discovery Park workshop to outline changes to SBIR, STTR funding programs

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Have an innovative research idea?

The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship in Purdue University's Discovery Park will lead a workshop on how to leverage U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 16.

Organizers also will highlight the amended SBIR and STTR eligibility policies, the award process and administration that the U.S. Small Business Administration put in place earlier this year. The workshop, in Room 121 of the Burton D. Morgan Center, is free and open to the public but seating is limited and registration is required.

"Entrepreneurs and innovators supported by these federal funding programs often generate some of the most important breakthroughs each year in our country," said Cliff Wojtalewicz, managing director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. "Estimates show that 25 percent of the top innovations in the U.S. each year come from SBIR-funded small businesses. So this is a timely and important workshop for our entrepreneurially minded Purdue community."

For more information or to register, contact Bambrah Miller, administrative assistant for the Burton D. Morgan Center, at bambrah@purdue.edu, 765-494-1335.

Al Rebar, director of Discovery Park and senior associate vice president for research at Purdue, will provide opening remarks at 8:30 a.m., followed by a small reception and networking session. The formal program begins at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided.

The SBIR and STTR grant programs are designed specifically for small entrepreneurial enterprises working on new technologies. Wojtalewicz said they also are potential sources of non-equity for emerging business research and development.

These federal programs are available from 11 major agencies including the departments of Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, NASA and others.

The Burton D. Morgan Center, through its sponsored initiatives and partnerships - including the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Technology Realization Program, Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy and business plan competitions - aims to stimulate entrepreneurship at Purdue and serves as a state, regional and national resource.

A primary initiative of the Discovery Park center is the Deliberate Innovation for Faculty, or DIFF program, which was launched last fall to provide mentoring for Purdue innovators who have an interest in translating their inventions to the public through commercialization, collaboration or entrepreneurship.

The building also houses the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub that opened in July to provide assistance in areas such as product ideation and market analysis as well as business-plan development, alumni and faculty mentoring, and help in finding funding. 

Writer: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu

Source: Cliff Wojtalewicz, 765-496-3961, cliffw@purdue.edu