Norman, Okla.-based SouthWest Nano Technologies Inc. (SWeNT) is among 55 U.S. Companies that will be honored with the 2007 Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Technology Council at an Oct. 10 ceremony in Washington.

SWeNT was chosen from more than 4,000 companies that receive contract and grants under the Small Business Innovation Research Program each year.

Named for Roland Tibbetts, acknowledge as the father of the SBIR program, these prestigious national awards are made annually to those small firms, projects, organizations and individuals judged to exemplify the very best in SBIR achievement.

“SWeNT is honored to be among only 55 companies nationwide to receive a Tibbetts Award,” said SWeNT CEO David J. Arthur. “The SBIR program gives an enormous boost to small, up-and-coming technology companies like SweNT. We are pleased to be recognized by the Technology Council for our continued growth and success.”

SWeNT was founded in 2001 to commercialize nanotube technology developed by Daniel Resasco, Douglas and Hilda Bourne Chair of Chemical Engineering and George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma. The company produces single-wall carbon nanotubes using a patented catalytic method called CoMoCATâ, which is widely recognized for its quality and scalability.

Applications for the company’s products include touch screen displays, nanocomposite fibers, conductive plastics, sensors and biosensors, stealth coatings, fuel cells and drug delivery systems.

On July 26, SWeNT broke ground for the company’s first production-scale plant in Norman. The facility, which is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2008, will enable SWeNT to dramatically increase production and meet the growing needs of its customers.

Since its inception in 1995, the Small Business Technology Council has played a crucial role in promoting congressional legislation and federal regulations that aid small, technology-based companies.