A 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institution
We do the research that moves defense technology to the field.
A nonprofit research institution and innovation enterprise, built to get emerging technology to the people who need it while it still matters.
Why TDIF exists
The mission hasn't changed.
Connecting the innovation ecosystem
Small businesses, universities, research organizations, investors and government end users — the connective tissue that turns a good idea into a program of record.
Delivering disruptive military technology
Applied research and development that moves early science toward fielded, dual-use capability, performed by engineers, researchers and subject-matter experts with decades of experience.
Sustaining US military overmatch
The reason the work is nonprofit: the mission is the country's technological edge, not a margin on a transaction.
What we do
A research institution, not a single service.
STTR support is the work most people come to us for, and it's where most of our capacity goes. It isn't the whole of what TDIF is.
Research and development
Independent technical investigation led by an experienced subject-matter expert — trade studies, modeling and simulation, characterization, test planning, and honest technical review. Basic research, applied research, and development as the government defines them.
The STTR research-institution partnership
The 30% research-institution share of an STTR, performed rather than signed for. A 0% claim on your IP, teaming agreements in hours, and a named research lead in your proposal.
Education
Teaching small businesses, founders and students how defense innovation funding actually works — from the Defense Academy and Hacking for Defense to plain-English explainers on the programs themselves.
Ecosystem and business development
Convening the people who have to find each other for a technology to reach the field: the company with the capability, the researcher who can de-risk it, and the government customer who needs it.
The bench
A network of deep technical expertise.
TDIF's research leadership carries two decades of defense R&D — a PhD principal investigator with 40+ SBIR/STTR programs across roughly a dozen federal agencies, a licensed Professional Engineer who ships first-of-kind hardware, and a former Army attorney who built the Austin defense-innovation ecosystem. Behind them is a vetted network of subject matter experts and prototyping facilities across the interest areas of defense technology.
Qualified under the statute
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit qualified as a research institution under the DoD STTR program (15 U.S.C. § 638), operated primarily for research, with 100+ technology companies supported. Data handling is backed by a NIST SP 800-171 self-assessment posted to SPRS.
The short version
You'll have an answer on the first call.
Finding a research institution is usually the slowest part of an STTR — emailing labs, waiting to learn whether anyone there is interested, starting over when they aren't, while your submission date stays exactly where it was. Thirty minutes with us and you'll know where you stand. Here's what that usually sounds like.
Yes, we can do the research
One of several subject-matter experts on staff, across the technical domains most STTR topics land in. No hunting for a lab that happens to be interested — and no waiting to find out.
Yes, we know who else you need
When your topic calls for a specific university lab or a specialized facility, we already know where it is and we bring it in through us — one agreement instead of a search. We've recommended a university over ourselves when that was the honest answer.
And no, there's no catch
No claim on your IP. No equity. No months of legal review — and a work plan built to align with your technical direction, with the research-institution share optimized around the work your award actually needs. If you have the technology and the solicitation says it needs research, that half is ours to carry.
Value delivered
A named research lead on your actual problem.
Across every engagement, one pattern: real, directly relevant technical expertise brought to a small business's actual problem — the opposite of a name on the form. And when a university was the better fit, we said so and helped find it.
AI / ML
A computer-vision company (full-motion-video object detection)
Independently evaluated data-as-a-service providers for a military full-motion-video model and pre-negotiated the Phase II RI terms — moving the company into Phase II with a vetted path to the training data a computer-vision model lives or dies on.
RF / electromagnetics
An RF company (plasmonic antennas)
Led the plasmonic-antenna research plan and brought in exactly the right specialized characterization partner in one move — turning a hard technical requirement into a ready-to-execute Phase II plan, IP fully retained.
Radiation effects / space compute
A space-systems startup (rad-hard on-orbit AI)
Architected a defense-grade radiation-qualification strategy and software-resiliency plan for commercial AI compute in orbit — the scientific judgment the company didn't have in-house, plus the facilities and talent to execute it.
Optics / photonics
A defense-AI company (aircraft defect detection)
Independently reviewed the inspection systems and shaped a multi-modal defect-detection plan — where optical, X-ray, and ultrasonic each fit — mapped to Air Force sustainment and readiness priorities.
Materials + biomedical
An EMF-protection materials startup
Framed the two possible Phase II research paths and recommended the best-fit partner — a university — proving TDIF points a small business to the right institution even when that institution isn't TDIF.
3D reconstruction / neural rendering
A simulation company (3D scene reconstruction)
Sharpened the reconstruction and scene-understanding research plan and structured clean, IP-safe teaming with the selected research institution — fast, and proportionate to a lighter-touch engagement.
In their words
What small businesses say after the work.
“TDIF helped us accelerate our transition from cutting-edge research into deployable capabilities. Their unique ecosystem of innovators, technologists, and mission stakeholders played a vital role in scaling and fielding our technology.”
Before you book
The questions we get asked first.
What is a Research Institution, and why does an STTR require one?
The STTR program (15 U.S.C. § 638) requires the small business to subcontract at least 30% of the work to a nonprofit Research Institution (RI) — and that 30% must be genuine technical, scientific, or engineering R&D. The RI doesn't have to be a university; it has to be a U.S. nonprofit operated primarily for research. TDIF is a 501(c)(3) qualified RI.
Does TDIF claim any IP from the work?
No. Our baseline is a 0% claim on resulting IP — all of it is allocated to your company.
How quickly can TDIF turn around partnership paperwork?
Hours — sometimes same-day. We use a simple teaming agreement and allocation-of-rights document, and our subcontracting process can run the same day, so the paperwork never threatens your deadline.
How is TDIF different from a university research partner?
Universities are the gold standard for deep research, and we partner with them when your topic calls for a specific lab or researcher. What TDIF adds is a partner built around the small business and the dual-use journey: agreements signed in hours, a 0% claim on your IP, and a named, DoW-experienced research lead — with the flexibility to pivot as your program evolves. When a university is the right technical fit, we bring it in without the IP entanglement.
Working on something the Department of War should see?
Thirty minutes. Whether it's an STTR submission or a harder question about getting technology fielded, you'll leave the call knowing where you stand.