The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $991,832 Cooperative Agreement grant under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program to Astek Diagnostics Inc., a minority-owned for-profit company in Halethorpe, Maryland. The grant supports the development of a novel rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) platform that can identify effective antibiotics for treating infections such as urinary tract infections, urosepsis, meningitis, and wound infections within 1 hour. This is expected to significantly reduce patient morbidity and mortality while also addressing the urgent public health challenge of increasing antimicrobial resistance. The project aims to expand the platform's capabilities to work with various specimen types including urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and wound effluent. Subawards are planned as part of this project.