Date: Jun 29, 2012 Author: Ira Kantor Source: Boston Herald (
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U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the Energy Department will award more than $102 million in funding to 104 small businesses in 26 states developing promising technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation, including seven in Massachusetts.
"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, employing half of all workers in America and creating two out of every three new jobs in the U.S.," Chu said. "These businesses are helping to reduce our dependence on imported oil and protect our air and water, while ensuring that the United States leads in the global clean energy race."
The 104 awards, which will be for Phase II work, are going to developing technologies in areas ranging from large wind turbine towers to particle accelerators with medical applications, from more energy-efficient data centers to advanced imaging and X-ray technologies, Chu said.
Aerodyne Research Inc. of Billerica, which is proposing to develop an instrument that can identify and measure the "organic constituents" of aerosol particles, will receive five $1 million grants.
Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc. of Watertown, which is working on creating a solid-state neutron imaging detector capable of replacing hard-to-come-by 3He gas tube detectors, will receive three $1 million grants.
Aspen Products Group, Inc. of Marlboro; Beacon Power Corp. of Tyngsboro; Capesym, Inc. of Natick; Conispire of Boston; and Nova Scientific Inc. of Sturbridge will also receive grants, the Energy Department said.
