Award Data

Viable Gear will provide proof-of-concept for a seaweed-based bioplastic to be used in manufacturing a compostable biotwine for marine equipment, designed to replace petroleum-based plastics. This addresses NOM-SBIR research topic area 9.3, The Changing Ocean - specifically to "support increased protection and restoration of marine and coastal habitats to enhance vital ecosystems", by helping decr ...

In today’s world of accelerating climate change effects, a community's capacity to plan for and build resilience to disasters, homeland security threats, and extreme weather is of increasing importance. The ability of public safety organizations and local governments to effectively communicate with community members in emergency situations is critical, especially in the immediate aftermath of la ...

According to the USDA, 25% of the US fresh fruit supply at the consumer level is wasted, which equates to 9.5 billion pounds. To address consumer food waste, Imvela Corp. proposes to develop a novel, natural ingredient that reduces microbial spoilage and extends shelf life, when applied to berries after they are harvested. Our approach is innovative because we collect experimental data from a larg ...

Object detection datasets for overhead imagery are typically generated using bootstrapping methods to reduce annotator effort and cost. These methods iteratively train a detector from a limited set of user-provided and model-predicted labels. Such approaches bias detectors toward the initial object set, limiting their capacity to handle object variations or discover novel objects classes. MONET ov ...

The marine microalgae Crypthecodinium cohnii (C. cohnii) contains high levels of DHA and DHA synthase enzyme (DSe) both of which may provide nutritional benefits to finfish for human consumption. Field Phyto-Nutrients LLC has developed a process for algae-based feed preparation where the algae is dried under low temperature (

Demand for seaweed products has dramatically increased in the U.S.; however, only 1% is met with domestic production. Expansion of seaweed aquaculture is crucial to protect wild populations from extinction by overharvesting, which impacts entire marine ecosystems. Current kelp aquaculture methods rely on harvested reproductive tissue, which is not sustainable. In response to NOAA Topic 9.3, Health ...

Many municipalities in the United States have begun to use impermeability measurements to incentivize storm water retention as part of the architectural and landscaping design process. These measurements are performed through analysis of high-resolution aerial photography and updated on an annual or semi-annual basis. The practice of using high resolution aerial or even satellite photography is pr ...

NGA uses deep networks for many tasks including image registration, land cover segmentation, and object detection. Current deep learning approaches develop specialist networks for each task and type of data. Not only is this inefficient, because networks can’t be reused across tasks, this approach ignores correlations between tasks and data sources that can improve performance. In response, we w ...

Michigan Aerospace proposes to retrofit the Egret LIDAR technology to improve operation stormwater management infrastructure. The Egret LIDAR is a novel sensor that can monitor stormwater without submersion. Using LIDAR remote sensing, the Egret can measure turbidity, surface height, water depth, flow speed, and suspended particle sizes from above the water surface. The Egret measures water proper ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of the role airborne pathogens play in transmitting infection and will leave a legacy of focused attention on indoor air quality for the foreseeable future. Indoor enclosed spaces are high-risk environments for increased transmission of aerosolized pathogens like COVID-19, SARS, influenza, and other yet-to-emerge diseases. Many situations, including o ...