Award Data

Distributed energy offers a means of providing reliable, cost-effective electrical power to residents of rural communities. These requirements often cannot be met by current distribution methods due to limitation of remote central station power generation and transmission. With the migration of population from urban areas to rural areas and the increased power demands placed on electrical gri ...

This SBIR project addresses the problem of waste and low manufacturing yield in the typical thin film manufacturing process. It has the potential to make a significant impact on energy utilization and become a critical component to making thin film processes cost effective, leading to waste-free manufacturing. Thin film deposition processes are extensively used in man-critical industries wit ...

In this program, Omega Optics, Inc. and the University of Texas, Austin, propose a novel lab-on-chip photonic crystal slot waveguide infrared spectrometer for detection and spectroscopic analysis of BTEX hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene) in water and greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) in air. The device utilizes the unique dispersive properties of slow light photonic crystal waveguides together ...

The concept of this SBIR project is to employ a hand-held sensor system to monitor groundwater. This concept recognizes the need for users to query field sensors remotely to report on concentration of contaminants like trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE). The missing part of this concept is a low-power sensor system that can reliably analyze groundwater for these contaminants. D ...

There is a finite amount of fossil fuels, which will only last a few more decades. Therefore, it is imperative to develop renewable sources of energy. An area that has recently attracted a lot of attention is the conversion of renewable oils to biodiesel, primarily through the methanolysis of triglycerides. The use of an immobilized lipase as a heterogeneous biocatalyst to transform oils into ...

Operational Technologies Corporation (OpTech) proposes to couple the ultrasensitivity of fluorescence-based detection with the high affinity and selectivity of DNA aptamers as improved replacements for antibodies to detect fecal indicator organisms in fresh and marine recreational waters. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) aptamer assays for fecal indicator organisms will be demon ...

Off-road diesel-powered equipment (i.e., tractors/dozers, excavators, backhoes, surface equipment, etc.) are designed with lifetimes of more than 25-30 years. As such, most of the diesel equipment in use today was manufactured before there were any emissions standards at all, much less up to the stringent requirements of modern vehicle emissions. To combat this massive source of pollutants, ...

All levels of government and law enforcement are making plans to contain the effects of a terrorist attack using chemical and biological warfare agents. An important containment strategy is to enable emergency response personnel (e.g., police, fire fighters, etc.) to neutralize the threat using decontamination methods. The two primary decontamination solutions used by the military are supertropi ...

In this proposed Phase I project, we will develop a fiber optic scintillator system with radionuclide-selective cladding for use in the detection of radionuclide contamination in water supplies or wastewater streams. The current terrorist threat requires that vigilance be maintained on all avenues of attack to the United States, including the potential for attack on the country’s food or water ...

This SBIR project addresses the problem of waste and low manufacturing yield in the typical thin film manufacturing process. It has the potential to make a significant impact on energy utilization and become a critical component to making thin film processes cost effective, leading to waste-free manufacturing. Thin film deposition processes are extensively used in man-critical industries with sign ...