ASR&D Featured in Time Magazine

The article by Lori Ioannou "Tricks to Keep Growing - Big Ideas for Small Business" published on March 10, 2010, goes into detail about how business' such as ASR&D have developed strategies to increase growth in difficult times. You can see the entire article at Time Magazine's Website, or read below for the specific details that Time found interesting about ASR&D's growth strategy.

Look for New Ways to Harvest Your Intellectual Capital

By Lori IoannouWednesday, Mar. 10, 2010 (Page 3)

Susana Raab for TIME

Entrepreneurs with breakthrough technology don't have to rely on angel investors and venture capitalists to fund their R&D. There are options other than giving up equity: licensing patents and trade secrets is a great way to get a steady income stream in a cash crunch while keeping your ownership stake intact.

That is what Jacqueline Hines, an electrical engineer and head of Applied Sensor Research & Development Corp., is doing. She's in discussions with three companies interested in licensing her Arnold, Md., firm's wireless microelectronic sensors. These adaptable devices can be used to measure chemical-vapor concentrations in the air or to assist in the clinical diagnosis of infectious diseases. Her plan is to help fund product development with cash infusions of $50,000 to $200,000 from these partners every time her scientists hit a predetermined milestone in development. The ultimate goal: get 20% of revenue from royalty income by 2015. Right now, her five-year-old concern is not consistently profitable on its research income, which is slightly under $1 million annually.

Read more: On Time Magazine's Website

Redefine Your Workforce; Leverage Talent

By Lori Ioannou Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010 (Page 5)

Inmagine Asia / Corbis

One way to gain a competitive advantage by harnessing brainpower is to hire independent contractors on a project-needed basis. This HR strategy also helps a company with cyclical sales better manage labor costs. Wong now has 15 independent contractors he uses for a variety of tasks. All are senior engineers who specialize in hardware or software niches and work on contracts that range from six months to three years. Similarly, Hines hires consultants and contract engineers to do everything from nanostructured film development to mixed-signal PC-board design. This allows her to tap high-level expertise she could not afford to employ full time.

Hines also has a research option agreement with Temple University and works closely with a team of about 10 undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scientists led by Eric Borguet, a Ph.D. in chemistry, to develop film coatings for sensors that can be used on the products Applied is working on for NASA and a medical-diagnostic-device developer. "This is truly a collaborative effort," Hines points out. "The school loves the opportunity to give students real-world commercial experience, and if the scientists there come up with a patentable technology, I have the option to license it."

Read more: On Time Magazine's Website