Science and Enterprise

Tag: NSF

  • Research on Insects Leads to Forestry Biochemical Start-Up

    Biochemical researchers at University of Nevada in Reno started a company making compounds to control forest pests, based on their research in insect enzymes. Rubi Figueroa-Teran and Claus Tittiger, in Reno’s College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, started the company EscaZyme Biochemicals and were invited to join National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) to get the…

  • NSF Adding Three I-Corps University Innovation Centers

    National Science Foundation is adding three regional consortiums under its Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program to encourage campus entrepreneurship from university research. The three awards going to university I-Corps nodes in and around San Francisco, Washingon, D.C., and New York City total some $11.2 million. I-Corps aims to help academic scientists funded through NSF make the…

  • University Developing Smart Skin, Fabrics for Robots

    Engineers at University of Texas in Arlington are developing smart skin and fabrics that can help robotic devices, such as prosthetics, learn about their environments and react accordingly. The four-year, $1.35 million project is funded by National Science Foundation under the National Robotics Initiative. The research is led by engineering professor Dan Popa (pictured left),…

  • Augmented Reality Applications Enhanced for Mobile Devices

    Computer scientists at University of California in Santa Barbara are developing augmented reality applications for mobile devices that offer more stable, realistic, and current images than available today. The lab of computer science professors Matthew Turk and Tobias Höllerer (pictured right) recently received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to create…

  • Anti-Freeze Molecule Behavior Identified, Analyzed

    The freezing of water and other substances is normally attributed to temperature, but chemistry researchers at New York University found other molecular processes taking place that influence freezing, with potential applications in food processing and other industries. The NYU team published its findings today online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…

  • Stronger, Tougher Steel Variety Developed

    Engineers at Wayne State University in Detroit developed a new type of steel that they say is stronger and more resistant to fracture, and can also resist the fatigue encountered with similar materials. The work of engineering professor Susil Putatunda, leading this research group, is supported by National Science Foundation, Michigan Initiative for Innovation and…

  • NSF Grant Funds Research on CO2 as Fossil Fuel Substitute

    Brown University in Providence received a $1.75 million grant for research on substituting carbon dioxide for fossil fuels in industrial chemicals. The funding from National Science Foundation’s Centers for Chemical Innovation program will support a joint chemical innovation program at Brown and Yale universities, headed by principal investigator Tayhas Palmore (pictured left), a materials scientist…

  • NSF Grant to Fund Natural Gas Development Impacts Study

    An engineering research team at University of Colorado in Boulder will study the balance between natural gas development and its effects on ecosystems and communities. The five-year, $12 million study is funded by National Science Foundation under its Sustainability Research Network initiative. The Colorado team led by environmental engineering professor Joseph Ryan will examine social,…

  • Grant to Fund Study of Cyber Crime Economics, Networks

    Computer scientists at University of California in San Diego, University of California in Berkeley, and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia received a National Science Foundation grant to better understand the economics and network dynamics of cyber crime. The five-year, $10 million study will investigate economic motivations and social interactions among cyber criminals, as well…

  • NSF Grant to Fund Study of Energy Storage Nanomaterials

    A physics professor at Clemson University in South Carolina will lead a team developing new nanoscale carbon materials for storing energy, funded by a grant from National Science Foundation. The four-year, $1.2 million project is headed by physicist Apparao Rao and includes participants from Clemson and the University of California-San Diego. The research is expected…