Award Data

A GROWING NATIONAL NEED EXISTS FOR COMPUTER WORK STATIONS WHICH INTEGRATE MANUAL DATA BASE PREPARATION FUNCTIONS FOR INCREASED ACCURACY, CONTROL AND PRODUCTIVITY. THESE WORK STATIONS COULD INCORPORATE DISABLED INDIVIDUALS SUFFERING FROM A VARIETY OF HANDICAPS INTO THE WORK PROCESS. THE RESEARCH IS DIRECTED TOWARD DEVELOPING BETTER USE OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN THE EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND PLACEMEN ...

Leveraging on Agiltron’s industry leading development of optical MEMS devices and the PI’s experience with FTIR spectrometer design, we propose to develop a new class of high performance compact and rugged FTIR spectrometers for LWIR optical range. The design is based on the MEMS lamellar mirror technique. Although this approach is not new, it has not yet been efficiently applied to LWIR, and ...

Longwave infrared (LWIR, 8-12µm) focal plane arrays (FPAs) play an important role in hyperspectral chemical and biological sensing. Existing thermal detectors are unable to meet the high sensitivity and fast response requirements of many hyperspectral chemical and biological sensing applications. Photodetectors and FPAs based on photon excited electron generation process can fulfill the speed and ...

This project develops and evaluates the feasibility of a client-server application that integrates accessible life management tools for individuals with disabilities and those who support them in residential environments to improve the independent living capacity of persons with cognitive disabilities. A common database of information about an individual’s life and needs is developed providing r ...

Current drug discovery and development programs are severely limited by the expensive animal trials and oversimplified in vitro models. Results obtained from the in vitro models are not predictive of in vivo toxicity owing to significant difference in testing from the in vivo physiological conditions. In this context, we propose to develop and demonstrate a novel microfluidic device for quantitati ...

Molecular biology techniques allow generating combinatorial libraries of large number of enzyme variants. However, there is currently no technology available for screening the enzyme libraries for identifying variants with improved activity for the substrate. We propose to develop a novel, microfluidic, high-throughput platform for determining kinetic constants of enzyme variants and identifying v ...

This project develops an electronic mobility aid for individuals with low vision or blindness to prevent collision with overhanging obstacles not detected by standard methods such as the cane. This electronic mobility aid fulfills the criteria of (1) small size, (2) low cost, (3) low cognitive demands, and (4) hands-free operation. Phase I of the project focuses on novel algorithms to minimize cog ...

This project develops and evaluates a Mobile Signing Earth Science Dictionary that provides animated American Sign Language and Signed English definitions for Apple’s newest touch tablet, iPad, and the existing and known technology of the iPod Touch. Using the mobile dictionary, Deaf and hard-of-hearing users are able to study a full range of curriculum-based Earth Science subjects in their nati ...

My Academic Plan will be a web-based social-behavioral formative assessment intervention for eighth grade students. Students will take an initial online resiliency quiz and based on the responses the software will produce a personal plan across a series of dimensions. The intervention will be during class and will provide individualized tutorials. The intervention will include teacher professional ...

Virtual worlds are an emerging form of technology where users can take the form of an avatar and move around within a simulated environment. Such worlds may have potential in the field of education to provide students with new learning opportunities by affording participation in tasks that often would not be possible in the real world due to constraints and restrictions, such as cost, scheduling, ...