Category: News

Foresight Receives Contract for EPA SBIR Support Program

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Foresight Science & Technology has been awarded a multi-year contract to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) Program.

Through this contract, Foresight will provide direct assistance to Phase I small businesses funded by the EPA to develop environmental technologies and products critical to the mission of protecting human health and the environment. Foresight will provide custom commercialization consulting services and mentoring the small businesses to validate the markets to be served, help identify and overcome commercialization roadblocks, and to assist in identifying partnership opportunities.

Foresight looks forward to continue supporting the EPA SBIR Program!

Foresight Awarded NSF SBIR Grant to Research Taste Masking Agent

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Foresight Science & Technology, Inc. (Foresight) has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant as part of a cooperative research development agreement (CRADA) with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, to conduct research and development (R&D) on an environmentally neutral product for control of red imported fire ants (RIFA). This project intends to establish a proof of concept for the use of taste masking agents that are already used in human and animal medications to mask the negative taste of an effective active ingredient for use in a pest ant bait station. The commercial impacts of the proposed activity will be to provide consumers and gardeners an effective, affordable, and environmentally responsible treatment for controlling RIFA as an alternative to existing chemical pesticides. The addressable market for the product is households and professional pest control service companies in the 14 infested states that currently use chemical pesticides to control RIFA, and additional households and service companies that would use bait stations if an organic solution was available.

“NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,” said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. “With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”

“Foresight appreciates the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. As a long-time provider of commercialization services to SBIR funded companies, we recognize the importance of small businesses and their entrepreneurial efforts to bring innovative and important products and services to the marketplace. With funding from the NSF SBIR, Foresight is excited to be one of those small businesses.” – Norton Kaplan, Foresight Science & Technology President & COO

About the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs: NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.75 million to support R&D, helping de-risk technology for commercial success. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. To learn more about the program, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/

For further information about this project, please contact Dan Satinsky, daniel.satinsky@foresightst.com.

Foresight Sponsors HHS Small Business Program Conference

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UPDATE: Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the HHS Small Business Program Conference, Foresight will no longer be in Las Vegas during the planned dates. Feel free to reach out to learn more about our TABA services! We look forward to seeing you at future SBIR/STTR events.

Are you a current HHS SBIR awardee or are interested in applying for HHS funding? The 21st Annual HHS Small Business Program Conference helps small businesses learn more about the approximate $1.1 billion dollars of annual HHS funding that is available to forge academic partnerships and build new businesses. This event is taking place April 27-29, 2021 in Las Vegas, NV.

As a long-time commercialization assistance provider for the NIH SBIR/STTR Program, we will be exhibiting at the conference, showcasing our Technical and Business Assistance services. Please be sure to come by our booth! We will also be available to meet with you one-on-one to discuss your commercialization objectives.

U.S. DOT Selects Foresight as TABA Vendor

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Foresight has been awarded a blanket purchase agreement to provide Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) services for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Through the DOT TABA Program, Foresight will provide market assessments to Phase I awardees and custom consulting to Phase II awardees, all with the common goal of successful commercialization.

For more information about the DOT TABA program, contact:

Konstantin Izvolsky, Ph.D.
Director of Consulting and Training
Foresight Science & Technology
Telephone: (401) 273-4844, ext. 4003
Email:  konstantin.izvolsky@foresightst.com

MassCEC Selects Foresight as Technical Consultant

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Foresight Science & Technology (Foresight) has been selected as the Technical Consultant for The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) InnovateMass Program. Throughout this program Foresight will act as a liaison to MassCEC, providing expertise in clean energy technology demonstration, project implementation and project performance monitoring for program awardees.

InnovateMass is a rolling program that welcomes applications from across the clean energy technology landscape (including clean energy generation, energy efficiency, energy storage, data for clean energy applications, and other types of technologies).

To learn more about the InnovateMass Program or apply, visit: https://www.masscec.com/innovatemass

If It Doesn’t Get Made, It Never Goes to Market

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UPDATE: Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the AUTM Annual Meeting, Foresight will no longer be in performing the workshop during the planned dates. Please reach out to learn more about our New Product Development services and training sessions!

“If It Doesn’t Get Made, It Never Goes to Market”
75-minute Workshop By: Dr. Leah Speser
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 01:00 PM – 02:15 PM
 

Success at transitioning an invention or innovation to market is highly dependent on the quality of new product development (NDP) according to empirical studies, with the best companies hitting success rates of 82%. In this session conducted by Foresight Founder, Dr. Phyllis Leah Speser, you’ll gain an understanding of NDP approaches and best practices to interest industry in your offerings, evaluate potential licenses or spin-out proposals, negotiate better licenses, reduce costs of monitoring and compliance, and respond to missed milestones. Along the way, we will look at how understanding NPD can increase success rates with SBIR/STTR and other gap funding programs. We will explore widely used NPD process models illustrated through case studies. We will also cover portfolio management, project selection, market research and resource allocation. We will focus on everyday tasks, and even provide you with a task checklist you can take back to your office.

Exhibit at AUTM 2020

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UPDATE: Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the AUTM Annual Meeting, Foresight will no longer be in San Diego during the planned dates. Feel free to reach out to learn more about our services, such as the Original Go/NoGo Report! We look forward to seeing you all at future events.

Foresight Science & Technology will be exhibiting at the 2020 AUTM Annual Meeting taking place March 8-11 in San Diego, CA. If you will be in attendance come by Booth 607 to learn more about Foresight’s Market Assessment reports and celebrate our 40 year anniversary with us!

 

2019-2020 NIH Niche Assessment Program

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For HHS SBIR/STTR Phase I Awardees

THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR THE 2019-2020 NIH NICHE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM IS NOW CLOSED

Additional Technical Assistance information will be available prior to Fall 2020.

 

The Niche Assessment Program is designed to help small businesses jump start their commercialization efforts. All active HHS (NIH, CDC, FDA) SBIR/STTR Phase I awardees and Phase I Fast-Track awardees (by grant or contract) are eligible to apply. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis!

The Niche Assessment Program provided by Foresight Science & Technology provides awardees with market insight and data that can be used to help strategically position their technology in the marketplace, develop their commercialization plans for their Phase II application, and be exposed to potential partners.

Technology Niche Analyses® (TNA®) are provided by Foresight for two hundred (200) HHS SBIR/STTR Phase I awardees. These analyses assess potential applications for a technology and then for one viable application, it provides an assessment of the:

  1. Needs and concerns of end-users;
  2. Competing technologies and competing products;
  3. Competitive advantage of the SBIR/STTR-developed technology;
  4. Market size and potential market share (may include national and/or global markets);
  5. Barriers to market entry (may include but is not limited to pricing, competition, government regulations, manufacturing challenges, capital requirements, etc.);
  6. Market drivers;
  7. Status of market and industry trends;
  8. Potential customers, licensees, investors, or other commercialization partners; and,
  9. The price customers are likely to pay.

Each participant receives an in-depth report of Foresight’s findings. Oftentimes the small businesses can use this information in their commercialization plans which are part of their Phase II applications.

The analysis has three steps:

(1) In the first step, Foresight will gather the pertinent information needed from the SBIR/STTR awardee to identify feasible applications of the technology. Often times, several non-obvious uses are found, and such secondary applications may provide a path to market that is faster than the primary biomedical use.
(2) In the second step, Foresight will analyze the selected use of the technology to determine the end-user needs, current and emerging competing technologies, market dynamics, socio-economic trends and market drivers, and to quantify the market size and participant’s possible share. This second step determines the technology’s current competitive advantages and how to improve competitiveness.
(3) In the third step, Foresight will recommend a market entry strategy. This strategy includes how to market the technology to end-users, how to obtain outside partners, and also projects revenues for the technology. Likely lead customers, testing centers, suppliers, manufacturers, and/or other relevant organizations interested in participating in the downstream research as beta testers or concurrent engineering advisors will be identified.

 

For assistance regarding the online set-up form, please contact:
Ms. Paula Williams
Project Coordinator
Foresight Science & Technology
Telephone: (401) 273-4844, ext. 4001
Email:  Paula.Williams@foresightst.com

Specific questions about TNA’s may be directed to:
Konstantin Izvolsky, PhD.
Director of Consulting and Training
Foresight Science & Technology
Telephone: (401) 273-4844, ext. 4003
Email:  konstantin.izvolsky@foresightst.com

General questions about Niche Assessment Program may be directed to:
Robert Vinson 
Program Manager
NIH SBIR/STTR Program
Office of Extramural Programs
Phone: (301) 435-2713
Email:  sbir@od.nih.gov

PDMA Conference 2019

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On November 3-5, Foresight Science & Technology attended and participated in the Product Development and Management Association’s (PDMA) annual conference in Orlando, Florida.

Dr. Leah Speser, Foresight’s Chairwoman of the Board and Senior Advisor to the President of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), presented the breakout session “Using NPD in Government: Developing Programs for Thailand 4.0” which informed attendees about Thailand’s efforts to develop a new economy called Thailand 4.0 and how New Product Development tools and processes are used to help in those efforts.

Foresight Analyst, Reda El Alami, also attended the conference and spoke with attendees about their product development pain points and how Foresight can help them. He also met with PDMA organizers to learn how Foresight can help the organization in their efforts to reach audiences far and wide and educate product professionals in the PDMA methodology.

Look for Foresight Science & Technology staff within the PDMA organization as we become more involved in driving growth and awareness for current and future product developers!