Award Data

MBio Diagnostics is proposing to develop a portable rapid inexpensive technology formore effective detection of harmful algal bloom (HAB) toxins in shellfish.The proposedproduct will help producers and managers get more product to market while ensuringthe safety of this commercially important food supply during HAB events.Shellfish arefilter feeders and can accumulate HAB toxins during blooms.Thes ...

Previous efforts have demonstrated that targeted observations of tropical storms by UAS can provide extremely valuable data sets for improving forecasts and models, but are also difficult to obtain. A number of obstacles including regulations and the distance required to intercept evolving storms have limited the number of land based flights. The use of airborne deployed UAS have recently overcome ...

This project will develop and demonstrate an inexpensive and portable calibration system for low-cost aerosol sensors. Current calibration methods are cost prohibitive and lack generalizability from one location (or season) to the next, making them impractical for implementation. Access Sensor Technologies (AST) proposes to improve and validate a solar powered aerosol reference calibrator (SPARC) ...

Floriculture and nursery crops represent one of the highest value-per-acre industries in the farm sector. Similar to food crops, ornamental crops are infected by many fungal and bacterial pathogens, resulting in substantial yield and quality losses. This project addresses stakeholder needs by developing a novel, low-risk disease management tool. This project will reduce the inappropriate applicati ...

The purpose of this project is to develop a Satellite Charging Assessment Tool (SatCAT) that will provide satellite operators/manufacturers with information to quickly and confidently determine whether anomalous satellite behavior observed on orbit results from changes in the space radiation environment. The intense radiation surrounding Earth can damage electronic components causing temporary mal ...

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) populations in the United States inflict serious and growing ecological and economic impacts to the farming and ranching ecosystems where their population continues to grow and invade new territory. These invasions ultimately impact the security, quality, and safety of the food supply and water resources coming from these regions. Recent and ongoing research is investigati ...

Fertility in artificially inseminated dairy cattle has declined as milk production has increased, and is one of the most costly challenges faced by today's dairy farmer. This fertility decline causes economic losses of >$300 million annually, losses due in part to damage incurred by sperm during the handling, cooling, freezing and thawing necessary for artificial insemination. For it is the qu ...

Food safety is a global problem, which costs the world billions of dollars and over a million lives annually. This project seeks to develop a complete system for easy pathogenic bacteria detection for the food supply chain. The proposed kit will deliver exceptional ease-of-use as well as performance metrics (time, cost, labor). By delivering a complete pathogen detection solution, the kit will ena ...

At sites ranging from Texas to Iowa, utility scale wind has become the lowest cost electricity source available, with recent prices well below 3cents/kWhr, lower than the cost of both coal and shale gas. This not only provides these communities with clean, low cost energy, it also provides a valuable "second crop" to the land owners in these areas. However, this opportunity is currently limited to ...

METHODS FOR RELIABLE ASSESSING THE STRENGTH OF WOOD COMPOSITES WILL BE DEVELOPED USING NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION PROCEDURES INVOLVING SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF STRESSWAVE PARAMETERS. THESE PROCEDURES ARE BASED ON THE EXTENSION OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION OF THE STRENGTH OF WOOD UTILITY POLES. THEY APPEAR TO OFFER CONSIDERABLE PROMISE AS RELIABLE STRENGTH PREDICTION METHODS FOR OTH ...