Award Data

More than ever before, we have the tools to measure and identify historical trends. With this information, we can predict the future of food security, and the outlook is dire. The data suggests that traditional methods of farming are wearing on the ecosystem, the U.S. economy, and our health. Armed with a forward-looking mindset and technological advances, we will be able to develop healthier, mor ...

In recent years, consumer's concerns over hen well-being in conventional small wire cages (called battery cages) has resulted in some of the poultry farms to switch to cage-free housing where hens have freedom to walk around spread their wings, and lay their eggs in real nest boxes. This push towards cage-free egg production was further magnified in 2015 when many of the large fast food, resta ...

SUMMARYThe primary objective of this SBIR Phase I project is the design, fabrication and validation of portable prototype instrumentation which will permit growers and other stakeholders in the agricultural community to rapidly and accurately diagnose plant infectious diseases, directly at the point of testing. Such infectious diseases, if incorrectly diagnosed and improperly treated, can result i ...

Diversifying and Adding Value to the Food Industry: Mealworm Powder as an IngredientThe goal of this SBIR effort is to begin diversifying the insects as a food market currently valued at $105M and growing to $1.53 billion by 2021. Currently, crickets have been the primary focus of the market, but mealworms offer a strong alternative. To become competitive in the larger protein market, the insect b ...

Energy used for lighting and thermal comfort contributes to more than 50% of the total energy consumption in residential and commercial buildings. Consequently, conserving air conditioning and lighting usage especially during daytime can yield substantial savings. Effective and consistent sunlight harvesting can substantially reduce electrical usage while promoting natural and comfortable indoor l ...

Farming and livestock activities affect air quality through emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia etc. which have both short term hazards for individuals nearby and long term hazards for the environment in the form of global warming. In order to set guidelines to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a means for quantitatively determining site-emission of green-house gases (GHGs) ...

For centuries, pipes have been manufactured in short (20-30 ft long) segments and trucked to the jobsite where they are assembled to create a long pipeline. This technique is inefficient as the pipes tend to leak at the joints and there is significant cost associated with delivering voluminous pipe segments. Furthermore, pipes made with steel or concrete corrode and have a short service life.The g ...

Hydropower is now increasingly operated outside of original design conditions due to changing water availability and environmental induced operating parameters. Fifty percent of operational hydroelectric dams in the United States are 50 years or older and nearly all were designed to operate steadily as a primary base load resource. Compounding these issues is the increasing prevalence of intermitt ...

The use of sub-therapeutic concentrations of anti-microbial agents in animal feed has contributed to theproductivity of the U.S. meat and dairy industries by preventing infectious diseases, by decreasing theamount of feed required and by increasing the rate of animal weight gain. However, failure to observerecommended practices of drug withdrawal can result in concentrations of antibiotic residue ...

The ready-to-assemble (RTA) construction system is a new method for assembling wood structuresbuilt from the following engineered wood products: parallel strand lumber (PSL), laminated strandlumber (LSL), and laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The RTA system is designed for rapid assemblyby small crews of unskilled labor using common hand tools. The design of the RTA systemincorporates engineered w ...