Award Data

Current semiconductor device simulation software adopts Fourier’s law to perform the thermal transport modeling. However, Fourier’s law will become invalid at micro/nano-scale, which can cause a large discrepancy in the thermal and electrical performance between the simulation results and the actual application. To improve the current state-of-the-art, a new semiconductor device simulation sof ...

Air quality data from top-of-the-line platforms, such as satellites, are difficult to obtain without a high- level of technical knowledge. For this reason, local air quality patterns and trends are often inaccessible to disadvantaged communities (DACs). Many technologies that will be used for deep decarbonization of industrial and power facilities have the added co-benefit of reducing non-CO2 poll ...

C53-22c-271119Meeting climate-stabilizing energy transition goals requires using hybrid-energy CO2 capture systems like Direct Air Capture (DAC) to remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. Deploying this capacity will be difficult because it is complex and energy intensive infrastructure, and there must also be buy- in from communities living in locations best suited for it. The chall ...

C49-18a-271181The need for high-temperature furnaces for neutron scattering experiments has been increasing considerably. One of the major limiting factors of these furnaces is the cooling rate. Currently, the vacuum furnace relies on radiation to dissipate heat and takes at least 2 hours to cool the furnace low enough to safely open for a sample change. This results in significant limitations of ...

C53-21a-271193Assuring trouble-free performance of downhole and surface components is critical for generation of low- cost electricity from geothermal energy systems. Because geothermal environments can be extremely corrosive, managing the corrosion of alloys used in geothermal system through a combination of proper alloy selection and operational practices is essential. Unfortunately, materials s ...

The ability to navigate complex, dense X-ray images with occluded objects and superposition of potential threats presents a significant challenge for air cargo screeners.Explosive detection and threat interdiction is also challenging due to the varied ways threat actors conceal and disguise illicit activity.These factors work to reduce screening efficiency and throughput, as skids must be broken d ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide private and public stakeholders with new technological tools to better monitor and predict pandemics. This project is expected to modernize the tools used today by private and public laboratories to collect and purify pathogens, particularly human coronaviruses from community was ...

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focusses on developing culturally-competent, humanlike,m and empathetic artificial intelligence (AI) agents for use within the pre-kindergarten (pre-K)-graduate school educational context. In the broadest sense, cultural competence refers to an organization's or individual's capacity and effectiveness i ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is connected to creating a large-scale source of low production cost, carbon-free hydrogen. This hydrogen will be produced from hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Nearly 8 million tons of H2S are processed by the energy industry each year. Sulfur recovery units (SRUs) are used to safely manage H2S. SRUs ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable the fast and efficient loading of parcels into shipping containers ranging from small delivery vans to maritime shipping containers. This project will focus on demonstrating the feasibility of an algorithmic approach and robotic development. The technology is a step towards creati ...