Mesodyne Awarded a Phase I STTR from AFWERX
Mesodyne Inc. has been awarded a AFWERX Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract, in partnership with Argonne National Lab to refine their compact solid-state generator with ten times the energy density of a lithium ion battery.
During their time at MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, Mesodyne’s founders broke the world record for energy conversion efficiency in thermophotovoltaics, a process that converts fuel to heat to light to electricity via photovoltaics cells. Mesodyne's thermophotovoltaic portable power generator works by burning fuel to heat a photonic crystal thermal emitter to incandescence, leading to infrared radiation which drives specialized photovoltaic cells to generate electricity. Unlike internal combustion engines, the generator has no moving parts, makes no noise, can burn any fuel, is higher in efficiency as compared to similarly sized generators, and has similar performance to hydrogen fuel cells without the difficult supply chain problems of compressed hydrogen.
The mission of the STTR program is to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of Federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy. Once a small business is awarded a Phase I grant: Feasibility Study (up to $50,000), it becomes eligible to apply for the next Phase: Trial with the Air Force (up to $500,000 for a typical Phase II and up to $1.5M for RAPID Phase II).
“We are thrilled to receive this award from AFWERX. In addition to enabling Mesodyne to have funding for technical milestones, the STTR program enables us to find government customers, learn their pain points, get their feedback on the solution as we are building it, to ensure the success of the technology.” – Dr. Veronika Stelmakh, CEO and cofounder of Mesodyne.
About AFWERX
AFWERX serves as a pathway between Airmen and innovative ideas and technologies both inside and outside the Air Force. AFWERX supports the mission of making the Air Force more innovative by uncovering ideas and opportunities to improve the service, connecting ideas with legitimate solutions, and transitioning tools to the warfighter. First debuted in July 2019, the STTR ‘Open Topic’ aims to help small businesses commercialize emerging research in partnership with a university, non-profit entrepreneurship center, or research center. In contrast to the traditional STTR program, the Open Topic is ‘open’ to any technology, customer, or application. By streamlining the proposal process, accelerating contract award, and providing direct access to our global network of customers and capital, our STTR Open Topic provides unrivaled opportunity for small businesses to protect their IP and establish themselves in both the commercial and federal marketplace. To learn more about the AFWERX STTR Program, visit: https://www.afwerx.af.mil/sttr.html
About Argonne National Lab
Argonne is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center, where talented scientists and engineers work together to answer the biggest questions facing humanity, from how to obtain affordable clean energy to protecting ourselves and our environment. Ever since Argonne was born out of the University of Chicago’s work on the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, the goal has been to make an impact — from the atomic to the human to the global scale. The laboratory works in concert with universities, industry, and other national laboratories on questions and experiments too large for any one institution to do by itself. Through collaborations here and around the world, we strive to discover new ways to develop energy innovations through science, create novel materials molecule-by-molecule, and gain a deeper understanding of our planet, our climate, and the cosmos.