Colorado Engineering Receives 2011 Tibbetts Award
Colorado Engineering Inc. (CEI) received the 2011 Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Administration (SBA) for its reconfigurable advanced rapid-prototyping environment (RARE) technology. SBA presents the awards to companies and individuals that have advanced technological innovation and economic growth.
“This award represents the culmination of years of effort begun in 2003 when we first submitted a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposal,” said CEI Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Scally. “We won that first submittal, and have since made the SBIR Program a cornerstone of our business development.”
CEI’s Tibbetts Award recognizes the company’s work, which satisfies the Department of Defense’s search for cutting-edge R&D projects at small technology companies. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and US Navy were key sponsors for CEI’s RARE concept. RARE offers versatile signal processing building blocks for rapid development of radar, EW, intelligence and communications systems for ground, ship, and airborne platforms. The technology can benefit any application where high performance-embedded processing is needed while meeting cost, size, weight, and power (CSWaP) constraints.
“Before participating in the SBIR Program, we had just started CEI with two people,” continued Scally. “Today, thanks to projects like RARE and our many SBIR successes, we’ve expanded our staff to 20 and have seen our revenues grow year after year.”
Nancy Scally, joined by Larry Scally, CEI’s President and Chief Technical Officer, accepted the award at a ceremony this morning in Washington, D.C. Afterward, they met with SBA Administrator, Karen Mills, and attended a reception at the White House.
“This is a proud day, not only for CEI but also for the city of Colorado Springs,” said Sean Greene, SBA’s Associate Administrator for Investment and Senior Adviser for Innovation. “Companies like CEI represent the best in American ingenuity.”
Founded in 2003, Colorado Springs-based CEI is a leader in the research, development, and production of high technology hardware, software and systems solutions. A “customer first” culture along with innovative approaches and an experienced engineering team enables CEI to create high-quality technological products while reducing cost and risk.