Award Data

"SkyNano, Endeavor Composites, and The University of Tennessee Knoxville propose to develop a composite panel that contains CO2-derived carbon nanotubes (CNTs), recycled carbon fiber waste, and bio-derived natural fibers that exhibits excellent mechanical and functional properties, while maintaining a carbon-negative footprint on a cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave basis. By the end of the Phase ...

C56-30a-273585Electron cyclotron resonance heating is a key fusion technology for: a) plasma heating; b) instability control, to stabilize instabilities such as those from Neoclassical Tearing Modes; and c) electron cyclotron assisted startup. Gyrotrons are a proven vacuum tube technology that can generate sufficient power during continuous operation to satisfy these requirements. In this Phase I ...

There is a growing need for a commercially available high-density superconducting flex cable for a variety of ultra-sensitive, high pixel count instruments/focal plane arrays for the study of space as well as quantum computing and quantum information processing. However, traditional flex circuit manufacturing techniques and tools cannot achieve the high channel density necessary for these customer ...

Iron (Fe) & steel production accounts for 7% of total industry CO2 emission. Currently, blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route produces 71% of global crude steel production. However, this process uses carbon (usually coke) as the reductant, which binds with oxygen in Fe ore and generates CO2. Direction reduction of ore (DRI) routes reduces Fe ore to sponge Fe via a solid-state process u ...

The Department of Energy requires a compact digital imaging system (or systems) for beam and target system diagnostic applications. Capable of HD resolution, motion deblurring, object/event detection/identification, object tracking, and data compression, the proposed system is meant to resolve current camera lifespan inadequacies while also boosting energy level resistance. This problem is being a ...

Current farmland scouting methods, mainly including manual scouting and sporadic low-resolution imaging techniques, fail to provide near-real-time, unmanned and precisely-localized detection of biofuel crop stressors, such as herbivores and weeds attacks, ultimately causing significant losses in crop yields up to 50% and leading to overspray of chemicals everywhere. General statement of how this p ...

Quantum computers has the potential to revolutionize computing, solving problems in chemistry, material science and optimization that are beyond the reach of today's most powerful supercomputers. However, we are still in the early phase of the technology development, and today’s quantum hardware systems suffer from drift and imperfections and require frequent calibrations to operate properly. Th ...

Statement of Problem The global scale of plastics production (reaching 367 million metric tons in 2020) has led to enormous negative impacts on our environment through carbon emissions and environmental pollution. For example, 75% of the disposed plastic ends up being landfilled while only 9% is recycled, leading to a significant amount that ends up in our environment. Thus, there is a pressing ne ...

Moving people in and around large-scale facilities and developments, whether indoor or outdoor, is an important, unaddressed area in mobility. Existing options such as scooters or moving walkways fall short, particularly for travelers with disabilities as well as those with socio-economic disadvantages. The proposed Automated Mobility Platforms (AMPs) project addresses the need to provide sustaina ...

Reductions in precipitation and rising air temperatures caused by climate change are increasing vulnerabilities in the agriculture sector. Economic conditions across the United States are also placing greater strain on farmers and rural communities. The costs of farming are accelerating rapidly, and farmers need new ways to diversify their revenue. This proposal presents a plan to address these is ...