Award Data

Early detection of virulent infectious pathogens is critical to blocking the devastating epidemic spread of the pathogen and the potential harm this could have on our armed forces and general populations. In Phase I, we have utilized the state-of-the-art QuantiGene 2.0 technology to establish an assay for the sensitive quantification of SARS (epidemic spread in 2001) and assessing plasma DNA level ...

The key to making quantum key distribution practical (especially for free-space applications) is to be able to use weak laser pulses (WLP) instead of single photons, while at the same time making sure that any third party wanting to avoid detection and mount an eavesdropping attack is restricted to using beam-splitting rather than photon-number splitting (PNS). In this effort, we propose a novel s ...

The proposed effort develops the understanding required to assess the utility of using OAM states and quantum entanglement as a novel protocol for quantum key distribution for propagation through an aberrating medium such as the atmosphere. In addition a conceptual design of an experiment that is appropriate to further the development of this capability will be developed on the proposed Phase I e ...

Quantum cryptography, and in particular Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a secure method to distribute a secret key between two distant authorized partners whose security is based on the laws of physics. Current public key cryptosystems have not been proven to be secure and are based on the computational complexity of evaluating one-way functions. These functions are easily evaluated, but extrem ...

ABSTRACT: We propose to develop an assured information sharing framework for cloud-based systems that leverages our ongoing work in the areas of policy-based usage management and semantic interoperability. The development of this framework will involve the creation of a novel approach to information sharing that treats security as a commodity that can be dynamically provisioned within the cloud, ...

Remote ocean instrumentation often relies on floating buoys with sensors to acquire time series measurements such as ambient noise, acoustic tracking or communications. The operating lifetime of small remote buoys is limited by batteries (often to 12 - 24 hrs), and recharging is so inconvenient or impractical that many small sonobuoys are designed to scuttle themselves after about a day. The assoc ...

Decontamination of chemical and biological threats demands a very reactive solution. It is ideal to generate the decontaminants on-site: the activated decontaminant is highly reactive and quickly destroys chemical and biological warfare agents; prior to activation the ingredients can be safely stored for years, shipped, and handled. TDA's electrochemical decontamination (eClO2) technology u ...

In the Phase I portion of this STTR, Securboration and renowned multicore expert Dr. Frank Mueller from North Carolina State University designed, developed, and benchmarked the proof-of-concept Pico-kernel Adaptive and Scalable Operating-system (PICASO) for many-core architectures. The Securboration Team took a scientific, experimentation-based approach to identifying and resolving shortcomings wi ...

ABSTRACT: Optical refrigeration is currently the only demonstrated all-solid-state cryocooling technology. Optical cryocoolers are devices that use laser light to cool small crystal or glass cooling elements. The cooling element absorbs the laser light and reradiates it at higher energy, an example of anti-Stokes fluorescence. The difference between the energy of the outgoing and incoming light c ...

Recent years have seen a shift in threats to US national security. Today increasing focus for national security is management of terrorist activities. Deliberately exposing a civilian population to chemicals and explosives to cause harm represents a looming terrorist threat. Early detection and identification is a difficult but essential element to minimizing the threat. The Seacoast Science/U ...