Tibbetts Award


The Tibbetts Award is a national award made annually to those small firms, projects, organizations, and individuals judged to exemplify the very best in Small Business Innovation Research achievement. The award was established in 1995 and the first awards were made in 1996.The award was named after Roland Tibbetts of the National Science Foundation.
Tibbetts Awards recognize accomplishments where, in the judgement of those closely involved and often most immediately affected, the stimulus of SBIR funding has made an important and definable difference.

Selection

In selection for Tibbetts Awards, the focus is primarily on:
Tibbetts "Hall of Fame" awards were first presented in 2011, to recognize small businesses that "exemplify notable lifetime achievement in innovation research and that have achieved extraordinary success as a result of the SBIR program."

Hiatus and return

In 2007 the Tibbetts award went on hiatus and was not awarded for the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2011, forty-four companies and eight individuals were selected to receive the award. Tibbets Awards were awarded to businesses ranging from medical device companies such as MedShape Solutions, to electronics manufacturers such as Qualcomm, Inc, and to nanobiotechnology companies such as ANP Technologies.

About the SBIR Program

The SBIR program awards United States Federal Government funds to small businesses to develop innovative technologies that address important national priorities. Individual agencies set aside a fraction of their research and development funds for the program and competitively award contracts to those firms that propose the best strategies to solve solicitation topics. The topics are chosen to address technical issues that each agency considers important.
Roland Tibbetts began the SBIR program as a tiny experimental project at the National Science Foundation. Today, the SBIR program has developed more than $21 billion worth of research by more than 15,000 firms—resulting in more than 45,000 patents. SBIR companies employ more than 400,000 scientists and engineers—making the program the largest concentration of scientific and engineering talent in the United States, exceeding the combined total of all American academic and non-profit institutions. Each year, 11 federal agencies award $2 billion in research contracts as part of the SBIR program.

Past winners

2016
WinnerLocation
Made In Space, Inc.Mountain View, CA
EnChroma

2015
WinnerLocation
Bioo ScientificAustin, TX
Precision Combustion, Inc.North Haven, Connecticut

2014
WinnerCompany
Eric Schmidt & Kevin MahaffyExquadrum, Inc

WinnerLocation
Sentient ScienceBuffalo, NY
QorTek Inc.Williamsport, PA

2013
WinnerLocation
Harmonia Holdings Group, LLCBlacksburg, VA
MBF BioscienceWilliston, VT
ORPC, Inc.Portland, ME
TiER1 Performance SolutionsCovington, KY

2011
WinnerLocation
Wyatt Technology Corp.Santa Barbara, CA
Williams-Pyro, Inc.Fort Worth, Texas
3C InstituteCary, NC
SA PhotonicsLos Gatos, CA

2010
WinnerLocation
Network Foundation Technologies Ruston, La.
ANP TechnologiesNewark, Del.
Vecna Technologies, Inc.Cambridge, Mass.
Fiber MaterialsBiddeford, Maine

2007
WinnerCompany
Eric Adolphe, EsqOPTIMUS Corporation
Houston BakerNational Cancer Institute
Mark E. BakoticNorthrop Grumman Ship Systems
Pallabi SabooHarmonia Holdings Group, LLC
James I. FinleyDeputy Undersecretary of Defense
James NolanDecisive Analytics Corporation
Patty ForbesFormerly Senate Committee on Small Business
Thomas KnightInvistics Corporation

2006
WinnerCompany
Allen BakerVital Strategies, Inc.
Stephen GuilfoosAir Force, Air Force Research Laboratory
Patrick GuireInnovative Surface Technologies, Inc.
Richard HendelBoeing Company
Mahendra JainKentucky Science & Engineering Foundation
Ronald IgnatiusQuantum Devices, Inc.

1998
WinnerLocation
Electronic Concepts and Engineering, IncHolland, Ohio
Precision Combustion, Inc.North Haven, Connecticut