Mass High Tech | November 1, 2006
NASA hands Boston Micromachines an SBIR grant

Watertown-based Boston Micromachines Corp. reports it has won a $600,000 Phase 2 Small Business and Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from NASA.

The grant is expected to support a project for the development of a micromirror array consisting of 331 hexagonal mirrors for NASA's space exploration mission, known as the Terrestrial Planet Finder mission. Each mirror is capable of tip, tilt and piston motion with nanometer precision, according to company officials.

Prior to this award, Boston Micromachines had received eight Phase 1 and four Phase 2 SBIR and STTR grants, totaling $3.5 million. The company received its first federal research in 1999, the year the company was founded. Boston Micromachines specializes in microelectromechanical systems, also known as MEMS-based mirror products, for optics systems. The company employs 10 and reports annual revenue of under $10 million.