The tasks of this Phase I proposal are designed to establish the feasibility of an optical sensor for real-time, in situ monitoring of the ullage environment of an aircraft fuel tank. This all-optical fuel tank ullage sensor (FTUS) will be unaffected by fuel splashing and sulfur deposits on the… More

The goal of this Phase I research project is to establish the feasibility of a regenerable chemical sensor for in situ detection of halogenated hydrocarbons (HHCs) in water. The technology is expected to generate a device for rapid field tests related to spills and accidents. HHCs, such as… More

75726-Carbon sequestration can be used to address concerns about global warming caused by an abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, quantifying the progress of carbon sequestration requires a better understanding of the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide. Because of cost and… More

This Phase I project addresses the development of a device for detecting hypergolic rocket fuels and oxidizers. The key motivation for this project is to develop a system that can operate for ten years with very low-to-no maintenance, and make measurements from -46 deg C to +71 deg C with response… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This small business innovation research Phase I project will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a reversible sensor to measure carbon monoxide at very low levels (5 parts per million or lower) where existing devices fail. Aside from the elderly… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project will optimize performance of an optical safety sensor for integration with the hydrogen economy infrastructures. Feasibility of the sensing approach was demonstrated by developing a sol-gel-titania-based indicator formulation,… More

Significant emphasis has been placed on aircraft fuel tank safety following the TWA Flight 800 accident in July 1996. Upon investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the explosion of the center wing tank (CWT) resulted most likely from ignition of the flammable… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project will optimize performance of an optical safety sensor for integration with the hydrogen economy infrastructures. Feasibility of the sensing approach was demonstrated by developing a sol-gel-titania-based indicator formulation,… More

In collaboration with Northrop Grumman Corporation, this project will develop an optical fiber-based automated hypergolic leak detection network to gain Navy's approval for sea-basing the KEI System. Building on the Phase I successes, indicators for optically sensing monomethylhydrazine (MMH) and… More

The goal of this project is to develop flexible food packaging materials with an effective barrier against oxygen and moisture. This technology will build on sol-gel core competency of the company, which has been expanded under NASA funding. In this Phase I project, InnoSense LLC (ISL), in… More

The U.S. Army has placed a strong emphasis to improve the efficiency and durability of photovoltaic (PV) cells with reduced cost of manufacturing. Current single-crystal technology can cost over $300/W at the array level and weigh more than 1kg/m2. A key challenge is to increase the solar to… More

This project will develop a sensitive and specific biosensor worthy of field deployment for autonomous operations. The underlying technology will enable in situ detection of terror agents in the cargo space of an aircraft or in airports and thereby reduce vulnerability of the Air Transportation… More

Reliable information is needed to assess the effect of carbon sequestration by the global biosphere and its impact on climate change. However, the prediction of carbon sources/sinks, using the atmospheric carbon dioxide inversion method, is currently limited by the availability of high-precision… More

The Department of Energy is commited to the development of technologies for the production, delivery, and storage of hydrogen for transportation, distributed stationary power, and portable power applications. Safety is an important concern related to hydrogen use. Because hydrogen can neither be… More

For detecting leakage of cryogenic fluids in spaceport facilities and in spacebound vehicles, this project proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of an all-optical sensor that can be fitted into narrow orifices around plumbing junctions. Fast response time and complete reversibility in the… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to investigate an array of selective elements that are optically coupled to light propagation through a set of long period grating (LPG) fibers configured in a parallel architecture. The goal is to study a technique that has the… More

InnoSense LLC (ISL), in collaboration with Professor Shahed U.M. Khan at Duquesne University at Pittsburgh, a leading expert within the U.S. and currently active in the photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation area, will design and develop highly efficient, low-cost, lightweight and durable… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will prototype a novel software tool called the Engine Combustion Simulator for use by automotive engineers to more quickly and cost-effectively develop new engines. The use of combustion kinetic modeling by automotive engine researchers… More

Spaceports, spacecrafts for planetary missions, future projects on the moon and mars ? they all need to monitor mission critical propellants. This project established the feasibility of a tapered optical fiber-based sensor (TOFS) that can be fitted into narrow orifices of plumbing junctions to… More

The development of a superior technology for manufacturing intrinsically safe, highly-reliable, low-cost hydrogen sensors will play an important role toward assuring the safe use of hydrogen across hydrogen economy infrastructures. This project will develop technology for the high volume… More

The Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project will develop permanent, self-cleaning, anti-fog coatings for plastic and glass surfaces. Fogging on bathroom mirrors is a common phenomenon. Fogging on a moving automotive windshield, however, represents hazardous situation.… More

This Phase I STTR project will develop a highly reflecting, broadband, radiation resistant, low-stress and lightweight, membrane integrated into an electrostatically actuated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device for wavefront control applications in space telescopes. The underlying… More

This STTR project aims to develop a process-hardened, simple and low cost multi-analyte sensor for detecting components of rocket engine plumes. The sensor will be constructed with materials for operating continuously at 550 OK. It will also withstand temperatures as high as 2100 OK for at least… More

The Army's goal is to develop a family of thermally responsive materials to record and visually indicate the environmental exposure history of ordnance and associated items while in storage and during transit. Temperature extremes can degrade their performance, render them ineffective or result in… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): InnoSense LLC (ISL) submits this revised application with the intent of developing a cost-effective and highly sensitive polymer nanowire-based electronic biosensor (PNEBD) for the early screening of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This device is expected to have… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): According to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report, carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental death by poisoning. More recent estimates reveal 3,500-4,000 people die each year due to accident al CO exposure; and an additional 10,000… More

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) seeks to develop three significant permanent, self-cleaning, anti-fog coatings for plastic and glass surfaces. Fogging of the windows of a car is a hazard most drivers have experienced at one time or another. Fogging results in poor visibility, and… More

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of synthesizing robust, high temperature resistant ionic polymers by utilizing Green Chemistry approach. Robust high temperature tolerant ionic polymers are needed for the development of efficient… More

Improved CO2 measurement technology is needed to achieve better characterization and understanding of the carbon transformations of soil, vegetation, and associated ecosystem components and exchanges with the atmosphere. This project will develop and test a low-cost, lightweight, miniaturized,… More

The possibility of the existence of a nonzero electric dipole moment (EDM) for neutrons is of great fundamental interest to the nuclear physics community. One approach to investigating the properties of neutrons involves the detection of scintillation following the capture of neutrons by liquid… More

This project aims to develop electrochemically grown, high throughput conducting nanowire antibody arrays that will be used for quantitative analysis of multiple biomarkers for the early detection of cancers.

The objective of the Phase II STTR project is to develop a prototype multi-analyte sensor system to detect gaseous analytes present in the test stands during propulsion test activities. Data on the concentrations of propellant-derived species are important to assure proper integration of safety… More

The U.S. Department of Energy aims to minimize our reliance on petroleum and natural gas, and to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts resulting from fossil fuel combustion. In this project, photocatalytic reduction technology will be developed for transforming atmospheric CO2 to commodity… More

InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to develop a miniaturized, multi-analyte sensor for near real-time monitoring of analytes in the spacecraft environment. The proposed innovations will build on ISL's past NASA SBIR project to develop an oxygen sensor for aircraft fuel tanks and DOE funded project to… More

This project aims to develop food packaging technologies for extending shelf-live toward maintaining healthy diet and psychological well being of the space crew. The underlying technology builds on sol-gel core competency of the company. InnoSense LLC (ISL) will collaborate with the Food Technology… More

The Army requires a time-temperature device to record and visually evaluate the environmental exposure history of ordnance during their lifecycle. In Phase I, InnoSense LLC (ISL) evaluated several material formulations and selected two for integration into a working model. They are colorimetric,… More

Currently fielded respiratory protective systems in the Joint Services General Purpose Mask (JSGPM) program degrade in visual performance capability in extreme hot and cold environments. Optical and mechanical properties of existing anti-fog coatings also diminish when subjected to… More

Although carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has received the most attention for its potential to reduce emissions, processes that convert CO2 into a useful product can provide a positive return on investment and not just be an unrecoverable cost. Compared to CCS technology, the potential… More

For maintaining U.S. leadership role in space exploration, there is an urgent need to develop non-flammable shirts, shorts, sweaters, and jackets without compromising the comfort and flexibility of the fabrics. InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to utilize its phosphorus-containing ionic polymers in crew… More

The objective of the Phase II SBIR project is to develop a prototype sensor system to detect gaseous analytes in support of the spacecraft environmental monitoring and control system. InnoSense LLC (ISL) has utilized its Chemical Fingerprint

'Cancer remains one of the most prevalent diseases to date. Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the vasculature has been identified as a promising method for determination of cancer risk, cancer prognosis, and determination of the effect of therapy. This proposal aims to establish the… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite great improvements in the detection of cancer in the last few decades, non-invasive early detection is still a challenge. Optical imaging is a modality that offers high spatio-temporal resolution, millimeters in depth of imaging, spectral resolution of… More

InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to fabricate a composite aerogel foam. This material is designed to be impact resistant, non-brittle, non-water-retaining and insulating for cryogenic propellant storage tanks at a reduced life cycle cost. Since typical liquid rocket fuels consist of liquified hydrogen… More

Due to the current oil crisis, the United States has begun to focus on alternative energy sources for transportation and other domestic applications. Methanol offers a renewable alternative to many fossil fuels that can be a raw material for the synthetic hydrocarbons and their products. ISL… More

Currently fielded respiratory protective systems in the Joint Services General Purpose Mask (JSGPM) program degrade in visual performance capability in extreme hot and cold environments. Optical and mechanical properties of existing anti-fog coatings also diminish when subjected to… More

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, DOE requires technologies that will render photovoltaic (PV) energy competitive with other renewable energy technologies. Specifically, low-cost technologies that compete efficiently with the cost and energy-intensive silicon PV technology are… More

Short-lived isotopes are expected to play a key role in unravelling the unanswered questions in nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics and fundamental interactions at low energies. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), planned for construction in the US, will have unique capabilities for… More

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many different disease-causing microbes, or pathogens, can contaminate foods, so there are many different foodborne infections. Harmful toxins or chemicals can also contaminate food, for example, poisonous mushrooms. The microbes or toxins enter the body through… More

For maintaining U.S. leadership in space exploration, there is an urgent need to develop nonflammable crew clothing with the requirements of comfort, ease of customization, durability and nontoxicity. The objective of this Phase II project is to continue the engineering development of heat and… More

This Phase II SBIR project focuses to continue developing cryogenic insulation foams that are flexible, deforming under compression. InnoSense LLC (ISL) demonstrated enhanced structural and insulation properties in Phase I to establish NASA use potential. In particular, ISL demonstrated a 30%… More

The objective of this Phase I STTR project is to develop a highly sensitive oxygen (O2) sensor, with high accuracy and precision, to determine purity levels of high concentration (> 99%) O2 gas streams. This sensor will meet NASA applications for on-orbit O2 purity checks in portable life support… More

Protection of critical electronic systems in spacecraft and satellites is imperative for NASA's future missions to high-energy, outer-planet environments. The objective of this project is to develop flexible, transparent, and removable conformal coatings to protect delicate, mission-critical… More

The objective of the Phase I SBIR project is to develop sensors that can discriminate the presence of combustible gases like oxygen (O2) in hydrogen (H2) or H2 in O2 backgrounds. These sensors will meet NASA applications for on-orbit crew and mission safety. Currently, H2 and O2 are produced by… More

NASA requires a highly efficient lubrication system for robotic operations, which will withstand very low temperatures (20 K) and other rigors of outer space and planetary surface operations. Building on prior experience in the materials area, InnoSense LLC (ISL) and an experienced consultant will… More

Currently, commercial and residential buildings account for two-fifths of the nations primary energy usage and over one-third the nations carbon emissions. The DOE wishes to reduce the current carbon footprint of housing. Legislation is currently being developed to inspire energy savings and carbon… More

Short-lived isotopes are expected to play a key role in unraveling the mysteries of nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, and fundamental interactions at low energies. This SBIR proposal offers high-temperature-capable solid catcher materials for use in the pre-Facility for Rare Isotope Beams… More

Fuels for Army use undergo rigorous analysis to determine many chemical and physical properties before they are used in Army vehicles. The property of fuels to produce smoke or soot is one such specification used to determine fuel quality. Smoke production of a diffusion flame produced by a kerosene… More

NASA needs an advanced lubrication solution for its future robotic systems and planetary surface assets. The required lubrication technology must offer low-temperature performance while minimizing wear in these robotic systems and reducing the maintenance needed to keep them running. In this Phase… More

InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to develop a nanoparticle encapsulation systems for water- and fat-soluble vitamins (VitaCap?) to increase shelf life up to five years for long duration space missions. This encapsulation technology would preserve/enhance the nutrient content of space foods by increasing… More