FarSounder, Inc. Honored by SBA for Excellence in Product Innovation

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FarSounder, Inc. a leading innovator of commercial 3D sonar systems has been selected by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as one of 23 companies across the country to receive the 2015 Tibbetts Awards for excellence in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Farsounder’s Navigation Sonar 3D Display

The 2015 Tibbetts Award recipients will be formally honored in Washington, DC, on June 15 during a White House ceremonyand again at the June 16 kickoff of the National SBIR/STTR Conference where thousands of the best and brightest in the innovation ecosystem convene annually.  “I am so looking forward to celebrating these entrepreneurs who are driving U.S. innovation in diverse and amazing ways across the country,” said Javier Saade, SBA Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation. “This will be my second Tibbetts Awards ceremony, and I can honestly tell you, on behalf of the SBIR/STTR family, it is thrilling to be in the company of these visionaries developing and commercializing technologies that strengthen our nation’s defense, improve the health of our citizens, and enhance education.”

Founded to set new standards for vessel navigation and safety, FarSounder now makes the devices mariners have dreamed about for centuries. Through the use of advanced signal processing techniques and proven phased array sonar technology, FarSounder developed a 3-dimensional forward-looking sonar system designed specifically for surface-ship navigation.  An SBIR Phase I award from the Navy and a pair of  Phase I and II awards from the Department of Homeland Security contributed to the company’s R&D efforts.

Named for the late Roland Tibbetts, widely accredited as being the ‘Father’ of today’s SBIR/STTR programs, the annual Tibbetts Awards are presented to leaders from all over the United States who have been instrumental in supporting the success of the programs and/or utilizing SBIR/STTR investment to develop an ‘idea’ into a product or service that benefits the federal government’s research and development needs, the general public’s wellbeing, and the nation’s economy through technological innovation and the creation of high quality jobs – sometimes in newly created industries.