More than 150 young companies to showcase prototype technology in the return of the Eureka Park Tech Zone at CES

More than 150 start-ups will reveal pre-market technology at the 2013 International CES® this year as part of the Eureka Park Tech Zone, expanding the showcase from its launch in 2012.

The event will run from Tuesday, Jan. 8 to Friday, Jan. 11, 2013, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nearly 30 National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported companies will demonstrate products ranging from environmental monitors that attach to your cell phone (Synkera) to anti-fatigue headphones that inflate within the ear (Asius), and each will have a booth on the third floor of the Venetian Hotel.

An illustrated guide to many of the NSF SBIR-supported exhibits provides location information, demonstration descriptions, media contacts and images.

Owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, the 2013 International CES is the world's largest annual innovation event and will feature 3,000 exhibitors across more than 1.9 million net square feet of exhibit space.

This photo shows a water droplet on a waterproofed circuit board. Photo credit: Integrated Surface Technologies, Menlo Park, CA

Eureka Park is part of a continuing partnership that began last year, with the National Science Foundation (NSF) again joining CEA and Startup America to bring small business entrepreneurs to CES, including grantees of the NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The Tech Zone will exclusively feature start-up companies and their technologies, many of which are only now surfacing from research and development efforts.

"Eureka Park provides startups an opportunity to emerge from R&D directly onto an international stage," says Grace Wang, director of the NSF Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships.

"NSF's role in Eureka Park's creation is a continuation of our three-decade legacy of support for small businesses, helping companies like Symantec, Qualcomm and IntraLase gain a foothold while they developed their core technology," she adds. "In 1977, NSF created the first federal SBIR program to help small businesses mitigate risks, become more attractive to private-sector funding, and be better positioned in the marketplace. Through guidance and federal funds, we support several hundred companies each year, at a critical phase that can mean the difference between a startup's success or failure. As a result, we have helped ensure that many companies-some now household names-were able to develop and grow, providing incalculable benefit to the U.S. economy and its people."

Former NSF SBIR grantee Qualcomm (grants 8660104 and 8801254) will be delivering the CES Preshow Keynote.

Several of the technologies being demonstrated by the NSF SBIR grantees have been developed after years of NSF investment in basic research at universities-including MIT spinoff Affectiva-while others emerged independently. All have received guidance and support from NSF as their companies evolved, with some emerging for the first time on an international stage at Eureka Park.

See videos of several of the technologies at:

• RoadNarrows 1, 2, 3
• Perpetua
• Vorbeck 1, 2
• Asius
• 3DeWitt: Spectrum size is proportional to ring distance
• 3DeWitt: Works in ambient light
• 3DeWitt: Quantitative scientific demo
• 3DeWitt: 3D Operating System
• 3DeWitt: 3DR The 3D Ring
• 3DeWitt: Reverse perspective by diffraction
• 3DeWitt: Moly
• 3DeWitt: 3D Microscope with Holographic Optics
• Chromation Partners
• DotMetrics 1, 2