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 ...

In the proposed effort, we will leverage this extensive experience and capabilities to realize a frequency agile mmW radiometer that can cover the range of DC-110 GHz and can be scaled to DC-200 GHz under Phase II. Ours is a photonic system that multiplies and up-coverts a low-frequency reference signal onto an optical carrier (laser) using EO modulation, then uses the modulation sidebands to inj ...

High Tunnels (commonly called poly tunnels or hoop houses) are a type of field protected agriculture. They are essentially an intermediary between the full environmental risk-taking of outdoor production, and the controlled conditions, and relatively high energy use, of a conventional greenhouse. There are hundreds of thousands of acres in cultivation under high tunnels across the world. Domestica ...

According to the USDA (2012) approximately 80% of the Nation & #39;s consumptive water use, and over 90% in many western states, is used in agriculture. Groundwater provides over 50 billion gallons per day for agricultural needs. Long term water level declines caused by sustained groundwater pumping for agriculture are impacting the environment at large and the agricultural community specifically. ...

The membrane drying process for ethanol plants should be of great value in increasing capacity and/or reducing energy consumption for existing ethanol plants. We will manufacture modules of the novel membrane with a commercial partner. A pilot demonstration unit will be constructed and deployed at an actual ethanol plant for demonstrating the membrane process capabilities and advantages.

This program will provide low cost routes for biosynthesis of these and many other organics. Using biomass for production of fuels and chemical provides for a domestic, renewable and green route to address our fuel and chemical needs. This program provides a simple and inexpensive route for generating these domestic and renewable products

Oil and coolant drips, leaks and spills from vehicles, machines, oil transfer units and a myriad of business and personal activities account for nearly 36% of petroleum waste that is polluting the Nations surface water, ground water, surface soil and sub-soil. (U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service, 2009). The usual clean up method of these drips and spills, on a hard surface ...

Improved production yield is a constant objective of increasingly sophisticated agricultural practices. As Earth's population grows, higher yield is a critical mechanism for insuring adequate food supply. An effective way to increase yield is by reducing waste. Crops begin to ripen when encountering ethylene at low levels and sustain the ripening process by self-generation of ethylene. Because eth ...

Historical methods of reliability assessment are less and less effective as device sizes shrink. Already researchers are unable to package the many advanced devices because the act of cutting the wafer and the packaging operation pre-stresses or destroys the devices resulting in unreliable test results. Additionally the increasing cost of fabricating a wafer with advanced integrated circuit techno ...

A NEED EXISTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW COST, RAPID IDENTIFICATION/MONITORING TEST KIT FOR POTENTIAL PATHOGENS IN FOOD PRODUCTS. A MAJOR INNOVATION WOULD INCREASE THE SCREENING OF DISEASE ORGANISMS WHILE MONITORING POTENTIAL PATHOGENS IN FOOD. THE PROPOSED RAPID EIA-BASED DIAGNOSTIC TEST KIT IS LIGHT-WEIGHT, EASY TO USE, ECONOMICAL AND CAN BEADAPTED TO A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS AND SPECIMENS. THI ...