Science and Enterprise

Tag: NSF

  • NSF, Industry Consortium Fund Advanced Chip Research

    Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond has received two grants totaling $1.75 million from National Science Foundation and the Semiconductor Research Corporation to create more energy-efficient computing devices. Semiconductor Research Corporation is an international technology research consortium of member companies and university research programs. The grants fund research to translate theoretical work on replacing traditional transistor-based…

  • More Planning Needed for Water Use in Biofuel Crops

    An overlooked factor in planning for prairie grasses as biofuel feedstocks is their use of water, according to a new study by researchers in the U.S. and Germany. Their findings appear this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Engineers Praveen Kumar and Phong Le at University of…

  • Small Business Grant Funds University Biodiesel Start-Up

    NextCAT Inc., a Wayne State University start-up company in Detroit, has received a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) of nearly $500,000. The company commercializes catalysts for the production of biodiesel developed at the National Biofuels Energy Laboratory at Wayne State. NextCAT plans to bring to market…

  • Monitors to Prevent Elderly Falls Before They Happen

    Grants from the National Science Foundation’s Smart Health and Wellbeing Program are funding development of a sensor-based system to detect the risks of falls by frail elderly people. One of the grants, to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, will involve collaboration between the school’s engineering and gerontology departments; a smaller grant will fund similar engineering work…

  • Self-Powered Prosthetic Leg Developed, Patented, Licensed

    Vanderbilt University engineers in Nashville have developed a prosthetic lower leg, which allows amputees to walk without the leg-dragging that characterizes conventional artificial legs. The university has patented basic elements of the device’s design, and licensed the technology to a California company for commercial development. The prosthesis is as much an electronic as an assistive…

  • NSF, Energy Dept to Fund Power Grid Research Center

    National Science Foundation and Department of Energy awarded a grant to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and its partners to establish a new Engineering Research Center for research and education on the nation’s electrical grid infrastructure. The two agencies will invest $18.5 million in the research center over five years. The facility, known as the…

  • Two-Legged Robot Developed with Running Ability

    Engineers at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have developed a bipedal robot with the ability to run as well as walk. MABEL, as the robot is called, is funded by the National Science Foundation and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. MABEL was first developed in 2008 as a collaboration between Michigan’s Jessy Grizzle, a…

  • Better Building Codes Urged for Tornado, Hurricane Regions

    Researchers and engineers from universities and industry that reviewed the damage caused by destructive Spring 2011 tornadoes in the U.S. call for more intensive engineering design and more rigorous, localized construction and inspection standards to reduce property damage and loss of life. The report of the group’s research on the Tuscaloosa, Alabama tornado on 27…

  • NSF Unveils Innovation Corps to Extend Innovation Impact

    National Science Foundation launched today its Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, a public-private partnership to help turn scientific and engineering discoveries into useful technologies and products. I-Corps expects to support up to 100 projects at $50,000 a project. In I-Corps, NSF will ask members of the private sector to share their knowledge and experience with I-Corps…

  • Head Cap Devised to Capture Brain Signals to Control Devices

    A neuroscience/engineering team at University of Maryland in College Park has developed headgear like a swim cap with sensors that read brain signals and let the wearer control electronic devices. The Maryland team’s findings appear in the current issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology (paid subscription required). The non-invasive cap, lined with sensors that connect…