Meet with Stacy Swider, Director of the SBIR/STTR Center of Excellence at the UMass Lowell Research Institute, where small companies can receive SBIR coaching and in some cases matching grants. The Center also provides in-reach to the UMass system, and outreach to corporate partners. She will discuss the pros and cons of SBIRs, how to leverage them for commercialization, and how to successfully apply.

Previously, Ms. Swider was a Sr. Scientist at CapeSym, Inc (Natick, MA) where she developed novel sensors for nuclear detection. In that role she wrote and executed many SBIRs, and with her team was able to commercialize successfully from this R&D. Previously she worked for the Air Force Research Labs, at a semiconductor equipment OEM, at a hardware verification startup, and at a thin-film diamond startup. She has a degree in materials science from MIT.