Award Data

Methane (CH4) is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2). Human activity related radiative forcing by methane accounts for about half of that caused by CO2. In the U.S., the largest industrial source of CH4 is oil and gas systems. Fugitive sources are often identified as potentially large sources of CH4 emissions; however, multiple measurement challenges inhibit more co ...

Goodman Technologies (GT) in partnership with the University of Hawaii (UHM, a Minority Serving Institution, MSI) and supported by Lockheed Martin propose to demonstrate a Moldable Labyrinth Nanocomposite High-Energy Electromagnetic Shielding and perform Gamma-Ray validation testing with the USSF. In space ionizing Gamma rays are produced by neutron stars, pulsars, supernova explosions, and regio ...

Approximately 25% of all anthropogenic generated methane comes from the oil and gas industry, and it is estimated that ~6% of those emissions are from storage tanks used in the production phase. Methane has a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere but has a significantly greater warming potential than carbon dioxide on short time scales. The emissions from these storage tanks are not well known, and n ...

The current Space Surveillance Network (SSN) is projected to soon be unable to track all manmade Low Earth Orbit (LEO) objects. Unprecedentedly large constellations of satellites will exponentially grow the number of LEO objects, and simply adding more sensors to the SSN to keep pace with the proliferation in LEO is a cost-prohibitive proposition. This research proposes to address the proliferatio ...

The goal of this project entitled Assembling the PDK for a PZT piezoMEMS Process is for Radiant to verify its PZT pMEMS process and complete the associated Process Design Kit (PDK) in order to support DoD prototyping and low volume production of piezoelectric MEMS components.  In Phase 1, Radiant verified a photolithographic mask set holding a plethora of piezoMEMS device architectures and constr ...

The EPA has identified a need for new methods and instrumentation to characterize size, shape, and composition of microplastics, especially in the size range of 1 µm – 1 mm. To meet the needs identified by EPA, we propose development of a portable sensor for improved microplastic sampling and characterization useable at remote measurement sites or fixed installations. The sensor would be connec ...

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of the six "criteria" pollutants listed in the Clean Air Act that are regulated under the EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). SO2 is the most abundant anthropogenic sulfur compound in the troposphere, and is mainly emitted through coal and petroleum combustion, petroleum refining, and metal smelting operations. Although national ambient air quality trend ...

To monitor the freshness of fresh produce in storage and during transportation, we propose using a gas sensor based on swept]wavelength broadly tunable external cavity quantum cascade lasers (EQCCLs).These sensors detect, identify, and quantify multiple chemical species in the airspace near the sensor continuously and in real]time, with part]per]billion level sensitivity. The sensors will ...

Radiant Technologies will team with the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to characterize Radiant’s PZT-based piezoMEMS process on 6-inch wafers. Radiant’s unique I-Beam piezoMEMS process uses a single Deep RIE step to release integrated circuit thin-PZT-film capacitors as piezoelectric strings, membranes, and cantilevers on a silicon wafer. The ...

Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Applied Technology Associates (ATA) propose to develop and characterize a set of orbit determination and estimation algorithms for closely-spaced objects in low Earth orbit. The algorithms will span existing state-of-the-art-in-practice and possible state-of-the-art-in-research approaches. These algorithms will seek to extract maximal information out of existing spa ...