Award Data

While bacteria cause fewer plant diseases than fungi and viruses, they do cause serious economic damages to both US and worldwide agriculture. Citrus canker caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis has resulted in the destruction of over 20 million trees in Florida, while fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora costs exceed $100 million per year in the United States alone, and recent epidemics have cost o ...

The now rapidly developing field of plastic materials based on renewable resources (bioplastics) provides tremendous opportunities to sustain and enhance the domestic plastics industries, the fourth largest manufacturing sector of the American economy. In addition, bioplastic materials are derived from agricultural materials and will help reduce the U.S. dependence on foreign oil Growth in the use ...

Hundreds of existing wind power projects have transformed communities by creating jobs, improving economic development, and reducing environmental pollution. However, 85 percent of rural communities cannot utilize wind power today due to community concerns or poor wind resources at ground level that make projects uneconomical. Altaeros Energies is developing an airborne wind turbine that adapts pr ...

The "KickinKitchen.TV" project combines: technology, education and research strategies to address the USDA challenge area of improving nutritional health and reducing childhood obesity. This study involves the following partners: racially diverse, urban public schools, KidsCOOK Productions, an independent production company committed to addressing childhood obesity risk through its digital educati ...

Foodservice sales of tea in the U.S. are currently increasing at about 8% annually (Sundale, 2010). Within this sector, there is an increasing demand for loose leaf teas over traditionally low-quality tea bags. The Tea Spot has developed a patent pending tea filter, trademarked Brewlux, for the preparation and delivery of loose tea to-go in the mass foodservice market. Phase I USDA-NIFA sponsored ...

The emerging cellulosic-based biofuels industry will benefit national security, lower Green House Gases (GHG) emissions, and bolster the American farmer through a reliable cash crop without necessarily stressing the American food supply. For the biomass industry to become sustainable, it is believed that production of ethanol must drop to $1.60/gallon in order to compete with foreign oil. Therefor ...

The development of an inexpensive, field pesticide sensor would serve a large market for researchers, municipalities and regulatory agencies to minimize the risks involved in pesticide use. The long-term vision is for this technology to become a key environmental science tool to support water quality monitoring efforts. The proposed device will solve two of the most important shortcomings of prese ...

Commercial-scale marine aquaculture has the potential to close the gap between an increasing demand for high quality seafood products and marine fisheries near maximum sustainable yields. Aside from the purchase of feed, energy costs are the highest source of continuous investment in the aquaculture industry. A high-efficiency pump that is specifically designed for use in recirculating aquaculture ...

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) procures significant quantities of Ti-6Al-4V hydraulic fittings in a wide range of types and sizes in maintaining legacy aircraft. These fittings are machined from forged preforms or, in the case of low volume procurement, are machined from wrought plate stock. The proposed technology is a radical

The objective of this proposal is to develop a self calibrating, low cost adaptive precision grinding system which provides real time workpiece taper and Scientific Measurement and Adaptive Response Techniques (SMART) control. This system incorporates the knowledge gained during the previous 20 plus years of research to make grinding a science rather than an art. Our approach utilizes a unique rot ...