$2.4M Rapid Innovation Fund Award for Minnovate

Minnesota Wire’s R&D division, Minnovate, was notified this week that it will be awarded a $2.4 Million contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Lab under the Department of Defense’s new “Rapid Innovation Fund” (RIF) program. The two-year program is intended to bring the company’s novel lightweight carbon nanotube (CNT) cables to full manufacturability for defense and commercial applications, initially in the aerospace market. Minnovate has managed numerous DoD R&D projects over several years that taken together have made the company the leading developer of next generation electrical conductors and shields.

According to Minnesota Wire’s CEO, Paul Wagner, “This is about innovation. We can change how systems are designed because we are re-inventing components that people thought would never change. This will mean systems can be more effective, and ultimately that contributes to what we really care about, which is saving lives – whether that is in defense systems, or eventually in medical products and other markets.”

The RIF is a Broad Agency Announcement contract vehicle that is designed to transition innovative technologies, primarily from small businesses, that resolve the Pentagon’s near-term (within two years) operational challenges. Minnovate’s proposal specifically responds to the Air Force’s need to significantly reduce the weight of aerospace vehicles, principally satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in order to enhance their efficiency and increase payloads.

Together with Northrop Grumman and other corporate partners, Minnovate will be the prime contractor on the program that its director, Tom Kukowski, has named “Charm” – the word for a flock of hummingbirds. The company has used the names of two hummingbird species, Rufous and BB Hummer, on two programs that are essentially building blocks for this next project to commercialize the technology.

The RIF is a highly competitive program for DoD, with fewer than 5% of applicants receiving funding. The Minnovate Team at Minnesota Wire has a greater than 80% capture rate on federal R&D contract proposals (compared to a 10% national average). The company holds a patent for “Elastomeric Conductor and Shield Fault Detection,” and a joint patent pending with Northrop Grumman Aerospace for “Lightweight Carbon Nanotube Electrical Cables.”