Scientific Solutions is pleased to announce that the US Department of Energy has approved funding of its Phase I SBIR project to develop a miniature electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source. Competition was fierce with 1,863 grant applications received and only 268 approved for Phase I funding. The miniature ECR (miniECR) source is designed for those applications where a small, robust, and relatively maintenance-free ion source provides a significant advantage over existing sources of 1⁺ ions.