Award Data

The objective of this SBIR Phase I proposal is to determine the feasibility of viscosity characterization of high concentration protein formulations (HCF) by QATCH’s microcapillary quartz technology. HCFs are non-Newtonian fluids with shear-thinning behavior and they are administered to patients by subcutaneous or muscular injections. The injectability of HCFs depends on the viscosity at high-sh ...

Nerve agents exert their toxic effect by binding to and inactivating enzyme acetylcholinesterase, a key enzymatic regulator of cholinergic neurotransmission. The binding becomes irreversible after a varying amount of time with nerve agents and this aging process limits the treatment window of oxime reactivators. To enhance the current antidote treatment of nerve agent autoinjectors, a pyridostigmi ...

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 ...

We propose research to develop and demonstrate a deeply submersible video plankton recording system (ViPR) to perform image recording of plankton. The ViPR will apply artificial intelligence to 2-D or 3-D imaging using pattern recognition for a statistically reliable survey of plankton using two cameras, one for larger zooplankton and the other for microplankton. The ViPR computer will be PC compl ...

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. ...

Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) accounts for a significant proportion of all welding performed. Due to its relatively high speeds and metal deposition rates as well as relatively low equipment and maintenance costs, it is also the most popular process for automated, and especially robotic, welding. There are, however, problems that significantly restrict its manufacturing applications. The efforts at ...

The near-field scanning optical microscope can supply information on the shape and electrical properties of surfaces with nanometer resolution. The quantitative interpretation of images is difficult because of the difficulty of electromagnetic field solutions in the near-field limit. We propose to supply software to aid in this analysis. The finite-element programs generate two and three-dimension ...

A growing number of fire fighters are suffering third degree burns; this has led to questions about the adequacy of thermal protective performance (TPP) measurements for protective clothing. A new heat flux sensor, whose response approximates that of skin, will be developed to provide better measurements of heat transfer in TPP tests. This sensor will be used with nonlinear parameter estimation an ...

As fire protection engineering moves towards the implementation of performance- based fire codes, the use of validated fire models is becoming a necessity. Part of the validation process involves demonstrating model capabilities for predicting key fire environment parameters. One of the key parameters for estimating time to ignition and fire growth is the heat transfer rate to compartment surfaces ...

A diode laser method for the real-time measurement of absolute flux concentrations and spatial profiles of atomic beams used in MBE will be tested. The proposed method uses the doubled output of a near-infrared diode laser to access atomic absorption lines of species such as Ga, Al and In. The detection method will combine high frequency wavelength modulation and noise canceler approaches in order ...