Smartacus applies for SBIR grant.

Brian Shannon, President of The Smartacus Corporation, announced they have applied for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Grant in consortium with University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth (UNTHSC). The grant application is in response to a solicitation from the National Institute of Health for Development of Discovery-Oriented Software and Tools for Science Education. The project title is “Development of Educational Software: Anatomy/Physiology.”

"SBIR is a federal funding source specifically geared to innovative small businesses that demonstrate the ability to develop and commercialize their technologies. Smartacus Corporation is savvy for taking advantage of a program that has traditionally been under utilized by Metroplex firms," said Clyde Higgs, president of Tech Fort Worth, a business and technology incubator.

The Smartacus Corporation, producer of premier e-learning products for the higher education market, announced that it intends to develop supplemental materials for Human Anatomy and Physiology courses. Courses for this subject matter range from high school to college levels for biology courses and anatomy and physiology courses.

By teaming with Robert W. Wordinger, Ph.D. and Rouel S. Roque, M.D. from Department of Cell Biology and Genetics at UNTHSC to provide content, The Smartacus Corporation will create study modules that raise the standard of supplement materials available for anatomy and physiology courses.

Rudy Lopes, Chief Information Officer of The Smartacus Corporation, who was also at the announcement said, “Biology and anatomy textbooks are too expensive and too overloaded with material the students and instructors don't want or need. We are providing a better alternative, flexible enough to satisfy student study needs and instructor curricula requirements.”

The Smartacus Corporation is a developer of premier e-learning products to enhance students' earning power through improved learning. The company designs multimedia, distributed via the Internet and CD-ROM, that are teaching tools for the higher education market. The focus is on technology products that are useful, usable, and unique.

Earlier this year, The Smartacus Corporation opened a Web site for students – www.College-Cram.com – which already has nearly 300 study modules for math, science, business, and foreign language. The company has recently begun discussions with venture capital firms.