This webinar will be a “fireside chat” between Dr. Stephen Lee and representatives from two exemplar STTR companies to highlight Army STTR success stories.
Speakers include:
Dr. Stephen Lee, Sr. Scientist, Army Research Office
Dr. Jeremy Walker, Director, Science and Technology, Teledyne FLIR
Dr. Brian France, Senior Chemist, TDA
Dr. Bill Bell, Principal Scientist, TDA
All event times are listed in U.S. Eastern Time.
STTR Successes: Ideas with Impact
The Army Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program is an invaluable tool and resource to bring technologies and capability to the Soldier. The STTR program has given the United States a strategic innovation tool that assures technological overmatch and sets us apart from the rest of the world.
Dr. Stephen Lee has worked over 23 years with the STTR program to transition science and research to the Soldier. Dr. Lee is the U.S. Army Research Office Senior Scientist for Interdisciplinary Science with active interests in transitioning basic research and innovation. Dr. Lee received a Bachelor of Science from Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi, in Chemistry and Biology, and a Doctorate of Philosophy from Emory University in Physical Organic Chemistry. His research focus at ARO includes basic research in hazardous materials management, including studies in decontamination, detection, and protection. Dr. Lee has been involved in fielding and transitioning many technologies and capabilities to the Soldier including decontaminants, detectors and sensors, field protection equipment, and general gear. His work with TeledyneFLIR and TDA Research highlight examples of the impact and transition of the STTR program.
TeledyneFLIR Director of Science and Technology, Jeremy Walker, has been involved with STTR throughout his career. Walker’s STTR research originally supported at the University of Pittsburgh in the Army Research Office (ARO) Chemical Sciences basic research program, demonstrates an excellent example of basic research’s impact from academia through to a fully fielded military system. The original work, done by Professor Russel, was meant to study enzymes which could break down and destroy chemical warfare agents, but during that work a unique way to detect chemical warfare agents was discovered. ARO utilized the STTR program where the academic discovery was transitioned to Agentase, a small business formed to further refine and package the synthetic biology developed product for use in the battlefield. As the capabilities of the new detection system became apparent, the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense began a new program of record known as the Contamination Indicator/Decontamination Assurance System (CIDAS). Agentase’s success led to the company first becoming a part of a multinational traded company and finally to a fully owned part of TeledyneFLIR Corporation. This demonstrates STTR programs’ ability to create new business successful at supporting national security.
Bill Bell and Brian France, with TDA Research, have worked in the STTR program for many years. There they have matured many technologies from large companies and academia to commercial products used by the military today, including the detergent SSDX-12® for cleaning aircraft and contaminated equipment. During the development process, the firm discovered that decontamination efficacy improved by simply adding a mixture of commercially available surfactants to the base formulation enabling it to lift hydrophobic chemicals from military relevant surfaces without requiring any mechanical agitation. TDA Research has achieved commercial sales of the surfactant component as a non-reactive detergent solution qualified for use in routine aircraft cleaning per MIL-PRF-87937 and in facilities exposed to heavy metals such as aircraft maintenance facilities. TDA is continuing to expand their SSDX-12® commercial and military capabilities by exploring cleaning for removal of other hazardous compounds, skin decontamination, and efficacy against emerging chemical and biological hazards.