Science and Enterprise

Tag: university

  • Wind Turbine Blade Edge Helps Reduce Power Costs

    Denmark’s National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy and three corporate partners have developed a controllable trailing edge for wind turbine blades that can reduce loads on turbines and help reduce the cost of electricity from wind power. The lab, known as Risø DTU, is part of the Technical University of Denmark in Roskilde. Wind turbines are…

  • Molecular Probes Developed to Analyze Cancer Cells

    Chemical engineers at University of California, Santa Barbara have created molecular probes that the developers say can lead to new drugs to treat cancer and other illnesses. Chemical engineering professor Patrick Daugherty and postdoc Abeer Jabaiah published their findings in a recent online issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology (paid subscription required). Their work…

  • Smartphone App Gives Voice to Those Who Cannot Speak

    Students at University of Toronto in Canada have designed a smartphone application that merges a voice synthesizer with a GPS to give people who cannot speak the words they need. The app, called MyVoice, is available for the iPhone, with an Android version in development. MyVoice is an assistive and augmentative communication device that adds…

  • FDA Adverse Drug Event Reports Jump in Past Decade

    Researchers at University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Baltimore found a sharp increase in reports of adverse drug events to the Food and Drug Administration in the years 2000 through 2009, but the reasons for the jump may be more complex than the quality of the drugs. Their findings appear in the March issue…

  • Energy Dept. Funding Solar Manufacturing Development

    The Department of Energy has awarded three sets of grants to promote development of advanced solar photovoltaic (PV)-related manufacturing processes in the U.S. The $112.5 million awards over five years are part of the department’s SunShot Initiative that aims to make large-scale solar energy systems cost competitive without subsidies by the end of the decade.…

  • SBIR Grant Awarded for Drug-to-Drug Interactions Research

    Optivia Biotechnology Inc. in Menlo Park, California received a $1.85 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from National Institutes of Health to determine the mechanisms that underlie certain drug-to-drug interactions, to help improve medication safety. The award was made by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at NIH. The phase 2 SBIR grant…

  • Study Computes Cardiac Device Infection Mortality, Costs

    A review of Medicare records shows that surgical infections associated with pacemakers and defibrillators led to longer hospital stays, higher mortalities, and increased hospitalization costs compared to implantations without infections. Results of the study, funded by medical device developer TYRX Inc. in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, were presented yesterday at a meeting of the American…

  • Lamination Process Enables Microchannel Heat Exchangers

    Oregon State University researchers in Corvallis have invented a new way to use lamination to produce microchannel heat exchangers for a number of commercial uses that require efficient heat transfer. Engineering professor Brian Paul and doctoral candidate Prawin Paulraj published their findings in a recent issue of the Journal of Manufacturing Processes (paid subscription required).…

  • Engineers Increase Computer Program Speed, Retain Safety

    Researchers at North Carolina State University in Raleigh have developed a software tool that helps computer applications run more efficiently without sacrificing safety features that previously slowed down their performance. The faculty/student team will discuss this process on 5 April at the International Symposium on Code Generation and Optimization in Chamonix, France. Application software programs…

  • Universities Form Appalachian Enviro. Research Initiative

    Seven universities in the Appalachian region of the U.S. have formed  a consortium to study environmental impacts of the production and use Appalachia’s energy resources, particularly coal. Virginia Tech in Blacksburg will house the new Appalachian Research Initiative for Environmental Science (ARIES). ARIES is expected to involve researchers representing a range of disciplines from Virginia…