Award Data

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy is a widely used and extremely sensitive analytical technique for qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis. Superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) microcalorimeter detectors have now been developed that achieve an energy resolution of 2 eV for 1.5 keV X-rays, which is sufficient to enable the measurement of the small shift of the X-ray line position that ...

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is recognized as the gold standard in noncontact characterization of the refractive index and thickness of a thin optical film or film stack on a substrate. However, it suffers from a number of shortcomings, perhaps the most important of which is the time required to perform a single measurement. Moreover, manufacturers are interested in comprehensive evaluation of thin ...

There is an acute need for a networked chemical sensor that is inexpensive enough to allow it to be treated as a disposable item - deployed and left in-place until the end of its useful life, or until operations move out of communications range. Electrochemical microarray sensors can be fabricated at low enough unit cost to make the development of a disposable sensor node feasible. These sensors ...

Our solution to the automated feature extraction problem will leverage the material properties that can be inferred from combining multispectral imagery with high resolution elevation data or LIDAR data using a trainable knowledge base. Multiple imaging bands provide a more complete picture of the material involved than ordinary RGB. This can help distinguish between a green grass lawn and a gre ...

Regenerative medicine is an emerging, interdisciplinary field that will result in new engineered medical products. The introduction of a high-resolution, non-destructive imaging technique that is capable of penetrating deeply into the highly-scattering scaffold medium has the means to accelerate the development and commercial utilization of these novel materials. Multi-photon microscopy (MPM) is b ...

Special Operations forces (SOF) operate in all weather conditions. It has identified a need for a micro-cooling system that can be vehicle mounted and man-portable, as well as provide a capability to cool vehicle mounted communications and electronics equipment. To meet the needs of SOF the system must be small, lightweight, quiet, low power, and gasless. We propose a compact micro-cooling system ...

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART OF DETERMINISTIC RISK ANALYSIS AND FIRE PROTECTION METHODOLOGY OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. A COMPUTER CODE, BASED ON THE USE OF A FIELD (DISCRETIZATION) MODELING TECHNIQUE, WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT HAS SUFFICIENT FLEXIBILITY FOR ACCURATE/REALISTIC REPRESENTATIONS OF GEOMETRY, VENTILATION AND OTHER CONDITIONS PRESENT IN CABLE ROOMS AND CONTROL ROO ...