The 2021 National SBIR Week is a virtual, collaborative outreach effort connecting entrepreneurs working on advanced technologies and the organizations that support them to the country’s largest source of early stage funding – the SBIR/STTR programs. Also known as America’s Seed Fund, the SBIR/STTR programs provide over $4 billion in funding to small businesses each year in a wide variety of technology areas.
The 2021 National SBIR Week will provide attendees with an opportunity to hear directly from the participating federal agency program managers that administer over 7,000 new awards annually and to meet virtually one-on-one with program decision makers.
2021 National SBIR Week Agenda
*Eastern Time
| 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM | SBA Welcome |
| 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM | Panel: Getting Started with SBIR/STTR New to the world of SBIR/STTR? This panel will answer questions about how to get started, agency pre-requisites, required registrations, nuances between granting and contracting agencies, etc. Moderator: Brittany Sickler, Senior Innovation Policy Advisor, SBIR/STTR, SBA Panelists: Manny Oliver, Director, SBIR/STTR Programs Office, DOE Melinda Coffman, SBIR Program Coordinator, USDA Susan Celis, Acting Director, Small Business and Technology Partnerships, OUSD SBIR
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| 1:30 PM – 2:00 PM | Break |
| 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Agency One-on-One Meetings |
| 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM | Agency One-on-One Meetings |
| 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM | Department of Homeland Security Webinar* Deconstructing SBIR: Other Agency Technology Solutions (OATS) Requests for Information (RFIs) *Separate registration required |
| 1:30 PM – 2:00 PM | Break |
| 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Inside the Head of an Evaluator: Common Mistakes Panel Panel discussion with Agency Program Managers on the most common and avoidable mistakes made by applicants, as well as candid insights for preparing more competitive proposals. Moderator: Elden Hawkes, Partnership and Innovation Specialist, SBA Panelists: Scott Dockum, SBIR/STTR Phase I and II Workstream Lead, NASA Stephanie Fertig, HHS Small Business Program Lead, NIH James A. Sweeney III, Department of the Air Force (DAF) SBIR/STTR, Defense Focused Technologies (DFT) Program Manager |
| 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM | Agency Roundtables Department of Defense, DoD Department of Transportation, DOT U.S. Department of Energy, DOE Department of Homeland Security, DHS National Institutes of Health, NIH National Science Foundation, NSF |
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Agency One-on-One Meetings |
1:00 PM – 3:30 PM | InVision Tour* with *Separate registration required |
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM | Panel: Happy Birthday SBIR: Seeding America’s Future Moderators: Cynthia Yue, Intern, SBA Cameron Bernier, Intern, SBA Panelists: John Williams, Director of Innovation and Technology, SBA Jennifer Shieh, Chief Scientist and Senior Technology Policy Advisor, SBA Brittany Sickler, Senior Innovation Policy Advisor, SBIR/STTR, SBA Erick Page-Littleford, Senior Technology Policy Advisor, SBA |
1:45 PM – 2:30 PM | U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Resources Elizabeth Dougherty, Eastern Regional Outreach Director, USPTO |
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Agency One-on-One Meetings |
| 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Agency Roundtables U.S. Department of Energy, DOE U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA (begins at 11:00 AM) |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Panel: Phase II and Beyond This panel will answer questions about agency nuances in moving from Phase I to Phase II and on to Phase III; what do companies that make successful transitions look like? What milestones do the agencies look for in each transition? How important are letters of support? What supplements are available? Do they make use of Technical and Business Assistance (TABA)? Moderator: Erick Page-Littleford, Senior Technology Policy Advisor, SBA Panelists: Dr. Matthew P. Willis, Director for Army Prize Competitions & the Army Applied SBIR Program, DASA RT Ben Schrag, Ph.D., Senior Program Director for SBIR/STTR, NSF Dusty Lang, SBIR Management and Program Analyst, DHS |
