Award Data

All fruits and vegetables generate ethylene.Even low concentrations of ethylene accelerate fruitripening.A process that removes ethylene as it is generated can play a central role in maintainingthe freshness of fruits and vegetables.Hence much effort and significant cost normally go into thecontrol of the atmosphere and temperature to which these fruits and vegetables are exposed largelyto reduce ...

The project will research and develop an online learning module to increase the capacity of ruralhigh school students to use written local news reports as a knowledge source to make informeddecisions which will enable them to lead successful lives and contribute to the wellbeing of theircommunities. Over 66% of rural senior high school students in the U.S. do not have the readingcomprehension and ...

There is compelling value to feeding live algae in fish hatcheries as the current survival rate oflarvae fed frozen paste is relatively low resulting in higher costs.However the complexity andcosts of existing photo-bioreactors and the logistical costs of shipping live material over distancesare barriers to the widespread deployment of live algae as feed.Culture BioSystems has successfully grown a ...

Nozzle clogging on orchard and vineyard sprayers is a problem that often isn't addressed until the nozzle(or multiple nozzles) are inoperable to the point that an operator can visually detect the fault. By then anunknown portion of the field has been sprayed inadequately since the fault was not immediately detected.We propose a technology that continually monitors a sprayer via imaging and which w ...

This project's goal is to reduce spray drift from aerial applications while at the same timesignificantly increase the efficiency and profitability of aerial applicators. The project willachieve this objective through development of a scalable commercial-scale high pressurechemical delivery system designed to mount on most any piloted fixed or rotary-wing aircraftand potentially larger Unmanned Ae ...

Rural communities suffer from many obstacles that prevent a constant rate of growthwith one of their most difficult problems being that their isolation makes the delivery set-updeployment and maintenance of new technologies rather difficult. Larger installations requiringthe use of helicopters and cranes to fully deploy such as most modern cell towers are alreadymonumental efforts that require hun ...

U.S. hog farming is a $35 billion industry facing a pressing issue in the amount of manure theyproduce. A hog farm with 800000 hogs produces 1.6 million tons of waste per year more than thewaste produced by the city of Philadelphia. One popular manure management system is anaerobicmanure lagoons outdoor earthen basins filled with animal waste. However these lagoons areparticularly vulnerable to na ...

The fluctuating price of crude oil in the past decade has resulted in a rise in chemical costsaffecting the price of petroleum-based products plastics and specialty polymers. Non-traditionaland renewable feedstocks for these industries need to be developed to decrease dependence onpetroleum address economic concerns and produce materials with little environmental impact. Theeconomic viability of t ...

In order to meet growing demands of renewable energy photovoltaic (PV) developments willrequire significant land space for ground-mounted PV systems. This growing demand is creatingcompetition for land resources causing the most challenges for small and mid-size farms. Thischallenge can be reformed into an environmental and financial opportunity for these farms withthe increased research of co-loc ...

Approximately 900 million oysters are consumed annually in the U.S. withaquaculture making up 95%+ of all U.S. production. Yet growth of oyster farming offshorewhile expanding somewhat over the past decade is not keeping up with consumer demand. Oneexpert estimates it will take at least another decade for Maine's harvests merely to double. Sincemost Atlantic oysters (Crassostrea virginica) start l ...