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Idaho Innovation News – August 2008

August 13, 2008 /

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In this issue:

# Computer Measurement Laboratories Wins Air Force Phase 2 SBIR

# Idaho State University Encourages New Learning, Saves Money

# Owner of Microbial-Vac Earns International Recognition

# BSU Student Team Catches Google’s Attention

# Regional and Statewide SBIR Conferences Fast Approaching

# Federal Grant Proposal Assistance

# M2M Manages Irrigation, Pays Farmers, Saves Electricity

# Ideas Innovations Idaho License Plates For Sale

http://commerce.idaho.gov/technology/

Computer Measurement Laboratories Wins Air Force Phase 2 SBIR

(Boise) Computer Measurements Laboratory, LLC (CML) has won a U.S. Air Force Phase II grant award titled "Dynamic Kernel Monitoring for Attack Detection and Mitigation." CML is a small startup company co-founded a little over one year ago by Dr. John Munson, with the University of Idaho, and Rick Hoover, an 18-year veteran of Hewlett-Packard. Their key business focus is in the area of reliability and security for computer software through engineering measurement techniques. This highly innovative technology holds the promise of enabling very reliable and secure software, which could eventually ripple through the entire software industry.

Rick Hoover and Dr. John Munson

"Applying for federal grants has been a time consuming process but the rewards have been well worth the effort," said Hoover.

In June 2007 when the company submitted three SBIR proposals to the Department of Defense, CML was just another small startup business struggling to find funding to develop their designs. Then, in September 2007, the company learned that one of the three proposals they submitted had won an SBIR Phase I award. As a result of the initial funding, the company was able to invest in the equipment and hire the employees to do the work they needed to prove the feasibility of their designs and write the Phase II proposal.

Now with the Phase II funding, CML is on the verge of creating a product that will provide a whole new level of reliability and security for computer systems that could dramatically affect the entire software industry.

CML took advantage of Idaho’s orginal grant proposal assistance fund (now named the Grant Proposal Incentive or GPI program) when they applied for Phase I of the DoD Air Force program. According to Brian Dickens, Administrator of Commerce’s Office of Science & Technology which manages Idaho’s GPI Fund, "Depending on the size of CML’s award–typically between $750,000 and $1.5 million–this will bring the ROI for Idaho’s $100,000 2007 zero-phase funding to between 11 to 1 and 19 to 1. We are very excited about CML’s SBIR success, as this is precisely the result we were hoping for when Commerce proposed zero-phase SBIR funding. Historically, Idaho has not received its share of federal dollars through the SBIR/STTR program, and a stimulus project like GPI is aimed at correcting that."

Idaho State University Encourages New Learning, Saves Money

(Boise) Idaho State University will begin the 2008-2009 academic year with a new learning management system – or LMS– after 10 years with WebCT/Blackboard.

Moodle–Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment–is the new LMS that has been selected by students and faculty for electronic assessment, content, and communication activities with popular tools for employing profiling, wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, instant messaging, and portfolios. ISU students can interact with the LMS through their computer from home, on campus, or anywhere they have access to the Internet. After a two-year study, Moodle has demonstrated to be more productive, user friendly and cost effective for ISU.

Martin Dougiamas, an Australian educator, developed Moodle in 1999 out of frustration with the existing commercial LMS software. Moodle has now blossomed into an open community of educators eagerly seeking dynamic tools for the 21st century student.

ISU Students Using Moodle

"The Moodle community is growing with the needs of educators because it was developed to serve educators by educators," said Randy Stamm, ISU’s e-learning coordinator.

This type of collaborative approach to teaching and researching is being practiced by 38,896 registered sites, 16.9 million users, and 1.7 million courses worldwide.

Moodle continues to surprise many ISU faculty and students with its robust feature set for expanding their teaching and learning endeavors.

"I’ve used Blackboard’s WebCT product in the past, but Moodle seems to be very intuitive with the flexibility to develop learning communities that fit both student and faculty." said Linda Boyd, director of ISU’s online graduate dental hygiene program.

An ISU student adds, "I like to see the other students in my class through the profile feature, but it really has improved some communication barriers with my instructor,"

This past spring, ISU professors have developed 1,200 Moodle courses and this number is expected to increase as more instructors distribute courses activities online.

For more information, contact Randy Stamm, e-learning coordinator, ISU Instructional Technology Resource Center, 208-373-1744.

Owner of Microbial-Vac Earns International Recognition

(Jerome) Dr. Bruce Bradley, owner of Microbial-Vac Systems, Inc. (MSI) has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 Food Safety Innovation Award by the International Association for Food Protection. Dr. Bradley is receiving recognition for the invention of the Microbial-Vac, a portable, innovative wet-vacuum surface pathogen collection and retention system.

Dr. Bruce Bradley with the Microbial-Vac system

The award will be presented at the association’s 95th annual meeting next month in Columbus, Ohio. According to the press release on the IAFP website (www.foodprotection.org), the Food Safety Innovation Award acknowledges Dr. Bradley for "creating a new idea, practice, or product that has had a positive impact on food safety, thus, improving public health and the quality of life." The association has over 3,000 members from 50 countries around the world.

Recalling his father’s reaction to the award, Jared Bradley, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for MSI noted, "I have never seen him more proud. Receiving the Innovation Award not only showed him that his food safety peers recognized him as an important player in the food safety arena, but it also validated his life’s work."

The MSI System combines sterile surface liquid rinse and wet-vacuum collection systems to allow users such as field soldiers and food safety monitoring teams to more accurately and safely locate and retrieve possible bio-agent or food surface pathogens.

Research and development of the MSI system began over ten years ago using Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

"This award acknowledges the dedication and determination of the Microbial-Vac team" said Rick Ritter, CEO of Idaho TechConnect. "Dr. Bradley saw a need and has worked tirelessly to bring a solution to market."

In late 2007, Microbial-Vac Systems began marketing the first commercial version of the M-Vac system nation wide. The company, headquartered in Jerome with an office in Salt Lake City, Utah, employs 16 people and is seeking to expand by years-end as production of the M-Vac system ramps up.

BSU Student Team Catches Google’s Attention

(Boise) A Boise State University student team placed in the top three (out of 700 competitors) in the 2008 Google Online Marketing Challenge. BSU’s AdHype team, taught by Christoph Schneider, used online marketing to manage a Google AdWords campaign for a sporting equipment online retailer.
To select this team as a finalist, Google first examined more than 30 different variables within their AdWords account. Their account was then reviewed by expert Googlers. Lastly, the team was judged based on the quality of their written reports.
Team members Lisa Chipman, Trevor Herbst, Kasey Keller, Chris Mendonca, and Lisa Mooers have been invited to spend a day at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.
For more information on winners and finalists, go to http://www.google.com/onlinechallege/2008winners.html

Regional and Statewide SBIR Conferences Fast Approaching

(Statewide)
2008 Idaho Regional SBIR/STTR Conference
From Innovation to Market
Ready..Set..Go!
Three Steps to Success

Evening Session Tuesday, October 28, 2008
All Day Wednesday, October 29, 2008

All Sessions and Lunch – Only $100

Doubletree Hotel Boise-Riverside
2900 Chinden Boulevard
Boise, Idaho 83714

Ready: Attend one of six local workshops. You will learn the basics of the SBIR/STTR programs, if SBIR/STTR is right for your business, and how to search for grant topics that meet your business needs.
Learn More or register, follow this link: http://www.commerce.idaho.gov/technology/sbirsttr-regional-conference

Set: Attend the 2008 Idaho Regional SBIR/STTR Conference.
# Start writing your Phase I grant proposal
# Choose from two tracks:

1. Track One: Writing your SBIR/STTR Phase I proposal
2. Track Two: The Phase II proposal, commercialization and government financials
# Learn grant writing techniques and significantly improve your chances of winning an award
# Meet program managers from five federal agencies that have SBIR/STTR programs
# Learn what is needed for a successful SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II application

Go: Get the help you need after the conference to be successful. At the end of the conference, meet with your local economic development specialist or TechConnect or SBDC representative. These are the organizations and the people that will help coach you through the grant proposal process after the conference.

Learn More or to register, follow this link: http://www.commerce.idaho.gov/technology/sbirsttr-regional-conference

Federal Grant Proposal Assistance

(Statewide) If Your Business Has An Innovative Idea, A Federal Grant May Be Right For You! Why apply for a federal grant?

Eleven federal agencies spend approximately $80 billion each year on extramural research and development (R&D). These agencies are looking for companies with innovative ideas and are willing to provide grant funding. If that’s not enough, here are seven additional reasons to include grants in your business plan:
# A federal grant can range from $100,000 to several million dollars.
# Grants are not loans. You do not have to pay back the money.
# Most grants do not require matching funds or equity.
# The intellectual property rights remain with your business.
# You retain all ownership of your business.
# A federal grant award provides validation of your business and idea.
# A federal grant award can be a leveraging tool to attract venture capital.

Here’s how it works! The federal grant process is very competitive. To compete, you must have a truly innovative idea and it must meet needs or solve problems deemed to be vital to our national interests. Fortunately, each agency issues topics that they deem vital. For more information, visit the Department of Commerce website listed below.
State Grant of up to $3,000! Assistance in preparing and developing federal R&D grant proposals – with potential for commercialization – is available to Idahoans statewide through the Idaho Grant Proposal Incentive (GPI) Fund. A small grant, up to $3,000, is available to qualifying businesses to help with the costs of applying for a federal R&D grant. Services include helping to determine the viability of submitting a proposal; assisting in the development of superior proposals; helping to fine tune business and commercialization strategies; and assessment of the final submission package.

For more information concerning federal grants and the $3,000 state grant from the GPI Fund, visit our website at http://commerce.idaho.gov/technology/federal-funding.aspx or contact Mark Strait at [email protected].

M2M Manages Irrigation, Pays Farmers, Saves Electricity

(Boise) M2M Communications Company of Boise designs and manufactures specialty communication equipment for the energy sector. M2M Communications devices give a utility the ability to shed large non-critical loads in high demand situations such as on hot summer days.

M2M Communications has successfully deployed a sophisticated irrigation load control program for Rocky Mountain Power in southeastern Idaho. The company has designed a series of rugged wireless (cellular & RF based) control devices and a web-to-wireless network operations center as a versatile and secure method to remotely monitor and control energy usage at irrigation pump sites. 4,000 load control units are being installed, allowing Rocky Mountain Power to shift enough energy from irrigation pumps to power over 40,000 homes.

Massive irrigation pumps like these consume tremendous amounts of electricity, and can easily be controlled by M2M Communications systems

During the summer months, as much as one-third of the total power consumption in rural areas is devoted to irrigation pumps and systems. Direct load control programs give utility companies the ability to reschedule the power consumption for various types of equipment at participating customer sites during times of peak energy demand–a benefit for which utilities are typically willing to compensate the participating customer.

M2M’s system integrates with both the pump and the electrical system to control and monitor both water flow and electrical consumption.

The benefits of Demand Side Management projects to consumers, utilities, and society are significant:
# Reduced customer energy bills
# Reduced need for new power plants and transmission & distribution networks
# Reduced air pollution
# Reduced dependency on foreign energy sources
# Reduced peak power prices for electricity
# Prevention of future electricity crises

For more information: http://www.m2mcomm.com

August 2008 Events Calendar
August 7th
Kickstand
Twin Falls
Monthly education and networking for innovators. 6 – 7:30 pm at Pandora’s, Twin Falls. To register for the event, go to http://www.kickstandidaho.com or contact [email protected].

August 13th
Eagle Technology Group
Eagle
A committee interested in developing and expanding Eagle’s technology sector and capitalizing on existing strengths. For more information on joining the group or attending meetings, contact Rosemary Regner at [email protected].

August 14th
Kickstand
Boise
Monthly education and networking for innovators. 6 – 7:30 pm at The Watercooler, 14th & Idaho Streets, Boise. To register for the event, go to http://www.kickstandidaho.com or contact [email protected].

August 16th
2008 Innovation Fair and Business Expo
Nampa
EYEClub, a service organization targeting the education of young entrepreneurs will host this event from 10am to 6pm at the Sleep Inn on Industrial Road in Nampa. Youth will present their business plans, special projects, products and services to the public. Visit with our young entrepreneurs, and network with like-minded business owners, community leaders, and other youth focused organizations.

For more information contact: Julie Larson at 867-0790 or [email protected]

EYEclub is a non-profit organization for youth, please visit us on the web at http://www.eyeclub.org.

September 5th
Boise Valley Economic Partnership’s Treasure Valley Regional SBIR Conference
Boise
September 5, 2008 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Boise Valley Economic Partnership
C.W. Moore Plaza
250 S. 5th St.
Boise, Idaho
Lower Level Conference Center
Registration Fee: $99/Person
Contact: Rebecca Winston
Phone: (208) 472-5229 or (208) 871-0124

Ideas Innovations Idaho License Plates Set To Become Collectors’ Items
Click here to find out more

(Statewide) Specialty license plates that celebrate innovation and support Idaho’s high-tech industries are entering their third year of availability through the Idaho Transportation Department. Continued availability of the plate will depend on total sales.
A portion of the proceeds from each plate sold goes to a fund that is used to develop programs and market the state’s technology sector.
Souvenir plates are also available.
A picture of the license plate, and information on how to purchase one, can be viewed at http://commerce.idaho.gov/technology/license-plate.aspx

Have an Idea/Submission for this Newsletter?

Contact Brian Dickens, Administrator of Idaho Department of Commerce’s Office of Science & Technology at (208) 334-2650, ext. 2103, or at [email protected]

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Idaho Innovation News – August 2008

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