Gained Critical Knowledge from SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab Overseen by OST Global Solutions
Airgility, a leading designer & manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), has won a National Science Foundation Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award for “intelligent cloud-based advanced manufacturing services.” Airgility, while seeking to leverage 3D printing “as thoroughly as possible for actual manufacturing and higher productivity” to produce its drone vehicles directly out of 3D printing machines as final goods, is developing algorithms to manage the end-to-end process of advanced manufacturing.
The result of the SBIR Phase I work is to orchestrate open-ended digital design with open-ended manufacturing while retaining productivity.
Airgility was a participant in the innovative SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab, overseen by OST Global Solutions and the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), and supported by Maryland Small Business Development Center (SBDC), under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) FAST Grant.
“We’re extremely proud to have won this NSF SBIR Phase 1 award,” said Airgility’s CTO and Co-Founder Evandro Valente. “This is an important validation of the current success and future potential of our leading-edge manufacturing processes and best-in-class products.”
The NSF SBIR program follows a highly competitive review process where applications are awarded based on both intellectual merit and broad impact. Airgility’s NSF SBIR award was made through the NSF’s Division of Industrial Innovation & Partnerships, which “invests in high-tech small businesses and collaborations between academia and industry to transform discoveries into innovative commercial technologies with societal benefits.”
SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab Helped Airgility Navigate the Proposal Process to Win SBIR Award
The SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab is explicitly designed to help companies like Airgility win SBIR awards by advising on win strategy, teaming, and improving proposal quality. Through hands-on training, the Lab further enables companies’ long-term ability to win other government and commercial bids.
The SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab combines best-in-industry proposal training, mentoring, proposal reviews by experts, SBA tutorials, and hands-on guidance throughout the process of developing and submitting proposals. The Lab not only helps companies succeed in obtaining “America’s seed fund” dollars but also teaches participants how to create a government proposal development skillset.
Airgility’s Valente thanked OST Global Solutions and TEDCO for their “incredible help” in guiding Airgility through the SBIR proposal process and stressed that “we probably could not have reached the success that we have without them, especially in our first time ever applying”. He also noted, “this program is well beyond a two-hour-long crash course; this is immersive and comprehensive, and exactly what we needed!”
“OST is delighted with Airgility winning the NSF SBIR Phase 1 Award, demonstrating its success as a visionary, trailblazing company,” said OST Global Solutions’ CEO Olessia Smotrova. “We’re also happy that this award demonstrates the efficacy of the SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab in providing small businesses with the vital capabilities, guidance, and knowledge to realize better outcomes in winning SBIR dollars.”
The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce selected Airgility in May 2019 as one of “the top ten most innovative companies”in the greater Washington region, ranking them 6th in the DC/Maryland/Virginia region.
As a result of this NSF SBIR Phase I Award, Airgility is now looking to hire talent experienced in implementing machine learning within their existing combinatorial algorithm architecture, and preferably, also having cloud or graphical user interface development experience.
About Airgility
We create multi-mission vehicles that can make a big social impact. Whether delivering medical supplies, conducting search and rescue, or protecting our borders, Airgility provides the best-in-class hybrid VTOL unmanned aerial systems. With on-board artificial intelligence, our solutions offer broad operational impact and logistics.... or as we like to call it, Mission as a Service (MaaS). (www.airgility.co)
About OST Global Solutions: Growing Businesses through Winning Federal Contracts Is Our Sole Mission. OST Global Solutions, Inc. has a proven track record of helping businesses fast-forward federal contract growth through start-to-finish business development consulting and training. OST has supported 18 of the top 20 Federal contractors, has won $22+ billion in federal contracts since 2005, and has contributed to growing dozens of small and mid-size companies to large businesses. Through our consulting, Bid & Proposal Academy training, and GovCon Incubator, we give our clients an edge over competition.
