Award Data

On average, nine collisions occur each day in the U.S. between trains and road vehicles. These collisions result in fatalities forty times more often than for other vehicle accidents. Eighty percent of collisions occur at railroad crossings that do not have train-activated warning systems. Using conventional equipment to upgrade these 80,000 public crossings will cost over $10 billion, and take mo ...

Bacterial contamination in the American beef supply continues to be a serious concern for the meat processing industry. As part of a broad program of improvements in processing procedures and sanitary methods, meat processors in the U.S. and abroad have initiated use of the VerifEYET Carcass Inspection System (eMerge Interactive, Sebastian, FL). The VerifEYE system automatically inspects each beef ...

There is still a need for low-cost, reliable dissolved gas sensors for water quality in environmental monitoring, aquaculture wastewater treatment and industry in order to provide analytical capability to facilities, communities greatly in need of such capability as water budgets become increasingly stringent and re-use increaingly important. This project seeks to further integrate both Total Diss ...

Marketing and packaging are key steps in introducing a new product to consumers. Delight Foods has done four years of research into the Domestic Production of Vegetable Soybeans in partnership with crop scientists, food scientists and a cooperative of farmers. Now, this team will move into commercialization. This research will develop a powerful brand platform, including the story about North Caro ...

The pressing need exists within industry to accurately measure high aspect ratio microscale structures. For example, diesel injector nozzles are manufactured with microscale holes ranging from 50-200 micrometers in diameter and 3-5 mm depths. One fundamental challenge is to nondestrucvely measure these features in order to validate models, enhance manufacturing processes, and reduce fuel emissions ...

Manning Applied Technology proposes to develop a handheld infrared spectrometer, ideally suited to detection of airborne chemical agents at and below permissible exposure limits. This approach offers unmatched sensitivity and specificity for detection of all types of chemical vapors. The instrument is modular, rugged, compact and highly sensitive. Volume pricing will be less than $1000 each. ...

The issue of firefighter safety and training is a significant national problem. There is a clear need for effective training methods/materials to augment existing wildfire training. Currently there is a lack of effective Internet training materials for wildland firefighters. Agency training focus is not on the bulk of personnel, but on the leaders. Associated risks to firefighting personnel contin ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Nostoc commune is an edible cyanobacterium forming the spherical macrocolony, which is used as a potent herbal medicine and dietary supplement. Due to its nutraceutical and pharmacological value, the N. commune has received increasing attention, and the market demand has grown drastically during the last decade. However, low yield and unstable quality caused by inadequate pr ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: What can be done to ensure a high level of water quality for wildlife, agriculture, and humans around the world? More and more wells, whether they are for water, oil and gas, or coal-bed methane, are deeper than ever and are at risk from surface pollution and inter-aquifer mixing. Cement, long known as the only alternative, has been shown to have serious drawbacks. This prop ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The small intestine of the newly hatched chick and is immature and undergoes significant morphological, biochemical and physiological changes during the first 10 days post hatch. After this initial period, the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of the young monogastric animals becomes more capable of digesting and utilizing more nutrients. Chicks and poults during the first few da ...