Aug. 15 Deadline: Seeking Technologies to enhance Public Safety & Homeland Security

COLLEGE STATION – The Defense to Response Technology Program (D2R) is seeking DoD-funded technologies with the potential to enhance public safety and homeland security. Companies must apply by Aug. 15, 2017, to be eligible for up to $110,000 of product development services.

Finalists will be invited to participate in the D2R Technology Showcase on Sept. 18-20 in College Station, Texas, and three technologies will be awarded product development assistance to help their technology reach the marketplace. The services will be provided by the Product Development Center at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), through a three-year contract from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Domestic Preparedness Support Initiative (DPSI). Technology focus areas for 2017 include health and safety, communications, situational assessment and detection, and other emerging technologies.

“We are extremely excited to open the Year Two Call for Solutions and to ask for your help in finding the best technologies to transition from DoD funding to our nation’s first responders,” said Caleb Holt, Manager of the TEEX Product Development Center. “We are looking for technologies that solve a need and have a real chance of being successful.”

A panel of first responders, entrepreneurs, investors, university researchers and product development experts will provide feedback and evaluate the finalists during the showcase, and recommend up to three technologies for commercialization. Selected technologies will be paired with product managers, an emergency response subject matter expert (SME) and a business advisor. Technologies will have testing and evaluation plans developed and executed utilizing TEEX facilities such as Brayton Fire Training Field and Disaster City^R. In addition, each technology will develop a business strategy for transitioning to the first response marketplace.

“Those companies will be provided guidance, mentors, testing and evaluation, scenario integration and feedback from some of the world’s most actively deployed responders,” Holt added. “The PDC serves as a gateway for DoD-developed technologies to gain access to real-world training facilities and hands-on, end-user engagement. Through the PDC’s ‘Think, Build, Sell’ process, we can assist technologies in every phase of product development and position them for successful market entry.

“When the PDC resources are combined with our long-standing partnership with Texas Center for Applied Technology, we add engineering expertise to develop and execute testing protocols for some of the most innovative technologies in first response. For this reason we can proudly offer all technologies selected for DPSI’s Technology Transfer Program to become TEEX TESTED^R.”

Three companies/technologies selected in 2016 were: Protect the Force, Hearing Armor and Cultural Quotient.

Learn more and apply at:  www.TEEXPDC.com/D2R

About the TEEX Product Development Center

The Product Development Center, a center within the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, helps manufacturers, product developers, inventors, entrepreneurs, and businesses move products from an idea or concept to the global marketplace. The Center serves as a gateway to the engineering expertise, experienced market analysts, laboratories, and real-world facilities of The Texas A&M University System in order to ensure a product or technology stays on the path to commercialization. Using the proven process of THINK | BUILD | SELL, the PDC helps companies develop methodologies, recruit subject-matter experts, assess partnerships, and test and evaluate their products. The Center also offers TEEX TESTED^R, a third-party, unbiased testing and validation that a technology performs reliably in real-world conditions. https://teexpdc.com/