Advanced Cooling Technologies Inc.

Advanced Cooling Technologies Inc., a for-profit thermal management solutions manufacturer based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (headquartered in Neffsville), operates as a prime contractor (85% of recent awards) and subcontractor (15%) across federal defense, space, and civilian research agencies. The company competes predominantly under small business set-asides, particularly Total Small Business designations in SBIR and STTR programs, though it also wins full-and-open procurements for specialized thermal hardware.

ACT's concrete capability footprint centers on heat pipes (constant conductance, loop, variable conductance, and 3D-printed variants), cold plates, thermal control systems, vapor chambers, and related thermal management hardware for aerospace, defense, and energy applications. Representative prime work includes a $7.6 million Firm Fixed Price definitive contract from NASA Kennedy Space Center (awarded April 2024) for Rollout Purge Units and associated training and accessories for the Space Launch System Block 1B program; a $6.3 million Cost Plus Fixed Fee NASA SBIR Phase III contract (awarded July 2021) for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) thermal management system flight components; a $4.999 million Firm Fixed Price SBIR Phase II-S contract (awarded September 2021) for lunar vehicle and payload thermal control systems for extreme lunar environments; and a $1.878 million Firm Fixed Price contract from Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity (awarded August 2025) for an ESTCP passive condenser loop demonstration to improve building energy efficiency. Recent awards also reflect expansion into adjacent domains: a $1.299 million SBIR Phase II contract from the Defense Health Agency (awarded July 2025) for a psoralen-UV-A irradiation-based pathogen inactivation device and a $999,890 FDA project grant (awarded September 2025) for a novel dry air plasma sterilization system for endoscopes.

Customer concentration aligns heavily with federal space and defense research programs. NASA's Shared Services Center leads by award count and dollars combined — 71 awards with $34.4 million in combined potential value. The Department of Energy Office of Science accounts for 32 awards, followed closely by the Naval Air Warfare Center (32 awards, $9.5 million), Air Force Research Laboratory (32 awards, $9.9 million), and the Office of Naval Research (20 awards, $11.3 million). These five customers account for approximately 48% of award count and 62% of combined potential value. The portfolio spans 60 distinct federal agencies, with no single customer outside the top five exceeding 4% of awards, indicating broad customer diversification despite top-customer concentration.

ACT holds positions on multiple government R&D vehicles. Named parent vehicles include IDC 80MSFC20D0004 (Design, Development, Demonstration and Integration) with 8 task orders, IDC N0001923D0012 (5 task orders), Basic Ordering Agreement N0001921G0006 (3 task orders), and the Advanced Technology Support Program IV (3 task orders). These vehicles support task order issuance from NASA, Navy, and Air Force customers. ACT's recent activity shows sustained momentum — 27 awards in 2022, growing to 41 in 2024, with 33 awards in 2025 and 7 to date in 2026. The combined potential value of all awards is $108.7 million, though obligated dollars total $179.7 million, indicating upfront investment or option-year funding. Within the next twenty-four months, 10 awards (combined potential value $13.6 million) reach ultimate completion date, representing moderate recompete exposure in the near term.

In its subcontractor role, ACT supplies thermal management components and services to prime contractors including The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (radioisotope power systems hardware, Dragonfly extended phase B mission support, thermal modeling), Raytheon Company (advanced technology support and microelectronic capability solutions), Sierra Nevada Company (heat spreaders and thermal management for multi-intelligence sensor development and common chassis platforms), The Boeing Company (HARPOON coastal defense systems, Wideband Global Satellite Communications thermal management), Lockheed Martin Corporation (F-22 infrared array heatsink assemblies), and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (LITENING targeting pod thermal devices). ACT subcontracts to defense primes and mission systems integrators for specialized heat rejection, component-level thermal design, and materials.

ACT's federal grant footprint spans civilian agencies and national labs. Prime recipients (as opposed to sub-recipients) include NASA (SBIR and STTR Phase I, II, and III efforts); Department of Energy Office of Science (project grants in hydrogen fuel cells, Swiss-roll reformers, bipolar plate coatings, carbon capture, and semiconductor thermal transport modeling); National Institute of Standards and Technology (cooperative agreement for 3D scan-to-simulation software automation); the Food and Drug Administration (project grant for air plasma sterilization); and the National Science Foundation (3-year collaborative research project on thermal transport across condensing films using International Space Station microgravity experiments). ACT acts as primary recipient on most grants and frequently engages university partners (including UC Irvine, Auburn University, University of Michigan, Cincinnati University, and University of Missouri) as sub-recipients for thermal testing, modeling, and specialized research support. A $4.824 million Department of Energy cooperative agreement (awarded January 2025) for the Efficient Compact Combustors for Methane Mitigation project exemplifies ACT's shift toward decarbonization and energy efficiency work alongside core thermal R&D.

ACT's NAICS profile is concentrated in Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (114 awards across two closely related R&D codes), with secondary presence in Search, Detection, Navigation, and Aeronautical System Manufacturing (14 awards) and Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing (7 awards). The PSC concentration reflects the same profile: Space R&D Services (59 awards), General Science and Technology R&D (28 awards), and National Defense R&D (16 awards) dominate, with Laboratory Equipment and Supplies (15 awards) and Electronics/Communications R&D (12 awards) rounding out the active set. This categorization signals a company whose footprint is anchored in federal small-business research funding (SBIR/STTR and direct research grants) rather than production or service contracts, though recent awards in pathogen inactivation, plasma sterilization, and methane mitigation systems indicate expansion into applied development and prototype delivery.

Advanced thermal technology R&D, custom thermal product design, fabrication and testing, engineering consulting services