Ann Arbor tech firms lock down $1M in federal grants

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | Source: Concentrate
More than $1 million in seed capital is heading toward three Ann Arbor-based start-ups, all Ann Arbor SPARK clients, thanks to federal grants.

Akervall Technologies took in $120,000 from the U.S. Dept. of Defense Small Business Innovation Research program to develop the second generation of the Protech Dent mouth guard.

Arbor Photonics received a $44,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant for its development of high power, single-emitter fiber laser modules with exceptional beam quality and narrow line width.

However, the biggest winner is OG Technologies, which received nearly $1 million from the U.S. Dept of Energy. The 12-year-old company will use the $933,000 for the development of an optical caliper, a measurement tool for hot objects. Put simply, it's creating a camera that can take comprehensive pictures of extremely hot objects, such as newly made steel slabs. The new technology is expected to have primarily industrial uses. However, OG Technologies President Terry Liddy believes it has the potential for broader applications.

"We should have beta sites in steel mills within two years," Liddy says.

He expects the grant, which should fund the rest of the technology's development, will allow the company to add to its staff of 11 employees and a couple of summer interns. The hope is the company will hire a handful of new staff, including engineers, assemblers, and salespersons.

Source: Ann Arbor SPARK and Terry Liddy, president of OG Technologies
Writer: Jon Zemke
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