Award Data

Cooling and drying of feed pellets are the most important operations in the feed manufacturing industry. These operations are carried out simultaneously, in a single machine, by passing ambient air through a moving bed of pellets. However, simultaneous control of both these processes is very difficult. Overdrying of pellets is a common problem that costs several million dollars to feed processi ...

Adding Value and Sustainability to the Food Industry: Mealworm Protein Ingredient as Extract and PowderThe goal of this SBIR effort is to contribute value and ingredient diversity to the food industry. The insect based food market is currently valued at $105M and is growing to $1.53 billion by 2021. To date only whole insect powders, not fractionated or extracted protein products made from insects ...

The principal objective of this proposal is to transform the SST CRIS (Crop Reflectance Imaging System) from a prototype, whose feasibility has been demonstrated during the Phase I research, to a turnkey, user friendly unit that can be operated by only the pilot of a small aircraft, or by ground operator when carried by a UAV. The images produced by the system are True Reflectance, e.g. they conta ...

Bovine Respiratory Disease is the most costly disease among cattle arriving at feedlots and results in decreased weight gain, lower quality meat and death. BRD is highly transmittable and a rapid and sensitive diagnostic method for BRD is not currently available. This project will validate a state-of-art biomedical breath analysis sensor to assess the respiratory health of cattle. Our goal is to i ...

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 ...

Disease outbreaks are being increasingly recognized as a significant constraint to aquacultureproduction and trade and are affecting economic development. Monitoring fish health for earlydetection of diseases is paramount to secure a safe and sustainable aquaculture industry.Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a promising tool that has not yet delivered its disruptive potentialfor aquaculture health monit ...

Fine-scale, well-calibrated probabilistic weather forecasts are increasingly in demand for such weather-critical applications as battlespace management, and accurate prediction of high-value airborne operations. Built upon the Phase I effort we have just completed, the principal objective of this proposed study (Phase II) is to develop a reliable, efficient, and easily deployable reforecast-calibr ...

THE ENVIRONMENT SURROUNDING CONFINED ANIMALS DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE LIVESTOCKINDUSTRY. A GOOD VENTILATION SYSTEM, WHICH CONTROLS THIS ENVIRONMENT, IS ESSENTIAL FOR MANTAINING THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF ANIMALS AND WORKERS IN THE LIVESTOCK BUILDINGS. HOWEVER, THE DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT OF SUCH A SYSTEM IS A COMPLICATED PROCESS. IT INVOLVES OPTIMIZATION OF VARIOUS GOVERNING PARAMETER ...

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 ...

THE UNDERLAYING HEREDITARY NATURE OF THE CHICKEN'S IMMUNOLOGICAL STATUS IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR FURTHERING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE RESPONSE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AS WELL AS FOR MAXIMIZING THE EFFICIENCY OF POULTRY PRODUCTION. FOR THESE REASONS THERE IS A STRONG SCIENTIFIC AND COMMERCIAL INTEREST IN TYPING THE MAJOR HISTROCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX (MHC OR B COMPLEX). THUS FAR MOST MHC TYPING HAS BEE ...