For six consecutive years, TechConnect has served as a bridge between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the latest technological innovations. Start-ups, agencies and investors are able to connect in order to find solutions to the biggest problems plaguing military personnel. Each year at the annual Defense TechConnect Summit, hundreds of innovators have the opportunity to submit their technologies not only for recognition, but for the advancement of national security. The summit is a unique event that provides technological innovators with exposure that would be hard to get elsewhere. The various innovation challenges that participants aim to meet include categories such as digital transformation, critical infrastructure, autonomous systems, smart operations and warfighter focused technologies. Though many of the pitches submitted to the selection committee are considered to be some of the best technologies in the world, only the top 15 percent of innovations receive a TechConnect Defense Innovation Award. This year, nanoscale research and development startup Impulse Technology LLC was one of the select awardees.
Impulse Technology, located in Innovation Park and one of the members of the Invent Penn State incubator program, was recognized for their self-aligning prosthetic adapter. According to the tech firm, each year there are over 180,000 hospital discharges related to amputation with over 50 percent of those affected experiencing long-term associative problems. Their research also noted the hefty price tag that can come along with high-quality prosthetics, making them inaccessible to many veteran amputees. The reality is that these products can lead to tendonitis, pain in other areas of the body or even amputation of an individual’s second leg.
Bringing new technology to their field
The self-aligning prosthetic adapter by Impulse Technology is easy to tune and is manufactured with 3D printing technology, making it cheaper and more comfortable than traditional options for lower limb loss. Their below-knee prosthetic has also been found to reduce adaptation time and reduce the negative impacts of misalignment. Their new technology works to mimic natural leg function more successfully than options that are currently on the market.
Dr. Kamrun Nahar, CEO and co-founder of Impulse Technology, played a monumental role in the design, research and development of the prosthetic technology. The main goal of her team is to improve the overall quality of life for amputees by helping to restore their mobility. The TechConnect Defense Innovation Award will help them to further that goal as this award will raise awareness of the company among both potential users and potential investors. In an interview, Dr. Nahar expressed just how valuable the honor has been to her team.
“This award actually acknowledges the work that we had done. So, though it does not have monetary value, it gave us recognition at the conference as well as an opportunity to pitch to a panel of investors and defense program managers,” stated Dr. Nahar. “We were also able to show our award at our booth, so anybody visiting knew that this was a technology that was recognized.”
This year, the aforementioned DTC Summit, showcased more than 200 booths and connected small businesses with potential investors in both private and federal sectors. As an award recipient, Dr. Nahar’s team was able to participate in an innovation showcase where they were invited to give a ten-minute pitch to various panelists, officials and third-party investors. Networking plays a crucial role in taking ground-breaking ideas from research to reality.
“There are many United States Department of Defense sponsor stations and program managers, and they have their information sessions to make connections with the industry, startups, companies, innovations and so on,” said Dr. Nahar.
“We were given an opportunity to be in a booth and present our prototype, or innovation, so that people can come see firsthand what we are doing,” she continued, “So we made some good connections there by explaining our project, and so it was pretty good exposure too.”
Opportunity to expand
Funding is a crucial component throughout every stage of developing a product, and DTC facilitates an environment for startups like Impulse Technology to forge relationships with investors. Since its initial launch, Defense TechConnect has tallied more than $25 billion in sourced government funds and $2.5 billion in Small Business Innovation Research—a federal government program that works alongside the Small Business Administration—funding for technology solution providers.
“SBIR is a federal government program that sponsors grants and contracts to small businesses. So at the conference there were many information sessions to meet those program officials,” explained Dr. Nahar. “Small business people were able to get connected and get information on how to submit their proposals for funding the projects they are working on—along with research and development.”
With the Defense TechConnect Conference serving as an instrumental springboard, you might think that Impulse Technology would begin to branch out into additional projects. While the company has developed multiple technologies, such as their thermoelectric (TE) energy harvester and human generated energy project, the main concentration is still on their most recent technological innovation.
“We have expertise in different engineering principles, so we focus on using our expertise on different projects. We also work on energy harvesting and are open to other technologies,” said Dr. Nahar. “At Impulse we explore many things using our core expertise, but our current focus is on this project.”
Impulse Technology continues to work on their self-aligning prosthetic adapter that is projected to provide immense value to veterans, DoD offices and industry leaders. Assisting those that have lost their limbs in the war zone or in duty is what helped to inspire Dr. Nahar and the rest of her team, and their ultimate goal is to make their exciting technology accessible to those who need it.
Dr. Nahar is sure that the exposure, networking and connections facilitated by TechConnect will prove to be invaluable in meeting that goal. If their award is any indication of what to expect in the future, Impulse Technology will continue to be a home of ground-breaking innovation that makes a difference.