ARDEC hosts Small Business Innovative Research Technology Day

By Cassandra Mainiero, Picatinny Arsenal Public AffairsNovember 10, 2015

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PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. (Nov. 10, 2015) -- It's been three years since Picatinny Arsenal held a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Technology Day.

But interest clearly hasn't waned, as 38 small businesses displayed their technology on Oct. 29 in the arsenal's Cannon Gate Conference Center.

"The main thing is 'How do we get this stuff to the warfighter?'" said John Hedderich, Director of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, which hosted the event.

"I know you have your businesses, and that you have to make money, but our goal is that we give the warfighter the best equipment, so that they can do their mission and come home to their families. And, you're helping us do that….the innovation out on these tables is just unbelievable."

SBIR Technology Day is a networking event that showcases technology developed by small businesses.

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY

By providing these businesses the opportunity to discuss their projects with ARDEC project managers, as well as representatives from the arsenal's Program Executive Office for Ammunition, the event aims to integrate the technology into ARDEC's customer programs.

The event was established at Picatinny by Carol L'Hommedieu, the previous ARDEC SBIR program coordinator, who hosted the first ARDEC SBIR Day in November 2005.

Initially, it included only participants from small businesses that received Phase II SBIR contract awards.

However, based on the first event's success, Picatinny also hosted SBIR Day in 2007 and 2012. In 2012, it expanded and started to include large prime contractors, as well as other Department of Defense customers and labs beyond Picatinny.

Currently, ARDEC's SBIR program consists of more than 60 Phase I and Phase II SBIR contractors.

"It's really interesting to develop technology with ARDEC," said Ray Wilhelm, an engineer from Robotics Research, whose project focuses on projecting 3-D maps of an area within a videogame environment, but at a lower cost than what is currently available.

"They are a lot more focused in bringing technology to the battlefield today rather than a hypothetical situations in the future," said Wilhelm. "So, it's been fascinating to be more in touch with solving problems and moving them over to the warfighter as soon as possible."

This year marked the fourth SBIR Technology Day at Picatinny.

The projects ranged from a head-mounted display that projects holographic information to a human-like torso added on a talon robot as a way to help explosive ordnance disposal technicians.

"The subject matter interests me," said Regg Allen, project director of RE2 Inc., about his project on the Talon's human-like torso. "We're definitely interested in saving lives and helping the EOD techs."

Picatinny's ARDEC has a $2.2 million SBIR program for fiscal year 2015--all funds going to small businesses.

RDEC has a $2.2 million SBIR program for fiscal year 2015--all funds going to small businesses.

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The U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to ensure decisive overmatch for unified land operations to empower the Army, the joint warfighter and our nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.

Related Links:

Army Technology Live

U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

U.S. Army Materiel Command

Army.mil: Science and Technology News

U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command

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