The U.S.
Commerce Department’s
Advanced Technology Program
today announced 32 new cost-sharing awards
for research on highly innovative industrial technologies.
A total of 43 companies, including seven joint ventures, are
involved in the new projects, which were chosen on the basis
of difficulty, technical innovation and the potential for
significant benefits to the nation's economy. The ATP is managed
by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST).
The 32
new ATP projects span a broad range of key technology areas.
Among the areas targeted are: new energy technologies for
oil exploration and for fuel cells, new medical diagnostic
and therapeutic technologies, improvements in electronics
and automobile manufacturing and an improved computer interface
for the severely disabled. The new awards represent a total
of up to $80.1 million in ATP funding and an industry share
of up to $56.9 million, if all projects are carried through
to completion.
The ATP
supports projects that industry cannot fully fund on its own
because of significant technical risks. ATP awards are made
on the basis of rigorous, competitive peer review considering
scientific and technical merit of each proposal. In addition,
awards are based on the potential for broad-based economic
benefits, the need for ATP funding, and evidence of a clear
commercialization pathway and broad diffusion.
As a
non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Technology Administration, NIST develops and promotes measurement,
standards and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate
trade and improve the quality of life.
The
32 awards went to:
- 3DGeo
Development (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Automated Wave-Equation Imaging for Oil and Gas Exploration
Develop and demonstrate a next-generation seismic imaging
technology that includes an automated solution to modeling
the acoustic propagation velocity for seismic waves, yielding
faster and more accurate images to guide oil and gas exploration.
Read
more.
- Advanced
Interfaces, Inc. (State College, Pa.)
Enabling Personalized Multimodal Access for People with
Severe Communication/Motor Disabilities
Develop a touch-free, personalized, trainable multimodal
interface to enable effective communication for individuals
affected by severe communication/motor disabilities.
Read
more.
- AureoGen
Biosciences, Inc. (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
A Genetic Engineering Technology Platform for Production
of Novel Cyclic Peptide-Based Drugs
Develop methodologies and tools to enable simple, efficient
genetic engineering of biosynthesis complexes to produce
cyclic peptides for use as antifungal, antibacterial and
anticancer drugs.
Read
more.
- Carbon
Nanotechnologies, Inc. (Houston, Texas)
"Free Standing" Single-Wall Carbon-Nanotube
Fuel Cell Electrode
Develop a novel, free-standing single-wall carbon nanotube
electrode assembly containing an immobilized noble-metal
catalyst to enable compact proton exchange membrane fuel
cells with superior performance and longer lifetimes while
simplifying manufacturing. Read
more.
- Corning
Incorporated (Corning, N.Y.)
Scalable Planar Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell Technology for
Beyond 200kW
Develop a thin, large area planar solid oxide fuel cell
based on innovative ceramics, device design, and array architecture,
for enterprise-level primary and cogeneration distributed
power that can cycle repeatedly and be more easily fabricated
into 200kW power units. Read
more.
- Cree,
Inc. (Durham, N.C.)
Low Cost, High Efficiency Chip Scale LED Lamp
Demonstrate a white light-emitting diode (LED) lamp package
with an integrated chip approach that would more than quadruple
the brightness and double the efficiency of existing LED
systems and significantly reduce the cost per lumen.
Read
more.
- Crystal
IS, Inc. (Latham, N.Y.)
Processes for Growing Large, Single-Crystal Aluminum
Nitride
Develop cost-effective, high-quality, and commercially important,
single-crystal aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates, which
are needed for diverse and important power electronics and
optoelectronics applications, by using an approach that
incorporates new techniques of crystal seed growth, coupled
with advanced thermal gradient control, and new crucible
designs, to grow large high-quality, AlN crystal boules.
Read
more.
- CytImmune
Sciences, Inc. (Rockville, Md.)
The In Vitro Production of Human Monoclonal Antibodies
Develop a semi-synthetic human immune system on colloidal
gold nanoparticles, to make wholly human monoclonal antibodies
in vitro for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
and other diseases. Read
more.
- DAFCA,
Inc. (Framingham, Mass.)
Reconfigurable Infrastructure Platform for Systems-on-Chips
Develop an infrastructure platform for system-on-a-chip
(SoC) electronics that implements a new kind of reconfigurable
embedded debug logic to detect and fix design errors after
fabrication, enabling reduced design cycle time, bypassing
manufacturing defects, and improving yields. Read
more.
- Gemini
Life Sciences, Inc. (Sugar City, Idaho)
Biotechnology for Conferring Apomixis (Clonal Seed Production)
to Crops
Develop technologies to stabilize superior crop hybrids
by asexual seed production ("self-cloning") thereby
improving yields of major food, feed, fiber and biomass
crops and reducing hybrid seed production costs. Read
more.
- Glennan
Microsystems, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio)
Advanced Fuel and Emission Control (AFEC) System Technology
Demonstrator
Develop an active combustion control system for gas turbine
engines based on MEMS technology and SiC sensors that will
greatly reduce polluting emissions while extending engine
life and preserving fuel efficiency. Read
more.
-
Innovative Wireless Technologies, Inc. (Forest, Va.)
Unified Radio Architecture - A Cognitive Radio Platform
Develop a "cognitive radio" software and hardware
platform based on a novel radio-frequency IC chipset that
allows interoperability across different wireless protocols,
multiple frequencies, and airlinks, enabling communications
between public safety personnel with different equipment.
Read
more.
- Kent
SeaTech Corporation (San Diego, Calif.)
Targeted Bacteriophage Therapeutics as Replacements
for Conventional Antibiotics in Aquaculture
Develop therapies using naturally occurring bacteriophages
and phage-produced enzymes to treat and prevent major bacterial
diseases that threaten commercial aquaculture. Read
more.
- Language
Weaver, Inc. (Marina del Ray, Calif.)
Syntax- and Rule-Based Decoding for Statistical Machine
Translation Systems
Develop an integrated, statistical phrase-based and syntactic
rule approach to machine translation to improve grammaticality
and accuracy of translated materials, enabling broader use
of machine-based translation by national security, government
and business organizations. Read
more.
- Multibeam
Systems, Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Development and Demonstration of a Multiple, High-Current-Density
Shaped E-Beam Column With Independent Vector Beam Placement
Develop a new technology for a multiple-beam, linear-array
electron-beam lithography system to enable cost-effective
production of low-volume application-specific integrated
circuits (ASICs) through direct-write lithography. Read
more.
- Nanospectra
Biosciences, Inc. (Houston, Texas)
The Seamless Detection and Treatment of Cancer With
Near-Infrared Absorbing Nanoshells
Develop an integrated approach to the diagnosis and treatment
of cancer allowing more accurate detection and contemporaneous,
minimally invasive treatment using near-infrared absorbing
nanoparticles. Read
more.
- NexTech
Materials, Ltd. (Lewis Center, Ohio)
High-Power-Density Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Aerospace
Applications
Develop a lightweight solid oxide fuel cell that offers
five times the power density of the current state of the
art, as well as greater durability and flexibility of operation,
for use in auxiliary power units for aircraft. Read
more.
- OFS
Fitel, LLC (Murray Hill, N.J.)
Specialty Fiber for High-Power Fiber Lasers
Develop a new class of components and manufacturing technologies
for building high-power pulsed optical-fiber-based lasers,
with applications in materials processing, and medical,
industrial and scientific instrumentation. Read
more.
- Quantum
Dot Corporation (Hayward, Calif.)
Quantum Dots for Biomedical and Consumer Applications
Develop quantum dots without the use of cadmium or other
elements with extreme regulatory burdens for use in imaging-based
medical diagnosis and treatment, and develop an industrial-scale
flow-based process for quantum dot production at significantly
increased output and reduced cost. Read
more.
- Receptor
Logic, Ltd. (Amarillo, Texas)
TCR Mimics: A New Class of Antibodies Against HLA-peptide
Complexes for Diagnosis and Therapy of Breast Cancer
Develop a new class of breast cancer diagnostic and therapeutic
antibodies unique in their ability to recognize tumor proteins
presented by the body’s natural antigen display systems
known as HLA. Read
more.
- Revivicor,
Inc. (Blacksburg, Va.)
Production of Fully Human Polyclonal Antibodies in Genetically
Modified Pigs
Develop pigs with human genes for the production of fully
human polyclonal antibodies that can be used to treat a
wide range of infectious and autoimmune diseases, in cancer
treatments, to address the growing threat of antibiotic
resistance, and to provide potential therapeutic agents
in the event of a bioterrorist attack. Read
more.
- RheoGene,
Inc. (Norristown, Pa.)
Novel Technologies for Adult Stem Cell Therapeutics
Develop novel techniques for site-specific insertion and
control of therapeutic genes in human adult neural stem
cells that can be transplanted to treat incurable ocular
diseases. Read
more.
- Sarnoff
Corporation (Princeton, N.J.)
Advanced Vision-Radar Threat Detection (AVRT): A Pre-Crash
Detection and Active Safety System
Combine vision and radar sensor technology to create a new
type of auto safety system that will detect approaching
hazards, measure their rate of motion, determine if and
where a collision will occur, and trigger mitigating actions,
such as applying brakes, pretensioning seat belts, and firing
side airbags, with a near-zero false alarm rate. Read
more.
- SemiSouth
Laboratories, Inc. (Starksville, Miss.)
Silicon Carbide Smart Power Chip
Develop and integrate advanced silicon carbide (SiC) power
transistors and power control circuitry within a compact
prototype SiC power module for potential use in commercially
available hybrid electric vehicles and future low-emission
electric vehicles. Read
more.
- Sensametrics,
Inc. (Los Altos Hills, Calif.)
Wireless Structural Health Monitoring System
Develop a dense peer-to-peer wireless sensor network for
monitoring the health of structures that has damage assessment
and decision support and is able to include chemical and
biological sensors. Read
more.
- Siemens
Westinghouse Power Corporation (Orlando, Fla.)
Conformal Direct-Write-Technology-Enabled, Wireless,
Smart Turbine Components
Develop embedded sensors capable of withstanding harsh environments
and integrate them in a wireless telemetry system to enable
thermal, mechanical and wear sensing in operating gas turbines
for condition-based maintenance.
Read
more.
- Spry
Learning Company (Portland, Ore.)
Technology for Early Detection and Intervention of Cognitive
Decline
Develop technology to monitor, and possibly mitigate, cognitive
decline in older adults by tracking user interaction with
computer applications and assessing over time the rate of
cognitive impairment, thus facilitating earlier intervention
and treatment. Read
more.
- STAR
Cryoelectronics, LLC (Santa Fe, N.M.)
Next-Generation Energy Dispersive Spectrometer for X-Ray
Microanalysis
Develop a next-generation energy-dispersive microcalorimeter
spectrometer to meet critical needs for high-resolution
X-ray microanalysis in the semiconductor industry and materials
research. Read
more.
- Stewart
Automotive Research (Houston, Texas)
Highly Accurate Large-Format Machining for Mold and
Die Production
Develop a large-format, high-speed finish milling machine
for Class-A auto body panels to enable the design and manufacture
of a complete tooling set in one-third to one-half the time
now required, at significantly lower cost.
Read more.
- The
Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.)
High-Speed AFM-Based Platform for Quantitative Nanomechanical
Measurements
Develop an atomic force microscopy based platform for high-speed,
high-bandwidth quantitative nanomechanical measurements
which provides structure-property understanding at the nanoscale
in order to accelerate discovery, design, and commercialization
of nanomaterials. Read
more.
- UOP
LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.)
Selective Liquid-Phase Oxidation of Methane to Methanol
Develop novel catalysts and an integrated reaction process
for low-temperature, low-pressure direct conversion of methane
in stranded gas fields to methanol. Read
more.
- wTe
Corporation (Bedford, Mass.)
Optoelectronic Sensing of Liquid Metal Composition
Develop a novel process for determining, in situ
and in real time, the chemical composition of molten pools
of metals and alloys, enabling immediate adjustments to
composition during melting and significantly improving the
efficiency of smelting, foundry and casting operations.
Read
more.
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