Award Data

Phase-IIA will focus on adding features that will improve the usability of the engineering grade simulator, which is being developed by integrating RELAP5-3D, NESTLE and CTF, partially derived and verified via the VERA core simulator, during Phase-II. Motivated by Phase-II research results, several features will be added during Phase-IIA that improves the usability and accuracy of simulations. The ...

Ultrafast lasers have moved from laboratory instruments only available in a few laboratories worldwide to ubiquitous tools both in research laboratory and in industry. In particular, ultrafast lasers have become the cornerstone to drive secondary sources of coherent X-rays and ultrafast electrons. These secondary sources – in particular coherent X-rays – find applications as crucial as the ins ...

High scientific impact applications at synchrotron and free-electron laser (FEL) x-ray sources require improved x-ray optical elements. With high repetition-rate x-ray FELs and near diffraction-limited storage rings x-ray sources due to come on line in the near future, there will be even greater demand for their availability. Current x-ray optical elements based on legacy materials like silicon ca ...

Hydrogen has been widely used in many applications from aerospace and chemicals to fuel cells and satellite power supply. Although hydrogen is not toxic, it has a very broad flammability range (4%-74% concentration in air and 4%-94% in oxygen), leading to explosion in the presence of heat source. Thus, hydrogen monitoring is of paramount importance during the processes of hydrogen production, tran ...

Achieving sustainable, resilient building operation means there must be a balance between energy efficiency and indoor air quality. To promote national health and be stewarts of our limited resources, exploring the connection between energy efficiency and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and applying the best practices defines the nexus. Integrating state-of-the-art technology and available information, r ...

Approximately 6,300 Mt of plastic waste had been generated as of 2015. However, only ~9 % of these polymers had been recycled as of 2015 in US, and ~79% of them ended up in landfills and natural environment. Almost all different types of plastics are thermodynamically immiscible, and their simple blends have poor mechanical performance. Complete sorting of these polymers present in plastic waste s ...

The team of Signature Research, Inc. and Michigan Technological University will develop and demonstrate methods and metrics to evaluate the performance of machine learning-based computer vision algorithms with low numbers of samples of labeled EO imagery. We will use the existing xView panchromatic dataset to demonstrate a proof-of-concept set of tools. If successful, in Phase II, we will extend t ...

Phytodetectors will design and engineer a synthetic biological pump circuit to increase the volume of water produced via photosynthetic desalination. This project builds off previous technology designed by Phytodetectors: a mangrove-inspired ultra-filter that allows plants to purify salt water as well as secrete water with properties comparable to bottled water. The partnership seeks to demonstrat ...

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels are desired for Generation IV reactor core applications such as thin-walled claddings due to their improved elevated temperature strength and radiation properties. The high temperature resistance of the ODS steels is a result of uniformly dispersed oxide nanoparticles in a ferritic matrix. The oxide nanoparticles prevent grain boundary movement and pin di ...

New materials have been key drivers and enablers of progress throughout the history, with many established and emerging technologies depending crucially on carefully engineered complex materials. However, the search for new materials is still very slow and inefficient, with scientists having to rely mostly on heuristic rules, intuition, and personal expertise. This situation creates opportunities ...