U.S. DOT Small Business Innovation Research Program

August/September 2024

SBIR Success Stories:

Scaling Railroad Safety Technologies to New Contexts

This edition features stories of three DOT SBIR awardees who are taking technology developed during Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) SBIR awards and applying them to new types of problems and contexts.

Wi-Tronix, which conducted SBIR research on automated railroad crossing infrastructure inspection, has partnered with Florida-based Brightline to develop automated tresspasser detection technology.

And MTRI and VisioStack, which both developed railroad track inspections technologies using uncrewed aircraft systems in their respective FRA SBIR awards, are now both adapting their technologies to the unique challenges of public transportation environments like subway tunnels through Phase III awards funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

Read the full stories here:

• Wi-Tronix: Using AI-Powered Camera Technology to Improve Railroad Safety
• MTRI and VisioStack: Using Uncrewed Aircraft Systems to Remotely Inspect Tracks and Highway-Rail Grade Crossings

Does your company have news to share with us? Email dotsbir@dot.gov

SBIR News

On August 13, DOT announced 12 small businesses recommended for award for the 24.2 Phase I Solicitation Complete Streets AI Initiative. See the full list of recipients here!

This summer, DOT recommended 10 Phase II awards stemming from the FY23 Phase I Solicitation. See the full list of recipients here!

Learn about steps that U.S. companies can take to guard against investment by foreign threat actors. These investments may aim to steal intellectual property or acquire data and technology that threatens U.S. economic and national security interests.

For more updates from the SBIR program and SBIR awardees, visit our news page.

Save the date:

September 10, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. EST - Join the Pathways to Entrepreneurship Program (P2E) One-day pilot program, hosted by the U.S. DOT Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. The target audience of this event includes Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs), prime and subcontractors looking to partner with SDBs, and many more. Attend the event in person at U.S. DOT headquarters in Washington, D.C. or via virtual broadcast. Learn more and register here.

December 3-5 - SBIR/STTR Fall Innovation Conference will take place in Austin, TX. Attendees will hear from SBIR/STTR leaders and learn how to create competitive proposals. Click here for more information.

Connect with us

Are you an SBIR recipient with a success story to share? Contact us, and we may get in touch to feature your company in a future newsletter. Email: dotsbir@dot.gov

Posting about your company’s SBIR award on social media? Tag us on LinkedIn or X).

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