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Under the new contract, MIKRO will apply its TOMO^SM technology to produce cast-in cooling holes for turbine blades. This is expected to yield substantial cost savings and provide for advancements in the shape of the holes. Current manufacturing capabilities are time consuming and limit cooling hole designs to simple shapes. MIKRO’s patented TOMO^SM technology enables production of advanced cores and cooling features that were previously impossible to manufacture. The precision cooling features enabled by TOMO^SM will allow advanced engines to run at higher temperatures, resulting in greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions.

Mikro Systems has applied its patented Tomo-Lithographic Molding (TOMO^sm) manufacturing technology to gas turbine airfoils with funding support from the U.S. DOE and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The technology will enable more sophisticated airfoil designs with improved cooling characteristics, leading to higher operating temperatures and improved efficiency.  In addition to enabling designs that were previously impossible to manufacture, the technology will reduce time-to-market for future design enhancements through reduced tooling costs, reduced production lead times, and more efficient manufacturing processes.

“Fundamentally, this manufacturing technology opens the airfoil design space in ways thought unfeasible only a few years ago,” said Vinod Philip, the Head of Gas Turbine Engineering at Siemens Energy.  “As such, it represents a critical tool in Siemens’ clean energy development efforts.”

In this agreement, Siemens Energy and Mikro Systems will work together to validate and certify the technology for use in commercial production of stationary and moving components. This will include production trials and application-specific component testing. In addition, Siemens Energy will establish a field office near Mikro Systems’ Virginia facilities to support Mikro Systems’ commercialization efforts and add domestic jobs.  Successful commercialization of this novel technology will create additional jobs in this high-tech industry.

Mikro Systems’ growth strategy is to apply their technology to a wide range of gas turbine applications, including commercial and military aviation engines, and next-generation turbines for use in Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) power plants. “Market penetration by new technologies into well-established commercial industries is a challenge,” said Mikro Systems President and CEO Mike Appleby. “This partnership with a major turbine OEM reflects significant progress towards market acceptance and supply chain integration.”

The development of Mikro Systems’ technology for gas turbine application is sponsored by the U.S. DOE through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, including an ARRA-funded Phase III Xlerator grant specifically intended to support the commercialization of promising new technologies. The technology is also contributing to Siemens Energy’s ARRA-funded and DOE Office of Fossil Energy’s managed project to develop hydrogen turbines for coal-based IGCC power generation that will improve efficiency, reduce emissions, lower costs, and allow for carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The company’s patented TOMO^sm manufacturing technology allows rapid development and production of ceramic casting cores with complex geometries and special features. These advanced cores are necessary to improve the cooling of turbine blades. Cooler blades allow engines to operate at higher temperatures, resulting in reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions. TOMO can also be used to make advanced, high-performance components in a wide variety of applications using materials such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites.

Mikro’s award will be funded as part of DOE’s Small Business Phase III Xlerator program, designed to help small businesses develop manufacturing processes to scale up production of their new, proven technologies, creating new markets and new jobs. Mikro’s award was one of 33 projects in 16 states that were announced today. Total funding for the projects was $57 million.

“Mikro’s goal in developing this clean energy technology has always been to bring it to the marketplace. This grant confirms the commercial potential of our advanced ceramic core manufacturing technology that will improve efficiency and reduce emissions in gas turbines used for electric power generation and for aero engines,” said Mike Appleby, president and CEO of Mikro Systems.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the awards today, noting, “Small businesses are engines of job creation and innovation, and we need their ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to drive a clean energy economy. By helping America’s small business bring these innovative technologies to market, we will spur economic growth and help reduce the country’s energy use.”

Mikro’s founder and CEO, Mike Appleby, said, “This is our second major DoE award in the last six months. In August, DoE announced a SBIR Phase II award for Mikro for continued development of the technology. Together, the two projects confirm both the merit and the commercial potential of our technology.” Because the Phase III awards are designed to accelerate bringing new technologies to market, only companies that had previously received DoE SBIR or STTR funding were eligible to apply for the Phase III grants.  Mikro completed a DoE Phase I project to develop and prove the technology in 2009.

Mikro Systems, Inc. is a fast-growing technology company that partners with global, high-technology manufacturing companies such as Siemens Energy, GE, Analogic, and Siemens Healthcare to apply its breakthrough TOMO process to create high-performance products and improve product development and manufacturing processes. TOMO’s versatility allows Mikro to work in areas as diverse as medical x-ray imaging and detection, airport baggage scanners, and turbine components. Founded in 2001, Mikro currently has 30 employees based in Charlottesville.

The company’s patented TOMO^sm manufacturing technology allows the use of designs with complex geometries and special features that improve the cooling of turbine blades and other engine components. Cooler blades allow engines to operate at higher temperatures, resulting in reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions. TOMO can be used to make advanced, high-performance components in a wide variety of applications using materials such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites.

Mikro’s award is a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, one of 201 awards from 38 states that were announced today. In a post on the White House blog, Kristina Johnson, the Under Secretary for Energy, noted, “These awards will be used to develop clean energy technologies that have the potential to be commercialized, thus continuing to allow the small businesses to create new jobs in their communities.”

In 2010, the Department of Energy’s SBIR efforts have incorporated a fast-track process for applications, in part to help small businesses grow. The process places increased emphasis on job creation and commercialization potential in the review and selection process. Congressman Tom Perriello, who visited Mikro earlier this year, said, “The products being developed at Mikro Systems will lead to the kind of high-tech, high-skill manufacturing jobs we need in Central Virginia. We can be a leader in new energy, and smart investments, like these DOE grants from the Recovery Act, put us one step closer to making that a reality.”

Mikro’s founder and CEO, Mike Appleby, said, “This award confirms both the merit of our technology and our plans to bring it to market. This funding will enable us to further develop the technology and demonstrate its ability to improve engine performance. We are delighted that this funding will allow us to immediately add high-skill jobs at Mikro and ultimately create many more jobs when the technology reaches commercialization.”

Mikro Systems, Inc. is a fast-growing technology company that partners with global, high- technology manufacturing companies, such as Siemens Energy, Analogic, GE, and Siemens Healthcare to apply its breakthrough TOMO process to new, high performance products and improve product development and manufacturing processes. TOMO’s versatility allows Mikro to work in areas as diverse as medical x-ray imaging and detection, airport baggage scanners, and turbine components. Founded in 2001, Mikro currently has 30 employees based in Charlottesville.

The award recognized work on “MOXIE” – Movies of eXtreme Imaging Experiments. MOXIE is a high-speed, motion-picture camera designed to image extremely fast or short-lived phenomena, such as explosions, plasma formation, ballistics, and shock waves. One of the primary uses for MOXIE is nuclear weapon certification without nuclear testing through X-ray movies of mock detonations.

Mikro used its patented TOMO^sm manufacturing process to develop the special X-ray collimator used in the camera. Mike Appleby, founder and CEO of Mikro, said, “We are very pleased to be recognized as part of the team for our work on this important project. We are proud of the work we do with our corporate and government partners in X-ray imaging, power generation, and security.”

As the principal developer of MOXIE, Los Alamos National Laboratories submitted the application for the award, along with co-submitters that, in addition to Mikro, included Varian Medical Systems Security and Inspection Products, National Security Technologies, and Bicron-Saint-Gobain Crystals. The MOXIE camera is capable of imaging more than 20 million frames per second and enables scientists to study the physical properties of materials, including equations of state, fusion plasmas, discharge formation, shock physics, and fracture mechanics.

Mikro was founded in 2001 as an R&D company that was supported largely through government-funded projects for agencies that included the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the Air Force. In recent years, large companies, such as Siemens Energy, GE, Analogic, and Siemens Healthcare have recognized opportunities to incorporate Mikro’s breakthrough manufacturing technologies in efforts to rapidly and efficiently develop, test, and implement components that cannot be developed with traditional manufacturing processes. TOMO can be used to make advanced, high-performance components in a wide variety of applications using advanced materials, including metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites.

Currently, more than 60% of Mikro’s revenues come from commercial clients. Together with these clients, Mikro has more than 30 patent applications awarded or pending. Mikro currently has 27 employees based in Charlottesville, Virginia. “One of our objectives when we moved to Virginia 10 years ago was to bring high-tech manufacturing and research jobs to the area, and we have been very fortunate to be able to meet that objective,” Appleby said.

“We are pleased to have Stuart’s insight and experience available to us in developing and commercializing our TOMO(sm) technology in the field of investment casting,” said Michael Appleby, President and CEO of Mikro. “His experience in the investment casting industry will be invaluable to us, and we appreciate his involvement.”

Dr. Uram holds Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Science degrees in Metallurgy from MIT, where he was part of the foundry group during his studies. He founded Certech, Inc. in 1970, a producer of ceramic cores for the investment casting industry as well as injection molded ceramics for a variety of applications.

Charlottesville, Va.-based Mikro Systems Inc. is a fast-growing technology company specializing in precision manufacturing. Mikro partners with high-technology companies, as well as government and academic divisions in fields as diverse as aerospace, medical imaging, biomedicine, homeland security, energy and defense. Through a collaboration, Mikro uses its patented Tomo- Lithographic-Molding (TOMO^sm) manufacturing process to develop higher-performance products and fast, cost-effective manufacturing solutions, for its customers, that previously were impractical — or, in many cases, simply impossible.

MIKRO’s patented Tomo-Lithographic-Molding (TOMO^SM) technology enables production of advanced cores that previously have not been manufacturable. The precision cooling features enabled by TOMO will allow advanced engines to run at higher temperatures, thus affording better fuel efficiency and lower emissions.   In addition, TOMO™ allows more rapid prototyping of advanced designs at a much lower cost than traditional methods.

In this Phase I effort, MIKRO intends to demonstrate technical feasibility of applying its TOMO technology to the manufacture of advanced turbine blades for use in IGCC plants.  The advanced blade designs will embody more complex internal cooling passages than can be produced using current investment casting techniques, which will improve heat transfer and lower cooling air requirements.  If successful in Phase I, MIKRO will be eligible for a follow-on two-year Phase II R&D effort to further develop the technology needed for this demanding application.