OARS funding Engineering

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled ?Bioenergy Technologies Incubator?. BETO?s mission is to engage in research and development (R&D) and demonstration at increasing scale activities to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, and bioproducts and biopower that enable biofuel production. To accomplish this mission, BETO develops a strategic plan, or multi-year program plan , to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. However, BETO recognizes that there may be novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily align well with BETO?s current multi-year program plan yet still meet the goals and mission of BETO. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful technologies and solutions that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO?s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in BETO?s strategic plan or cur rent portfolio.

The AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science, established in 2010, recognizes early-career scientists and engineers who demonstrate excellence in their contribution to public engagement with science activities. A monetary prize of $5,000, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration to the AAAS Annual Meeting, and reimbursement for reasonable hotel and travel expenses to attend the AAAS Annual Meeting to receive the prize are given to the recipient.

The BioWatch Program is a cornerstone of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) comprehensive strategy for countering biological terrorism. The BioWatch Program is an early warning system that is designed to detect the intentional release of select aerosolized biological agents. The BioWatch Program's mission is to provide and maintain a continuous bio-terrorism air monitoring system in metropolitan areas and coordinate with state and local public health communities to prepare for and respond to a bioterrorist event. This mission is accomplished by serving as an early warning system which enhances the security of jurisdictions by providing the needed time to execute their comprehensive concept of operations plans to counter biological terrorism. The Biowatch Program is a critical part of an ongoing national effort to build and sustain preparedness which helps the United States to maintain momentum through targeted jurisdictional planning that highlights preventative actions necessary to allow for a proper and timely response and begin the process to recovery from a biological agent release.

NIFA initiates a new challenge area to address critical water resources issues such as drought, excess soil moisture, flooding, quality and others in an agricultural context. Funding will be used to develop management practices, technologies, and tools for farmers, ranchers, forest owners and managers, public decision makers, public and private managers, and citizens to improve water resource quantity and quality. NIFA's approach will link social, economic, and behavioral sciences with traditional biophysical sciences and engineering to address regional-scale issues with shared hydrological processes and meteorological and basin characteristics.

The Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announces its interest in receiving applications from small collaborative groups of investigators for support of combined experimental and theoretical efforts to advance ultrafast chemical and materials science. 

This solicitation aims at introducing nanoscale science, engineering, and technology through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches into undergraduate engineering education. The focus of the FY 2014 competition is on nanoscale engineering education with relevance to devices and systems and/or on the societal, ethical, economic and/or environmental issues relevant to nanotechnology. 

For the Fund's first year, the Request For Proposals focuses on innovation in manufacturing processes for textiles and apparel as well as common manufacturing processes that apply to a broad range of consumer goods, such as small motor development and tooling for plastic injection molding.

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the field of UV laser technology that will enable enhanced detection and discrimination of specific biological and chemical compounds using Raman spectroscopy. The goal of the Laser UV Sources for Tactical Efficient Raman (LUSTER) program is to develop compact, efficient, high-power ultraviolet lasers capable of achieving output power >1 W, wall-plug efficiency >10%, linewidth < 0.01 nm and all at wavelengths between 220-240 nm. Various methods such as direct electrical injection, electron beam pumping, second harmonic generation or other alternatives will be considered as long as all of the metrics can be met or exceeded. See the full DARPA-BAA-14-20 document attached.

The intent of this Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory funding opportunity announcement is to solicit applications for selection and award in FY 2014 that focus on the following technical topic areas (1) gas hydrate reservoir-response field experiments in Alaska and (2) field programs for marine gas hydrate characterization. These projects will support program goals and represent a critical component of advancing several of the specific mandates previously established for the Methane Hydrate Program under the Methane Hydrate Act of 2000 (as amended by Section 968 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005).

The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announces its interest in receiving new or renewal grant applications for theoretical and computational research relevant to the U.S. magnetic fusion energy sciences program. Applications selected in response to this FOA will be funded in Fiscal Year 2015, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The specific areas of interest are: 1. Macroscopic Stability 2. Confinement and Transport 3. Boundary Physics 4. Plasma Heating & Non-inductive Current Drive, and 5. Energetic Particles Specific information about each topical area is included in the Supplementary information section of the full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) document. Due to the limited availability of funds, Principal Investigators with continuing theory grants may not submit a new application in the same topical areas as their existing grant. A Principal Investigator may submit only one application in response to this FOA, but applications can target multiple topical areas. 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces a fourth year of a program on collaborative research and education in the area of scalable nanomanufacturing, including the long-term societal implications of the large-scale implementation of nanomanufacturing innovations. This program is in response to and is a component of the National Nanotechnology Initiative Signature Initiative: Sustainable Nanomanufacturing - Creating the Industries of the Future (http://www.nano.gov/node/611.) Although many nanofabrication techniques have demonstrated the ability to fabricate small quantities of nanomaterials, nanostructures and nanodevices for characterization and evaluation purposes, the emphasis of the scalable nanomanufacturing program is on research to overcome the key scientific and technological barriers that prevent the production of useful nanomaterials, nanostructures, devices and systems at an industrially relevant scale, reliably, and at low cost and within environmental, health and safety guidelines. 

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant applications from small business concerns (SBCs) that propose to develop and translate medical technologies aimed at reducing disparities in healthcare access and health outcomes.  Appropriate medical technologies should be effective, affordable, culturally acceptable, and deliverable to those who need them.  Responsive grant applications must involve a formal collaboration with a healthcare provider or other healthcare organization serving one or more health disparity populations during Phase I and Phase II.

This FOA encourages Research Project Grant (R01) applications for research and development of technologies that monitor health or deliver care in a real-time, accessible, effective, and minimally obtrusive way. These systems are expected to integrate, process, analyze, communicate, and present data so that the individuals are engaged and empowered in their own healthcare with reduced burden to care providers. The development of these technology systems has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, people aging with mild impairments, as well as individuals with chronic conditions. 

This FOA encourages Exploratory/ Developmental Research Project (R21) applications for design and development of novel technologies to monitor health or deliver care in a real-time, accessible, effective, and minimally obtrusive way. These may be novel sensor or monitoring systems, home-use point-of-care devices, home or mobile therapy or rehabilitation tools, or information systems and should have the goal of fostering healthy and independent living. The development of such technologies has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, people aging with mild impairments, as well as individuals with chronic conditions.  

There is a lack of compendial or biorelevant in vitro drug release assays for parenteral sustained release dosage forms.  These products include microspheres and biodegradable/non-biodegradable implants.  The purpose of this study is to investigate dissolution methods for a parenteral sustained release dosage form and to analyze their capability of detecting manufacturing differences, predicting in vivo performance, and evaluate method robustness.  The results from this study will help the FDA in developing recommendations to determine bioequivalence of generic parenteral sustained release drug products.  

There is a lack of compendial or biorelevant in vitro drug release assays for topically applied semisolid ocular dosage forms.  These products include ointments, gels, and gel-forming solutions.  The purpose of this study is to investigate dissolution methods for a semisolid ocular dosage form and to analyze their capability of detecting manufacturing differences, predicting in vivo performance, and evaluate method robustness.  The results from this study will help the FDA in developing recommendations to determine bioequivalence of generic ocular semisolid drug products.  

The UCSD Amgen Scholars Program is a 10-week, full-time research experience for undergraduates, supported by the Amgen Foundation. Program objectives: Provide students with the skills to become research scholars Stimulate students' serious consideration of graduate study Increase learning and networking opportunities for students committed to pursuing either a professional or academic research career in biological sciences or bioengineering.

An "Ideas Lab" is a new merit review strategy being used at the National Science Foundation to address grand challenges in STEM research and education. The Ideas Lab process is modeled on the "IDEAS Factory" program http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/routes/network/ideas/Pages/experience.aspx developed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the United Kingdom. The Ideas Lab process starts with submission of a brief application to participate in the Ideas Lab, indicating a Principal Investigator's interest in and preliminary ideas regarding the specific Ideas Lab topic. A diverse sub-set of participants from a range of disciplines and backgrounds will be selected from the submitted applications by NSF and will be brought together in an intensive, interactive and free-thinking environment, where participants immerse themselves in a collaborative dialog in order to construct bold and innovative approaches. In the IDEAS Factory model, the five-day Ideas Lab culminates with the development of multidisciplinary collaborative concepts by teams of participants; a sub-set of these teams are then invited to submit full proposals. This Dear Colleague Letter only invites applications to participate in Phase I of the IUSE Ideas Labs (i.e., the 5-day immersive activity). Full proposals will not be invited at the end of the three IUSE Phase I Ideas Labs.

Reducing risk through improved drilling success rates is critical to securing financing and ultimately lowering overall costs for developing geothermal power projects. This success hinges on knowledge of the geological, geophysical, and geochemical characteristics that indicate geothermal favorability; along with improved coverage of data that are signatures of the key properties of temperature, permeability, and fluid. To this end, GTO is interested in projects that apply innovative exploration technologies to collect new data and/or apply new analysis methods to extract new value from data. Successful applications will focus on one of the regions identified in GTO?s Data Gap Analysis, and include a significant component of uncertainty analysis that directly demonstrates potential or real impact on success rates. Projects should lead to the development of a Geothermal Play Fairway, which details a specific region constrained through a favorabl e combination of structural and hydrological conditions.

While geothermal power is an attractive potential source for sustainable energy production, the high heat temperature requirements (typically >150?C) of most geothermal capture systems constrain geographic distribution and economic viability of geothermal energy production. Advancement of strategic material or mineral recovery aims to address this limitation. By partnering with geothermal and mineral industry stakeholders to develop additional revenue streams from brines, the economic viability of geothermal projects will increase while also allowing for increased geographic diversity of this clean, round-the-clock energy source. Rare earths and strategic minerals are essential for modern industry, especially clean-energy technologies, but are subject to supply risk in the face of ever-increasing demand. As an example, consumer uses of lithium batteries have soared over the last decade, powering everything from electric cars to tablets to cell phones. Global demand for lithium carbonate is expected to exceed 250,000 tons by 2017?a 60% increase over current usage. As demand grows in this burgeoning market, a reliable supply of critical materials for advanced manufacturing technologies is a growing concern. This program aims to help alleviate this type of supply bottleneck. The Energy Department seeks up to ten 1-2 year feasibility and/or applied R&D projects that will lead to commercialized technologies. Geothermal mining of rare earth and near-critical metals are the focus of this research, with the intent to effectively lower the cost of geothermal energy production while diversifying and stabilizing the supply of critical materials for domestic industries.