View the PDF version of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Newsletter - Winter 2011
Message from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator - Mojdeh Bahar
Happy 2011 and welcome to the first issue of our newsletter for this year. As usual, there are a number of articles spotlighting the different technologies—and approaches to technology transfer—that our laboratories are taking the lead on.
Improving Soil for Better Lawns and Gardens
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in West Virginia are finding ways to improve soil on degraded land so it can be used for sports fields and other uses. Researchers with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at the agency's Appalachian Farming Systems Research Center (AFSRC) in Beaver, W.Va., are developing constructed or replacement subsoils and topsoils to build better and less-costly sports fields, rain gardens, and lawns on former landfills, mine lands and other degraded land. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.
Popular Gaming Technology Boosts ARL Computer Processing Speed
Army Research Laboratory (ARL) computer scientists and engineers have turned to children's gaming technology to advance military applications intended for the combat zone. By combining traditional computer processing units, or just about any desktop system one might find in a military computer organization, with graphics processing units (GPUs) or specialized processors whose functions elevate gaming platforms like X-Box, Playstation and Wii to pictorial coolness, the Army can perform floating-point arithmetic at exponentially faster rates. This can improve upon and even expand the portfolio of fielded applications for soldiers.
Register Now for Chief Science Officer Management Training Boot Camp!
So you want to be a Chief Science Officer? The road to success in the commercial world requires planning and preparation—many of the skills valued by businesses aren't taught in the usual technical or scientific educational program. Whether you're trying to land your first job in industry or your dream job, there are business competencies that you need to understand to be competitive and succeed.
ECBC Scientists Show Local Science Teachers Army Laboratories, Real-World STEM Applications
Scientists and engineers from the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) recently hosted 36 high school science teachers from Cecil County, Maryland, and demonstrated the real-life application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) concepts at their workplace.
NASA Technology Could Aid in Interpretation of Mammograms, Ultrasound, and Other Medical Imagery
NASA software used to enhance Earth science imagery could one day aid in the interpretation of mammograms, ultrasounds and other medical imagery. The new MED-SEG system, developed by Bartron Medical Imaging, Inc., a Connecticut-based small company with satellite offices in Maryland, relies on an innovative software program developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to help doctors analyze mammograms, ultrasounds, digital X-rays, and other medical imaging tests.
NETL's High-Speed Imaging System Successfully Applied in Medicine, Broad Spectrum of Industry
A groundbreaking Department of Energy-developed imaging system originally designed to help create cleaner fossil energy processes is finding successful applications in a wide range of medical, chemical processing, energy, and other industries. Developed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the high-speed imaging technology known as "particle imaging velocimetry" (PIV), is being put to use by a research consortium of more than 25 major chemical and energy companies, and may soon have other uses as well.
New Welcome Center for Federal and Academic Technology Transfer Opens in Maryland
In September 2010, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett joined with Montgomery County Department of Economic Development Director Steve Silverman, partner representatives from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), Johns Hopkins University, National Institutes of Health, and Montgomery College, as well as local and state elected officials and other guests from the business community, to officially launch the county's new Gateway to Innovation: Welcome Center for Federal and Academic Technology Transfer, housed at the Shady Grove Innovation Center in Rockville. Leggett also unveiled the county's new Strategic Plan for Technology Transfer and Commercialization (T2 Plan), of which the creation of the Welcome Center was a key objective.
