Award Data

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will investigate the potential of creating a free consumer medical financial management portal. The portal will pull in health care financial data and organize it in a fashion that allows consumers to understand and act on their health care data. The research will also explore the possibility of funding the product by providing value-added so ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a novel soft magnetic material for electric motor cores, a fabrication process to make components from the material, and an electric motor configuration leveraging the benefits of the material and fabrication process. The approach is to utilize a new single-step net-shape fabrication technique based on uniform-droplet s ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes the development of a new type of cold thermal storage system that will help reduce the energy consumption of commercial and household refrigeration appliances. Central air-conditioning units and refrigerators account for nearly 30% of U.S. household electricity consumption. Cold thermal energy storage (CTES) technology has bee ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a new ultra-low-cost platform for the production of lactic acid directly from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass in a single step by using a novel recombinant cellulolytic Bacillus subtilis strain. Lactic acid is the precursor of polylactic acid (PLA), an environmentally friendly biodegradable plastic. Currently, lactic acid is c ...

This Small BusinessI nnovatio esearch( SBIR) Phase1 project addressesth e developmento f a bacterial culture to degrade PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in contaminated soils and sediments. PCBs are persistent, toxic contaminants which accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals,c ontaminatingf ish and humans.P CB-degradingb acteriah ave beend ifficult to produce. In2009, a readily-grownb acterials ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to engineer microbes for the cost-effective production of the amino acid, L-Threonine. Currently, engineered microbes bear mutations that increase the production of Threonine of interest by inhibiting the cell?s ability to produce other amino acids. These mutations are critical as they effectively channel the cell?s metabolic flux ...

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is aimed at developing micro-slit panel (MSP) sound absorbers that are effective over broad frequency ranges. MSP absorbers are reclaimable, non-combustible, and environmentally friendly. Traditional absorbers like foams and fibers deteriorate over time and trap oil and other contaminants. On the other hand, MSP absorbers are made from alumin ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate a proof-of-concept prototype of a high-throughput agile tile mosaic manufacturing system. Mosaics have proven to be a great source of visual splendor for thousands of years. Despite its prominence in art and architecture, mosaic is arduous to design and assemble by hand. The goal of this Phase I work is to prove the fe ...

This Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase-I project will develop micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) comprised of engineered magneto-electric (ME) materials to enable wireless power transfer systems for medical implants. Engineered ME materials are composites of magnetostrictive (M) and electro-active (E) components that convert magnetic fields into voltages much more efficiently th ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to automate the creation of digital 3D building models and 3D street maps used in the personal navigation, architecture, engineering, defense and homeland security markets. It currently requires hundreds of hours to create a 3D model of an average city building or streetscape using a tripod-mounted or vehicle-mounted laser sca ...