News

Published 1/22/24

By Anna Volkwine, Office of Army Prize Competitions and Army Applied SBIR Program

WASHINGTON – While small and nontraditional businesses can solve some of the U.S. Army’s most extensive problems, the lack of connection with firms often impacts the technology exchange from innovator to Army.

The Army xTech and Army Small Business Innovation Research Programs aim to address this challenge. Both led by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, the programs help to facilitate connections between innovators and Army transition partners — supporting the discovery of cost-saving solutions for the Army.

xTech connections at work

n March 2021, xTech partnered with Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical to host the xTechSBIR Waveform competition, which solicited open-hardware architecture technologies for software-defined radios from small, U.S-based businesses. Four winners, announced in June 2021, received ASA(ALT)-funded Direct to Phase II SBIR contracts totaling nearly $6.8 million to develop and demonstrate their solutions.

With 20- to 24-month periods of performance, the small businesses began demonstrating the progress made on their technologies to Army stakeholders in summer 2023, and are continuing down the pathway to technology transition. While this journey is years in the making, the journey itself exists because of xTech’s flexible funding and mechanisms to connect PEO C3T, transition partners and the right small businesses with the right solutions.

The companies — R-DEX Systems, ANDRO Computational Solutions, Skylark Wireless and Epiq Solutions — are currently in separate phases of the transition process with potential Army customers. Dr. Sayeed Hasan, PEO C3T Project Manager Tactical Radios, played a key role during the planning stages of the competition and when PEO C3T presented its unique SDR challenge to xTech. He remains involved and plans to see the process through until the end — with high expectations for successful transitions.

“PEO C3T’s vision is for these companies to transition their solutions,” Hasan said. “Success would save the Army customer a tremendous amount of time by optimizing waveform porting for SDRs, and could potentially save the government and taxpayer millions of dollars.”

Since the conclusion of the xTechSBIR Waveform competition, the companies’ capabilities have progressed across varying technology readiness levels — or TRLs.

Next, three of the companies — R-DEX Systems, ANDRO and Skylark Wireless — will each demonstrate their final proof-of-concept between April and July 2024 to Dr. Hasan and a group of Army stakeholders. From there, further follow-on Army SBIR contracts ranging from a Sequential Phase II or Phase III will push these solutions across the finish line. The fourth winner, Epiq Solutions, is still actively developing their solution for Army use, but has since been procured by a larger company and is pursuing alternate transition pathways.

Dr. Hasan shared that while the solutions are not complete, they have the potential that PEO C3T is looking for in SDR solutions.

Transitioning beyond xTech and Army SBIR

Through ASA(ALT)-funded programs, small businesses have multiple opportunities to collaborate directly with Army transition partners. ANDRO Computational Solutions, for example, was a winner of xTechSBIR Waveform, and has also seen success in another ASA(ALT) endeavor, the Army SBIR CATALYST Pilot Program, which announced a total of five awardees in May 2023, including ANDRO. The CATALYST Program launched in February 2023 to use Army SBIR program funding with matching capital from Army transition partners and major weapons systems integrators to drive contracts up to $75 million to tackle Army customer challenges.

Dr. Jithin Jagannath, ANDRO’s chief scientist of technology, and Dr. Ashwin Amanna, ANDRO’s chief scientist of research, noted that the company offers a broad range of technologies and expertise at various TRLs. As solutions mature, ASA(ALT) has programs and pathways that help to bridge the valley of death small businesses often experience trying to break through in the Army market.

“ANDRO has experienced a great deal of value in getting our solution in front of various Army stakeholders with the opportunity to accelerate the transition process,” Jagannath said. “The CATALYST Program incentivizes us and prime contractors to work together by rewarding collaborations. Similarly, the Phase II Sequential from the xTechSBIR Waveform competition provides a roadmap beyond Phase II to solve specific problems that are a high priority for customers.”

Thanks to the ASA(ALT) programming of xTech and Army SBIR, ANDRO now has multiple potential transition partners and increased possibilities, including working with Hasan’s office to identify a transition partner within the PM Tactical Radios umbrella.

“The focus is identifying a transition partner, and developing and customizing the statement of work so it focuses on the needs of the transition partner,” Hasan said.

The xTech Program holds several competitions per year, from open-topic competitions such as xTechSearch to technology-specific competitions targeting specific Army needs and challenges. For all competition information, go to the xTech website.

The Army SBIR Program releases contract opportunities ad hoc to respond to current and anticipated warfighting technology needs. For eligibility information and a list of open topics, please visit the Army SBIR|STTR website.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology leverages technologies and capabilities to provide U.S. Soldiers a decisive advantage in any environment by developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining the world’s finest equipment and services. For more information, visit the ASA(ALT) web page.

Read the full story here: xTech Program matches small businesses with Army transition partners – xTechSearch

ROME, N.Y. — ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC of Rome, N.Y., recently announced a contract award from Peraton Labs, Inc. to support Peraton on a Navy initiative for advancing Beyond Fifth Generation (B5G) wireless communications technologies for military tactical edge operations. Peraton Labs, headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., was awarded the prime contract under the National Security Technology Accelerator’s (NSTXL) Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems’ (S2MARTS) contract vehicle with the Department of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Ind. to support the S2MARTS B5G initiative.

Under the multimillion-dollar prime contract, Peraton Labs will develop and demonstrate new capabilities for dynamic spectrum management at the tactical edge to provide agile and intelligent spectrum sharing that will allow Department of Defense (DoD) operations to integrate with future 5G networked operations. Peraton Labs’ Flexible Spectrum Harvesting and Adaptive Reuse Enhancement solution goes beyond spectrum interference sensing and avoidance to enable bidirectional sharing between 5G RANs and fast-moving military radars.

ANDRO’s work under Peraton will focus on enhancing the performance of 5G Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN) by implementing spectrum sensing and dynamic spectrum access/coexistence mechanisms within a system of systems architecture that enables scaling and automatic reconfiguration under dynamically changing electronic warfare (EW) scenarios at operational tempo. The work will be performed by ANDRO’s PRISM teams in Rome and Syracuse, led by ANDRO’s Principal Investigator Timothy Woods. PRISM is one of ANDRO’s core technologies to advance B5G dynamic spectrum management solutions in support of Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) applications.

About ANDRO: 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

About Peraton Labs: Peraton Labs is Peraton’s applied research organization. We deliver the future—across cybersecurity, electronic warfare, mobility, analytics and networking—to government and commercial customers worldwide. Every day, our employees do what can’t be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we’re safeguarding your peace of mind.

Join us for the ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC Business After Hours. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, February 8th from 5:30-7:30, and promises to be an unforgettable night of fun and networking. Not only will you get a chance to tour our new facilities, but you’ll also have the opportunity to learn more about our cutting-edge technologies through demos from our tech team. Plus, we’ll be giving away some amazing door prizes that you won’t want to miss out on!

To add to the excitement, this year’s event is Mardis Gras themed, complete with live music and delicious food from Feast & Festivities by O’Connors. Entry is free and we’ll have a cash bar on site. So why not come out and celebrate the season with us? Just remember to RSVP through the Rome Chamber of Commerce to secure your spot.

RSVP here: Business After Hours with ANDRO Computation Solutions – Feb 8, 2024 (romechamber.com)

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.

Happy Holidays from ANDRO! As this year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to express our gratitude to all of our customers and partners who have supported us throughout the year.

Looking ahead, we are excited for what 2024 will bring. We are committed to delivering innovative solutions and excellent service to meet the evolving needs of our customers. We believe that the future is bright, and we are looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Once again, we wish you all a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for your support, and we hope to continue to be a part of your success in the years to come.

ROME — ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC has announced the next in a series of multiple contract awards from the Department of Defense (DoD) totaling over $20 million in value to the company.  The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology – ASA(ALT) – selected ANDRO for a phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award to develop DeepGenerator, a technology for rapidly generating realistic and diverse tactical data sets for various customer-specific applications to enhance their deployed machine learning (ML) models.

The winning team from ANDRO’s Marconi-Rosenblatt AI Innovation Lab is led by Principal Investigator Jithin Jagannath, Sean Furman, Anu Jagannath, Chris Maracchion, and Haolun Li, all local residents.  The DeepGenerator award extends the ANDRO AI Innovation Lab’s portfolio of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions by addressing the key challenge of data scarcity in efficiently training ML systems.

ANDRO technical experts stated that it is often expensive or even impossible to collect mission or application-relevant data in many practical deployment situations and under diverse operating conditions.  DeepGenerator will bridge the gap with a focus on computer vision applications, counter-UAS (Uncrewed Air System), and security and threat detection, where more representative data, synthetically generated, are needed to improve the performance of core AI solutions.

Funding under the next phases will be used to incrementally expand and mature DeepGenerator’s capabilities and support transitions to the warfighter domain.

ANDRO president Andrew Drozd reiterated that the company’s upcoming contract awards will complement the above work and focus on advancements in Beyond Fifth Generation (B5G) wireless capabilities powered by AI/ML to enhance radio communications performance, tactical situational awareness, and enable cyber/electronic warfare systems to operate safely and more efficiently in terrestrial, airborne, and satellite applications.  One of the contracts in process of award focuses on developing Federated B5G testing environments for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to evaluate NextG AI and security solutions.

According to company officials, announcements on the subsequent round of awards will be released over the next few weeks.  Drozd continues maintaining a high pace towards converting fundamental research into products emphasizing defense needs and high-growth commercial markets.

In July, ANDRO moved its headquarters to 111 Dart Circle at Griffiss Park in Rome.  The company seeks new hires with advanced degrees and encourages interested parties to contact Jessica Griffin, Human Resources Manager at jgriffin@androcs.com or visit www.androcs.com for additional information.

ROME — ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC of Rome has been selected to participate in the Army’s xTechPrime competition launched to identify novel, disruptive concepts and technology solutions with dual-use capabilities that contribute to the Army’s current modernization goals.  The competition promotes collaboration between small businesses and technology integrators to accelerate innovation.  The competition provides an opportunity for technology integrators to form teams with small businesses that are competing for the potential for a Direct-to-Phase-II (D2P2) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract award valued at up to nearly $2 million.

Originally announced by the Under Secretary of the Army, Hon. Gabe Camarillo, at the October 2022 Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition, xTechPrime is one of five new initiatives seeking to enhance the research, development, and deployment of leap-ahead capabilities across the Army.

Part 1 of the competition involves small businesses proposing transformative, groundbreaking concepts towards accelerating innovation and modernization with a high potential for transition to Army programs of record in cooperation with industry prime contractors.  Upon selection of proposed topics, the respective small businesses were invited in Part 2 to give a pitch to U.S. Army and Department of Defense (DoD) subject matter experts.  ANDRO successfully made it through the first two gates among a field of over twenty-five other competitors nationwide.  Part 3 of the competition involves a more in-depth presentation outlining the potential impact, technical feasibility, prime integrator collaboration, SBIR plan, commercialization, and transition plan, to a panel of Army/DoD leaders and technical experts.

The xTechPrime offers an opportunity for technology integrators to partner with small businesses and grow the Army’s ecosystem while building stronger industry relationships, enhancing competitiveness in bidding, accessing small businesses’ specialized skills and expertise, and increasing the scalability and flexibility of innovations down the road.

The ANDRO team will compete in the xTechPrime competition finals on December 11-14 in Alexandria, Virgina.  The team is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Jithin Jagannath, Director of ANDRO’s Marconi-Rosenblatt AI Innovation Lab.  The AI Lab’s topic focuses on developing an expandable deep learning tool with radio frequency machine learning operations (RFMLOps) for future-proof signal intelligence applications under the Army’s Project Linchpin.

ANDRO president Dr. Andrew Drozd credited his team’s tireless efforts in developing advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technologies that spotlight the many innovations coming out of the Mohawk Valley and that are contributing to military readiness and national security.

For more information, visit: https://www.xtech.army.mil/competition/xtechprime/

Dr. Ashwin Amanna, Chief Scientist of ANDRO Computational Solutions’ Research Sector, was elevated to Senior Member grade by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) based on his years of service, scientific contributions, technological excellence, and advancing innovation.  Amanna started as a Senior Research Scientist at ANDRO in 2014.  Since then, he has led research projects and served as the Principal Investigator for various government and commercial contracts towards evaluating government waveforms and developing novel software-based waveforms used in tactical military radios.

The IEEE is an organization with over 400,000 active members around the world.  Its roots date back to 1884 when electricity became a major influence in society leading to today’s world of data communications and smart wireless devices.  The organization is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity and is the world’s largest technical-professional society.  It serves professionals involved in all aspects of the electrical, electronic, and computing fields and related areas of science and technology.  The IEEE organization is divided into ten global geographical units called “regions” that are each further sub-divided into multiple sections, chapters, affinity groups, and student branches. The IEEE Mohawk Valley Section is part of Region 1 in the Northeastern United States.

Andy Drozd, president of ANDRO stated, “This is a truly remarkable achievement that highlights Dr. Amanna’s contributions to the advancement of technology, and he now joins a select group of professionals who have demonstrated excellence in their field.  Out of the 400,000 members worldwide, only 10% have achieved this level of recognition.”

ANDRO is an ardent supporter of the IEEE’s mission and vision to benefit society through science, technology, and engineering per Drozd.  He added that IEEE membership offers numerous advantages for professional development and career advancement across the science and technology industries.

Read the story from the Daily Sentinel here

ROME — ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC of Rome announced the recent award of an Army Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract valued at nearly $2 million―the first in a wave of new contracts being awarded to ANDRO by the Department of Defense (DoD) that are expected to bring the company over $20 million in novel research work over the coming few weeks.  The recent SBIR award is for developing spectrum monitoring and electronic support solutions leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is being sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology ASA(ALT).

The effort falls under ANDRO’s strategic plan to broaden its technology portfolio for advancing cognitive radio frequency (RF) wireless communications and spectrum awareness for the warfighter.

The solutions will apply machine learning (ML) to demonstrate new capabilities in support of spectrum operations.  The patent-pending solution is being designed for testing and evaluation at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to enhance real-time spectrum monitoring and agility performance.

According to ANDRO president Andrew Drozd, the DoD is looking at one end of the technology spectrum to “aggregate” capabilities to perform multiple tasks simultaneously while at the other end decentralizing or disaggregating infrastructure to provide for more diverse, multipurpose, autonomous, and agile warfighting capabilities.  Drozd adds that ANDRO’s approach under the new contract fits well into that overall paradigm.

The developed solution and ANDRO’s pending awards are anticipated to significantly advance the company’s AI/ML lab portfolio and patent inventory of technologies for electronic-warfare/electronic-support-measure (EW/ESM).  Many of the envisioned solutions support the Army’s convergence of Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) for enhancing spectrum situational awareness and dynamic spectrum management in multifunctional systems.

Per Drozd, ANDRO’s upcoming contracts are being awarded under both DoD Broad Agency Announcements and the Federal SBIR Program for a total value exceeding $20 million.  The next in the series of upcoming DoD contract awards will look at advancing Beyond Fifth Generation (B5G) wireless capabilities powered by AI/ML to enhance radio communications performance, tactical situational awareness, and enable cyber/electronic warfare systems to operate safely and more efficiently in terrestrial, airborne, and satellite applications, including 5G testing environments for DARPA to evaluate specialized use cases.

Information on the subsequent round of awards will be released over the next few weeks, according to Drozd.  His outlook is centered on maintaining a high pace towards increased corporate vitality, productization and leveraging high growth opportunities for job creation.

ANDRO has temporarily relocated its headquarters to 111 Dart Circle at Griffiss Park as of July.  The company is hiring and encourages those who are interested to contact Jessica Griffin, Human Resources Manager at jgriffin@androcs.com or visit www.androcs.com for additional information on job postings.

In the News:

Daily Sentinel

Central New York Business Journal

ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC joined the Fall 2023 SUNY Poly Career Fair on October 19th at the Wildcat Field House. Over 90 businesses and nonprofit organizations were on campus for the annual event. Local, state, and national employers were on hand to discuss current and upcoming job opportunities and internships with over 400 students.

Check out the current list of job openings here to join the ANDRO team: Job Listings – ANDRO Computational Solutions (androcs.com)