Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory won two of R&D Magazine's prestigious 2007 R&D 100 Awards. The latest winners bring the Laboratory's total to 105 awards received since the Laboratory began entering innovations in the competition in 1978.
"I am impressed with and proud of the ingenuity of our R&D 100 award-winners," said Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio. "The awards demonstrate the Laboratory's powerful role in developing innovative concepts and translating them into practical solutions."
Terry Wallace, Principal Associate Director for Science, Technology and Engineering, was also pleased with the awards, but a bit surprised. "We had some excellent submissions this year that validate the fact that the Laboratory is on the cutting edge of technological development. I am actually surprised we didn't get more awards given the very high quality of our entries."
The award-winning Laboratory projects this year include the Camera on a Chip and the Portable Acoustic Cytometer.
Camera on a Chip
The Camera on a Chip is a 2-centimeter by 2-centimeter microelectronic device that combines an array of silicon photosensors and a metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip with control-and-processing circuits. The camera has a light-detection efficiency of more than 90 percent in visible light wavelengths (450 to 650 nanometers), a minimum exposure time of 50 nanoseconds, and a 300 nanosecond recovery time. It is designed for use in making radiographic movies of ultrafast phenomena using protons (instead of x-rays) as the illumination source and for producing high-speed movies of fast processes over a wide range of visible or nearly-visible wavelengths.
Portable Acoustic Cytometer
The Portable Acoustic Cytometer will bring the diagnostic power of high-performance flow cytometry to more researchers and healthcare providers around the world. The instrument uses acoustic waves instead of a complex fluid-handling system to focus cells into a tight concentrated stream for analysis. Flow cytometry is a laboratory method for examining, sorting, and counting microscopic particles, such as DNA, that have been suspended in a stream of fluid for analysis. As the world's first portable and affordable flow cytometer, the instrument also eliminates the need for large volumes of purified water, a scarce resource in many parts of the world. The device can be used for any of the analyses currently being done with conventional flow cytometers, but with higher throughput and greater sensitivity.
The R&D 100 Awards program honors significant commercial promise in products, materials, or processes developed by the research and development community worldwide. Each year, Illinois-based R&D Magazine recognizes the 100 scientific and technological advances from around the world with awards for innovations showing the most significant commercial potential. R&D Magazine uses technical experts to judge the submissions and officially presents the awards at a ceremony in October.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.