U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently announced that VinciVR Inc. will receive $200,000 as part of 259 Department of Energy grants totaling $53 million to 210 small businesses in 38 states.
“Supporting small businesses will ensure we are tapping into all of America’s talent to develop clean-energy technologies that will help us tackle the climate crisis,” said Steve Binkley, acting director of the DOE’s Office of Science.
“DOE’s investments will enable these economic engines to optimize and commercialize their breakthroughs, while developing the next generation of science leaders and ensuring U.S. scientific and economic competitiveness that will benefit all Americans.”
Through the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program across the federal government, small business powers the U.S. economy and generates thousands of jobs, both directly and indirectly. The awards aim at transforming DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs into viable products and services.
VinciVR Inc. will receive $200,000 to work with offshore developers, disadvantaged communities, and training organizations to develop a portable virtual reality (VR) training tool for mariners that simulates offshore wind farms in various weather conditions. This will help mariners learn navigation/operations through a wind farm before construction begins.
“Offshore wind will create thousands of high paying jobs while fundamentally changing US energy, but ensuring a prepared workforce will be a significant challenge,” says Eagle Wu, CEO of VinciVR. “We will make sure Americans are ready for this change through this DOE investment.”
“Promoting diversity within renewable energy is a core internal initiative. We are excited for this partnership in building a dynamic and operationally ready workforce to meet offshore wind energy industry’s needs,” said Dr. Cynthia Brown, managing partner of IWNL.
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