A trio of companies in New Mexico recently received over $3 million worth of federal dollars to help spur the development of nuclear-related technologies.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the federal funding awards on Sept. 3. Each of the three awards to the New Mexico companies are phase-two Small Business Innovation Research grants — federal awards intended to help fund technological development by early-stage firms across the country.
As well, each of New Mexico's three Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, awards are under nuclear technology-focused Department of Energy (DOE) programs. Specifically, two of the awards fall under the DOE's "defense nuclear nonproliferation" program, and the other falls under the Department's "nuclear energy" program.
The three New Mexico companies to receive SBIR awards are:
- Aquila Inc., headquartered at 8401 Washington Place NE in Albuquerque, which received just under $1.1 million for an X-ray-based portable calibration system under the defense nuclear nonproliferation program.
- Opticslah LLC, headquartered at 2350 Alamo Ave. SE, Suite 280, in Albuquerque, which received $1.15 million for a compact laser absorption spectroscopy system designed to identify and monitor lithium under the defense nuclear nonproliferation program.
- Palladias LLC, headquartered at 903 Tewa Loop in Los Alamos, which received $1.15 million for the development of resins to assist in the separation of nuclear waste for disposal under the nuclear energy program.
Phase two SBIR awards are aimed at technology development, whereas phase one awards are for proving out technologies and phase three awards are targeted at technology commercialization.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said SBIR investments are "crucial to growing our economy and creating the jobs of the future that New Mexicans can build their families around."
"I'm proud to welcome over $3 million for three homegrown small businesses that are manufacturing cutting-edge technologies in advanced nuclear science to strengthen our national security and help us responsibly manage nuclear waste," Henrich, a member of the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in the statement.
New Mexico's Economic Development Department operates an SBIR matching grant program, which allocates state dollars to companies that previously received federal SBIR awards via an application process. State matching dollars "cover expenses related to business development that are not eligible for federal SBIR funds," per the Economic Development Department's website.
While fiscal year 2024 matching grant applications closed last November, Nora Meyers Sackett, the director of the Economic Development Department's Office of Strategy, Science and Technology, said applications for fiscal year 2025 matching grants are expected to open in October.
Former New Mexico Inno 'Startup to Watch' also among recent SBIR awardees
Proof Labs Inc., a 2023 New Mexico Inno Startup to Watch, said Sept. 4 it also received an SBIR award in the form of a contract with AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Department of the Air Force operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Proof Labs' AFWERX SBIR contract is worth just shy of $1.25 million and is focused on advancing the startup's cybersecurity technology. Dubbed "Cyber Resilient On-Orbit," or CROO, Proof Labs' cybersecurity tech is focused on protecting satellites and other space-based assets from cyber attacks.
Dick Wilkinson, co-founder and chief technology officer of Proof Labs, said in a statement that the startup's AFWERX contract would "lead to technical innovations that support national security and the security of our industrial base."
While the startup was launched in Albuquerque in 2021, it's since expanded to include work out of the Cyber Vulnerability Lab, part of the Space Information and Analysis Center, in Colorado Springs.
