R & D articles from September 2003

R & D archives from September 2003

A slow changing of the guard.(Editorial)(Editorial)
September 1, 2003... If you haven't noticed lately, we live in a world of extremes. Not too long ago, I was writing editorials about the dearth of science and technology students being produced in the US. With the economy growing the way it was a few years ago, we...

iBOT navigates its way and prepares to change lives.(Pharmaceutical)
September 1, 2003... More than ten years in the making, the Independence iBOT 3000 Mobility System (or simply iBOT) has now been cleared for public use. Some may remember their first sighting of the iBOT when it received some initial media coverage in the late...

University developing new methods in proteomic chips.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... A team led by R. Cooks at Purdue Univ., West Lafayett, Ind., is developing a technique to help sort cellular proteins in the hope of making protein characterization easier and more cost-effective. Cooks and his colleagues employ a mature...

HP "smart" cooling moves forward.(Laboratory Design)
September 1, 2003... Row by row, case by case, massive servers stand ready to do battle within data centers. These rooms are maintained to high levels with their ambient conditions closely monitored. HP Labs, Palo Alto, Calif., has expanded their reach into this...

Garden State holds annual EAS meeting.(Conferences & Events)(Calendar)
September 1, 2003... During November 17-20, the city of Somerset, N.J., will hold the annual Eastern Analytical Society (EAS) meeting. The program appeals to analytical chemists, researchers, instrument makers, and industry managers dealing with all types of...

An eye on ASTM.(Test & Measurement)
September 1, 2003... Transparency, openness, and insight are the themes immersed within ASTM International's, West Coshohocken, Penn., new project. The Work Item Registration system is a web-based project, which will allow anyone to propose, view, and monitor draft...

Giving birth to yourself.(Bulletin)
September 1, 2003... A few months ago, a young foal named Prometea was born. Now, by all accounts this foal seems healthy and doesn't present any obvious defects, a success in itself. However, what delineates this horse from the rest is that it is the first...

Mini-IR thermometer unveiled.(Laboratory Equipment)
September 1, 2003... DeltaTRAK, Pleasanton, Calif., has launched their newest version of the ThermoTrace Mini Infrared Thermometer, model 15031. The device is designed to do straightforward surface temperature measurement and accommodates temperature measurements...

Error-free lithography.(Microscopy)
September 1, 2003... There are a number of technologies that claim to have the potential of surpassing the results generated by standard photolithography. The latest contender is a method called EEL or erasable electrostatic lithography. Here, an atomic force...

Newly analyzed molecule serves as brain regulator.(Life Science)
September 1, 2003... Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, N.Y., have recently found evidence that a simple molecule may be a vital tool in treating severe neurological diseases. Using adult rats, the team, headed by Grigor Enikolopov, studied the...

Calibrating features.(Micro/Nano Technology)
September 1, 2003... Before we delve any further into smaller feature sizes, the question of measurement should be raised. How do we measure the sizes of these features? What is the error? What system can be employed? These challenges are being addressed at the...

Telecom welcomes new narrow linewidth lasers.(Lasers & Optics)
September 1, 2003... K2 Optronics, Sunnyvale, Calif., has introduced their new narrow-linewidth lasers as alternatives to larger, more expensive optical sources. "Current products in these industries are based on high-end fiber laser products, which are relatively...

3D laptops anyone?(Materials)
September 1, 2003... There is no question that the creation of the computer and the rise of the Internet have given us a medium to change the way we view things. Now, recent experiments at the Univ. of Toronto may flip the tables a bit and let the computer be the...

SEMI releases book-to-bill stats.(Vacuum & Thin Film)
September 1, 2003... SEMI, San Jose, Calif., recently released their newest numbers regarding the health of the semiconductor equipment market. The report shows that within the month of July 2003 (three-month average basis), semiconductor equipment manufacturers...

Software facilitates enterprise data integration.(Data Management & Analysis)
September 1, 2003... A software that promises to aid corporations in provisioning, accessing, and integrating distributed information from diverse systems has been unveiled by Avaki Corp., Burlington, Mass. Named Avaki Data Grid 4.0, it is the only data integration...

Storage shifts to centralized management.(Data Management & Analysis)
September 1, 2003... The first network controller technology has been developed by Candera Inc., Milpitas, Calif. This novel universal storage architecture, called Candera U*Star, infuses greater intelligence into existing "dumb" storage area networks (SANs). ...

Tiny bio tools flourish.(Data Management & Analysis)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The worldwide demand for nanoscale apparatus and molecular modeling is forecast to grow from $406 million in 2002 to $1.37 billion in 2007. Expected to increase at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 34.5%, nanoscale tools will be mainly...

Bluetooth chipsets grow.(Data Management & Analysis)
September 1, 2003... Despite the economic instability, the Bluetooth semiconductor market has experienced steady growth. With a 245% increase over 2001, the resulting 2002 worldwide chipset shipments were 35.8 million units. Lower growth is expected in the...

11 innovative, award winning technologies.
September 1, 2003... Eleven of the 2003 R&D 100 Award winners come from Battelle and the DOE National Laboratories it manages or co-manages: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National...

Visualization software increases user flexibility.(Data Management & Analysis)
September 1, 2003... Understanding the technical data from analyses, simulations, and experiments is the task and trade of researchers. Visualizing this data with software tools allows researchers to see trends, understand relationships, determine the relative...

Diverse solutions tackle MEMS packaging challenges; the commercialization of MEMS devices is plagued by complex packaging issues. To boost the MEMS market, a wide array of packaging solutions are offered.(Packaging * MEMS * Contamination)
September 1, 2003... Many in the field of micromachined devices view packaging as the bottleneck in the commercialization of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The problem stems from the fact that tailored packaging solutions are required for different MEMS...

No letup in photonics R&D: new survey reveals the current trends in photonics research.(Lasers * Detectors * Optics)
September 1, 2003... The readers of R&D Magazine were recently surveyed concerning their involvement with photonics and the specific technology issues they are working on. A summary of the results of two corroborating surveys are revealed in these charts. While the...

2003 R&D 100 Awards celebrate high-tech.(Forty First Anniversary)
September 1, 2003... The world's most technologically significant commercial products are described on the following pages as the 41st Annual R&D 100 Awards recognize the efforts of the best scientists and engineers in industry, government, and academic research...

Taking vehicle testing further.(Exclusive)
September 1, 2003... The arguments for simulators are generally centered on an overwhelming need for safety. How will airline pilots respond to inclement weather and mechanical failures? How do you convey the intensity of a battlefield to a soldier? These are...

Fighting fires with 3-D software.(Exclusive)
September 1, 2003... Frequent, low-intensity fires have historically been beneficial in clearing away excessive growth in wildland environments. However, a century of fire suppression has left our forest filled with residual fuel that has been dried to tinder; any...

Skis go with the flow.(Exclusive)
September 1, 2003... Winter sports enthusiasts bundle up and listen. The first ever electronic ski management system has resulted from an alliance between Head Sport AG, Kennelbach, Austria, and Cerametrics Inc., Lambertville, N.J., to address the problem...

Press here to enter.(Exclusive)
September 1, 2003... Ever wonder who's been playing with my PDA? Or worse yet, who stole my private information? No one will be able to do that if your electronic device has the MBF300 Solid-State Fingerprint Sweep Sensor from Fujitsu Microelectronics America,...

Tune in for the weather.(Exclusive)
September 1, 2003... Weather is a factor in approximately 30% of all aviation accidents. Current methods for getting weather information during flight involve making radio contact with a ground-based flight service station and listening to an oral description of...

More reliable drug delivery.(Exclusive)
September 1, 2003... Infant inhalers are critical medical devices that parents rely on to ensure that the proper amount of medicine is delivered to their children. Dose variation and delivery efficiency are important characteristics of these devices where the...

Oven improves GC operation.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... The engineering and science of gas chromatographs stands to be transformed by the Antek Model 3600 Microwave GC. Developed by Antek Instruments L.P., Houston, Texas, MT Systems LLC, Denver, Colo., Polymicro Technologies LLC, Phoenix Ariz., and...

IC columns maximize productivity.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... Ionic contaminants in ion chromatographic eluents result in sensitivity deficiency, higher baseline drift, and inferior integration of peaks. To eliminate these contaminants from eluents, trap columns are currently used in ion chromatography....

Microwave technology accelerates drug discovery.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... To shorten a drug's 'time to market,' pharmaceutical companies are streamlining the discovery and process optimization of potential lead compounds for clinical trials. While it could take chemists months to take these steps, the Voyager System...

Sensor sniffs out toxic agents.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... The SnifferStar Chemical Sensor developed by Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., Microsystems, Science, Technology & Components Center, in alliance with Lockheed Martin NE&SS, Manassas, Va., NBC Defense Programs, is a portable...

NMR probe boosts sensitivity.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... An enhancement in the efficiency of drug discovery, and the ability to conduct previously infeasible analyses of small samples are the outcome of the CryoFlowProbe produced by Bruker BioSpin Corp., Fremont, Calif., and Bruker GmbH, Ettlingen,...

Global FT-MS gains speed.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... The first high-throughput mass spectrometer (MS) built specifically for proteomics has been unveiled at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, Wash. A research team led by Richard Smith produced the FT-MS Proteome Express,...

Online analyzer streamlines IMR.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... A team of researchers at Progression, Inc., North Andover, Mass., has produced the first online nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyzer capable of measuring different nuclei. This process industrial magnetic resonance (IMR) apparatus can...

Spectroscopy acquires flexibility and momentum.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... First created to aid in geological classification and global warming, CARISS: Integrated Elemental and Compositional Analysis has numerous diverse applications. From homeland security, environmental monitoring to soil testing to uncover...

Ion trap MS goes portable.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... The capabilities of a standard ion trap mass spectrometer have been transferred to a 1-mm portable device. This affordable "handheld chemical sensor" can be used by experienced researchers, and less skilled operators. Named Protasis...

Raman shifts to field deployment.(Analytical Instruments)
September 1, 2003... The first portable, battery-powered, field deployable Raman device with tunable filters has been created by Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Laboratory. It is composed of an acoustooptic tunable filter (AOTF) for wavelength distinction an avalanche...

The U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory salutes Greg Lancaster, James Jones, and Gordon Lassahn for their Change Detection System.(R&D 100 Award Winners!)
September 1, 2003... The Change Detection System is a technology that highlights the slightest differences between two similar digital images of the same subject. The power of the Change Detection System lies in the software's ability to align two images, then...

Signal averaging cards go high speed.(Electronics)
September 1, 2003... Developed by Daniel Aebischerat an engineer at Acqiris, SA, Geneva, Switzerland, the AP200 is a 2 GS/sec precision real-time signal averaging digitizer card used in time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometers. The device is crucial in systems that...

Maximizing sound while minimizing size.(Electronics)
September 1, 2003... It's 2 mm thick and weighs in at only 5 g, but deserves the weighty name of the Piezoelectric sound element, Card Speaker Model WM-R57A, created by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan. This card speaker features high-sound...

Read your car's thoughts.(Electronics)
September 1, 2003... Ever wonder what your car is "thinking?" Or, Where is my car? Networkcar, a Reynolds and Reynolds Co., San Diego, Calif., has developed a system to help you with service reminders and stolen vehicle recovery. Networkcar Telematics System...

Blackout buster.(Electronics)
September 1, 2003... Could the Blackout of 2003 have been avoided using the Fiber-Optic Electrical Current (and temperature) Transducer (FOECT)? Developed by Airak, Inc., Manassas, Va., PPI, Ashburn, Va., and the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Washington. D.C., the FOECT...

Temperature-regulated chips.(Electronics)
September 1, 2003... Managing heat levels in microprocessor systems can be a challenge when the printed circuit board (PCB) is the main source of heat dissipation. Standard SO-8 packages can only be effectively cooled on one side through their connection to the...

This supercomputer keeps its cool.(Electronics)
September 1, 2003... Normally, if you stick a supercomputer in a dusty, 85[degrees] room, you are asking for trouble. But that is exactly where Green Destiny has been for the past year. A team led by Wu-chun Feng (pictured) at Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory,...

Electric switch combines speed and power.(Energy Systems)
September 1, 2003... Assistance in the need to upgrade the nation's power infrastructure might come from the Emitter Turn-Off Thyristor created by Solitronics, Blacksburg, Va., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, DOE Energy Storage...

Photovoltaic modules bolstered.(Energy Systems)
September 1, 2003... Bringing alternative energies to the mainstream requires vast amounts of capital and strong supporters. Many within the solar energy community, for example, have invested millions of dollars in promoting solar panels as a practical alternative...

Geothermal benefits from new separator.(Energy Systems)
September 1, 2003... Innovative blends of process controls are featured in the Low Emissions Atmospherics Separator or LEAMS. Developed by Douglas Jung, Pl, Two Phase Engineering & Research, Santa Rosa, Calif., in conjunction with Allan Sattler, Sandia National...

Lead-free matches transform pyrotechnics.(Energy Systems)
September 1, 2003... Pyrotechnics has given society some of the most dazzling and elaborate presentations in which to marvel at. However, their inherent dangers continue to be an undercurrent and an area of ongoing research. Case in point is that many of the...

PAC captures mercury emissions.(Environmental)
September 1, 2003... The anxiety over the rising levels of mercury in rivers and lakes highlights the need to control mercury released from coal-fired utility boilers. Before this can be done, however, the challenges of mercury removal have to be addressed. ...

System eliminates idling wastes.(Environmental)
September 1, 2003... Among the hordes of trucks on US roads, 1.3 million are long-haul vehicles with sleeper compartments. Obliged to get off the roads 8 hr for every 10 hr of driving, the operators of these long-haul trucks usually idle their engines during that...

Smaller, cheaper, faster air sampling.(Laboratory Products)
September 1, 2003... The Aerosol-to-Liquid Particle Extraction System (ALPES) is a portable device that collects airborne particles and concentrates them into a liquid for analysis. It is an effective tool for atmospheric monitoring, as well as anti-terrorism since...

Determining small-scale shapes.(Laboratory Products)
September 1, 2003... The size, shape, and structure of particles are important parameters in product and process development. The Oriel Triple S Fine Particle Analyzer developed by a team at Spectra-Physics, Stratford, Conn., and Synergetic Technologies, Inc.,...

Test method for Pb-free solder.(Laboratory Products)
September 1, 2003... Though Pb-free solder is considered more environmentally friendly than Sn-Pb eutectic solder, its wettability is considerably inferior. Therefore, a method of evaluating and analyzing wettability is crucial to encourage the use of this less...

What's in that tanker truck?(Laboratory Products)
September 1, 2003... Customs agents are charged with being America's rest defense at borders. The Product Acoustic Signature System (PASS) is a portable, handheld ultrasonic detection device developed for Customs officers to non-invasively identify contents and...

Hand-held tests helium levels.(Laboratory Products)
September 1, 2003... David Hawe of C-Squared, Inc., Anaheim, Calif., has developed the hand-held Helium Analyzer, which measures the percentage of helium in air or a helium/nitrogen/oxygen mix. The LCD screen displays the helium content from 0 to 100%, with an...

Controlling the flow.(Laboratory Products)
September 1, 2003... The Intelliflow II Digital Mass Flow Controller can be programmed by users for virtually any gas and range within select boundaries. Developed by Stuart Tison and Ken Tinsley of Mykrolis Corp., Allen, Texas, the Intelliflow II features can be...

Novel Q-switch transforms lasers.(Lasers)
September 1, 2003... An electro-optic crystal--a crystal with a voltage-dependent refractive index that is also known as a Q-switch--can exhibit response times as short as one ns. The High Average Power Electro-optic Q-switch from Lawrence Livermore (Calif.)...

Multiple surfaces measured.(Lasers)
September 1, 2003... Plane parallel components need to be measured for flatness and quality. However, to achieve practical high resolution multiple surface metrology, Zygo Corp., Middlefield, Conn., developed the VeriFire MST 1550, a production process metrology...

Advancing ultrashort pulse measurement.(Lasers)
September 1, 2003... Not too often do we run across an award winner produced by a small company that uses "garage-style" operations... and seems to love acronyms! Rick Trebino (l), Georgia Tech, Atlanta, and Mark Kimmel (r), Swamp Optics, Lawrenceville, Ga....

Don't grow tissues, print them.(Life Science)
September 1, 2003... The Biological Architectural Tool (BAT) developed by a research team at Sciperio, Inc., Stillwater, Okla., Human Architectural Technologies, Inc., Orlando, Fla., and the Univ. of Arizona, Tempe, is a digital printing machine that can be used to...

Automating ion channel drug discovery.(Life Science)
September 1, 2003... The OpusXpress 6000A pharmaceutical screening workstation from Axon Instruments, Union City, Calif., is the first automated parallel oocyte voltage-clamp recording system. It was designed to increase the efficiency of drug discovery for...

Improving quality of life.(Life Science)
September 1, 2003... Approximately 25 million catheters are sold annually in the US, while nosocominal urinary tract infections contribute to 6,500 deaths/yr. The UroCycler, developed by David Flinchbaugh of UroSolutions, Inc., Orlando, Fla., attempts to minimize...

Looking into a live subject.(Life Science)
September 1, 2003... Existing 2-D, or single-view, in vivo luminescence imaging systems are limited in terms of spatial resolution, and the ability to quantitatively estimate the number of luminescent cells within the subject. The development of the IVIS 300 In...

Vision correction in the 21st century.(Life Science)
September 1, 2003... Traditional phoropters used by ophthalmologists and optometrists are used to both measure and correct vision in order to derive an optical prescription for the patient. The MEMS-based Adaptive Optics Phoropter (MAOP) replaces traditional...

Finding the needle in the haystack.(Life Science)
September 1, 2003... Nearly $40 billion is spent annually on the direct medical costs associated with cancer, most of which is related to the therapeutic management of newly diagnosed patients and relapsed patients who require treatment. Research teams at Battelle,...

Multiplying transmission capacity.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... Rolling blackouts, as evidenced by the East Coast power outage this past August, have caused government and energy suppliers to address the long-standing problem of consumption. Simply put, the grids developed decades ago are fading fast and...

Super aerogels.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... The ultra low conductivity, optical transparency, and low-density properties of aerogels have been known for decades. However, their high manufacturing costs and extreme brittleness have prevented their successful commercialization. A research...

New class of nanomaterials.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... Researchers at Rice Univ., and Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc., both in Houston, Texas, have developed Fluoronanotubes, a materials precursor for creating new systems of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based products. Produced by a reaction of [F.sub.2]...

Supercold to superhot lubricants.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... PS/PM300 High-Temperature Solid Lubricant Coatings and Composites fill a lubrication void that exists between traditional solid lubricants, such as graphite and molybdenum-based systems which are useful to about 425[degrees]C, and exotic narrow...

Environmentally friendly inks.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... The ability to de-ink more than 3 trillion pieces of paper waste generated in the US every year from photocopiers and printers is a daunting task. Readily De-Inkable Soy-based Toners developed by a research team at Battelle and the Ohio Soybean...

Even higher temperature composites.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... Existing polyimide resin and composites for high-temperature aerospace applications are restricted to long-term 288[degrees]C temperature ranges. Ultra-high Tg DMBZ-15 High-Temperature Polyimide offer a dramatic capability increase to...

Cooling with composites.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... A research team at GrafTech International, Ltd., Parma, Ohio, has developed a Natural Graphite Composite Heat Sink for more efficient cooling of high-performance computer chips and power devices. This product matches the performance of heavy,...

Revolutionary microstructure changes.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... CF8C-Plus-New Cast Stainless Steel for High-Temperature Performance is a new cast stainless steel designed for high-temperature performance, durability, and reliability based on a unique engineered microstructure. It improves upon the common...

High-throughput superconductors.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... Evolutionary improvements continue to be made to high-temperature superconducting materials for use as electrical conductors. Paul Arendt, a technical staff member at Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory, has developed a Flexible...

More durable casual wear clothes.(Materials)
September 1, 2003... Researchers at The Dow Chemical Co., Freeport, Texas, have created a new synthetic fiber that is beneficial to both consumers and the textile industry. DOW XLA The Freedom Fiber is an olefin-based elastic fiber with improved thermal and...

Judges for the 41st R&D 100 Awards.
September 1, 2003... The Editors of R&D Magazine wish to thank the following experts for their help and time in selecting the 2003 R&D 100 Awards winners: Hakan Altan, NJIT/Rutgers Univ.; Ernie Baughman, Univ. of La Verne; Tony Beugelsdijk, Los Alamos National...

Revolutionary engine components.(Mechanical)
September 1, 2003... Created by NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, Univ. of Toledo, Ohio, and Texas A&M Univ., College Station, Texas, the High Temperature, High Load Radial Magnetic Bearing system enables high speed as well as high temperature operation...

Smart steering.(Mechanical)
September 1, 2003... In the last decade, driver safety under a variety of conditions has been an area of progress by the automotive industry. Various control systems have been developed to improve vehicle stability and maneuverability. In particular, car...

Ensuring quality in manufacturing.(Mechanical)
September 1, 2003... A burr is often the result of cutting or drilling operations in the manufacturing process. Since burrs can cause problems in the function or handling of any part, steps have to be taken to detect, and if need be, remove them. Developed at...

Something for the ACs in the world.(Mechanical)
September 1, 2003... Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSM) have been used for household appliances such as air conditioners (ACs) and industrial drive systems. The efficiency of these devices lies in the power modules that control the PMSM which have been the...

Controlling quantities on small scales.(Mechanical)
September 1, 2003... While microchip based analysis has improved recently, microchip analytical devices are still limited to low pressure, voltage-driven techniques. Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, Calif., have developed a unique design...

Making your vacation safer.(Mechanical)
September 1, 2003... For aviation safety purposes, in-flight ice accumulation has to be kept to a minimum or, better yet, kept entirely off the surface of airfoils. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had not awarded approval to a system to counteract ice...