Project Grant 20203361031703

Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary The University of Florida's Division of Sponsored Research received a $492,357 cooperative agreement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025), effective October 1, 2025, through May 30, 2027. The agreement supports a feasibility study evaluating the efficacy of two commercially available, American-manufactured...

Agrospheres, Inc. received a $1.5 million cooperative agreement award from the National Science Foundation under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships federal grant program (CFDA 47.084) to develop a novel pest management solution for control of fall armyworm. The four-year award, issued on September 1, 2021 with a completion date of August 31, 2025, will support Agrosphere's efforts to deliver bioengineered dsRNA particles targeting fall armyworm using its proprietary bioparticle...

Sterile Geeks VR Inc. was awarded a $254,718 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) to develop mixed reality wearable technology solutions to improve workflow, productivity, and training for medical sterilization technicians. The award period is from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023. The company will create augmented reality applications and software to enhance job performance for sterile processing...

Ridge Quest Inc. was awarded a $600,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop an improved mating disruption product for oriental fruit moth. The SBIR program aims to support technological innovation through federal research funding. Under the award, Ridge Quest will develop a new mating disruption product called Tangler OFM that utilizes a bolas-style capsule to rapidly and...

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $980,360 Cooperative Agreement on April 1, 2025 under its Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program to Startle Innovation LLC in Davis, CA. The project aims to develop a commercial prototype for a rapid food biomass dehydration process that utilizes zeolite filters to retain food nutrient profiles. The prototype will include a new desiccant filter, drying chamber, and microwave chamber. Key project objectives are to test...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program will fund research by Lyowave, Inc. to address the scale-up challenge for using high-frequency microwave heating in the manufacturing of freeze-dried medicines, diagnostics, and other sensitive materials. The $304,436 award aims to develop new experimental methods, physics-based models, and control strategies to enable the noninvasive retrofitting of...

This $117,047 cooperative agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) will support host-specificity testing of the biological control agent Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris. This parasitic wasp is being evaluated as a potential long-term control option for the South American tomato pinworm, an invasive pest that poses a significant threat to...

Aquaculture System Technologies, L.L.C. (AST) received a $169,892 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop "start-up" beads for fixed film biological reactors. The beads are designed to eliminate losses during the acclimation period by stimulating heterotrophic bacterial growth for 3-4 weeks without rapidly increasing dissolved biodegradable concentrations....

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) provides $274,999 to Robigo, Inc. for research under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084). The award will support development of a microbial biopesticide platform to precisely target and eliminate crop pathogens without harming beneficial microbes, pollinators, or humans. Leveraging synthetic biology, CRISPR, and data science, the company aims to engineer improvements increasing efficacy and viability...

Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary Texas A&M Agrilife Research received a $943,933 Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025), effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. The award funds a comprehensive evaluation of electron beam (EBEAM) technology as a non-radioactive alternative to cobalt-60 gamma irradiation for...