April 7, 2009. Fayetteville, Arkansas – The National Science Foundation has announced that it has awarded a $500,000 grant to Northwest Arkansas-based SFC Fluidics to support development of the company’s ePump® technology. This is the third $500,000 dollar grant the company has received from NSF this year.

ePump® is a unique and innovative pumping system that enables researchers and instrumentation manufacturers to move very small volumes of fluid (nanoliters to microliters) with a high degree of precision and accuracy. The system has a small footprint (less than one square inch), can run on battery power, produces pulse-free flow, has no moving parts, and can pump against significant back pressure. Its innovative design is completely scalable and can be made in virtually any shape. ePump® shows significant promise in advancing state-of-the-art microfluidic technology, and is particularly well-suited to applications in such areas as medical research and diagnostics (lab-on-a-chip), portable laboratory instrumentation, environmental analysis, aerospace, and military. The product’s innovative design and its potential broad-reaching impact were both significant factors in NSF’s decision to fund the project.

Under two separate grants received this year from NSF, the company is also developing a miniaturized chip-based system for liquid chromatography, and an innovative hand-held technology which will allow doctors to evaluate a patient’s metabolic health within a few minutes, using only a drop of blood. Both projects are also highly innovative, and have great market potential which, when realized, will contribute significantly to the Northwest Arkansas job market, and the area’s growing economy.

“It is companies like SFC Fluidics,” says Dr. Calvin Goforth, President of SFC Fluidics and Virtual Incubation Company, a Fayetteville based technology incubator, “that will turn this economy around. The long-term competitive position of the United States in the world economy greatly depends on innovation, new disruptive technologies and the rise of companies like SFC Fluidics.”

SFC Fluidics is a privately-held company located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Founded in 2003, the company is rapidly becoming “one to watch” in the emerging market for microfluidic devices.