Christian Cowan experienced a lot of sleepless nights last year.
Cowan is in charge of 401 Tech Bridge, an economic development initiative launched in 2019 that seeks to connect the U.S. Navy, universities, nonprofits and businesses in Rhode Island to develop advanced materials and technologies. There was a lot riding on its success last year, particularly after the program received millions of dollars of federal funding.
But just as the Tech Bridge was gaining momentum in early 2020, COVID-19 struck and threatened to bring it all to a crashing halt.
“It was troubling from a personal standpoint; it was troubling from a professional standpoint; and from a state and citizen standpoint,” said Cowan, 401 Tech Bridge executive director.
As the pandemic put a stranglehold on the economy and seemed to put the future of the 401 Tech Bridge – and its mission of supporting the state’s promising textiles, composites and undersea technology industries – in doubt, in a way the crisis was also preparing the program for the future.
“That’s when we were tapped on the shoulder by the R.I. Commerce Corp. to help the state respond to the pandemic because of the connections we had to local manufacturing and production companies,” Cowan said.
R.I. Commerce Corp. tasked the Tech Bridge with supporting efforts to retool local manufacturers so they could produce and supply personal protective equipment. Cowan and Mary Johnson, 401 Tech Bridge manager, drew from their connections in the industry. Both had worked at the Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership before the Tech Bridge started.
The Tech Bridge aided manufacturers such as the Pawtucket-based Cooley Group, which was developing a material used to make isolation gowns, find partnerships for their product.
‘They’re constantly introducing us to folks.’
DAYLIN FRANTIN, Flux Marine Ltd. co-founder and chief operating officer
“We were doing the same type of work [as before the pandemic], just in a different way,” Johnson said, noting that the experience validated the Tech Bridge’s role in aiding businesses.
As the economy stabilized, Johnson said, the organization began to find its legs and started launching its programming. One example is the Small Business Innovation Research program, designed to encourage businesses to conduct research and development for potential commercialization of technology.
“Our role is the connector between companies and opportunities, but also helping companies with technical assistance, and to remedy any obstacles that stand in their way,” Johnson said. Those obstacles include everything from a lack of funding to a lack of physical space for research.
401 Tech Bridge functions with $6 million in operating capital from federal, state and private sources. In April, it received a $724,674 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Scaling Pandemic Resilience Through Innovation and Technology – or SPRINT – Challenge.
The challenge was created last year as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act with the aim of harnessing entrepreneurial talents to address the economic and health risks caused by the pandemic.
That EDA grant followed a $2.3 million grant from the same agency last August to construct a dedicated 17,000-square-foot research and development facility in Portsmouth. The Advanced Materials and Technology Center is slated to be completed by year’s end and will be a partnership among Polaris MEP, the University of Rhode Island, the Composites Alliance of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Textiles Innovation Network and the Office of Naval Research.
One of the beneficiaries of 401 Tech Bridge has been Flux Marine Ltd., an East Greenwich startup that is producing zero-emissions electric outboard motors for boats.
During the development process, Flux has used connections made through the Tech Bridge, which also assisted the company in getting access to the Newport-based International Yacht Restoration School’s composites expertise and prototyping equipment.
“We were kind of a guinea pig,” said Daylin Frantin, Flux co-founder and chief operating officer. “They’re constantly introducing us to folks. The other day, we needed help with some design work, and they introduced us to some local designers.”
George Nickolopoulos, vice president of business development and external relations at Bristol-based Goetz Composites, called the Tech Bridge a “super connector.”
Goetz Composites was a winner of 401 Tech Bridge’s Naval Sea Systems Command’s Prize Challenge, earning a $250,000 grant to develop the shell of an unmanned undersea vehicle that could survive great depths.
Nickolopoulos said the Tech Bridge helped Goetz advance its work by introducing the company to business partners and collaborators in the blue economy and other sectors.
“They bring together academia, industry and government, putting us in the same space to solve our problems,” Nickolopoulos said. “Often we are incentivized by a financial benefit as well.”
The Advanced Materials and Technology Center under construction in Portsmouth is slated to be the centerpiece of Tech Bridge offerings. It is designed for short-term projects where collaborators can occupy a lab-type space to conduct research and development.
“It’s not an incubator space,” Johnson said. “It’s really a collaboration space, where companies will be able to show their products to potential partners on a small scale.”
401 Tech Bridge will be recruiting companies over the summer for its accelerator program in the fall. The organization will emphasize building upon the connections its formed among the universities, government and industry.
“We’re now at a point where we are hoping that the pandemic is trailing off and the viability of our space has never looked better,” Cowan said.
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Shuman@PBN.com.
