Niowave, Inc. of Lansing, has forged four new contracts with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) valued at $400,000. Contract extensions have the potential to reach $4 million, says Jerry Hollister, chief operating officer.
Two of the contracts deal with Small Business 
Innovation Research (SBIR). One will research new, more cost-effective manufacturing techniques for superconducting niobium cavities, a major component of particle accelerators. Work will be in collaboration with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLAB) in Newport News, Va., and FermiLab in Batavia, Ill.
The other will research a tunable 28 MHz superconducting cavity in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, N.Y.
The other two contracts are part of the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program and are to develop two different superconducting deflecting cavities in collaboration with JLAB.
“This is exciting new research with ongoing collaborations with three strong DOE partners,” said Dr. Terry Grimm, president and founder. “These projects will break new ground in terms of accelerator production as well as expand the capabilities for ongoing research at national labs.”
Hollister added, “Niowave has a good track record of receiving second phase funding, so these awards give us a solid foundation for the next two to three years. These awards will help fund the new innovations our newly hired staff will research.”
Niowave has nearly doubled its staff since the middle of 2008, and was recently named among the “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch," a statewide competition sponsored by the Lowe Foundation.
Source: Jerry Hollister, Niowave
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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