DOE-Funded Research
Projects Win 35 R&D 100 Awards for 2003
Thirty-five research projects
funded by the U.S. Department of Energy have
been honored for their technological significance
with R&D 100 Awards for 2003.
The technologies and products
were selected by the editors of R&D Magazine
and a panel of 60 outside experts to receive
the prestigious R&D 100 Awards. Widely recognized
in industry, government, and academia as a mark
of excellence for the most innovative ideas
of the year, the R&D 100 Awards are the only
industry-wide competition rewarding the practical
applications of science.
The R&D 100 Awards recognize the
most promising new products, processes, materials,
or software developed throughout the world and
introduced to the market the previous year.
Awards are based on each achievement's technical
significance, uniqueness, and usefulness compared
to competing projects and technologies.
The complete list of 2003 R&D
100 Awards appears in the September 2003 issue
of R&D Magazine.
The winners will be recognized at R&D Magazine's
41st annual awards banquet to be held on October
16, 2003, in Chicago, where the magazine is
based.
The following is a list of the
35 DOE 2003 R&D 100 Award winners, from 11 national
laboratories and two companies whose research
is supported by DOE. Joint awards appear at
the end of this list.
National Laboratories
Argonne
National Laboratory
Argonne researchers won three
of the coveted R&D 100 Awards this year, bringing
that lab's total to 82 since the inception of
the award.
|
Argonne’s
Scanning Confocal Electron Microscope will
benefit studies of nanomaterials such as
those related to electronic, magnetic, and
photonic devices. |
Argonne's Nestor Zaluzec led development
of the award-winning Scanning Confocal
Electron Microscope, which permits
the observation and characterization of sub-surface
structures of thick, optically opaque materials
at both nanometer-level resolutions and large
fields of view. The instrument merges the capabilities
of the scanning, transmission, and x-ray microscopes
and achieves unprecedented resolutions in optically
dense materials by incorporating the technology
of confocal imaging into an electron microscope.
The microscope will benefit studies of nanomaterials,
particularly the next generation of electronic,
magnetic, and photonic devices ranging from
high-tech consumer electronics to the latest
in multi-layered high-density research and development
integrated circuits.
|
Argonne
researcher Ali Erdimir is one of the developers
of the nanostructured carbide derived carbon
technology. The automotive industry has
expressed interest in this technology for
sealing water pumps. |
Argonne researchers Ali Erdimir
and George Fenske won an R&D 100 award several
years ago for developing a process to make carbon-based
coating that was harder and slicker than Telfon.
Now, they have developed the new Nanostructured
Carbide Derived Carbon technology that
makes coatings harder still, and more cost-efficient
to manufacture. The coating can be grown at
rates up to 100 micrometers per hour and is
composed of graphite, diamond, amorphous carbon,
and carbon "nano-onions" (small carbon structures
with concentric rings, resembling an onion).
These components vary between 2 to 10 nanometers
in thickness. Industry has expressed interest
in the coating to seal water pumps in automotive
engines to prevent dry-run failure and extend
the engine's lifetime. The development of this
coating could save billions of dollars and reduce
energy consumption.
|
Argonne’s
Large-Area Ultrananocrystalline Diamond
Films and Deposition System uses diamond
grains at the nanoscale to provide novel
diamond film coatings. |
Argonne researchers Dieter Gruen,
Orlando Auciello, and John Carlisle teamed with
researchers from Innovation Plasma Systems to
develop the Large-Area Ultrananocrystalline
Diamond Films and Deposition System.
This diamond film technology and desposition
system uses diamond grains only five nanometers
in size to provide the first-ever affordable
large-area diamond film coating, suitable for
producing large area coatings for macro-devices,
microelectromechanical systems and nanoelectromechanical
system devices, biodevices, and biosensors.
Nanocrystalline diamond films offer a particularly
clear example of the startling changes in properties
that can occur when materials approach single-digit
nanometer dimensions where more than 10 percent
of the atoms are at surfaces or grain boundaries.
These films are grown using novel argon-rich
microwave plasmas developed at Argonne, and
exhibit a number of unique properties.
More information is available
about Argonne's
technologies.
Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
|
Change Detection
System inventor Greg Lancaster considers
how the award-winning software can highlight
imperceptible differences between images,
such as the MRI scans of his own brain.
Lancaster artificially altered one image
to test his doctors’ ability to spot
small changes using side-by-side comparison
versus the CDS approach. |
Since 1986, the Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory has
received 28 R&D 100 Awards. The newest technology
to winthe Change Detection Systemis
a new imaging system developed by INEEL researchers
Greg Lancaster, James Jones, and Gordon Lassahn
(retired) that has achieved unparallel ability
to bypass hurdles that can complicate comparison
of similar images. While computers can scrutinize
every pixel of an image, they are often bogged
down by trivial differences in camera angles
or lighting. Whether they are photos of forged
documents or surveillance images of container
locks and seals, CDS can spot subtle discrepancies
that are often impossible to spot by comparing
side-by-side pictures.
More information is available
about INEEL's
technology.
Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory
With two of its technologies selected
as winners for 2003, Berkeley Lab now has received
a total of 32 R&D 100 Awards.
|
EnergyPlus is an
innovative tool used to make buildings more
energy efficient and lower energy costs. |
Berkeley Lab researchers Fred
Buhl, Joe Huang, and Frederick Winkelmann led
development of the EnergyPlus Building
Simulation Program, a new computer
program that models expected energy use in commercial
and residential buildings and leads to greater
efficiency. Architects, engineers, and researchers
are using EnergyPlus to model complex heating,
cooling, and lighting systems for innovative
buildings that are more energy-efficient, more
comfortable, and have lower energy costs. The
software also calculates indirect environmental
effects, like atmospheric pollutants, associated
with a building's energy use. More than 12,000
users have downloaded the free software since
it was released. In addition, over 50 licenses
to collaborative developers and eight commercial
licenses have been issued.
A number of research partners
helped develop EnergyPlus, including Curtis
Pedersen, Richard Liesen, and Richard Strand
of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
Linda Lawrie of the U.S. Army's Construction
Engineering Research Laboratory; Drury Crawley
of the Department of Energy's Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Donald Shirey
of the Florida Solar Energy Center; Daniel Fisher
of Oklahoma State University; William Bahnfleth
of Pennsylvania State University; William Beckman
of the University of Wisconsin; and Michael
Witte and Jason Glazer of GARD Analytics, Inc.
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography:
See Joint Awards, below.
More information is available
about Berkeley's
technologies.
Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory
Technologies developed by researchers
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory brought
the lab another six R&D 100 Awards for 2003bringing
the lab's total to 97.
|
Livermore’s
Lasershot Precision Metal Forming System
may benefit the aviation industry with its
novel approach to shaping large-panel structural
components. |
The Lasershot Precision
Metal Forming System is a revolutionary
approach to shaping large-panel structural components,
such as in the aviation industry. The ability
to precisely form large, thick-section, single-panel
structural components is not achievable by any
other process. This award is shared with Metal
Improvement Company Inc.
|
Livermore’s
Ion Beam Thin-Film Planarization Process
uses extreme ultraviolet lithography to
controllably smooth rough surfaces, such
as computer chips, cost effectively. |
The Ion Beam Thin-Film
Planarization Process has helped solve
one of the greatest technical challenges for
producing faster computer chips with more memory
using extreme ultraviolet lithography.
|
LLNL’s Q
Switch can be used in the energy and national
defense arenas for quick optical switching
of high-powered power lasers. |
The High-Average-Power
Electro-Optic Q Switch will allow fast
optical switching of high-average power lasers
for machining, energy research, and national
defense applications. The Q switch offers a
10-fold increase in the average power handling
capability for lasers to 300 watts instead of
only 30 watts.
Biological Aerosol Sentry
and Information System: See Joint Awards,
below.
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography
Full-Field Step-Scan System: See Joint
Awards, below.
MEMS-based Adaptive Optics
Phoropter: See Joint Awards, below.
More information is available
about Livermore's
technologies.
Los
Alamos National Laboratory
This year, Los Alamos National
Laboratory received eight R&D 100 Awards, bringing
the lab's total to 89 since it first entered
the competition in 1978.
|
CARISS, a field-deployable,
portable chemical analysis tool, can rapidly
identify chemical agents and weapons of
mass destruction. |
The Compositional Analysis
by Raman-Integrated Spark Spectroscopy (CARISS)
is the only field-deployable, portable tool
for chemical (elemental and compositional) analysis
that can identify the composition of a material
at close, stand-off and remote distances and
in less than two minutes. Designed for analysis
in the field, CARISS can be used for such applications
as carbon detection in soil, monitoring of soil
for the presence of toxic metals and harmful
organic compounds, industrial process control
and mining operations, detection of chemical
agents related to homeland security, and identification
of materials used in weapons of mass destruction.
|
Los Alamo’s
three-dimensional computer code, FIRETEC,
constantly simulates the changing relationship
between wildfire and the environment. |
FIRETEC, the
first physics-based three-dimensional computer
code, is designed to simulate the constantly
changing, interactive relationship between wildfire
and the environment. It simulates the dynamic
processes that occur within a fire and the way
those processes feed off and alter each other,
and has significant potential to help prevent
loss of life, property, and natural resources.
FIRETEC combines physics models that represent
combustion, heat transfer, aerodynamic drag,
and turbulence with a computational fluid-dynamics
model that represents airflow and its adjustments
to terrain, different types of fuel (vegetation),
and the fire itself. It may be used for such
applications as predicting wildlife behavior
in rugged terrain under various atmospheric
conditions, optimizing fuel-management strategies,
investigating how fire interacts with various
fuels, and providing realistic simulations for
training inexperienced firefighters.
|
Los Alamo’s
FlashCT provides high-resolution, three-dimensional
images of the inner and outer portions of
objects. |
FlashCT, a high-speed,
industrial computed tomography scanning system,
produces high-resolution, three-dimensional
images of the external and internal geometries
of objects. Its unique imaging capabilities
make it applicable for high-throughput, inline
manufacturing applications, including uses such
as the mass production of customized parts.
FlashCT applies to any process that requires
the non-destructive scanning of an object. Itsuse
in prototyping mass-produced custom devices
streamlines the manufacturing process, increases
throughput, reduces overall manufacturing costs,
eliminates environmentally harmful by-products
used in other processes.
|
The Flexible Superconducting
Tape, developed by researchers at Los Alamos
National Laboratory, carries high currents
in high-magnetic fields at liquid nitrogen
temperatures—carrying a current with
no resistance. |
Flexible Superconducting
Tape carries high electrical currents-200
times the electrical current of copper wire-in
high magnetic fields at liquid-nitrogen temperatures
with no resistance. Flexible enough to be wrapped
into a tight coil with no loss of superconductivity,
the widespread use of the tape could decrease
costs associated with electrical power transmission
and generation, and reduce the current electrical
requirements of the planet, thus conserving
resources and reducing pollution.
|
Los Alamo’s
supercomputer, Green Destiny, draws at most
only 5.2 kilowatts for a 240-processor system—providing
an efficient alternative to the conventional
supercomputer. |
Green Destiny
is the world's most efficient supercomputers.
For nearly a year, Green Destiny ran without
any downtime in a dusty 85oF warehouse
with no facilities for cooling, humidification
control or air filtration while occupying less
than six square feet and drawing, at most, 5.2
kilowatts of power for the 240-processor system.
The supercomputing capacity and efficiency provided
by Green Destiny is an affordable and environmentally
sustainable alternative to the conventional
supercomputer, which requires significant, costly
infrastructure to operate. Its applications
include traditional Web hosting and Web-server
farms, E-commerce, financial services, space
and satellite communications, scientific applications,
desktop supercomputing and smart houses.
|
PowerFactoRE is
a suite of methods, statistical and analytical
tools, simulation software, procedures,
and training to assist manufacturers with
understanding reliability losses and correcting
defects. |
PowerFactoRE is
a comprehensive methodology and an integrated
suite of reliability engineering tools designed
to optimize manufacturing processes. The result
of a collaboration between the Laboratory and
Procter & Gamble, it comprises a unique set
of proven methods, statistical and analytical
tools, simulation software, procedures, and
training that enable line managers to understand
reliability losses and to correct seemingly
isolated defects in the manufacturing process.
PowerFactoRE gathers and analyzes production
data; fits the data with accurate statistical
distributions to build a simulation of the system;
and validates the system model. Used currently
in more than 200 plants worldwide, PowerFactoRE
can be applied across a wide range of businesses
to increase productivity, guide capital investments,
and increase production.
|
Super-Thermite
Electric Matches, developed by Los Alamos
National Laboratory researchers, produce
no toxic lead smoke and possess the capabilities
to minimize accidental ignition. |
Super-Thermite Electric
Matches are designed to replace the
conventional electric matches used in pyrotechnics
applications. Unlike conventional electric matches,
Super-Thermite matches produce no toxic lead
smoke and are safer to use because they resist
friction, impact, heat, and static discharge,
thereby minimizing accidental ignition. The
principal application is in the entertainment
industry, which uses fireworks displays for
a variety of venues such as sporting events,
holiday celebrations and musical and theatrical
gatherings. Secondary applications include uses
for triggering explosives for the mining, demolition,
and defense industries; setting off vehicle
air bags; and igniting rocket motors.
Biological Aerosol Security
and Information System: See Joint Awards,
below.
More information is available
on Los
Alamo's technologies.
National Energy Technology
Laboratory
|
Researchers at
the National Energy Technology Laboratory
and ADA Environmental Solutions recently
garnered an R&D 100 Award for their
technology that controls mercury emissions
from coal-fired power plants. |
Researchers at the National Energy
Technology Laboratory have teamed with ADA Environmental
Solutions to develop the Sorbent-Based
Mercury Control technology, which removes
mercury from the flue gas of coal-fired power
plants. This technology directly supports the
mercury reduction goals of the President's Clear
Skies Initiative. Laboratory studies have shown
that powdered activated carbon (PAC) injection
into flue gas could be an effective technology
for the control of mercury emissions. ADA Environmental
Solutions conducted full-scale testing at four
power plants to demonstrate the cost and performance
of PAC injection. The tests showed that the
PAC removed mercury in amounts ranging from
the low 60s to the low 90s percent. PAC was
effective on both bituminous and subbituminous
coals, capturing all species of mercury, even
elemental mercury, which is more difficult to
remove.
National Renewable
Energy Laboratory
The National Renewable Energy
Laboratory received one R&D 100 Award this year,
which gives it a total of 35 awards since the
laboratory began operating as the Solar Energy
Research Institute in 1977.
|
First
Solar's process starts with a 3.2-mm-thick
sheet of soda-line glass coated with transparent
conducting oxide. The glass, which serves
as the substrate for the module (which is
typically 60 cm x 120 cm and generates 50
watts of power), is loaded into the deposition
system. |
The sophisticated High-Rate
Vapor Transport Deposition System quickly
and uniformly deposits semiconductor layers
for photovoltaics (PV) module manufacturing.
Besides being mechanically simple (and, hence,
reliable and inexpensive to maintain), its great
innovation is that it can deposit thin semiconductor
films 2,000 to 20,000 times faster than rival
technologies. In fact, this deposition technology
can be used to make an entire 60-cm x 120-cm
PV module in as little as 40 secondsmore
than two orders of magnitude faster than its
nearest rival. Because of this and its resultant
economies of scale, and because this technology
wastes very little material, high-rate vapor
transport deposition has already dropped the
cost of PV modules by more than 20 percent,
and could soon drop the cost another 30 percent.
The award for this innovation was shared by
First Solar and NREL. Dr. Rick Powell of First
Solar was the inventor and lead designer of
the deposition system.
Oak
Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
won four R&D 100 Awards for 2003, bringing the
lab's total to 116second only to General
Electric in the history of the awards.
|
ORNL’s CF8C-Plus
is a high-performance, cost-effective product
that will allow commercial manufacturers
such as Caterpillar to use steel that is
resistant to mechanical and thermal fatigue. |
New Cast Stainless Steel
for High-Temperature Performanceor
CF8C-Plusis designed to drastically improve
high-temperature durability, performance, and
reliability based on ORNL's unique engineered
microstructure alloy development methodology.
The engineered microstructure method dramatically
changes CF8C-Plus from steel that cannot be
used above 600-650oC to steel that
can be used up to 850oC and resists
failure during creep, mechanical fatigue, and
thermal fatigue. End users such as Caterpillar
(who is the joint recipient of the award) or
commercial foundries like MetalTek will benefit
from CF8C-Plus because it is a cost-effective
product with higher performance and immense
reliability. CF8C-Plus was supported by DOE's
Freedom Car Vehicles Technologies and DEER of
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy.
|
Co-developed by
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and RIS researchers,
the RAMiTS monitor can identify hundreds
of harmful and other substances in seconds. |
Developed by ORNL researchers
Tuan Vo-Dinh, Joel Mobley, Brian Cullum, David
Stokes, Alan Wintenberg, and Steven Frank, along
with Robert Maples of RIS, the Raman
Integrated Tunable Sensor (RAMiTS)
is a compact, "point-and-shoot," fully integrated,
battery-operated Raman monitor. Outside the
laboratory, this device can perform qualitative
analysis of chemical and biological samples
in seconds. RAMiTS can identify hundreds of
substances, including toxic chemicals, by-products
from explosives, biomedical markers, pharmaceuticals,
and illicit drugs. RAMiTS could also help revolutionize
sensing applications such as environmental monitoring,
medical diagnostics, and homeland security.
|
MicroTrapMS features
highly miniaturized capabilities that make
the instrument ideal for screening for dangerous
pesticides and explosives, at a cost lower
than the conventional mass spectrometer. |
Developed by ORNL researchers
Michael Ramsey, William Whitten, and Peter Reilly,
along with ORNL postdoctoral ORNL fellow Oleg
Kornienko and researchers from Protasis Corp,
MicroTrapMS is a highly miniaturized
ion trap mass spectrometer that is based on
ORNL patented technology. The product can be
used for applications from online screening
for toxins in municipal watersheds to detecting
hazardous substances at airport checkpoints.
MicroTrapMS will enhance real-time capabilities
of field engineers to sweep many local areas
for pesticides, drugs, explosives, and more.
MicroTrapMS has the power of a conventional
mass spectrometer at a lower cost.
|
With its miniature
imaging and infrared capabilities, the UMIR-Cam
will prove useful in the military and emergency
sectors. |
Uncooled Micromechanical
Infrared Camera (UMIR-Cam) is a sensitive,
miniature imaging and infrared photo-detection
device developed ORNL researchers Panos Datskos,
Slobodan Rajic, Lawrence Senesac, and Nickolay
Lavrik and ORNL research associate James Corbeil.
UMIR-Cam operates at room temperature and can
be used in a number of endeavors, including
night vision, industrial process monitoring,
and medical imaging. It also can help firefighters
see through smoke and has particularly important
uses in the commercial and military sectors,
because infrared radiation is the second-most
intense source of radiation in our environment.
Compositional Analysis
by Raman-Integrated Spark Spectroscopy:
See Joint Awards, below.
More information is available
on ORNL's
technologies.
Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory
With the three R&D 100 Awards
the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory earned
for 2003, the laboratory now has won 62 since
the award's beginning in 1969.
|
: The PNNL-developed
Product Acoustic Signature System—resembling
a power drill/blow dryer combo—uses
ultrasonic pulses to identify the contents
of a container. |
Aaron Diaz, PNNL senior research
scientist, led development of the Product
Acoustic Signature Systemor PASS.
This handheld tool enlists ultrasound pulses
to assay the contents of sealed containers.
The technology works by bouncing sound off a
container's contents, then collecting a telltale
echo from what's inside. An official can run
PASS, which looks like a power drill crossed
with a blow-dryer, over a tanker truck or barrel
to distinguish crude oil from vegetable oil
or chemical-weapons agents. The device can also
unmask hidden packages, reveal secret compartments,
and determine a container's fill level. PASS
can save time and protect law enforcement and
border inspectors from potentially hazardous
materials.
|
PNNL’s Starlight
software graphically depicts connections
among different pieces of information and
can be diversely applied to areas such as
fraud detection to bioinformatics. |
PNNL senior research scientist
John Risch led in the development of the Starlight
visualization system-software that
graphically depicts connections among disparate
pieces of information from large, complex, and
dynamic collections. Though initially designed
for the U.S. intelligence community to identify
terrorist threats, this technology is applicable
in diverse arenas, from competitive intelligence
and fraud detection to epidemiology and bioinformatics.
|
PNNL’s FT-MS
Proteome Express may provide researchers
with the ability to analyze a proteome or
entire protein set of an organism much more
quickly (i.e., years) than previously available.
Tests at PNNL show a 100-fold improvement
in speed and sensitivity. |
PNNL researcher and Battelle Fellow
Richard D. Smitha seven-time winner of
R&D 100 Awardswas the principal investigator
in the development of FT-MS Proteome
Express, an automated, ultra-high resolution
combined separation and mass spectrometer-based
system that measures the large and complex proteins
in any organism at any time. Measuring proteins
and their abundances at different times, and
especially the proteins present in only tiny
amounts, is the key to understanding molecular-level
cell function and disease progression, treatment,
and prevention. This instrument may trim years
off the time required to analyze a proteome,
or the entire protein set of an organism. In
experiments at PNNL, the FT-MS Proteome Express
has demonstrated more than 100-fold improvements
in speed and sensitivity over previous methods
and demonstrated its applicability in projects
that range from how microorganisms absorb atmospheric
carbon to how certain viral proteins cause blindness.
More information is available
on PNNL's
technologies.
Sandia National Laboratories
Researchers from Sandia National
Laboratories won seven R&D 100 awards this yearbringing
their total to 34.
|
SnifferStarTM,
one of seven Sandia R&D 100 Award winners,
is a lightweight chemical sensor that can
be mounted on drone aircrafts for remote
surveillance of battlefield situations.
It provides warning to soldiers of the presence
of chemical weapons. |
A technology helping U.S.
forces of the future may consist of an extremely
lightweight mobile chemical sensorSnifferStarTMcreated
by Sandia researchers Doug Adkins, George Dulleck,
Greg Frye-Mason, Pat Lewis, Richard Kottenstette,
Edwin Heller, and Ronald Manginell, along with
former Lockheed Martin researcher Clifford Megerle.
SnifferStarTM mounts on a drone aircraft
for remote surveillance of battlefield situations
where suspect plumes or clouds are present.
The detector's primary purpose is to save lives
by warning soldiers that chemical weapons are
present on a battlefield. Developed under a
Shared Vision program with Lockheed Martin,
the entire module weighs less than a golf ball,
operates on less than 0.5 watts, and uses the
wind generated by the motion of the craft to
collect samples for analysis. SnifferStarTM
is sensitive to both blister and nerve agents.
It ignores common interferents and analyzes
chemical warfare agents in 20 seconds. The device
also has potential utility in or near the ventilation
systems of buildings, or, with addition of small
pumps to force air into the device, on posts
surrounding military bases.
The Low Emissions Atmospheric
Metering Separator (LEAMS) is a family
of atmospheric geothermal separators used in
the development of geothermal power. The primary
function of LEAMS is to safely contain and clean
the atmospheric-vented steam of polluting solids,
liquids, and noxious gasses. This system is
designed to be environmentally friendly, intrinsically
safe, and relatively easy to transport and assemble.
LEAMS has a wide operating range and can be
used in drilling, well testing, and geothermal
power plant start-up. The LEAMS technology was
supported by work done by Sandia researcher
Allan Sattler and was developed by Two-Phase
Engineering and Research, Inc. Most fabrication
was accomplished by Drill Cool Systems, Inc.
The Emitter Turn-Off Thyristor
(ETO)a fast-response semiconductor device
developed under the direction of Sandia's Stan
Atcittyallows a power utility to rapidly
convert energy stored in a DC device into AC
power and minimize the negative effects of such
interruptions as lightening strikes, equipment
failures, and other anomalies in powered transmission
systems. Developed with funding from the DOE
Energy Storage Program, ETO is the product of
a joint effort by Sandia, Solitronics, Virginia
Tech, and the American Competitiveness Institute
in Philadelphia.
Sandia's Brian Kirby, Tim Shepodd,
and David Reichmuth were honored for creating
Isolated Cast-in-Place Microvalves,
which enable micro-scale systems to combine
high-voltage and high-pressure analytical or
synthetic techniques. Previous micro-scale systems
could not effectively control both electrokinetic
and high-pressure hydraulic flow. These new
valves are commercially applicable to miniaturization
techniques (which include greater process speeds
and minimal impact to the environment) and are
crucial to drug discovery and evaluation in
the pharmaceutical industry.
Sandia researcher Doug Drumheller,
in cooperation with Extreme Engineering Ltd.
of Calgary, Alberta, lead the development of
the Acoustic Telemetry Technology,
which represents the fulfillment of an oil industry
quest to enhance communication between the driller
and the drill bit. Existing measurement-while-drilling
communication methods, based on mud-pulse techniques,
were revolutionary when introduced in the early
1980s and remain a bottleneck to the precision
drilling needs of the 21st century. Acoustic
telemetry technology uses the well-drilling
tubing as the data transmission medium and sound
waves as the data carrier. Among the advantages
compared to existing techniques: a 10-fold improvement
in data rates and no blocking of the fluid flow
path.
|
The Acoustic Telemetry
Technology, developed by Sandia and Extreme
Engineering Ltd., will enhance communications
in the oil industry between the driller
and drill bit. Components of this technology
allow a 10-fold improvement in data rates
and no blocking of the fluid flow path. |
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography
Full-field Step-Scan System: See Joint
Awards, below.
MEMS-Based Adaptive Optics
Phoropter: See Joint Awards, below.
More information is available
on Sandia's
technologies.
Savannah River Technology
Center
|
Inventors
of the Aerosol-to-Liquid Particle Extraction
System from the Savannah River Technology
Center, operated for DOE by Westinghouse
Savannah River Company, A Washington Group
International Company. From left to right:
Dr. Cliff Carlson, Jeff DeGange, Dr. Justin
Halverson. |
The Savannah River Technology
Center received its fourth R&D 100 Award in
2003, this time for the Aerosol-to-Liquid
Particle Extraction System (ALPES).
Savannah River's Cliff Carlson along with Dr.
Justin Halverson and Jeff DeGange designed this
highly efficient, portable device that collects
airborne particles, including chemical agents
and microorganisms, and concentrates them into
a liquid for scientific analysis. ALPES is able
to collect any aerosol, including chemical agents;
radioactive particles; microorganisms (such
as spores, bacteria, and fungi); residual substances
from explosives; and byproducts of manufacturing
processes (such as lead in a battery factory).
An array of units, deployed throughout a public
or private facility, could be a vital part of
an anti-terrorism alert system. This system
could quickly notify authorities of the existence
of harmful biological, chemical, or explosive
materials in the area.
More information is available
about SRTC's
technology.
Company Research and Development
Supported by DOE
Airak
|
Airak’s Fiber
Optic Current Sensor uses light and the
Faraday effect to measure magnetic field
phase and amplitude, current phase and amplitude,
and temperature on conductors. |
Airak's Fiber Optic Current
Sensor measures magnetic field phase
and amplitude, current phase and amplitude,
and/or temperature on conductors using light
and a property of certain crystals known as
the Faraday effect. Due to the fiber optic construction
of the sensor, it is safe for use by personnel
and interconnected equipment. Additionally,
as system voltage levels increase, the voltage
isolation requirements increase also increase,
which cause conventional sensors to become larger
and heavier. However, Airak's sensor weighs
only 28 grams independent of system voltages
or currents, at least to 12KV or currents to
30KA. The device was developed with funding
from the DOE Energy Storage Program.
3M
|
The 3M Composite
Conductor will increase electricity transmission
up to three-fold without increasing structural
loads. |
An advanced power-line cable from
3M, designed to reduce transmission bottlenecks
by increasing overhead electrical power-line
capacity, is one of the most technologically
significant products introduced into the marketplace
this year, according to R&D Magazine. The product,
known as the 3M Composite Conductor,
is capable of transmitting two to three times
more electricity than conventional power-line
cables of the same diameter without increasing
structural loads. The new heat-resistant conductor
is aimed at reducing transmission bottlenecks
by enabling utilities to increase power-line
capacity on existing structures. The product
was developed with funding from the DOE Office
of Electric Transmission and Distribution and
is the subject of a pilot program underway at
the National Transmission Technology Research
Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
Joint Awards
Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
and Sandia National Laboratories
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A collaboration
among three DOE national laboratories, the
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography Full-field
Step-Scan System will allow microelectronics
continue into the next decade. |
More than 100 researchers from
the three national laboratories were honored
for the Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography
Full-field Step-Scan System, a technological
advance that will lead to dramatic improvements
in the speed and memory of computer systems.
This system is the only one in its field that
can pattern full chip-size areas on silicon
wafers with features as small as 50 nm. It is
the embodiment of a set of groundbreaking technologies
that were considered by many to be impossible
as recently as a few years ago. Commercialization
of this breakthrough will allow advances in
microelectronics to continue into the next decade.
Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory
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A collaboration
between researchers at Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory and Los Alamos National
Laboratory, the Biological Aerosol Sentry
and Information System was deployed at the
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. |
The Biological Aerosol
Sentry and Information System (BASIS)
is a biothreat detection and characterization
technology for protecting civilian populations
against terrorist aerosol releases of microorganisms
capable of inducing lethal infection. BASIS
allows the detailed identification, localization,
and time-of-release pinpointing of select aerosol-released
organisms. This precise detection makes possible
the rapid treatment of exposed individuals,
often even before symptoms appear. By reducing
the rate of false positives to nearly zero,
BASIS prevents the potential disruption of civilian
life that false alarms would likely provoke.
BASIS can be deployed in a broad spectrum of
locations where population clusters could be
targeted by terrorists. Applications include
population centers (e.g., transportation terminals/portals),
border checkpoints, seats of government, critical
infrastructure nodes such as power plants, tunnels
and bridges, and sports and entertainment venues.
The system was deployed at the Salt Lake City
Winter Olympics as part of the event's security
preparations.
Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories
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A collaboration
between Livermore and Sandia laboratories,
the MEMS-Based Adaptive Optics Phoropter
will advance the study and treatment of
retinal diseases. |
The MEMS-Based Adaptive
Optics Phoropter expands upon traditional
devices currently used in optometrists' offices.
The technology uses MEMS-based deformable mirror
technology to correct wave-front aberrations
in the eye. It combines technologies from astronomy
and micromachining to advance the study and
treatment of retinal diseases. Applications
for the tool include generation of improved
prescriptions for custom contact lenses or laser
eye surgery, as well as high-resolution retinal
imaging. In addition to the two national laboratories,
the award is shared with the University of Rochester;
Wavefront Sciences; Boston Micromachines Corp.;
and Bausch & Lomb.
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