Historical research guide · 0019 · 2024
Casimir Inc. — NSF SBIR Phase I and SpaceWERX STTR Phase I awards
Casimir, Inc.
In one minute
Casimir, Inc. is Harold Sonny White's company — he ran NASA's Eagleworks advanced propulsion laboratory before founding it — and these two awards are the public paperwork showing that a vacuum-energy device is a funded programme rather than a thought experiment. The National Science Foundation put $274,920 into a Phase I SBIR running from May to November 2024, with White as principal investigator, to test the feasibility of continuous power generation from the quantum field for terrestrial and space applications. The design is a customised Casimir cavity: instead of two bare plates, electrically connected conducting pillars run along the cavity midplane, setting up an electrostatic potential between the pillars and the cavity walls. The Phase I deliverable was a validated software tool that predicts how much tunnelling current a given metal-insulator-metal stack should produce, checked against fabricated samples in the laboratory. In August 2026 SpaceWERX added an STTR Phase I award for a fully independent solid-state generator.
Connection
Chapter 6 asks whether the vacuum can be made to do useful work, and here the answer arrives as procurement: a named company, a named principal investigator, two federal agencies, a dollar figure and a schedule. It is the site's clearest case of a vacuum-energy device on the bench rather than on a whiteboard.
From the source
The Phase I objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of continuous power generation from the quantum field for terrestrial and space applications, by validating software tools that optimise custom Casimir cavity power cells interacting with quantum field fluctuations.NSF award 2423233, public abstract
The device is a customisation of the original Casimir cavity concept: electrically connected conducting pillars are placed along the midplane of the cavity, creating an electrostatic potential between the pillars and the cavity walls.NSF award 2423233, public abstract
The named Phase I deliverable is validated software able to predict the magnitude of tunnelling current for a specified metal-insulator-metal material combination, with the analysis tools updated against measured performance from fabricated samples.NSF award 2423233, objectives and methodology
The programme is funded, dated and attributable: NSF SBIR Phase I award 2423233 to Casimir, Inc. for $274,920, running 1 May to 30 November 2024, with Harold White as principal investigator.SBIR.gov award 208315; NSF award 2423233
SpaceWERX, the innovation arm working with the Air Force Research Laboratory, announced an STTR Phase I award to Casimir on 25 August 2026 to develop a fully independent solid-state generator and to assess the requirements of systems operating in austere and difficult-to-service environments.Casimir, Inc. press release, 25 August 2026
Casimir states that its first-generation chip, the CA Microsparc, is 5 mm by 5 mm and delivers 1.5 volts at 25 microamps, with a stated path from microwatts and milliwatts toward watts and beyond.casimir.inc product page, first-generation Microsparc specifications
The way in
https://www.sbir.gov/awards/208315How to cite it
Casimir, Inc. (2024) Casimir Inc. — NSF SBIR Phase I and SpaceWERX STTR Phase I awards https://www.sbir.gov/awards/208315