Project Grant 1721797

SBIR Phase I: Acoustic Molding Technology for Metal Additive Manufacturing Ultrasonium Inc. received a $305,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), effective October 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026, to develop and validate acoustic molding technology for metal additive manufacturing. The project will investigate the feasibility of using ultrasonic phased arrays to...

This SBIR Phase I project, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084), aims to develop a novel liquid crystal polymer (LCP) called Tullomer to address limitations in fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. The $275,000 grant, awarded to Z-Polymers, Inc., will fund the optimization of Tullomer's monomer ratios, integration of nucleation additives, and control of mesogenic state formation to enhance...

Fluidform Inc. received a $249,644 Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project Grant from the National Science Foundation to develop additive manufacturing techniques for silicone elastomers and thermosets using freeform reversible embedding. The grant was awarded on May 1, 2021 under the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA #47.041) to support innovation, creativity, and excellence in engineering research. Specifically, the funding will enable Fluidform to advance...

This $200,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering grant (CFDA 47.041) supports fundamental research at Texas State University to investigate material-process-microstructure-property relationships in the direct ink writing of high-viscosity rubber nanocomposites. The goal is to optimize material composition and manufacturing process parameters to achieve high-quality 3D-printed parts with enhanced mechanical, electromechanical, and time-dependent properties. Key activities include...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering (CFDA 47.041) totaling $344,918 will establish a collaborative research program at Florida International University (FIU) to develop advanced data-driven approaches for additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing of materials with locally tunable electrical and mechanical properties. The research aims to create new polymer resin formulations for digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing that can...

This SBIR Phase I award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084) provides $274,991 to Molten Materials LLC, a woman-owned small business, to develop a sustainable solution for transforming waste plastics into high-value thermoplastic elastomers for infrastructure applications. The project aims to use reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to produce durable elastomers from depolymerized plastic...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program provides $275,000 to Novineer, Inc. to develop novel approaches for optimizing the layout, fiber paths, and plastic infill distribution in 3D printed composite materials. The project aims to advance the state-of-the-art in additive manufacturing for end-use parts by creating automated design software that can tailor the material distribution to...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $274,915 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to Alternative Energy Materials, LLC, a small for-profit limited liability company based in Pullman, Washington. The grant, funded under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084), supports the development of a novel dry powder pressing additive manufacturing technique for fabricating multifunctional ceramic monoliths with internal flow structures....

This Project Grant award, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Engineering (CFDA 47.041) program, supports fundamental research into the role of defects in the electrical actuation of elastomers (elastomer dielectrics) and explores strategies to mitigate their negative impact. The $325,555 award to Purdue University, with a period of performance from September 2023 to August 2026, aims to develop insights that could enable the adoption of low-cost polymer actuators for...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a 4-year, $400,000 Project Grant under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to Trustees of Boston University for their research project titled "COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DMREF: CLOSED-LOOP DESIGN OF POLYMERS WITH ADAPTIVE NETWORKS FOR EXTREME MECHANICS." The project aims to develop an integrated experimental and computational platform for accelerated discovery and design of novel polymers exhibiting unprecedented...