Award Data

Half of the world’s population lives in urban watersheds. In order to predict how these watersheds will behave under current and future weather dynamics (e.g. if , how and where flooding would occur due to intense rainfall), we need dense measurements of river stage and river velocity. Current instruments are too expensive to deploy in the quantities needed to provide these dense measurements. A ...

Urban atmospheres need altitude resolved information about aerosols and winds. Measurements of these parameters in urban settings is difficult due to how quickly winds and aerosols change in space in time in congested urban settings. To enable measurements of winds and aerosols in urban atmospheres Michigan Aerospace Corporation is proposing a Phase I effort to develop and test an atmospheric Ligh ...

Small, modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) offer the promise of reliable, base-load energy that is not dependent on weather. Currently, around a dozen nations have programs to develop and deploy MSRs. Challenges to the deployment of MSRs are due primarily to the corrosive and dynamic molten salt. For safe operation of the reactor it is paramount to accurately monitorandcontrolthemoltensalt properties. ...

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in creating an independent. assistive Braille learning device for blind people. The ability to read Braille is highly correlated with improved independence and quality of life. An estimated 70% of the blind are unemployed yet, of that subpopulation that is Braille literate, only 10% are unemployed. T ...

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to test an innovative new approach to generating industrially valuable microorganisms. If successful, the new approach will be demonstrated by improving the ability of an engineered bacterium to convert components of biomass into fuel. The benefit of that research will be to help develop a technology that can c ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is a technology to explore the utility in the ubiquity of iron on both Earth and Mars. The ores of many metals are iron-rich, mixed materials, including those of 33+ metals critical for a sustainable future. However, high iron content is a nuisance for most established metal extractions. For e ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is a novel hearing protection device which reduces the societal cost of noise induced hearing loss. Noise induced hearing loss is the one of the most prevalent occupational injuries in both US industry and the military, affecting more than 10 million workers at a total preventable economic cos ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to create a pathway to success in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for all students, including those that are blind or have low vision (BLV), with a usable and effective description system for STEM diagrams. Only 3% of BLV individuals have been employed in a STEM fiel ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a scalable, on-demand, research-based innovation for learners in virtual and recorded training programs. Research has shown that underrepresented populations arrive at an undergraduate institution less likely to have the advanced study skills or confident awareness to seek assist ...

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is protection against pathogen-related infections. Currently, detection tests for pathological agents are laborious, time-consuming, expensive, and require advanced technical expertise to conduct. The proposed portable, onsite pathogen detector will allow for fast, specific, sensitive, and cost-effectiv ...