FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S&T Public Affairs, 202-254-2385
WASHINGTON D.C. — The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $3.2 million to California-based small business Intellisense Systems, Inc. for Phase III of a DHS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program focused on designing, developing and testing a network of inexpensive, deployable flood inundation sensors.
The Internet of Things technology monitors flood-prone areas in real time and rapidly detects and alerts officials, industry and citizens to potential threats.
DHS S&T previously funded three Phase II awards that were completed in July 2019. Under those awards, recipients received up to $1 million each to develop prototypes based on the feasibility of their flood monitoring technologies demonstrated in their Phase I efforts in 2016.
This new SBIR Phase III award to Intellisense was based on feedback from six state and local government jurisdictions that had operationally field tested Phase II-deployed flood sensors over a period of nine months. The Phase III contract will enhance the sensors for production and commercialization for both domestic and international partners to help densify their flood sensing networks for alerts, warnings and notifications.
“I fully expect the Intellisense flood sensors to be a disruptive technology,” said DHS S&T Program Manager Jeff Booth. “The accuracy, performance, and dependability of the sensors and their projected cost points will provide federal, state and local governments—as well as industry sectors like critical infrastructure—a capability to help protect life and property, making communities more resilient from flooding events.”
Initiated in 2004, the DHS S&T SBIR Program is a competitive contract awards program designed to increase the participation of innovative and creative U.S. small businesses in federal research and development initiatives and to increase private sector commercialization of SBIR-funded solutions.
“Small businesses performing under the DHS SBIR program continue to provide impactful technology solutions for homeland security and the general public,” said William N. Bryan, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology. “We look forward to seeing how these innovative small businesses advance their latest solutions.”
For more information on this award, email first.responder@hq.dhs.gov. To learn more about the DHS SBIR Program, visit the DHS SBIR Program Portal: https://oip.dhs.gov/sbir/public.