Award Data

Currently, there are over 10,000 MRI scanners used in the US alone. US citizens today are mobile and many times medical treatments may require MRI scans from several different facilities. Images from MRI scanners can also drift over time. There is a tremendous need for all medical imaging scanners to be on the same level. Sigma-K will develop the commercialization of the ISMRM/NIST MRI Calibration ...

Single chirality of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is critical for their superb mechanical, thermal, optical and electronic properties. All known methods for producing nanotubes give mixtures of tubes with different chiralities. Physical separation of SWCNT by chirality is thus an enabling step for many potential applications and fundamental studies. The existing anion exchange resins are ...

The applicant will develop a wave energy harvesting system for NOAA buoys. It will ve entirely self-contained (no protruding elements), modular, scalable, and easily deployed. The system employs a unique, inertial mechanism that responds to acceleration forces created by waves. This mechanism will be combined with (1) a proprietary generator that is sensitive to very low levels of torque and ha ...

In the current SBIR program, AlphaSense aimed at developing a novel, handheld, non-destructive sensor to evaluate the integrity of Naval Advanced Amorphous Coatings (NAAC) in real time. In phase I, we have proven the feasibility of using the cavity perturbation technique to detect different types of defects present in thermal-sprayed testing coupons. Specifically, we optimized the sensor probe des ...

The increasingly common use of mobile software platforms such as Android provides convenience and cost savings by consolidating multiple functions within one device. This consolidation comes at a price, however: the interactions between the various software applications (apps) is hard to predict. The underlying operating system provides security mechanisms to isolate apps and control communication ...

We propose to design and implement a domain-specific language (DSL) called Nettle that will eliminate a large class of network misconfiguration errors, together with a verification tool that will be used to establish the correctness of other network configuration specifications. Advantages of our approach include: - It can be deployed gracefully and incrementally. The use of Nettle will guarantee ...

The Phase 2 objective is to provide NIST with a modular gauge head unit equipped with InsituTec's standing wave probe technology. The complete gauge head unit will be retrofitted to the NIST M48 which is one of the most precise measuring machines in the world. This unit will enable NIST to achieve the agency's program goal in dimensional metrology which is to provide microscale measurement capacit ...

We propose development and demonstration of key elements of the in-stride launch and recovery system (LRS) we analyzed in Phase I to provide capabilities of a modular, scalable LRS that can readily and quickly be mounted for small UUV launch and recovery using a range of sizes and types of larger UUV. Deliverables include in-water demonstration of autonomous recovery and of data and power transmi ...

We propose an engine concept, which we call a Cart-Engine, which embodies both a thermodynamic cycle innovation and a mechanical innovation that can achieve exceptional efficiency, low mechanical vibration, and can burn multiple fuels. In addition, the manner in which the Cart-Engine functions promises the potential for low emissions, high power to weight, and low manufacturing cost. We have alr ...

Multiple Hypothesis Tracking (MHT) is an increasingly important element of the sensor-to-shooter computational chain. However, modern MHT methods are still limited in their ability to integrate multiple sources of information to reduce ambiguity, and in their ability to sustain multiple hypotheses over long periods of time. These limitations reduce the quality of products delivered by MHT systems. ...