ROME — ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC of Rome was awarded a $15 million contract to design and build an electronic signal-detection unit for the U.S. Army. Bids were solicited with twenty-six proposals received. The Army Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Catalyst Program is the contracting activity. The work will be performed at ANDRO’s headquarters in Rome located at Griffiss Business & Technology Park.
ANDRO was among five nationwide small business finalists selected to accelerate innovation at the helm of the Army’s SBIR Catalyst pilot – a novel program that uses matching capital from transition partners and major weapons systems integrators to drive contracts up to $75 million to tackle Army customer needs.
While the pilot accepted several small business technology proposals capable of supporting the Army of 2030, it focused on solutions within specific technology ecosystems where small businesses lead in innovation. To ensure the U.S. can overcome any adversary, the Army SBIR Catalyst pilot prioritizes ecosystems including artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), climate and clean tech, autonomy, and supply-chain logistics in the Indo-Pacific region.
The focus of ANDRO’s work, under their Marconi-Rosenblatt AI Innovation Lab team led by Dr. Jithin Jagannath and Anu Jagannath, will be on DeepSPEC: Artificial Intelligence-Powered Blind Signal Detector and Classifier, in cooperation with potential Army transition partner PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors – PL Tactical Space Superiority.
The AI Innovation Lab is one of several labs at ANDRO’s resident facilities that includes the Heisenberg Lab and PRISM Lab, each conducting complementary research, engineering, development, and testing activities across ANDRO’s portfolio of technologies and products.
“As one of just five small businesses selected to receive this highly competitive U.S. Army contract, ANDRO’s $15 million award is a major win for Oneida County’s small business and defense communities. These federal funds mean economic growth and good-paying new jobs in Rome — with more to follow we hope,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. He added, “This contract is not only a boost to the Mohawk Valley regional economy, but it will help our armed forces accelerate the development of new artificial intelligence capabilities, which is critical to both our national defense and competitiveness on the international stage. I will continue to do everything I can to support the innovation happening at small businesses like ANDRO and the remarkable growth around the Griffiss Business & Technology Park.”
Propelling emerging capabilities to transition and commercialization, the Army SBIR Catalyst contract award has potential for multi-phase funding opportunities of up to $15 million for each small business winner, for a contract pool of up to $75 million total under the Army SBIR Catalyst pilot. “Through these R&D investments, the Army SBIR Program leverages capital to buy down risk for the Army’s larger, more scalable acquisition profile,” according to ANDRO president Dr. Andrew Drozd.
Via the pilot, the program will overcome untapped potential to transition Army technology challenges into major weapon systems programs by strongly synchronizing small business innovation with Army transition partners and integrators. As a result, it will provide resources for advanced prototype development testing and transition.
ANDRO provides research, engineering, and technical services to defense and commercial industries in advanced spectrum exploitation, secure wireless communications, software-based waveform development, cognitive software-defined radio networking, multi-sensor data fusion, and sensor resource management. For more information on ANDRO, including job placements, visit www.androcs.com.
ANDRO will hold a Business After Hours event on February 8. Contact the Rome Chamber of Commerce for more information about event details and reservations.
Visit the Army Applied SBIR website at https://www.armysbir.army.mil/catalyst/ for further information about the awards and for information about the Catalyst program.
