Award Data

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operates security screening for all air passengers of outgoing aircraft. The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) ensured access to air travel for passengers with disabilities, including mandating equal or similar treatment in the screening process. This ACAA requirement comports with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which prohibits discri ...

Transportation Safety Officers (TSOs) currently use a multi-step decision tree to screen and resolve an alarm of a suspicious object in crowded and high-throughput environments, such as aviation and security checkpoints. In high-throughput environments, this can lead to information overload and mental fatigue. Homeland Security desires a more capable integrated Alarm Resolution (AR) sensor suite, ...

The rapid detection of highly toxic compounds, such as chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial compounds, pharmaceutical-based agents, and non-traditional agents, is paramount to industrial and national security. While multiple chemical detection platforms exist, the ability to detect toxic compounds is fundamentally limited by the available reference database of known chemical signatures. Recen ...

"Rising sea levels and king tide flooding in coastal areas across America are saturating onsite wastewater disposal systems (OSDS), resulting in the degradation of coastal ecosystems and 200,000+ illnesses annually. Many States are mandating system upgrades, with 88,000 upgrades required by 2050 in Hawaii alone. Unfortunately, existing upgrade options are unaffordable for 97% of Hawaiian homeowner ...

Development of a reflection control and direction device (RCDD) is proposed. This innovative device will progress the state of the art for propulsion of solar sails used to fly space weather monitoring sensors to sub-LaGrange point orbits for earlier warning times of impending destructive space weather events. A reflection control device (RCD) utilizes polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) mater ...

Oceanit proposes the design, construction, and testing of a hyperspectral imaging equipped Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for the detection of various coral species and the monitoring of coral health. This system will be the prototype for the sensor part of a robust, COTS-based UAS system to aid the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program. Different coral families and species will be identified ...

Drought is responsible for $327.7B in economic loss since 1980 in the United States and typically precedes, cooccurs, or initiates other hazards like wildfires or prolonged periods of intense heat. The compounding or cascading of these hazards routinely threatens the wellbeing and stability of communities. The economic impact from drought can be especially harsh when the drought begins rapidly in ...

Photon-X and Pilot AI will assess the feasibility of building a rangefinder that uses object shapes and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to better detect objects and estimate their range. The project will combine novel shape-sensing imaging technology with edge-optimized AI algorithms that can run on a small, battery-powered device. The key tasks of the project will be: Validate that a computer vision ...

Modern lithium ion batteries are known for their poor safety performance, with many reports of battery failure and fire having been reported. One of the major causes of battery fire is from the use of flammable solvents, such as organic carbonates, as the electrolyte. These hazards have long limited the usage of batteries in dangerous conditions, such as on the battlefield. To combat this issue, t ...

IERUS proposes the development of a SATCOM OTM terminal capable of multi-beam operation which will reduce - or eliminate - gaps in communication switchovers during satellite transitions. This proposed system consists of a 3D-printed lens acting as a passive beamformer, reconfigurable array for wideband frequency coverage, and a switched beam steering network. The combination of these subsystems re ...