Award Data

Our assertion is that intensive tillage methods have destroyed the viability of our croplands over the last one half century. In order to maintain the ability of these lands to grow crops, we have used and over-used chemical fertilizers which pose an ongoing environmental threat to our air and waterways. The benefits of conservation tillage methods are widely known, however the time to successfull ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a new class of mechanical shaft seals based on the benefits of a novel material called Ultrananocrystalline (tm) diamond (UNCDtm) that will result in seals that last longer, save energy and reduce environmental emissions associated with industrial pumping and turbo-machinery applications. Mechanical shaft seals are used i ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project will develop an automated framework for knowledge acquisition. This automated framework will be based on the Principal Investigator's Rhem Knowledge Acquisition Framework and the Unified Modeling Language (UML). This automated framework will provide an environment for developing high-quality, reliable knowledge-based software systems ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) remains a critical problem in management of patients with neurological problems and is the most common cause of death in these patients. Elevated ICP can be managed and treated if detected at an early stage. Therefore, measurement of ICP is important for diagnosis and treatment decisions. At this time only invasive technique ...

This innovative SBIR Phase I proposal will develop new binder systems through the systematic investigations to tailor required unique performance properties and reliability through tailoring Nano-cluster chemistry. The efforts address a critical need of NASA which plans to undertake challenging missions in high radiation orbits for high power thermal management. This feasibility evaluation mainly ...

Space transportation and other vehicles entering the earth?s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds undergo aerodynamic heating which necessitates thermal protection systems (TPS) on exterior surfaces. Future reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) will require TPS durable over several missions with rapid turnaround between each flight. Advanced metallic TPS are under development that utilize a honeycomb structu ...

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are being targeted for many military and commercial applications due to their light weight and high temperature stability. Their deployment is hampered by limited environmental durability. The Navy, under the JSF program, is evaluating a high performance CMC for an exhaust nozzle component. The CMC suffers from environmental degradation, primarily due to hot cor ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is to develop scale-up production technology to produce engineered cartilage for drug discovery using a proprietary Alginate Recovered Chondrocyte (ARC) method. This method stimulates adult human cartilage cells to form a cartilaginous tissue with proper compositional and functional properties. ARC cartilage tissue is expected to offer a ...

Biotechnology, aerospace, automotive and communications industries need small ultra-precise, three dimensional parts for component miniaturization. Present metal cutting technology is rapidly reaching its limits. A new technology is required to accelerate this trend. Atometric will pursue innovations in ultra-precision multi-axis machine tools. The machining capacity will be within a cube of 50 mm ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project involves the research and development of a real-time FPGA-based volume rendering system. In many scientific, engineering and medical diagnostic imaging applica