The Deep Space Food Challenge is an international competition where NASA offers prize purse awards to U.S. teams and recognition to international teams. Teams are invited to create novel and game-changing food technologies or systems that require minimal inputs and maximize safe, nutritious, and palatable food outputs for long-duration space missions, and which have potential to benefit people on Earth.
Up to 20 top scoring Teams will receive $25,000 each and be invited to compete in Phase 2 (should Phase 2 open for competition). Teams must meet eligibility requirements to be eligible to receive a prize from NASA.
Winners will be announced in September 2021.
In space
Though there are many food systems on Earth that may offer benefits to space travelers, the ability of these systems to meet spaceflight demands has not yet been established.
Types and durations of future lunar missions constantly evolve and mature based on new technological advances and scientific input.
Space agencies need to address long-duration lunar missions and how to provide future lunar crews with safe, nutritious food while in lunar orbit or on the lunar surface.
On Earth
Food insecurity is a significant chronic problem on Earth in urban, rural and harsh environments and communities.
Disasters can also disrupt supply chains, on which all people depend, and further aggravate food shortages.
Efficient use of volume, water, and other inputs for producing food could enable technologies with reduced impact on the resources needed for food production here on Earth, especially in extreme environments and resource-scarce regions.
Challenge Goals
Our focus is on providing future space explorers and people on Earth nutritious foods they will enjoy.
The Deep Space Food Challenge will identify food production technologies that can:
- Help fill food gaps for a three-year round-trip mission with no resupply
- Feed a crew of four (4) astronauts
- Improve the accessibility of food on Earth, in particular, via production directly in urban centers and in remote and harsh environments
- Achieve the greatest amount of food output with minimal inputs and minimal waste
- Create a variety of palatable, nutritious, and safe foods that requires little processing time for crew members
This challenge seeks to incentivize teams to develop novel technologies and/or systems for food production that need not meet the full nutritional requirements of future crews, but can contribute significantly to and be integrated into a comprehensive food system.
Find more info here.
The Westside Makerspace is now seeking makers!
The makerspace has launched a virtual marketplace, Making Gems, where entrepreneurs and makers can test their products in the market, said team lead Cherrelle Gardener.
“Small makers struggle to get into larger stores because they aren’t producing at levels that enable them to purchase ingredients wholesale,” Cherrelle said. “This virtual marketplace can help fill that gap.”
Currently, the makerspace has ceramic and textile artists. The team is seeking additional makers who produce goods for use in the home, from decor to body products.
The marketplace will pave the way for the makerspace’s next offering — small batch manufacturing for small materials made out of metal, acrylic or wood. The vision there is to figure out what components Dayton makers are regularly ordering for their products, say bottles or blank signs, and manufacture those parts right here in Dayton instead.
“The goal is to keep that income in our community,” Cherrelle said.
Cherelle is one of four founding members of the Westside Makerspace. Teammates Alvin Wilkerson, Edwin Dirksen and Claude Nicole are engineers. The team completed the Co-Op Dayton Social Enterprise Incubator last year.
The makerspace will move into an 800-square-foot opportunity zone in the Dayton Metro Library Northwest Branch later this year.
The ultimate vision is that makerspace will include a tool library and vast workshop space where makers can tinker and community members can sign up for workshops or training. The workspace will include machines to do CNC work, laser engraving and laser cutting, among others. The first workshops the makerspace will produce will focus on “make it at home” businesses that has low startups costs, like digital print shops or candle and soap-making classes.
Eventually, the makerspace will also house workforce development workshops and construction training programs.
“We see development happening in other areas of the city,” Cherrelle said. “As this development comes to the hangars, we want to make sure the community has some control in what’s happening. It’s important to have neighborhood-based entrepreneurship hubs, and that’s what makerspaces have become. They allow the community to determine what it needs.”
Day-, month-, and year-long membership passes will be available. The makerspace will need 150 active members per month to be sustainable. Join today at westsidemakerspace.com.
Are you a small business owner committed to growing your company?
The application deadline for the next Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program has been extended to Feb. 12!
The 15 week-long program teaches small business owners how to scale, from how to lead and hire, to how to prepare financial documents to seek funding, to how to marketing, sales & operations tactics. These workshops will be delivered virtually beginning in May.
The program is free to participants — a roughly $7,500 value per business owner, said Kandise Bobo, workforce development manager at Sinclair Community College. Sinclair will be administering the Goldman Sachs program, which Kandise describes as a “crash course MBA.”
Each cohort comprises 30 to 40 small business owners. According to national program statistics, 67 percent of these business owners increase revenues & 47 percent of these owners create new jobs within 6 months of completing the program.
Applicants should be owners or co-owners of a business that has been in operation for at least two years, made at least $75K in revenue in the most recent fiscal year, and has at least two employees (including the owner). These employees do not have to be full-time. Most important, Kandise emphasized, is a desire to grow the business.
Sinclair College celebrated the first 16 graduates of the program in December 2020.
Apply online here. Those selected to move on to the second round will be contacted to provide supporting documents and participate in a 30-minute informal interview.
Want to hire a diverse group of summer interns for your tech needs?
Or, want to build your resume at a cutting-edge company this summer break?
The Diversity & Inclusion Technology Internship Program can connect you with the best and brightest upcoming talent to fill your tech needs. From creating mobile apps to building out websites, developing social media platforms, implementing new software, conducting market research and enhancing cybersecurity, the program can help with virtually any tech need and pay the salary of college interns – to keep your business on the move.
Companies can hire up to three interns and be reimbursed up to $30,000 ($10K per intern). Internships pay at least $15 per hour.
Curious if this program can work for you? Attend TechOhio’s info webinar Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 1p or visit techintern.development.ohio.gov.
Applications for companies wishing to participate opened this week. Companies that wish to hire interns through the program should apply by Feb. 22.
Tech companies, or simply companies with a tech need, are eligible for the program.
It’s a great opportunity for students to get paid work experience at a cutting-edge company and for tech companies to shake up their usual intern pool to increase the mix of voices in their projects.
Students in any degree program are eligible. Interested students should apply Feb. 15-March 8.
Eight Ohio companies will spin new technology out of their portfolios and into the defense and commercial markets through the Dayton Region’s newest defense accelerator: The Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) Defense Accelerator. The Accelerator is a program funded by the Department of Defense OEA and will be managed by Launch Dayton partners Parallax Advanced Research and the Entrepreneurs’ Center.
The program seeks to help participating startups identify uses of their technologies; move their technology products to market; position their companies to create jobs and generate revenue and support growth of the regional economy.
“Parallax is proud to bring this new program to the region. It speaks to our organization’s commitment to connecting industry and academia with our defense partners to transform the science and technology capabilities of the future as well as grow our local economies that support the process of innovation,” said Dennis Andersh, Parallax CEO.
The participant cohort will gather virtually for nine weeks, during which they’ll develop business models and identify customers, investors and strategic partners who will bring in outside capital and talent to grow and scale their businesses. The program will feature hands-on workshops, guest speakers, wrap-around services and resources from partners and a culminating pitch. The pitch prize is a combination of cash and in-kind services from the prize sponsor, Treble One. Treble One leads technology transition efforts by creating stakeholder alignment between research, user and industry; forging strategic partnerships with OEM/Tier Suppliers; helping understand and define requirements; and through product implementation/validation.
“Our goal is for founders to walk away from the Accelerator with a clear understanding of how to move the needle on their technology’s solution adoption by both industry and defense sectors,” said Lauren Tiffan, director of strategic programs at the Entrepreneurs’ Center.
The following cohort participants applied and interviewed for the accelerator program. Their founders have various levels of experience in commercial industry and with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funded government R&D. They are developing a range of both physical products and software solutions.
Applications are open for the second round of funding through the new MedTech Launch Fund, which aims to pump a total of $550K into medtech startups across the Dayton region.
$150k was awarded to two companies through the first round of funding last fall.
The MedTech Launch Fund will accelerate the development of medical technology opportunities in the Dayton region by funding alpha prototype development to validate and advance a technology’s commercial viability and move it towards commercialization through a startup company.
The MedTech Launch Fund is part of a new collaborative effort to align the Dayton region’s healthcare specialization, defense research assets, and entrepreneurial ecosystem to spin out new medical technologies faster. Launch Dayton partner organization Parallax Advanced Research was awarded a $200,000 Technology Validation and Startup Fund (TVSF) grant from Ohio Third Frontier last July to launch this new initiative. The effort is also supported by $330K from the Economic Development Administration’s i6 program.
The time to market for medical technology is longer than other industries because it can take years to complete the necessary testing to meet regulatory standards. While the Dayton region is rich in R&D institutions, entrepreneurs who want to get those technologies out of the labs and into the healthcare system often lack the resources necessary to build and test prototypes; lack of access to experts who can help build regulatory compliance strategies; and lack a workforce to tap when the company is pre-revenue and pre-investment.
The MedTech Launch Fund will provide that gap funding to help regional medtech entrepreneurs build the prototypes they need to seek angel and pre-seed investment. The Entrepreneurs Center (TEC) will collaborate to connect these entrepreneurs with experts to build regulatory strategy, and The ONEIL Center at Wright State University will collaborate to match these medtech startup companies with student interns.
Through the MedTech Launch Fund, up to $550K in grant funding will be competitively awarded to projects to perform validation activities such as prototyping, demonstration and assessment of critical failure points in subsequent development, scale-up, and commercialization in order to generate proof of viability needed to move technologies into the hands of Ohio startup companies to take to market.
“MedTech” is defined broadly to include medical devices, diagnostics, imaging, patient monitoring, surgical tools, implants, therapies, supplements and medical foods, wellness, performance optimization, prevention, hygiene, life science research tools, therapeutic methods, health data mining and application of AI, healthcare delivery cost reduction and workflow/efficiency improvement, patient safety, and all other aspects of technologies intended to protect, improve, or otherwise optimize human health.
The fund will source technologies from two tracks:
- Researcher Track: Technologies originating in the Air Force Research Lab, University of Dayton or Wright State University will be eligible for up to $400K in total awards. These technologies must have moved beyond basic research and already have intellectual property protections in place, such as a provisional or full patent application submitted to the USPTO and/or trade secret protections in place . The technologies cannot already be licensed to a commercial partner. Each project is eligible for up to $75K.
- Entrepreneur Track: Technologies originating outside of these three institutions, but geographically located in or with significant ties to the 8-county greater Dayton Region (Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Clark, Champaign, Preble, Shelby, & Darke counties) will be eligible for up to $150K in total awards. Some level of intellectual property protection must be in place, and the concepts must be beyond basic research. Each project is eligible for up to $75K.
Want a piece of the MedTech Launch Fund for your startup?
Apply for the second round of funding by March 16 for the Entrepreneur Track here.
University researchers & AFRL technologists have until March 29, 2021 to apply here.
Projects that fit the program will be invited to pitch the selection committee in May. Notifications of acceptance into fund and project kick off will be in June. Questions about the program can be direct to [email protected].
The MedTech Launch Fund is backed by Launch Dayton partner organizations. Launch Dayton is a collaborative effort to connect entrepreneurs to peers, resources, and supporters, and to tell the stories of our region’s thriving startup community. Launch Dayton partners believe everyone, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to determine their own economic prosperity.
Parallax and The Entrepreneurs Center are both proud partners in the Launch Dayton community.
University of Dayton graduate Tanner Elrod launched podcast production co Cardigan Radio last spring in a bid to explore stories about how we connect.
As the pandemic dragged into fall, then into winter, shuttering theatres and stages across the world, Tanner began to collaborate with seven local Dayton musicians to create a podcast-based musical, slated to be the first offering on his new platform.
Tanner and his team are looking to raise $3,000 to record and produce “The End is Nigh: An Original Musical” — and the Kickstarter launches Feb. 1!
“I’m a big theatre person, and the future of live theatre is up in the air,” Tanner said. “There’s a need for that theatre-feel in content, and it’s just not being produced right now. If we can create something that’s free and accessible to a lot of people, we won’t only pull in a Dayton audience, but we have the potential to garner a nationwide audience.”
Tanner, who is a marketer by day, developed his idea to launch a podcast company through the spring 2020 cohort of Early Risers Academy, a free, 10-week business building bootcamp powered by Launch Dayton partner Parallax Advanced Research.
“I really enjoy audio fiction and audio dramas, and over the last couple years, they’ve become very popular as a way to tell stories that are accessible to everyone,” he said. “So much of what we consume is visual, it’s fun to flip that on its head and have something fiction-based that’s purely audio.”
Podcasts have also begun to rival books as prime source material for Hollywood adaptations — Amazon’s Homecoming, USA Network’s Dirty John and ABC’s Alex, Inc. are only a few of the podcasts to go from the speaker to the screen.
In “The End is Nigh,” a group of people gather in an abandoned church on the eve of the end of the world. Each song is a particular character — the widows, the mother, the grifter, the person of god, the twins, the dominatrix — telling their story.
Each character’s song is being written and performed by a different Dayton musician — Kyleen Downes, Amber Hargett, Alyssa Hanson, David Payne, Kevin Milner, and David Thurlow (Dave & Friends) have signed on to the project.
When we caught up with Tanner right before the holidays, he was just starting to get rough cuts from the musicians.
“It’s really cool to hear what everyone is doing,” he said. “COVID has given the musicians the time to work on this.”
The story itself is an idea Tanner has been kicking around since a creative writing class in 2014 that just never quite found the right medium. At the end of the day, the Kickstarter is to pay the musicians and performers to bring it to life, he said.
The Kickstarter will feature some special tiers for folks who give in the first 24 or 48 hours. There will also be discounts on tiers for supporters who donate right away.
There are also sponsorship opportunities available — if your business is interested in sponsoring the show or purchasing an ad spots, e-mail [email protected] for more info.
Tanner credits his experience with Early Risers Academy for empowering him to launch Cardigan Radio and pursue this project.
“It gave me the framework for what I want this network to be, who I want to partner with. I’m a transplant to Dayton, but I love it here, I want to stay, I want to get involved in the community, especially the creative community,” he said. “Early Risers Academy not only builds professional connections, but personal too, with people willing to cross promote businesses and promote each other. I couldn’t recommend it enough to people like me who are unsure of what they want to do with the idea they have.”
Early Risers Academy is back in 2021 with four more cohorts. Learn more and apply here to take your business from idea to launch through this free program.
Dayton-based Spintech has launched a new composites manufacturing business division, Hawthorn Composites.
This new division extends Spintech Holdings’ composite capabilities beyond the existing Smart Tooling division that provides formable & reusable composite tooling solutions for complex geometry composites.
Hawthorn Composites specializes in manufacturing complex geometry composite parts using novel dry fiber preforming and resin infusion techniques. When appropriate, additional value can be realized through the use of Smart Tooling solutions. This combination of technologies significantly lowers labor and material costs, while maintaining structural integrity and usually weight neutrality when compared to conventional pre-preg and autoclave cured components.
“A key to success for Hawthorn is the current shift in the aerospace & defense composites market. Paraphrasing what Jeff Sloan said in a CompositesWorld editorial, the past decade was the decade of innovation in the composites industry, and the next decade will be focused on achieving higher efficiency and lower cost by changing how composite parts are made,” said Spintech CEO Craig Jennings.
“Hawthorn Composites is positioned to be a composite parts market leader for the next decade.”
Hawthorn Composites leverages partnerships with Cincinnati-based A&P Technology for their optimized carbon fiber braided solutions including preforms, fabrics and sleevings, and the University of Dayton Research Institute for their experience in creating carbon fiber preforms using technical embroidery and tailored fiber placement, to extend the new division’s ability to engineer and deliver complex geometry composite solutions.
“We are excited to have collaborative relationships with industry-leading technology partners A&P Technology and UDRI,” said Spintech President Tom Margraf. “Through the use of their automated dry-fiber preforming technologies combined with Hawthorn Composites’ resin infusion expertise, we can offer attractive pricing on complex structural composites for the aerospace, automotive, and recreational industries.”
Small business with dreams of operating in downtown Dayton? Apply now for round two of the Downtown Dayton Retail Lab!
After a successful first-round of the Retail Lab small business accelerator program, The Downtown Dayton Partnership, along with its small business development partners, is inviting business owners to apply to the second session of the program. The Retail Lab is an intensive 12-week experience for business owners aiming to launch or grow their first-floor business in downtown Dayton, and applications will be accepted through Feb. 3.
The Retail Lab has two main goals: To continue energizing downtown with vibrant storefronts, and provide a supportive pathway into the downtown market for emerging first-floor entrepreneurs, especially women-owned and minority-owned businesses.
“As we emerge from the pandemic and the impacts of the economic shutdown, there is an opportunity to take new business ideas and budding entrepreneurs and show them the support network available in our community to grow or launch their own commercial ventures,” said Sandra K. Gudorf, Downtown Dayton Partnership president.
The Downtown Dayton Retail Lab will provide a series of workshops, pitch events, and pilot opportunities that connect the participating businesses to the people, ideas, capital, and resources that will help them thrive and grow in downtown Dayton. Weekly workshops will be held virtually and include facilitated instruction, work sessions with mentors, and occasional in-person activities with appropriate health precautions.
Eligible businesses include boutiques, shops, cafes, studios, and restaurants – any consumer business that adds to the vibrancy of downtown’s sidewalks. Applicants should either be located in downtown Dayton or aiming to launch downtown in the next 6 to 12 months. Interested small business owners can find more information, including the program application, at DowntownDayton.org/retail-lab. Applications for the Downtown Dayton Retail Lab will be accepted through February 3, with the program slated to begin later in February.
The Retail Lab leverages support from many business resource partners including The Entrepreneurs Center, the Miami Valley Small Business Development Center, Five Rivers MetroParks – 2nd Street Market, Launch Dayton, and The Hub at the Dayton Arcade.
“In 2020, the first cohort of 11 Retail Lab participants experienced how a community of entrepreneurs and resources can take an initial business plan to the next level of success, and we look forward to providing that same opportunity to a new group of Dayton entrepreneurs,” said AJ Ferguson, project manager with the DDP and coordinator of the Retail Lab program.
“The Retail Lab experience has given our business the necessary tools to make sure we are set up to succeed, and the opportunity to work with other businesses and collaborate on ways we can support each other,” said Vanessa Llyod, a previous Retail Lab participant and owner of A+ Cleaners in downtown Dayton.
Participation in the 12-week program is provided at no cost, and in addition to the support businesses receive through the workshops, each participant is eligible for up to $2,500 in professional services from creative, legal, and financial firms to advance their business.
Questions about the Retail Lab should be directed to AJ Ferguson, [email protected], or call (937) 681-9793.
The Greater West Dayton Incubator, an initiative envisioned by and developed in partnership between the University of Dayton and community leaders of Greater West Dayton with the support of the Entrepreneurs’ Center, has named an advisory council; identified a temporary location; begun building stronger connections between entrepreneurs and opportunities on campus and at the Dayton Arcade; and developed plans for a micro-loan program expected to begin taking applications in the coming months.
“Our goal is to be a catalyst for an equitable startup ecosystem by supporting Greater West Dayton entrepreneurs with resources including space, funding, consulting, contracts, entrepreneurial training and student support,” said Karlos L. Marshall, manager of the incubator.
The advisory council — which includes company founders, owners and CEOs nominated by fellow Greater West Dayton entrepreneurs and community members as well as representatives from local development organizations, the University and other groups— will help foster community impact.
“As an entrepreneur and a business advisor, I’m excited to add another layer of accessibility and support to entrepreneurs in West Dayton,” said LeKeisha Grant, Small Business Development Center advisor at the Entrepreneurs’ Center. “As a Greater West Dayton resident, I can tell you that the talent is present and ready, and this commitment will bring support and resources even closer.”
The advisory council also is key in aligning community resources and ensuring equitable opportunities for community members. Opportunities include the chance to win funding through the University of Dayton Flyer Pitch competition sponsored by PNC Bank in both the Greater West Dayton social venture track as well as the startup track. Greater West Dayton startups and organizations also can receive business solutions in partnership with University students through capstone courses that have worked with entrepreneurs like TJ Cartwright and her What’s the Biz with TJ, which highlights stories of local Black-owned businesses.
They also can take advantage of the incubator’s connection to The Hub Powered by PNC Bank at the Dayton Arcade. The incubator has already assisted Black-owned companies in securing project bids at The Hub, in addition to planned coworking scholarship opportunities and a café that will source food and drinks from underrepresented firms in Greater West Dayton.
The incubator also has selected a temporary location, at 1105 W. Third St. in the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood, while it seeks a permanent home.
“I think it will be a game-changer,” said Tae Winston, Greater West Dayton entrepreneur representative for the incubator and owner of neighboring The Entrepreneurs Marketplace that offers space for pop-up shops, as well as two other businesses serving local entrepreneurs. “It’s giving hope to more entrepreneurs. It’s what the city needs to provide resources and more support to small businesses.”
Plans are progressing on the incubator’s micro-loan program, which will provide Greater West Dayton entrepreneurs with up to $20,000 in capital with low-barrier requirements. Local partners including banks also will provide comprehensive financial wellness education.
The incubator is run through the University’s Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and with a donor gift and funding from the state’s Entrepreneurial Services Provider Program through the Entrepreneurs’ Center. The incubator aligns with the University’s strategic vision to create deeper community partnerships with greater local impact, and provides students with transformational learning opportunities related to innovation and entrepreneurship.
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