PERFORMANCE
OF
COMPLETED
PROJECTS
STATUS REPORT
NUMBER 1
NIST SPECIAL PUBLICATION 950-1
Economic Assessment Office
Advanced Technology Program
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899
William F. Long
Business Performance Research Associates, Inc.
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
March 1999
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 - Overview of Completed Projects
Characteristics
of the Projects
Timeline of Expected ATP Project
Activities and Impacts
Gains in Technical Knowledge
Dissemination of New Knowledge
Commercialization of the New Technology
Broad-Based Economic Benefits
CHAPTER 2 - Biotechnology
Aastrom
Biosciences, Inc.
Aphios Corporation
Molecular Simulations, Inc.
Thermo Trilogy Corporation
Tissue Engineering, Inc.
CHAPTER 3 - Chemicals and Chemical Processing
BioTraces,
Inc.
CHAPTER 4 - Discrete Manufacturing
Auto
Body Consortium (Joint Venture)
HelpMate Robotics, Inc.
PreAmp Consortium (Joint Venture)
Saginaw Machine Systems, Inc.
CHAPTER 5 - Electronics
Accuwave
Corporation
AstroPower, Inc.
Cree Research, Inc.
Cynosure, Inc.
Diamond Semiconductor Group, LLC
FSI International, Inc.
Galileo Corporation
Hampshire Instruments, Inc. (Joint Venture)
Illinois Superconductor Corporation
Light Age, Inc.
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
Multi-Film Venture (Joint Venture)
Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc.
Spire Corporation
Thomas Electronics, Inc.
CHAPTER 6 - Energy and Environment
American
Superconductor Corporation
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company
Michigan Molecular Institute
CHAPTER 7 - Information, Computers, and Communications
Communication Intelligence
Corporation #1
Communication Intelligence Corporation #2
Engineering Animation, Inc.
ETOM Technologies, Inc.
Mathematical Technologies, Inc.
Torrent Systems, Inc.
CHAPTER 8 - Materials
AlliedSignal, Inc.
Geltech Incorporated
IBM Corporation
APPENDICES
Appendix
A: Development of New Knowledge and Early Commercial Products
and Processes
Appendix
B: Terminated Projects
END NOTES
End Notes
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for PDF version of report.
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Commercialization
of the New Technology
| New technical knowledge
must be put to use if economic benefits are going to accrue
to the nation. In most instances, the use will be through
the introduction into the market of a new product or process
by the inventing firm or other companies. The new knowledge
may be used by outside researchers before it makes its way
onto the marketplace. But the new knowledge must eventually
result in new products or processes in the marketplace for
there to be real-world benefits to the economy.
(13) In
competitive markets, the producer is typically unable to capture
all the benefits of a new product, and the consumer reaps
part of the benefits. |
Commercialization
- A Critical Step Toward National Benefits
For 24 of the 38 completed projects,
a new product or service is on the market or a new process is being
used to improve the quality or reduce the cost of making an existing
product or service. Eighteen projects have introduced new products,
five are using new processes in their own production, and one has
introduced a new service. All of the products and processes are
used by commercial companies in their production processes.
Among the new products are substantial
devices that are self-contained, including receive filters for cellular
phone sites, lasers that can be tuned to different wavelengths for
a wide range of applications, flat fluorescent lights to serve as
back-lights for color liquid crystal displays in a variety of applications,
wall units made of mixed recycled plastics for use in pre-fabricated
buildings, robots to provide delivery services in hospitals and
other installations, machine tools that can produce much higher
quality metal parts because they are self-adjusting for the effects
of high heat that otherwise would cause errors, and a super-sensitive
measurement instrument for detecting minute amounts of viruses and
toxic chemicals in medical and environmental applications.
Several of the new products are much
smaller devices, commonly viewed as components in other products.
These include controllers and fiber-optic collimators for wave-length
multiplexers, cheaper blue light-emitting diodes for inclusion in
full-color displays, epitaxial laser wafers, giant magnetoresistance
sensors for automatic brake systems and other applications, high-temperature
superconducting (HTS) wiring for connecting super-cooled electrical
devices to ordinary devices, thin-film HTS components for magnetic
resonance imaging equipment in hospitals, and minute porous glass
components in sensors for toxic gases.
Additional new products and a new service
have resulted from research in the computer software field. These
include a pad and stylus system for allowing the input of handwritten
characters into computers, detailed images and dynamic presentation
of the inner parts of the human body for CD-ROMS and books used
in medical education, a programming tool that makes the development
of programs for parallel processing computers much easier, a system
that produces rotatable three-dimensional views of very complicated
molecules for a number of applications in the chemical and drug
industries, a user interface for use in sharing product model data,
and a service that helps producers and archivers of movie films
improve film quality by removing blemishes from film masters.
Finally, there are new processes that
improve the manufacturing of a variety of products. They include
processes for the epitaxial growth of semiconductor components,
the implantation of ions of various materials on large silicon crystal
wafers in a much cheaper way, the production of very high quality
spherical and aspherical mirrors for use in photolithographic and
other fabricating equipment, and the assembly of automobiles which
are of higher quality because stamped metal parts fit together better.
For a convenient, quick reference by
the reader, brief descriptions of the new products or processes
are listed in Tables A1-A7 in Appendix A, in Column C. For each
new product or process, the new technology on which it is based
is also listed in the Appendix A tables, in Column B.
Commercializing a technology is an
important step, but it does not mean that the project is necessarily
a full success from the perspective of either the company or the
ATP. Some products have been sold for testing and evaluation, and
after testing, the purchaser may decide not to place a larger order.
Other sales are by struggling companies that may fail in the future,
even if the product is a good one. Widespread diffusion of the technology
may or may not ultimately happen, but it is significant that these
products and processes are actually on the market. This is an extremely
important step for the eventual generation of broad-based benefits
for the economy as a whole.
Rapidly Growing Companies
The introduction of a new or improved
product into the market is clear evidence of commercialization.
Even before that happens, however, other indicators can signal that
a company is probably on the path toward commercialization. One
of these is company growth, and some limited data on this performance
"indicator" is provided in Figure 6, which
focuses on employment at the small, single-applicant companies.
Employment changes in joint ventures, larger companies and nonprofit
organizations are less closely tied to the success of individual
research projects, and, therefore, they are not shown in the figure.
Click on image for
large scale version.
Clearly, this group of companies as
a whole has grown rapidly, as measured by employment growth rates.
All but five of the 27 small companies at least doubled in size;
one company grew 1,900 percent. Employment at four companies actually
declined, while it remained constant at one company.
Companies "Going Public"
Another development that is useful
in assessing commercial prospects for small companies is the initial
public offering (IPO) of stock by a company whose stock has heretofore
been privately held. For the most part, these are start-up or near-start-up
companies.
This event is relevant for the 21 single-company
applicants that were privately held at the beginning of their ATP
funding periods. Seven of the 21 companies filed IPO statements
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Five of them
conducted IPOs during their ATP funding periods. In addition, one
company conducted an IPO in early 1998, after project completion.
Another company, in filing the required
form with the SEC, noted its intention to conduct an IPO and has
since been acquired by a larger company, at an apparent substantial
premium over the approximate value placed on the company at the
time of the SEC filing.
Conducting an IPO subjects the company
to the scrutiny of stock market analysts and to the financial decisions
of investors. It is a demanding test of whether the capital market
believes the company has a promising future. Even announcing the
intention to conduct an IPO invites potential investors to examine
the data presented by the company in its SEC filing, and only infrequently
do companies announce intention to file without following through.
Return to Top of Page
Go to other sections of Chapter 1:
Overview of Completed Projects
Characterstics of the Projects
Timeline of Expected ATP Project Activities
and Impacts
Gains in Technical Knowledge
Dissemination of New Knowledge
Commercialization of the New Technology
Broad-Based Economic Benefits
Date created:
March 1999
Last updated:
April 12, 2005
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