Matt Willis (Department of the Army HQ) presents the Army's SBIR and STTR programs and how they target technology development for soldiers. He emphasizes that the Army is both funder and customer, outlines three synchronized portfolios (STTR/early-stage, modernization/future, and transition/near-term), and describes program flexibility: monthly topic releases, customer-aligned projects, and typical Phase I (proof-of-concept) and Phase II (prototyping) award sizes and durations. He closes with a call-to-action to visit the Army SBIR website and follow on social media.
Questions this video answers
Matt Willis — provides oversight for Army SBIR and STTR programs at Department of the Army headquarters.
About $250,000 for 3–6 months (proof of concept).
Around $2 million for 18–24 months (prototyping).
Monthly ("all the time, every month").
Chapters
So, greetings. It's great to, to be here today and to share, you know, some exciting opportunities that we have going on within the Army Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Research program. So I'd say so. I'm Matt Willis, and I work in headquarters, Department of the army, providing oversight for our Army SBIR and STTR programs. So one of the things that I'd say is really unique about the army, particularly within our SBIR STTR programs compared to the Department of Defense and really compared to the federal government writ large, is our ultimate customer for our program. So we're developing technologies to support the soldier. And so if you think about soldier, every different type of technology that they might touch, and a day, a week, a year, you know, anything from communication systems to vehicles to, you know, weapons platforms to power and energy or even nutrition, you know, think about the spectrum of different technologies from A to Z, really sets us apart in terms of all the different technology, you know, types that we're investing in through our program. The other thing that makes us unique, I'd say again, compared to many other federal agencies, is we're our own customer. So we're not just investing in technologies for the sake of investing in technologies, but we're investing in technologies that have real needs, real army customers that we hope to again evolve beyond, you know, basic research and development investments. And so through our program, we're really trying to be more deliberate about how we can engage with small businesses, how we can make it easier to work with the government, how we can be more transparent and be an opening, welcome door for small, innovative small businesses, small, innovative technology businesses to partner with and connect with the Army. So within our overarching program, we have multiple different separate but highly synchronized portfolios. So from a small business technology transfer research perspective that primarily focuses on, I'd say, earlier stage companies, you know, technologies that have recently spun out of universities. And we're really trying to take some of those seeds, those kernels of innovative technologies that might make a huge, huge difference in the next, let's say, decade and try to identify army use cases and really spin out and supercharge those ideas so they can support our needs. We also have a modernization focused portfolio. So think about, let's say, the army of the Future. So, so 20, 40, 17, 18 years in the future. What will be the tech then? So how can we invest in the seeds of future technology innovation? And finally, we have a transition focused portfolio. So this is looking at, let's say, the next three to five to seven years. So how can we invest in technologies with a known army transition partner? So again, we are accelerating the transition opportunities to actually develop, curate and transition deliver these technologies to our soldiers. So in terms of the Army's overarching approach, certainly there are typical policies and processes we have to follow under the SBIR and STTR program, but we've really infused flexibility into the program. So what does this mean? This means that within the army, we're releasing topics and project opportunities all the time, every month. And the reason for this is not to make it more challenging or confusing. It's really about making it easier. And we are catering our projects with our customer in mind. So what does that mean? That means that we have an army transition partner that has a need and has a transition opportunity at some point in the future. And we're curating and structuring our projects to support that cost schedule, performance perspective. So that means that when you participate in the Army SBIR program, we have a customer, that known customer within the army that wants the technology that you're developing. So again, that's very exciting in terms of the overall structure of the program. Again, we've tried to infuse flexibility in the program. Typically, project starts in, you know, a phase one project that's usually around $250,000, three to six months, and that's a proof of concept. Then the project can go into one or more phase two awards. And so these are prototyping contracts, typically around, you know, around $2 million, 18 to 24 months. And this provides an opportunity to not only develop a functional prototype, but get that prototype in the hands of our users and hands of our soldiers to get real time, valuable feedback on, you know, how the army may leverage the technology in the future. So again, we're really trying to infuse flexibility in the program, capitalize on small business innovation, and again, ultimately deliver game changing technologies to the soldier. And so I know that's a lot of information in a very little amount of time. I would encourage you to know. Follow us on social media, go to our website at ArmenianSiber army mil. All of the opportunities are on there. And you know, again, we're, we're constantly releasing new project opportunities across the board. So, so again, hope to, to see your, your company participate in the program in the.
