Department of the Army awards $1.15 million for small business research and development to Tessellated

The U.S. Army selected Tessellated to receive a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract to develop technologies that address military modernization challenges. The contract was awarded under the U.S. Army STTR program, which encourages small, high-tech, U.S.-based businesses (in partnership with major research institutions) to provide cutting-edge research and development solutions in response to critical defense needs. As with many agile technology companies, Tessellated is uniquely positioned to address the U.S. Army's modernization priorities. 

Tessellated seeks to commercialize a high-strength polymer film discovered in the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. This advanced material has a wide range of possible use cases and is application agnostic, including ballistic armor, thermal management and implementation in composite parts for aerospace and automotive applications.

Federal SBIR and STTR programs are known as "America's Seed Fund," enabling early-stage startups to develop critical technologies further and bring them to market. They are one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for technology commercialization in the United States. They meet federal research and development demand while increasing the potential for private-sector commercialization. 

Central to the STTR program is the partnership between small businesses and nonprofit research institutions, catalyzing formal collaboration throughout Phase I and II development. According to SBIR.gov, STTR's most important role is to bridge the gap between basic science performance and the resulting innovations' commercialization.

In 2022 alone, Tessellated received three SBIR/STTR awards from the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. The aggregate funding under these awards totals more than $500,000, with Notre Dame Research benefiting $167,000 in sub-awards as part of the STTR program.

According to Tessellated's CEO, Kevin Craig, "These non-dilutive awards coupled with local matching funds will allow Tessellated to continue to develop further innovations and chart a course toward scaled production. We will begin distributing material to our first customers and development partners in 2023."

For more information about Tessellated, visit tessellatedinc.com.

Originally published by Olivia Poole at ideacenter.nd.edu on March 21.