NEW YORK CITY, 28 June 2006. The United States Department of Defense (DOD), through the Air Force, has granted Owlstone Nanotech Inc. a $99,793 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award for the development of an advanced contaminant detection system for monitoring the air inside aircraft cockpits. Owlstone, a provider of nanotechnology-based chemical detection products, is developing and testing chemical detection sensors for several civilian applications. The company is a subsidiary of Advance Nanotech Inc.
"This SBIR award will enable us to explore new applications of our technology that will protect the health and safety of pilots and crews," says Bret Bader, CEO of Owlstone.
Owlstone will use the SBIR grant to develop an advanced sensor to identify and quantify contaminants in cockpit air by employing the company's field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometer technology. Owlstone's goal is to produce a highly sensitive, low-cost, portable detection sensor that outperforms devices currently being developed.
Advance Nanotech is currently funding more than 20 nanotechnologies in the electronics, biopharma and materials industries.
