Project Grant R44HG005127

This three-year, $930,252 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Computing and Communication Foundations, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program, will support research exploring applications of digital microfluidic technology for DNA storage, computation, and synthetic biology. A team from the University of Minnesota will leverage an electronic platform developed by industrial partner Seagate to manipulate droplets and assemble DNA at...

The Department of Energy Office of Science awarded a $200,000 Project Grant to Photonlab of Fairfield, CA for its "NOVEL POSITION SENSITIVE PHOTOSENSOR TECHNOLOGY FOR RARE DECAY AND RARE PARTICLE DETECTION" project. The one-year project period runs from February 14, 2022 to February 13, 2023. Under this award, Photonlab will develop novel position sensitive photosensor technology to support rare decay and rare particle detection, in alignment with the Office of Science Financial...

Optical Engines, Inc. received a $400,000 Project Grant award from the Department of Energy Office of Science on June 27, 2022 to support development of fiber amplifier technology for ultra-large-mode-area ultrafast laser arrays. The project will be completed by March 26, 2023. The award is being administered under the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (CFDA #81.049), which supports scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform understanding of nature and advance...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (CFDA 47.041 - Engineering) totaling $1,400,000 aims to advance the manufacturing of ultra-high-density, DNA-enabled nanoelectronics systems. The key goals are to: Develop scalable methods for obtaining high-purity carbon nanotubes, self-aligned single-molecule junctions, and hybrid DNA nanostructures. Establish reliable processes for integrating bottom-up and top-down architectures using field-driven directed assembly and...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant award under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will provide $649,999 to Northwestern University to develop a new label-free nanoimaging platform called 3D DNA Spectroscopic Photon-Localization Intrinsic-Contrast Nanoscopy (3D DNA-SPIN). The goal is to image the genome of intact fixed cells in 3D with 2-nanometer resolution, providing chemical and molecular information without the need for fluorescent labels. The project aims to 1) develop...

Armonica Technologies, Inc. was awarded a $1,047,600 Project Grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute of the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a novel DNA sequencing platform. The award was made under the Human Genome Research program (CFDA 93.172), which supports technologies to accelerate genomic research and its application to human health. Specifically, Armonica will use the funding to optimize a metal-insulator-metal structure for single base sensitivity...

Impact Photonics LLC received a $256,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible single photon avalanche diode. The SBIR program is intended to support scientific research and development that has the potential for commercialization. Under this Phase I award made on November 1, 2021 for a one-year period ending December 31, 2022, Impact Photonics...

This $380,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems under CFDA Program 47.041 (Engineering) will fund the development of new types of on-chip "topological photodetectors" that can detect and differentiate between different modes and properties of light, such as its phase, polarization, and orbital angular momentum. These novel photodetectors, based on emerging quantum materials like Weyl semimetals,...

Micropure Genomics Inc. received a $274,199 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation to advance methods for rapid, end-to-end sample preparation for sequencing applications. Under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), the company will develop an automated process relying on electro-hydrodynamic trapping to isolate genomic material like DNA or RNA from cells in a flow cartridge. The process aims to significantly reduce preparation time while...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems awarded a $430,000 Project Grant to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to develop scalable single photon detection systems. The 3-year project seeks to adapt existing perimeter gated single photon avalanche diode (PGSPAD) technology to other semiconductor platforms, create a scalable detection architecture with wireless integration, and test the new devices through fabrication and simulation....