Award Data

MECHANICAL SYSTEM SIMULATION (MSS) IS THE TECHNOLOGY USED TO ANALYZE SYSTEMS UNDERGOING LARGE OVERALL MOTION, SUCH AS AN AUTOMOBILE GOING OVER A POTHOLE OR A SPACE SHUTTLE PERFORMING SATELLITE RETRIEVAL. MSS FORMULATIONS LEAD TO A COUPLED SET OF DIFFERENTIAL AND ALGEBRAIC EQUATIONS CALLED INDEX-3 DAE. INDEX REDUCTION METHODS (IRM) ARE EMPLOYED TO SIMPLIFY AND SOLVE THESE EQUATIONS. THREE FACTOR ...

RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING AND DEMONSTRATING A MODEL FOR SCALABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SOFTWARE WHICH COMBINES TWO EXISTING COMPUTING PARADIGMS. THE FIRST IS A MODEL FOR DYNAMIC LOAD BALANCING THAT HAS BEEN TESTED ON MULTIPLE-INSTRUCTION MULTIPLE-DATA (MIMD) MACHINES. THE SECOND IS A REUSABLE SOFTWARE DESIGN CALLED A "FRAMEWORK." THE FRAMEWORK IS AN OBJECT-BASED SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE THAT ...

AN INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES TOWARD CHLOROFLUOROCARBON AND HALON DESTRUCTION (SUCH AS OXIDATIVE THERMAL PROCESSES) IS BASED ON APPLICATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF RADIOFREQUENCY (RF) GLOW DISCHARGE PLASMA TREATMENTS OF ORGANIC MATERIALS TO CFCS AND HALONS. IN ORDER TO EXPAND ON SOME VERY SLIGHT PRECEDENCE FOR RF PLASMA POLYMERIZATION OF CFCS, RESEARCHERS ARE DEMONSTRATING THE ...

THE HYDROXYL RADICAL (OH) PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN THE PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF BOTH THE TROPOSPHERE AND THE STRATOSPHERE. IT IS THE PRIMARY OXIDIZING AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REMOVAL OF MOST TRACE GASES INCLUDING CO AND CH4. SINCE THE OH RADICAL DETERMINES THE LIFETIMES AND, THUS, THE CONCENTRATIONS OF MANY CHEMICAL SPECIES, ACCURATE DETERMINATION OF OH CONCENTRATION IS PIVOTAL IN UNDERSTANDING ATMOSPHERI ...

ULTRAFAST LASERS (LASERS THAT GENERATE PULSES WITH DURATIONS OF ~10 PICOSECONDS OR LESS) HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS IN BIOCHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. UNFORTUNATELY, THESE SYSTEMS ARE DIFFICULT TO USE LARGELY BECAUSE ULTRAFAST LASER PULSES ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO CHARACTERIZE AND FEW TECHNIQUES ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. THOSE THAT ARE AVAILABLE USUALLY AR ...

LASER APPLICATION FOR NONCONTACT TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT OF A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER IS BEING DEVELOPED. THE TECHNIQUE CAN BE APPLIED FOR EITHER CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD) OR BY RAPID THERMAL PROCESSING (RTP) SYSTEMS. THE METHOD IS BASED ON THERMAL EXPANSION OF A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER, AND USES SPECKLE PATTERNS GENERATED FROM THE BACK (ROUGH SURFACE) OF THE WAFER. SPECKLE PATTERNS ARE GENERATED ...

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF INCREASING THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THROUGH UTILIZING SCIENCE EDUCATION AS THE CONTENT OF CHOICE FOR A RELATIVELY NEW ADDITION TO THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM, FOREIGN LANGUAGE. THE INCLUSION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, MORE COMMONLY CALLED FLES, IS A RAPIDLY GR ...

THE FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY HAS MADE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS), FOREST GROWTH AND YIELD MODELS (FGYM), AND TIMBER HARVEST OPTIMIZATION ROUTINES (THOR) FOR MANY YEARS. HOWEVER THE PRIMARY DEVELOPMENT OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES HAS BEEN PROPRIETARY, LIMITED TO CERTAIN GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY, AND/OR RESTRICTED TO USE ON MAINFRAME COMPUTERS. LIMITED PUBLISHED RESEARCH IS AVAIL ...

WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF ELECTRON BEAM STERLIZATION OF HOSPITAL WASTE AS A MEANS OF OVERCOMING THE LIMITATIONS OF EXISTING HOSPITAL WASTE STERILIZATION TECHNIQUES. WHEN COMBINED WITH A SHREDDER WHICH REDUCES THETHICKNESS OF THE WASTE, AND RENDERS THE THICKNESS MORE UNIFORM, ELECTRON BEAMS IN THE 3-4 MEV, AND 3-20 KW RANGE A ARE IDEAL FOR THIS TASK. ONGOING PROGRAMS AT NORTH STAR RESEAR ...

INTENSE X-RAY SOURCES HAVE BEEN USED IN GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH PODS TO DETERMINE STRATA FORMATION DENSITY, LITHOLOGY, AND POROSITY. THE SCATTERING OF -RAYS FROM (137)CS OR (60)CO SOURCES WITH DECAY ACTIVITIES OF UP TO SEVERAL CI HAVE BEEN USED EXTENSIVELY IN BOREHOLE LOGGING. A NON-RADIOACTIVE PHOTON SOURCE IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE SINCE IT REDUCES THE RADIOLOGICAL HANDLING RISK AND THE RISK OF DOWN HOLE ...