Date: Sep 27, 2007 Source: Company Data (
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Advanced Acoustic Concepts (AAC) has been selected as one of the winners of the 2007 Tibbetts Awards. AAC will receive the award on Oct. 10 at the Westin Washington, located at 1400 M Street NW in Washington, D.C.
Named for Roland Tibbetts—the person acknowledged as the father of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program—these prestigious, national awards are made annually to those small firms, projects, organizations and individuals judged to exemplify the very best in SBIR achievement. AAC is one of 55 companies in the U.S. to receive this award. AAC was selected from over 4,000 companies that receive contract and grants under the SBIR Program each year. This represents AAC's second selection for this distinguished honor, having previously been recognized with a 2000 Tibbetts Award. The award's emphasis is on recognizing those accomplishments where, in the judgment of those closely involved and often most immediately affected, the stimulus of SBIR funding has made an important and definable difference. The selection criteria for the Tibbetts Award focus on: economic impact of technological innovation; business achievement and effective collaborations; and demonstrated state and regional impact and proven support. Nomination of AAC for this year's honor was made by the Defense Procurement Assistance Center (DPAC), serving Westmoreland and Fayette Counties. Congressman John P. Murtha stated, "I congratulate Advanced Acoustic Concepts for being honored with this national award. The SBIR program has provided federal research dollars to thousands of small businesses throughout our nation. This award exemplifies the quality workforce we have in Western Pennsylvania and the research being done at AAC."
The award honors AAC's successful achievement in the Improved Performance Sonar (IPS) and Scaled Improved Performance Sonar (SIPS) programs, which began with SBIR funding several years ago. The SIPS modernization program provides an innovative open architecture ASW upgrade to forward deployed U.S. Navy surface combatants. The SIPS system upgrades are currently installed on eighteen combatants, with a total of thirty-six SIPS system installations planned by the end of Fiscal Year 2009. These systems significantly enhance the Navy's ability to find and prosecute enemy submarines across the world's open oceans and littorals.
In addition to enhancing our national security and helping to protect our deployed Naval forces, the SBIR-sponsored IPS and SIPS programs have helped AAC to nearly double in size since 2003. With the transition of the Improved Performance Sonar best of breed technology test bed into a Scaled IPS program-of-record production system, AAC was also able to establish a state-of-the-art, 40,000 square foot production facility in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
According to Brian Boyle, AAC executive vice president, "AAC is very pleased and proud to have been chosen for this honor. Our vision has been to keep our young people here, to be a partner in the community, provide good paying jobs and benefits, and establish a standard of excellence."
AAC's PA production facility employs associates in mostly high technology engineering positions, and AAC maintains an intern program in conjunction with several local colleges and universities. Over the past seven years, AAC has provided 113 summer internship opportunities, many of which were multiple year experiences. As a result of the internship program, 35 former interns are now full-time associates with AAC.
Headquartered in Hauppauge, NY, AAC specializes in advanced integrated sonar and detection systems, training/knowledge management systems and Rapid Supportability initiatives for both Navy and Homeland Security applications. AAC began operations in Fayette County in 1998 and moved into its current facility in 2005.
Since its inception in 1995, SBTC (sbtc.org) has played a crucial role in promoting congressional legislation and federal regulations that aid small, technology-based companies—including re-authorization of the SBIR program.
