Pittsburgh start-up SpiralGen does the math, gets SBIR funding

SpiralGen, a Carnegie Mellon University spin-off that has found ways to teach computers to write libraries of computer code, has won a Phase One Small Business Innovation Research grant to take it to the next level.

Used in applications like signal processing, communication, and scientific computing, SpiralGen’s technology automates the production and optimization of modular segments of software code, called libraries, that perform complex mathematical functions when called upon by computer applications. For multi-core processors, which pose hurdles for performance programmers, SpiralGen cuts traditional manual library development and optimization time–often measured in months–by 70 to 90 percent without sacrificing any performance. The technology has received previous support from the National Science Foundation and won a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Award from the Office of Naval Research.

The new $150,000 award will allow SpiralGen to push forward, says company CEO Yevgen Voronenko, whose partners include CMU colleagues José M.F. Moura, Markus Pueschel, Franz Franchetti and James C. Hoe.

“The grant will let us explore the business side. We’ll hire a business development director and talk to prospective customers,” says Voronenko.

SpiralGen had its genesis as a PROBE (problem-oriented exploration) of CMU’s Project Olympus, which incubates promising faculty and student research and innovation.

Source: Yevgen Voronenko, SpiralGen
Writer: Chris O’Toole