Microfluidics Device for Diagnosis of Nosocomial Agents (MeDiNA)
Motorola, Inc., Tempe, AZ
Develop a monolithic, integrated biochip containing all DNA sample-preparation and bioassay functions for use in practical, rapid, and inexpensive point-of-care DNA diagnostics.
Requested ATP Funds: $4,392 K Est. project budget: $8,975 K
Protein Expression Screening
GeneTrace Systems, Inc., Alameda, CA
Develop a rapid, low-cost, automated assay technology that can monitor the production of proteins by genes and measure the relative ratios of different proteins, analyzing the activity of up to hundreds of proteins simultaneously to accelerate the development of drugs or other therapeutics for diseases such as cancer or AIDS.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,996 K Est. project budget: $2,679 K
Advanced Rechargeable Lithium Polymer Sulfur Batteries
PolyPlus Battery Company, Berkeley, CA
Develop and test rechargeable, long-life lithium-sulfur batteries offering increased energy density, reduced size and manufacturing cost, and enhanced safety, thereby boosting power sources for mobile technologies such as laptop computers and cell phones.
Requested ATP Funds: $3,819 K Est. project budget: $7,835 K
Genoprocessor: A Microfabricated High-Performance Genotyping System
Kiva Genetics, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Develop an automated, miniaturized DNA analysis system integrating sample extraction, purification, amplification, and analysis, in a reliable, easily manufactured device that can perform up to 100,000 genotyping assays per day at a low cost.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $4,000 K
A Strategy for Reclaiming U.S. Leadership in High Value Polymers
(Polyolefins)
Catalytica Advanced Technologies, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Develop rapid synthesis, computational, and screening technologies that can identify catalyst structures for making new, high-performance polymers, which would offer substantial economic, safety, and environmental benefits in automotive, medical, and other applications.
Requested ATP Funds: $4,870 K Est. project budget: $10,920 K
Adaptive Web Learning Guides
Extempo Systems, Inc., Redwood City, CA
Develop and test animated computer "guides" and affordable tools for customizing these guides to enhance access to World Wide Web-based educational material in many fields and industries as well as K-12 public education.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,994 K Est. project budget: $2,333 K
Robust Extraction of 3D Models from Video Sequences
Geometrix, Inc., San Jose, CA
Develop software to automatically create 3D graphics databases by extracting 3D information from conventional video camcorder images, dramatically lowering the cost and difficulty of building 3D models of real-world scenes.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,954 K Est. project budget: $3,081 K
Low-Cost, Low Light Level Video Camera
Intevac, Inc., Santa Clara, CA
Develop a new imaging sensor and automated assembly process for the manufacture of low-cost, high-performance low light level cameras for security systems and law enforcement markets.
Requested ATP Funds: $5,270 K Est. project budget: $10,540 K
Spoken Language User Interface (SLUI) Toolkit
BCL Computers, Santa Clara, CA
Develop a code-generating software "toolkit" that will allow programmers to rapidly develop spoken-language input interfaces for new and existing applications without a detailed knowledge of linguistic theory.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,817 K Est. project budget: $2,348 K
Intelligent Networked Simulation and Control
Real-Time Innovations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA
Develop a high-speed, distributed networking technology that enables large systems-integration simulations involving complex subsystems to be conducted from multiple remote sites as if in a real-time testbed.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,998 K Est. project budget: $2,667 K
Photovoltaic Micro-Concentrator Systems
SunPower Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA
Develop technology for an innovative photovoltaic cell combining new silicon photocell technology with a novel light concentrator to enable low-cost, high-performance flat-panel photovoltaic units for solar power applications.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,509 K
Mid-IR Cavity Ring-down Spectroscopy
Informed Diagnostics, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA
Develop electro-optical technology for a portable device based on cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), enabling highly sensitive "sniffers" for detecting explosives or drugs in security applications and for a variety of diagnostic applications in medicine.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $4,829 K
Ultra-Compact Packaging Technology for Telemedicine,
Telecommunications and Next Generation I/O (NGIO)
Picolight Incorporated, Boulder, CO
Develop advanced packaging technologies and prototype cost-effective miniature fiber-optic datacom transceivers for use in desktop and laptop computers and other consumer products.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $4,565 K
Integrated MEMS Reactor Gas Monitor Using Novel Thin Film Chemistry
for the Closed Loop Process Control and Optimization of Plasma Etch and Clean Reactions in
the Manufacturing of Microelectronics
ATMI, Inc., Danbury, CT
Develop novel in-process gas sensors for the etching stage of semiconductor wafer manufacture, enabling more efficient, lower emission processing in the next generation of semiconductor fab lines.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,711 K Est. project budget: $3,774 K
Open Software Tools for Condition Based Maintenance
United Technologies Corporation — United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford,
CT
Develop planning and decision-support technologies for enterprise-wide, cost-effective, condition-based maintenance operations.
Requested ATP Funds: $4,691 K Est. project budget: $9,383 K
Inactivation of Genes in the Pig by Homologous Recombination and
Nuclear Transfer
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, New Haven, CT
Develop novel procedures to create genetically altered pigs whose cells, tissues, and organs can be utilized for transplantation into humans, thereby transforming the transplantation industry, resulting in novel therapeutics and a reduction in health care costs.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,999 K Est. project budget: $3,406 K
Ceramic Matrix Composites for Advanced Engine Components
Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation, Orlando, FL
Develop and demonstrate hybrid ceramic matrix composite materials for use in making advanced gas turbines, with the aim of increasing the power output and reducing engine fuel costs, emissions, and associated clean-up costs.
Requested ATP Funds: $3,545 K Est. project budget: $7,235 K
Development of Perivascular Endothelial Cell Implants
Reprogenesis, Inc., Cambridge, MA
Design and test an endothelial-cell implant technology to restore endothelial cell function in blood vessels damaged during surgery, reducing post-surgical complications in procedures such as balloon angioplasty and coronary bypass operations.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,054 K
Bioengineering of a Liver Assist Device
Organogenesis, Inc., Canton, MA
Develop a practical liver assist device (LAD) that can take over some or all of the functions of the human liver, enabling patients with acute liver failure to stabilize and survive until donor livers are available, or to regenerate their own livers over time.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $4,175 K
MEMS-Based Infrared Micro-Sensors
Ion Optics, Inc., Waltham, MA
Develop an integrated, mid-infrared gas absorption "sensor-on-a-chip" to enable compact, low-cost instruments for detecting specific atmospheric contaminants such as carbon monoxide or natural gas.
Requested ATP Funds: $753 K Est. project budget: $1,380 K
T Cell Production in an Artificial Thymus
Cytomatrix, Woburn, MA
Develop an artificial thymus, a bioreactor capable of producing large quantities of functional T cells — a key part of the body's immune system — as well as designing T cells tailored to fight specific diseases such as cancer or AIDS.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,750 K Est. project budget: $2,250 K
New Treatment Paradigm for Central Nervous System Disorders Involving
Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., Baltimore, MD
Develop and test a novel treatment in which precursor cells for structural and connective tissue are injected into the brain to improve or even cure chronic central nervous system disorders, substantially reducing medical costs.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,687 K
Colloidal Gold as a Targeted Drug/Gene Delivery System
CytImmune Sciences Inc., College Park, MD
Develop novel cancer therapeutics, with biologics and gene therapies on colloidal gold to effectively deliver these therapeutic agents to targeted cells, greatly improving the efficacy of the agents while reducing toxic side effects.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,754 K
Combinatorial Tools and Advanced Data Analysis Methods for
Heterogeneous Catalysis: An NDI and UOP Joint Venture
Nonlinear Dynamics Incorporated, Ann Arbor, MI
Develop novel combinatorial methods for the discovery of new, more effective heterogeneous catalysts used by the chemical industry, thereby increasing the efficiency of catalyst research and development.
Requested ATP Funds: $14,610 K Est. project budget: $29,817 K
A Functionally Specific Three-Dimensional Polymer Implant for
Articular Cartilage Repair and Regeneration
THM Biomedical, Inc., Duluth, MN
Design, fabricate, and demonstrate a bioresorbable implant that stimulates the repair and regeneration of articular cartilage, including the cartilage layer that attaches to the bone, potentially providing a simple, rejection-free device that will greatly reduce the need for hip and knee replacements.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,161 K Est. project budget: $1,730 K
Tissue Engineered Heart Valve Prostheses
St. Jude Medical, Inc., St. Paul, MN
Develop a tissue-engineered heart valve prothesis that, once implanted, will attract and integrate the patient's own cells in critical areas of the valve, making a more reliable, longer-lasting replacement valve, particularly for children whose bodies outgrow conventional prosthetic valves.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,991 K Est. project budget: $4,128 K
Application of Molecular Gate™ Technology to Oxygen Enrichment
of Air Streams and Simplified Purification of Natural Gas
Engelhard Corporation, Iselin, NJ
Build and demonstrate advanced separation technologies that will enable the one-step purification of natural gas and the generation of oxygen-enriched airstreams, thereby reducing the cost of natural gas purification and increasing marketable natural gas reserves, improving the economics of transportable oxygen for medical needs, and providing for cleaner-burning diesel engines.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,799 K Est. project budget: $4,499 K
Development of Lead-Free Solder Electroplating Technologies
Lucent Technologies, Inc., Murray Hill, NJ
Develop commercially viable electrochemical processes to enable the use of tin-silver and tin-bismuth solders as drop-in replacements for lead-based solders for the U.S. electronics industry.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,272 K Est. project budget: $3,179 K
The LivingChip™ — A Cell-Based Biochip for Drug Discovery
Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation, New York, NY
Develop a modular "biochip" system for screening potential drug compounds that will greatly simplify and accelerate the discovery of new drugs, significantly reducing costs.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,629 K
Combinatorial Methodology for Coatings Development
General Electric Corporate Research and Development, Niskayuna, NY
Develop combinatorial methods to achieve several orders of magnitude increase in the rate of screening of new coatings for the automotive and information display industries, accelerating the introduction of new products while also improving their quality.
Requested ATP Funds: $3,128 K Est. project budget: $6,328 K
Bulk GaN and Homoepitaxial Device Manufacturing
General Electric Company Corporate Research and Development, Niskayuna, NY
Develop a commercially viable process for producing gallium nitride crystals, an important material for high-performance optoelectronics and electronics, in bulk at low cost.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,254 K Est. project budget: $4,600 K
Model Driven Intelligent Control of Manufacturing
STEP Tools, Inc., Troy, NY
Develop databases and software systems for an integrated design-to-manufacturing system that allows numerically controlled machine tools to be controlled by product design data, leading to significant improvements in design flexibility and quality of manufactured parts.
Requested ATP Funds: $1,999 K Est. project budget: $2,908 K
The Federated Intelligent Product EnviRonment (FIPER)
Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, OH
Develop and demonstrate broadly applicable technologies that will transform the product design process to make it truly concurrent with manufacturing capability, thus reducing design time, improving quality, and potentially reducing the cost of creating new products in a range of industries.
Requested ATP Funds: $10,708 K Est. project budget: $21,437 K
Motors and Generators for the 21st Century
IAP Research, Inc., Dayton, OH
Develop novel manufacturing processes based on powder compaction technology to produce electric motors with double the power and torque density of existing motors at half the production cost.
Requested ATP Funds: $4,397 K Est. project budget: $9,058 K
BioArtificial Muscle Implants for Sustained Protein Delivery
Cell Based Delivery, Inc., Providence, RI
Develop implantable bioreactors fabricated from genetically modified human muscle tissue which predictably produce and release therapeutic levels of specific proteins to target sites in the body as a potential treatment for chronic diseases such as anemia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neuro-degenerative disorders.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,085 K
High Performance Rechargeable Alkaline Battery
Rechargeable Battery Corporation, College Station, TX
Develop the technology for secondary zinc alkaline manganese-dioxide battery cells, a new type of high-performance, low-cost rechargeable alkaline battery with significant safety and environmental benefits that could be used in large consumer applications, including electric vehicles.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,797 K
Cloning Pigs: A Solution to Overcoming Rejection in Organs for
Transplantation
PPL Therapeutics, Inc., Blacksburg, VA
Develop the technology to produce cloned pigs with a specific gene inactivated ("knocked out"), potentially eliminating the automatic human immune response to xenogenic transplants of pig organs and tissues to humans.
Requested ATP Funds: $2,000 K Est. project budget: $3,481 K
Last updated: 10/6/99
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov