Award Data

CURRENT PROCESSES FOR MANUFACTURING SAPPHIRE INTRODUCE A NUMBER OF DEFECTS SUCH AS DIE MARKS AND GROWTH ARTIFACTS IN THE AS-GROWN SAPPHIRE BLANK. THUS, THESE MATERIALS NEED TO BE POLISHED PRIOR TO USE IN OPTICS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A HIGH-QUALITY, HIGH-SPEED, COST-EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUE FOR POLISHING SAPPHIRE BASED OPTICS. THE TWO METHODS CURRENTLY USED FOR POLISHING SAPPHI ...

THE HIGH PRESSURE/HIGH TEMPERATURE (HP/HT) METHOD IS, AT PRESENT, THE ONLY VIABLE PROCEDURE FOR PRODUCING DIAMOND GRIT FOR USE IN VARIOUS APPLICATIONS INVOLVING GRINDING/ABRASIVE WHEELS. DIAMOND POWDERS PRODUCED BY THIS METHOD ARE MODERATELY EXPENSIVE AND ARE NOT ECONOMICAL (50-70 CENTS/CARAT) FOR USE IN APPLICATIONS INVOLVING THERMAL MANAGEMENT DEVICES, WEAR RESISTANT SURFACES, AND CUTTING/DRILL ...

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 ...

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LEADING SCIENTISTS AND EDUCATORS HAVE STRESSED CRITICAL THINKING PROBLEM SOLVING AS TOP PRIORITIES FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION. A NEGLECTED ASPECT OF THIS BROAD AREA IS THE ABILITY TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS THROUGH LOGICAL HABITS OF THOUGHT RELATING KNOWLEDGE, UNCERTAINTY AND HUMAN VALUES. SUCH SKILLS ARE TAUGHT IN ONLY A FEW SECONDARY SCHOOLS, AND TEACHING/LEARNING MATERIALS FOR THIS AREA ARE NOT AVAILABL ...

MULTIPATH FADING ON RADIO CHANNELS SERIOUSLY HAMPERS HIGH SPEED DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS. TIME-VARYING AMPLITUDE AND PHASE FORCE CONVENTIONAL SYSTEMS TO OPERATE AT DATA RATES FAR BELOW CHANNEL CAPACITY. DIVERSITY AND ERROR-CORRECTION CODING TECHNIQUES HAVE NOT SOLVED THE PROBLEM COMPLETELY ANDHAVE INTRODUCED UNDESIRABLE SIDE EFFECTS IN THE PROCESS. WEPROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE A NEW APPROACH THAT ADAPTS ...

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 ...

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