Metis Design Corporation

Metis Design Corporation, a Boston-based Subchapter S small business, delivers advanced aerospace and defense research and development with a singular focus on structural health monitoring, composite materials, and sensor systems, operating as a prime contractor (98% of recent awards) across Department of Defense and federal civilian research agencies. The company competes almost entirely under total small business set-asides; recent awards carry small-business designations across SBIR, STTR, and unrestricted procurements.

Metis Design's customer concentration is heavily weighted toward Naval and Air Force research organizations. The top three funding agencies account for 67% of award count and 91% of combined potential value: the Naval Air Warfare Center leads with 23 awards and $16.6 million in combined potential value, followed by the Air Force Research Laboratory with 20 awards and $8.5 million, and the Office of Naval Research with 9 awards and $7.1 million. NASA Shared Services Center and the Army's Research Development and Engineering Command round out the active set. Award counts and dollar volume track closely across the top customers, indicating no tension between transaction frequency and deal size.

Metis Design's capability portfolio centers on applied research, exploratory development, and technology maturation within aerospace and defense domains. Representative prime work includes a $1.1 million SBIR Phase III definitive contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center (March 2025, awarded full and open) for research and development expansion on structural health monitoring and multifunctional materials; a $999,920 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract from the Army's Research Development and Engineering Command (September 2024) for the NAILS composite laminate structural system program with work in Boston and planned funding of $200,000 (FY24), $500,000 (FY25), and $300,000 (FY26); a $1.5 million STTR Phase II contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (July 2023) for a capture mechanism monitoring system; and a $1.25 million SBIR effort from AFRL (February 2023) for low-cost manufacturing of autoclave-grade composite structures. More recent awards include a $97,861 SBIR Phase III definitive contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center (July 2026, running through July 2028) and smaller purchase orders from AFRL and Naval Sea Systems Command valued between $74,888 and $80,000 for proximity sensors and ADDAPT sensor hardware.

The company operates almost exclusively as a prime on federal research contracts; only 2% of recent awards represent sub-award positions. Metis Design serves as a sub-recipient on two concurrent federal grants from the University of Texas at San Antonio (April 2025 and March 2025) in a consultant capacity providing structural health monitoring sensor expertise and software development under the direction of CEO Dr. Seth Kessler. Activity has accelerated — one award in 2022, three in 2023 and 2024, and six in 2025 — with only four awards (combined potential value $2.6 million) completing within the next twenty-four months, presenting manageable recompete exposure. The company's award portfolio spans 86 total awards since 2003, with $38.3 million in combined potential value and $38.6 million in combined dollars obligated. Metis Design's research focus concentrates on NAICS codes 541712 and 541713 (physical sciences and engineering research and development) and PSC codes covering national defense R&D, applied research, and space-flight research.

Metis Design Corporation (MDC) is a technical consulting firm that focuses on Structural Health Monitoring, Multifunctional materials, and Lean Enterprise Solutions.