Award Data

This STTR Phase II project will develop commercially viable atomic force microscope (AFM) probes fabricated from ultrananocrystalline diamond. The project will refine the processes developed in Phase I and bring contact and non-contact all-diamond probes to market. Probes using conducting diamond that are chemically and electronically tunable and have superb tribological properties will also be d ...

This SBIR Phase II project aims to develop a commercial grade optical probe and system for FDA clinical trials and subsequent commercialization of a population-wide colon cancer screening test. An interdisciplinary research team of engineers, biologists, and clinicians has developed low-coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS), an optical technique which enables sensing tissue microarchitectural c ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will examine the feasibility of a novel synthesis process for the creation of a composite hydrophobic nano-photocatalyst. The innovation is expected to allow enhanced volatile organic chemicals (VOC) and organic pollutant adsorptions in either air or liquid mediums. The development of a commercial composite hydrophobic photocatalyst wi ...

America needs a clean, affordable, reliable and sustainable product or system to obtain heat for residences in cold climates using renewable, carbon-neutral, plentiful, low-cost biomass fuels of diverse types found close to the location of usage. The available biomass could heat hundreds of thousands of homes, and costly natural gas could be directed to higher-value usage. Gasifiers are devices t ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project seeks to create the first social community for e-learning, enabling professionals and amateurs to generate, distribute, and share more effective e-learning experiences through collaboration and social interaction. The application is focused on higher education. The community will include students, faculty and alumni engaged in ...

The SBIR Phase II project aims to develop a software package that enables rapid image reconstruction for X-ray Micro-CT (computerized Tomography) imaging. Over the last few years, Micro-CT has become a very valuable tool in pharmaceutical and basic research. Current Micro-CT scanners have reached a resolution of 1 micrometer and thus allow high resolution in-vivo and ex-vivo three dimensional e ...

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project includes the design, development and commercialization of shape memory polymer orthopedic soft-tissue fixation devices. Current soft tissue fixation devices are primarily metal or plastic screws used to attach tissue grafts to bone in repair of torn anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL). These threaded devices commonly damage the tendon du ...

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a new material and methodology for cast immobilization of an injured or surgically repaired area. The work focuses on using multi-functional shape-memory polymers with multiple activations to create an adaptive cast. Currently, the shape-memory effect is a singular event and occurs on the acute timescale. The proposed pr ...

Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is a new coal gasification technique that efficiently uses the hot (900-1500°C) generated syngas to power both steam and gas turbines. Due to regulations, this syngas must be free of sulfur and purification is normally carried out at reduced temperatures (< 500°C); however, using this temperature requires the cooling and reheating of coal gas, which ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project addresses the need to collect information on the location and condition of high-value inventory items while in transit. The project objective is to develop an advanced, low-cost, battery-operated RFID tag (the Hypertag). Custom and off-the-shelf hardware and software components will be combined to create a device which integrates the ...