Zach Sims shares the focus of the Small Business Consulting Corporation
It was during the latest Founders’ Forum from the “Innovation Crossroads” program at ORNL.
On most occasions, the monthly Founders’ Forum from the “Innovation Crossroads” program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory features a successful entrepreneur sharing tips with aspiring entrepreneurs.
Last Thursday’s late afternoon event did not follow that model. Instead, it featured Zach Sims, a former Bredesen Center Fellow who graduated in 2020, spent nearly three years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and returned to the region in July 2023 as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute.
Today, he works for an organization named the Small Business Consulting Corporation (SBCC) where he helps connect the technical needs of the U.S. Air Force (USAF), in particular, to small businesses. The organization describes its role as serving as an advising partner and resource for the Department of Defense (DoD) in its efforts to integrate innovative commercial technology, advance deliberative capabilities in leaders, and deliver solutions for our nation’s defenders.
Noting that the USAF accounts for 50 percent of the DoD’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding, Sims said that the DoD is particularly interested in several areas. They include:
- Drones;
- Hypersonic;
- Cybersecurity; and
- Sustainable manufacturing, specifically onshoring production.
“Things that disrupt are the focus” of the USAF, he noted, adding that the DoD is targeting dual-use technologies.
Sims encouraged those in attendance to visit him at the lab so that he can better understand what they are doing.
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