Department of Defense to Turn Landfill Gases into Sustainable Renewable Clean Energy with FlexEnergy Powerstation™

Technology slated for Fort Benning, Ga., will be showcased at today's ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit

 /PRNewswire/ -- FlexEnergy (www.flexenergy.com), a cleantech company that creates clean energy with near-zero emissions from harmful greenhouse gases, announced its Powerstation™ technology will allow the Department of Defense's (DoD) Fort Benning, Ga. base to convert its landfill gas, an unconventional energy source, into renewable energy. FlexEnergy will deliver two powerstations in collaboration with Southern Research Institute (SRI) through the DoD's ESTCP (Environmental Security Technology Certification Program).
"The Department of Defense is at the forefront of deploying breakthrough technologies. The installation of the Flex Powerstation at Fort Benning, GA enables the Army to generate its own continuous, clean, renewable energy from an on base landfill," said Joseph Perry, CEO of FlexEnergy.

Currently, a successful Powerstation™ pilot program operates at the Lamb Canyon Landfill in Riverside County, Calif. The smaller, 10-ton test unit has the capability to produce enough electricity to power 30 homes in the community. Once installed at Fort Benning, the 250 kW Powerstation™ can potentially provide electricity for 250 homes.

FlexEnergy will showcase its Powerstation™ February 28-March 2 at the second annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit, co-hosted by the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) and the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI), features cutting-edge cleantech organizations that are helping to determine the future of energy. FlexEnergy's plug-and-play system was selected for its ability to oxidize gases as low as 1.5 percent methane, a greenhouse gas with 20-25 times the environmental impact of carbon dioxide.

"Exhibiting among the key players in the energy community at ARPA-E is a great opportunity to reach more potential customers who want to control pollution, generate clean sustainable energy and help save the U.S. up to 60 million barrels of oil imports annually," Perry said.

FlexEnergy will exhibit to nearly 2,000 researchers, investors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and government officials at the Gaylord Convention Center just outside of Washington, D.C. The ARPA-E Summit's high-profile speakers include U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar and U.S. Navy Secretary Raymond Mabus.

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Verizon Wireless and Governor Perdue Celebrate Company's 4G LTE Network in Georgia

/PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless and Governor Sonny Perdue teamed up at December 7 at the state Capitol to demonstrate the impressive speeds and "wow factor" of Georgia's first large-scale 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless network. Verizon Wireless officially launched the LTE network in Atlanta and Athens on Sunday, December 5. The initial availability of 4G LTE in Atlanta, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Athens is part of the company's national rollout in 38 major metropolitan areas, immediately reaching one-third of all Americans.

"The inclusion of Atlanta and Athens on the list of the first cities nationwide to get this next generation technology makes perfect sense," said Jeff Mango, president – Georgia/Alabama Region, Verizon Wireless. "Atlanta is one of the leading technology hubs in the United States and Athens is the home of the University of Georgia, an internationally recognized educational and research institution. We are thrilled to introduce the fastest, most advanced 4G mobile network in America to Georgians in these two cities and look forward to a statewide 4G network in the near future."

"Verizon Wireless has long been recognized in the wireless industry as tirelessly committed to its network. Georgia's 4G LTE network in Atlanta and Athens is further evidence of that constant commitment to performance and reliability," said Governor Sonny Perdue.

The 4G LTE network in Atlanta covers 4.1 million people and over 2,500 square miles. All of downtown Atlanta is covered including the facilities at the Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Dome, Philip's Arena and Turner Field. Coverage extends as far west as Lithia Springs and Austell, south of Fayetteville, east past Lithonia and north to Alpharetta. Atlanta-area universities impacted by the 4G LTE network footprint are Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University, Spelman, Morehouse, Mercer and Oglethorpe. Atlanta's 10 major shopping malls are also covered including North Point, Perimeter, Lenox, Southlake, Cobb Galleria, Gwinnett Place, Towne Center, Discovery Mills, and Stonebriar.

The Athens 4G LTE coverage area includes over 180,000 residents and over 550 square miles, including downtown Athens and the University of Georgia's 33,000 students. The network covers the 78 Loop, four miles north of the Loop, west to Coggins Industrial Park, south to Watkinsville and east to Winterville.

"We are extremely excited about the possibilities this technology brings to enterprise and government users, businesses and individual laptop users in Athens and eventually throughout Georgia. What we witnessed today is just one example of what this new technology allows us to do," said Kathy Hoard, Mayor Pro Tem, Athens-Clarke County.

Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network provides higher data rates, better coverage, improved mobility and performance, end-to-end Quality of Service, security and simplified roaming. While Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network promises much more than speed, this first rollout gives Georgia's mobile workforce the ability to work significantly faster and with improved latency, increasing productivity and the opportunity to get work done wherever business takes them.

Initially, Verizon Wireless 4G LTE services can be accessed on laptop computers equipped with either the LG VL600 or Pantech UML290 wireless modems. Both USB modems provide backward-compatibility with the Verizon Wireless 3G network. If laptop users travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, they will automatically stay connected on the company's 3G network, the nation's largest and most reliable.

Additional 4G devices will be launched in coming months, and the company expects consumer-oriented LTE handsets will be available by mid-2011.

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U.S. Department of Labor announces more than $164 million for state unemployment insurance technology infrastructure grants

Georgia to receive $8,850,630

/PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced $164.5 million to 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to make technology upgrades that will improve the operation and security of unemployment insurance systems.

"Unemployment insurance programs play a key role in supporting dislocated workers," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "I am pleased that these grants will help states improve their technology infrastructure and better serve those in need. Making sure that claims and benefits are processed and paid in a timely, consistent and secure manner is critical to providing workers with the income security needed to actively seek re-employment."

Funds will be used for a variety of projects designed to improve services for both unemployment insurance claimants and employers, including: modernizing systems to improve and speed unemployment insurance benefit payments, tax collections and appeals processing; helping consumers avoid debit card fees when collecting benefits; improvements in information technology contingency and security plans; and strategies to improve overall program integrity.

Today's funding was provided following supplemental budget requests by nearly all states and is made available through the fiscal year 2009 budget and appropriations for state administration of the Unemployment Insurance Program.

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Study Shows Atlanta Kills Off Start-Up Companies

Atlanta is poised to become the nation’s poster child for how to kill off a burgeoning industry. A new study by professors at Georgia Tech reveals that the city’s reputation as a high technology center masks a decade of erosion. Though it leads the U.S. in the physical resources that attract and sustain high-tech industry, Atlanta companies haven’t meshed within the local economy.
The result has been a steady migration of companies to other states and an industry profile described by the study as “at best, stagnant.” The findings offer a wake-up call to Atlanta and a roadmap for other regions looking to grow high-tech industry.

Study findings show that 40 percent of Atlanta’s high-tech start-up companies leave for other states within three years. California, New York, New Jersey and Florida are common destinations for Georgia-born IT companies. That, combined with a persistent decline in large IT companies, accounts for the industry malaise.

“Instead of building great high-tech companies, Atlanta has become a feeder system for great high-tech companies in other states,” says study author Dan Breznitz, assistant professor in the Schools of International Affairs and Public Policy within the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech.

Breznitz, and co-author Mollie Taylor of the Enterprise Innovation Institute and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, set out to settle the debate over what induces sustained regional entrepreneurial growth in the high-tech industry - physical resources or business social structure. They focused their research on the Atlanta metropolitan area because it leads the U.S. in the physical factors necessary for developing technological-entrepreneurial clusters: top research universities, a large educated labor pool, a wealth of new technologies and entrepreneurs, a vibrant creative class and generous venture capital financing. Atlanta has also been perceived as having the social business structure needed to induce growth. The study revealed otherwise.

“The metro area excels at incubating high-tech businesses, but it lacks the cohesive business social structure needed to sustain them, so many of the most promising young companies leave the city,” says Breznitz. “Atlanta high-tech companies don’t interlock with each other, and the large companies that control industry in Georgia don’t interlock with the high-tech industry,” says Breznitz, highlighting a complaint that he and Taylor heard consistently from the area’s high-tech workforce.

Analysis of Atlanta’s most promising new companies and the city’s top 50 technology firms revealed little contact either between IT executives with those of Fortune 500 or with other technology companies. CEOs, attorneys and managers in Atlanta IT companies don’t sit on each other’s boards and don’t communicate. The problem isn’t unique to the city’s IT industry, but there are far fewer interlocks within the IT community than in other industries that are successful in the region.

The study identifies the need for policies and institutions that stimulate information sharing, collective learning, access to resources and business community building. It also identifies venture capital industry with true local focus (which Atlanta lacks) as crucial to embedding a company locally. In conclusion, business social variables are crucial for long-term entrepreneurial-technological economic growth, and unless Atlanta’s high-tech industry develops multi-dimensional locally centered social networks, it will continue to stagnate.

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Korean Government and Georgia Tech Form Partnership

/PRNewswire/ -- Imagine watching your favorite TV show and talking about it with one friend on the phone, while at the same time trading messages with others on Twitter and e-mail. Sound like an impossible juggling act? A team of faculty from the Georgia Institute of Technology has formed a historic partnership with the Korean government, industry, and universities to develop a single platform where these and even more multimedia functions can take place, even anticipating what show you might like to watch or what music you might want to listen to.

Awarded a $9 million contract through the 2008 KORUS Tech Program, an initiative of the Korean Industrial Technology Foundation, Georgia Tech was chosen out of 109 universities to lead the development and design of the next generation of digital convergence devices that will let users establish and participate in digitally connected communities. This award marks the first time that the Korean government has chosen a U.S. university to lead one of its research and development programs.

Project investigators will develop immersive technologies on a hybrid graphics processing unit (GPU)-central processing unit (CPU) platform, which will be created at the newly established KORUS Research Center for Informersive Systems (CIS). The center will be headed by Jongman Kim, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the lead investigator for this project and consortium.

An enabling technology for personalized, interactive media convergence, the platform will consist of a custom-designed massively parallel architecture with a hybrid GPU accelerated many-core and heterogeneous multicore fusion system for new machine learning and multimedia algorithms and techniques. To balance resources and computationally demanding applications for high performance, Kim and his team are developing new mechanisms -- dynamically decomposed computing and hardware-based load balancing techniques. He will introduce a new holistic design analysis model -- the Performance, Energy, and Fault-Tolerance Metric.

"The interdependence among speed/throughput, energy, and fault-tolerance shows the importance of having this new metric that can identify the best tradeoffs among these three competing traits and desired design goals," said Kim, who leads the computer architecture part of this project.

Plans call for the system to be a smart, updated engine that understands user behavior; it will feature a tailored software interface that is based on intelligence and immersion with advanced three-dimensional graphics support. Ghassan AlRegib, a Georgia Tech ECE associate professor and editor-in-chief of the ICST Journal on Immersive Telecommunications, leads the multimedia processing and immersive communications portion of project, where data about home environments, modes of entertainment, and viewing and listening preferences are captured, processed, and interpreted by using motion, temperature, and light sensors; microphones; and multiple cameras that are placed in a user's home.

"Our challenge is to intelligently process this data and digitally understand the user," said AlRegib, who serves as area editor for IEEE Signal Processing Magazine. "We are trying to create smart agents within media centers that understand users and adapt media accordingly."

As the hub for home-networked entertainment, this platform will have wireless connectivity to other devices and will be operated with hand gestures, body movements, and facial expressions. AlRegib also noted that the platform would further advance the use of social networks by the broadcast industry to broaden its viewer base.

"This system will allow users to have a personalized media experience; content providers and Internet-based or TV broadcasters will be able to adjust their delivered media according to individuals' needs and interests rather than regional needs," AlRegib said. "We have witnessed the impact of social networking media on our daily lives, so merging them with TV seems to be a natural next step toward complete digital convergence."

Helping Kim and AlRegib -- both faculty members at the Georgia Tech Savannah campus -- tackle these technical challenges are ECE faculty members specializing in digital signal processing, telecommunications, computer architecture, and human-computer interaction: Monson H. Hayes, III, professor and associate director at Georgia Tech Savannah; Biing-Hwang "Fred" Juang, Motorola Foundation Chair Professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar; and Associate Professor Sung Kyu Lim. Kim and AlRegib will create undergraduate and graduate courses related to this project, while students at the Atlanta and Savannah campuses will assist with developing technologies and testing prototypes.

Four Korea-based partners will work with Georgia Tech to make this platform into a reality. Celrun, an Internet protocol television company, will handle graphic engine, media processing, and display layout issues. C&S Microwave, a wireless communications company, has conducted a feasibility study on Femtocell (a small cellular base station for residential or small business environments) and mobility between handheld devices and the proposed system. Sungkyunkwan University will work on embedded software, semiconductor technology, operating system, virtual ware, migration, and load balancing. The Korean Electronics Technology Institute will focus on personalized service solutions for various multimedia, data fusion, and digital communities, especially in social network modeling.

Kim said that interested parties from Georgia Tech and other organizations are welcome to join CIS in creating technologies for this platform. The center will also continue working with Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute, which has provided crucial marketing research and commercialization plan assistance. "Growth in this area and industry interest is only expected to increase," said Kim, who has held R&D positions at both LG Electronics and Neopoint. "We believe that digital convergence will happen and that our work will be pivotal in its realization."

Institute officials enthusiastically support this new international partnership. "Georgia Tech and ECE have long been world leaders in digital media and its supporting technologies," said Gary S. May, Steve W. Chaddick School Chair for ECE. "The Korean government's decision to ask Georgia Tech to lead this effort further solidifies our international reputation in this arena."

The establishment of CIS and its future success could also lead to collaborations in areas like the automotive industry, according to Georgia Tech Vice Provost for International Initiatives Steven W. McLaughlin. "Georgia Tech has many longstanding collaborations in Korea and a very healthy representation here in Atlanta. The KORUS Tech program is emblematic of the partnerships we have, the kind of impact we continue to develop in the region, and the benefits those relationships have in Georgia," McLaughlin said. "Korea is a gateway to Asia for Georgia Tech, and we expect to have increasing interactions with Korean companies, institutes, universities, and ministries in the coming years."

According to the Georgia Tech study conducted for this project, Korea ranks among the world's top seven countries with the most households subscribing to broadband and is projected to move into the top five in the near future. Per capita, Korea ranks among the top four broadband subscribers, according to a June 2007 study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and had more total subscribers than the other top eight countries combined. The United States ranked 15th per capita, but had the largest number of total subscribers.

Korean officials cited Georgia Tech's stellar reputation in research, education, and translation of technology into useful products and successful companies as the primary reasons for choosing the institute for this project. "The Georgia Tech team's innovative ideas were backed by technological rigor and complemented by detailed analysis of state-of-the-art technologies and competing initiatives," said Sungjin (Bryan) Baik, senior researcher and project manager of the KORUS Tech Program from the Korea Institute of Advancement of Technology. "Atlanta's stature in the telecommunications and information media industries was also key in deciding that Georgia Tech was the proper home for this center." The majority of CIS operations will be based at the Atlanta campus of Georgia Tech and will receive additional support from facilities and personnel at Georgia Tech Savannah.

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The Tubman Museum Creates State-of-the-Art Classroom with $150,000 Grant from AT&T

The AT&T Foundation, the philanthropy arm of AT&T*, has awarded a $150,000 grant to the Tubman African American Museum to create a new classroom which will utilize the latest technology to extend the Museum’s educational outreach both inside and outside of the facility. When the new 49,000 square-foot museum on Cherry Street is completed, all of the equipment and technology featured in the AT&T classroom will be transferred to the new classrooms.

The Tubman African American Museum is an internationally recognized institution and an important cultural and educational resource for the area. Educating people about African American art, history, culture and the promotion of harmony among all races is the mission of the Museum. In pursuit of this mission, the Tubman Museum offers a diverse spectrum of educational programs, including Children in the Arts after-school and weekend classes; student workshops for third and fifth graders in language and math; and the state’s only African American Heritage Summer Camps for youth, ages 7 to 12.

The grant will be used to join and convert two upstairs exhibit galleries into one large Art, History, and Technology Classroom where students, teachers, and museum educators can utilize on-site laptop computers, wireless internet access, multi-media projectors and screens, digital video cameras and video editing equipment and software to create a fully-immersive exploration of the importance and impact of African American art, history, and culture.

The Tubman Museum is working closely with the IT professionals and educators of the Bibb County school system, along with the school systems of Monroe and Houston, to ensure that the most appropriate software and hardware is being selected for this high technology classroom. Formed by the Tubman Museum, this Technology Committee is made up of six IT Professionals representing over 90 years of combined experience in the field of computer technology and communications. Members of this committee include Josh Epps, Director of Information Technology with Fickling & Company and Chair of the committee, Rob Betzel, President of Infinity Network Solutions, Thane Good, Director of Field Services with Cox Communications, Julie Christopher, Chief Information Officer with the Bibb County Board of Education, Wally Reeves, Technology Director with the Houston County Board of Education, and Neil Rigole, Director of Instructional Technology with the Monroe County Board of Education.

The new technology will not only enable Tubman to enhance current educational offerings within the museum setting, but will also allow the Museum to introduce a critical new element to its educational programming-distance learning. Distance learning will enable the Museum to expand its audience, bringing the museum culture and the benefits of an arts education to students and teachers throughout Middle Georgia and the state of Georgia.

“This announcement is the perfect example of our community coming together to make education the top priority. The funding that AT&T is putting into this high technology classroom is wonderful news! Bibb County School District became involved in this project by helping the Tubman to identify the best educational tools that will compliment those that students use in the school classroom and at the museum. This new classroom is a wonderful learning environment that will benefit our community,” stated Sharon Patterson, Superintendent for the Bibb County School System.

“We’re respectful and supportive of our own diverse workforce, and we’ve invested to create programs to support diversity in our customers and partners. We will continue to invest time, talent and resources to strengthen our communities by supporting underserved populations and promoting education programs that create economic opportunity”, said Terry Smith, AT&T Regional Manager-Regulatory and External Affairs –Georgia.

“This generous gift from the AT&T Foundation will not only help us create a much needed, state-of-the art classroom space in our current facility where students both onsite and through distance learning can learn more about African American art, history, and culture, but it will also help us transition this high-tech educational equipment and capabilities to even larger classrooms when we open our new, 49,000 square-foot museum. This grant is a gift that will keep on giving, helping us to dramatically expand the impact, outreach, and unique educational offerings of the Tubman African American Museum”, shared Dr. Andy Ambrose, Executive Director for the Tubman Museum.

“This announcement is great news for the Tubman African American Museum,” said Chambliss. “This facility serves the community as an educational and cultural resource, not only for Macon, but the entire state. I’m pleased to offer my support for the Tubman Museum as it continues to provide additional opportunities to study and explore African American art, history and culture,” shared Senator Saxby Chambliss.

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20,000 Cheer FIRST™ Students at the Ultimate Celebration of Science and Technology

-(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twenty-thousand spectators, students, mentors, volunteers, sponsors, and FIRST™ supporters gathered over the weekend to experience the ultimate celebration of science and technology that ignites students’ scientific savvy in three levels of Championship competitions. Teams from California, Illinois, and Michigan emerged victorious at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. It was the climax to months of regional competitions involving 1,680 teams from the United States and ten other nations: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

The total FIRST Community – with over 196,000 students, 86,000 volunteers, and 3,500 sponsors this year alone – is estimated at one million strong and growing. With continued support from industry, the number of FIRST teams continues to grow despite the downturn in the global economy.

“Our mission is about more than building robots; we are working to inspire and change a culture,” said Dean Kamen, FIRST founder. “Over the past few days in Atlanta, we had the opportunity to witness this culture shift in action. We watched as the innovators of tomorrow showed us they could step up to the challenge and solve complex technological problems. And that’s good news for us, because we need more innovative thinkers to help solve a number of increasingly complex problems in the world. I am confident there is a bright future ahead – I caught a glimpse of it at the FIRST Championship.”

FIRST is a not-for-profit founded by inventor Dean Kamen to celebrate science and technology via robotics competitions worldwide. The 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization offers innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math while building life skills. Teams earned their invitations to the Championship by excelling in their regional tournaments in competitive play, sportsmanship, and the development of partnerships among schools, businesses and communities.

FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION (FRC)

High-school student teams built their robots from a kit of hundreds of parts in six weeks. This year’s game, called “LUNACYTM,” tested the students’ and robots’ ability to pick up 9" game balls and score them in trailers hitched to their opponents’ robots, while contending with the laws of physics on a low-friction floor.

The Winning Alliance of the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship was: Team 67 “The HOT Team” of Huron Valley Schools from Milford, Michigan; Team 111 “WildStang” of Rolling Meadows High School and Wheeling High School from Schaumburg, Illinois; Team 971 “Spartan Robotics” of Mountain View High School in Mountain View, California.

Team 236 “Techno Ticks” of Lyme-Old Lyme High School from Old Lyme, Connecticut won the Chairman’s Award, the highest honor given at the FRC Championship that recognizes the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.

FIRST TECH CHALLENGE (FTC)

Approximately 1,000 high-school students used a modular robotics kit to compete in the “Face Off!” challenge, mirroring many real-world challenges that robotics engineers face today, such as navigating uneven surfaces, manipulating odd-shaped objects, using sensors to determine the environment, and withstanding physical stress. The FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Inspire Award, recognizing excellence in robot design and teamwork, went to Team 32 “Einstein’s Daughters”, an all-female team from San Diego, California.

The FIRST Tech Challenge Winning Alliance was Team 92 “Jr. Bomb Squad” from Mountain Home, Arkansas; Team 679 “RoboRaiders” from Sandy Springs, Georgia; Team 2820 “Alberta Longhorns” from Calgary, Alberta.

FIRST LEGO® LEAGUE (FLL)

Eighty four teams from 27 countries participated in the FIRST LEGO League World Festival. This year’s “Climate Connections” real-life challenge tasked students, ages 9 to 14, to design, build, and program robots and embark on an exploration of the earth’s climate.

Top honors went to Champion’s Award 1st Place winner, Team 55 “Da Peeps” from Swartz Creek, Michigan; Champion’s Award 2nd Place winner, Team 2223 “Turbulent Typhoons” from Westerville, Ohio; and Champion’s Award 3rd Place winner, Team 9201 “NXT Generation” from Nordborg, Denmark. The Champion’s Award measures how teams inspire and motivate others about the excitement and wonders of science and technology, while demonstrating gracious professionalism.

SCHOLARSHIPS

FIRST also recognized the recipients of numerous educational scholarships worth $9.8 million from the most prestigious science and engineering schools in the country, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Kettering University, Georgia Tech, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Bucknell University.

RESULTS

The major honors that were awarded at the FIRST Championship included:

* Founder’s Award, presented each year by FIRST founder Dean Kamen to one organization or individual for exceptional service in advancing the ideals and mission of FIRST – National Instruments
* Woodie Flowers Award, founded by Dr. William P. Murphy, Jr. and Small Parts, Inc. to recognize an outstanding engineer or teacher who best demonstrates teaching excellence in teaching science, math, and creative design – John Novack, Engineer, Baxter Healthcare, Arkansas
* Outstanding Commitment Award, celebrates one individual who has had a sustained impact on the FIRST Championship by actively supporting FIRST programs through leadership and personal commitment over an extended period – Dave Lavery, Program Executive for Solar System Exploration, NASA

FIRST Robotics Competition Championship:

* Engineering Inspiration Award – Team 341, “Miss Daisy”, Pennsylvania
* Championship Finalists – Team 68, “T3”, Michigan; Team 217 “ThunderChickens”, Michigan; Team 247, “Da Bears”, Michigan
* Division* Champions – Archimedes Division: Team 222, “Tigertrons”, Pennsylvania; Team 1218, “Vulcan Robotics”, Pennsylvania; Team 2753, “Team Overdrive”, New Jersey. Curie Division: Team 68, “T3”, Michigan; Team 217 “ThunderChickens”, Michigan; Team 247, “Da Bears”, Michigan. Galileo Division: Team 67, “The HOT Team”, Michigan; Team 111, “WildStang”, Illinois; Team 971, “Spartan Robotics”, California. Newton Division: Team 121, “Rhode Warriors”, Rhode Island; Team 177, “Bobcat Robotics”, Connecticut; Team 1507, “Warlocks”, New York.
* Division Finalists – Archimedes Division: Team 118, “Robonauts”, Texas; Team 343, “Metal-In-Motion”, South Carolina; Team 488, “Team XBot”, Washington. Curie Division: Team 188, “Blizzard”, Ontario, Canada; Team 329, “Raiders”, New York; Team 399, “Eagle Robotics”, California. Galileo Division: Team 870, “Team R.I.C.E.”, New York; Team 1717, “D’Penguineers”, California; Team 2775, “Liberty Robotics”, Tennessee. Newton Division: Team 85, “B.O.B. (Built On Brains)”, Michigan; Team 135, “Penn Robotics”, Indiana; Team 1918, “NC Gears”, Michigan.
* Autodesk Visualization Award – Team 1716, “Redbird Robotics”, Wisconsin
* Autodesk Inventor Award – Team 103, “Cybersonics”, Pennsylvania
* Chrysler Team Spirit Award – Team 1086, “Blue Cheese”, Virginia
* Delphi “Driving Tomorrow’s Technology”TM Award – Team 339, “Kilroy”, Virginia
* General Motors Industrial Design Award – Team 67, “The HOT Team”, Michigan
* Johnson & Johnson Gracious Professionalism Award – Team 118, “Robonauts”, Texas
* Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Entrepreneurship Award – Team 687, “The Nerd Herd”, California
* Motorola Quality Award – Team 1717, “D’Penguineers”, California
* Rockwell Automation Innovation in Control Award – Team 365, “Miracle Workerz”, Delaware
* Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award – Team 337, “Hard Working Hard Hats”, West Virginia
* Xerox Creativity Award – Team 263, “Sachem Aftershock”, New York
* Imagery Award, in honor of Jack Kamen – Team 33, “Killer Bees”, Michigan
* Rookie All-star Award – Team 3091, “100 Scholars”, Georgia
* Rookie Inspiration Award – Team 2741, “Method 2 Madness”, Illinois
* Website Award – Team 1114, “Simbotics”, Ontario, Canada
* Judges’ Awards – Team 359, “Hawaiian Kids”, Hawaii; Team 1511, “Rolling Thunder”, New York

FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship:

* FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Finalists – Team 39, “Gingerbread Men”, Michigan; Team 577, “Staples Wreckers”, Connecticut; Team 2818, “G-Force”, Maryland
* PTC Design Award – Team 2842, “Burnin’ Rubber!”, Illinois
* FIRST Tech Challenge Connect Award – Team 18, “Techno Chix”, New York
* FIRST Tech Challenge Innovate Award – Team 2848, “Techno Guards”, California
* FIRST Tech Challenge Motivate Award – Team 3365, “Project Pulse”, Texas
* FIRST Tech Challenge Think Award – Team 2, “Psychotic Strawberryz”, Oregon
* Judges’ Awards – Grace Under Pressure: Team 14, “Plan B”, Virginia; Potential Unlimited: Team 1, “Team Unlimited”, Massachusetts

FIRST LEGO League World Festival:

* Robot Performance Award – Team 8004, “Emerotecos”, Brazil
* Innovative Design Award – Team 8080, “TechnoBotts3”, United Kingdom
* Quality Design Award – Team 1042, “Tech Kids”, Indiana
* Programming Award – Team 784, “The Techno Travelers”, Minnesota
* Research Quality Award – Team 9401, “Double Oh Zero”, South Africa
* Innovative Solution Award – Team 9111, “Spectrum Bots”, Chile
* Creative Presentation Award – Team 8060, “Giant Panda”, China
* Teamwork Award – Team 5, “The Olympians”, Washington
* Team Spirit Awards – Team 3790, “The Icebreakers”, New York; Team 111, “Les Electrocuteurs”, Haiti
* Against All Odds Awards – Team 422, “Wallace Bobcats”, Indiana; Team 2447, “JETS”, Texas
* Outstanding Volunteer Awards – Dave Brooks, West Virginia; Bill and Susan Duggins, Virginia; Bill McGowan, New Jersey
* Adult Coach/Mentor Awards – Helena Coetzee, South Africa; Tim Mills, Iowa
* Young Adult Mentor Awards – Dorian Shani, Israel; Ang Wen Xian, Singapore
* Judges’ Awards – Team 33, “YOROZ”, Turkey; Team 121, “FLL-ISPR”, Haiti; Team 8030, “EAGLEKNIGHTS WILLIAMS”, Mexico; Team 8000, “Triple Legend”, Egypt

UGA licenses invention that kills food-borne pathogens in minutes

A new technology that kills dangerous pathogens on food at home and in restaurants, grocery stores, beverage-manufacturing and food-processing facilities has been licensed to the maker of FIT Fruit and Vegetable Wash™. The licensing agreement between the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. and HealthPro Brands, Inc., FIT’s parent company, vastly extends the range of applications for the company’s current anti-microbial food wash.

The exclusive license, which includes sublicensing rights, is effective in select countries around the world, including the U.S.

The new technology, invented by scientists from the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety, can kill significant numbers of dangerous E. coli and salmonella in less than one minute, but it is recommended that the wash be applied from one to five minutes. The technology can be used as a food wash, with commercial applications for the produce, poultry, meat and egg processing industries.

“The re-formulated FIT food wash will kill more harmful microbes faster,” said Mike Doyle, Center for Food Safety director, and—together with microbiologist Tong Zhao—one of the technology’s inventors. “The new anti-microbial food wash is orders of magnitude more powerful and twice faster.”

Doyle is an internationally recognized authority on food safety whose research focuses on developing methods to detect and control food-borne bacterial pathogens at all levels of the food continuum, from farm to table. He has served as a scientific adviser to many groups, including the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“The new technology takes our current FIT product to a whole new level of sanitization,” said Todd Wichmann, president and CEO of HealthPro Brands. “We look forward to getting our improved product into the hands of industry.”

Importantly, Doyle said, the wash has no effects on smell, taste or appearance of the foods that are treated, even delicate produce. “The new product doesn’t interfere with the shelf-life of sensitive foods,” he said.

Like the original FIT Fruit and Vegetable Wash now used at home by consumers and by food service industry, the new antimicrobial wash uses a combination of two inexpensive components that are safe for humans and the environment. The new FIT product also will be available as a spray and immersion solution for foods ranging from fragile leafy produce, fruits and vegetables, to more robust foods such as meats and poultry, or food preparation equipment and food transportation vehicles. For the greatest efficacy, the product is used at different concentrations and different periods of exposure for different applications.

FIT will replace chlorine as the new standard for reducing harmful bacteria levels in industrial settings, said Wichmann. Chlorine’s drawbacks are multiple: it is toxic at high concentrations, it may produce off-flavors and undesirable appearance in certain food products; it can damage equipment; it can only be used, stored and transported in conjunction with specialized equipment and trained personnel; and because it may be harmful to the environment, it also is subject to environmental regulations. Chlorine may also damage certain seeds and delicate sprouts.

“We can’t rely on chlorine any longer,” Doyle said. “In addition to being safer and more acceptable in terms of appearance and smell, our studies have shown this new technology to be considerably more effective than chlorine.” The product outperforms other food sanitization technologies, such as ozone, as well. Ozone, a short-lived gas, must be produced using specialized equipment immediately upon use, thus making its use inaccessible to the majority of companies in the food industry.

Gennaro Gama, a senior technology manager with UGARF, said that the new product also could be used as an anti-microbial additive in food products such as ground meats, butters and pastes.

“We are very pleased to have established a partnership with HealthPro,” Gama said. “We believe that our respective technologies interact synergistically and will lead to the short-term development of very versatile products that can be used in virtually all segments of the food industry and with considerable potential to mitigate public health issues associated with food poisoning.”

Gama continued, “We are also grateful to HealthPro for agreeing with UGARF’s request to retain the ability to license the technology for humanitarian purposes in Sub-Saharan Africa, where contamination of the food chain is ubiquitous and easy counter-measures are frequently unavailable to those populations.”

FIT was originally developed by Procter & Gamble and was sold to HealthPro Brands, Inc. in 2006. FIT is the only produce wash certified Kosher and recommended by the American Vegetarian Association. FIT is available in select grocery stores or can be purchased online at Amazon.com.

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Georgia Leads the Nation in Education Technology

Georgia is a national leader in the use of educational technology to enhance both teaching and learning, according to a report released March 25th. Education Week's annual "Technology Counts" report gave Georgia the highest score when it comes to the use of technology in the classroom and building capacity for the use of technology.

"Georgia realizes that technology is a key component to improving education and preparing our students to be successful," said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox. "I am proud that Georgia -- even in difficult budget times -- invests in technology that helps our students and teachers be the best they can."

"Technology cannot replace the interaction between a highly-qualified teacher and a student," Superintendent Cox said, "but it can enhance that interaction and make it available to more students."

This year, the report ranks states on two criteria: use of technology and capacity to use technology. Georgia was able to answer "yes" to every indicator in both of these categories and was one of only two states to get a score of 100 in both areas. (The state report includes a third criteria -- access to technology -- but those results were from last year's report. You can see all of Georgia's grades at http://tinyurl.com/GaTCGrades).

Georgia has many ongoing statewide technology initiatives, including:

* Georgia Virtual School: The Georgia Virtual School, run by the Georgia Department of Education, offers students all over the state on-line access to rigorous classes, including Advanced Placement, foreign languages and core subjects. The state currently offers 121 on-line courses and this school year alone, nearly 4,000 students have enrolled in Georgia Virtual School classes.


* Credit Recovery: The Georgia Virtual School is also being used for a credit recovery program that allows students to catch up if they have fallen behind. Just since January 2008, over 40,000 students across the state have used the virtual school resources for credit recovery.


* Digital Content: Georgia is increasing access to digital content that can be used to help teachers prepare and supplement classroom learning. Much of this content is available or linked on www.georgiastandards.org.


* Increased Bandwidth: At its March meeting, the State Board of Education approved a contract that doubled the bandwidth available to local school systems, starting July 1.

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DHR Uses Social Media to Reach More Georgians

The Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) is making use of the latest social media technology to reach more Georgians with important information about available human services, events and issues.

DHR has created a Twitter account to provide the public with message updates. Twitter is a free social messaging utility that allows users to receive short messages (140 characters or less) on their cell phones, Blackberries or via the Twitter website. DHR’s Twitter updates can be viewed online at http://www.twitter.com/gadhr. Anyone can view the online Twitter messages, but receiving DHR updates by cell phone requires a Twitter account. Anyone can sign up for a free Twitter account by visiting the Twitter Web site. DHR’s Twitter updates include event announcements, information about DHR online services, and news release headlines with links to a full-text version.

DHR is also sharing videos on the YouTube video sharing Web site. DHR has a YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/dhrcomm. No account is required to view YouTube videos. With millions of YouTube users, DHR can reach more people with important messages. Since 2008, DHR has posted 15 videos covering a range of topics, including emergency preparedness, the Georgia Crisis & Access Line and pandemic flu.

In addition to social media, DHR maintains 13 Web sites that provide information on all of the agency’s divisions and offices. DHR receives more than 50,000 Web hits per day. The agency’s main Web site is www.dhr.georgia.gov.

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GT: Reducing CO2 Emissions Through Smart Growth and Technology

A Georgia Tech City and Regional Planning study on climate change, published February 10, 2009 online by Environmental Science and Technology, shows that “smart growth” combined with the use of hybrid vehicle technology could reduce cities’ carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – the principal driver of global warming – significantly by 2050.

According to Brian Stone, associate professor of City and Regional Planning, the research shows that expected levels of CO2 emissions from cars and trucks in 2050 could be reduced back to 2000 levels if the full vehicle fleet was converted to hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius or the soon-to-be released Chevy Volt. This research also found that a doubling of population density in large U.S. cities by 2050 would have a greater impact on CO2 reductions than full hybridization of the vehicle fleet.

Stone’s study looked at 11 major metropolitan regions of the Midwestern U.S. over a 50-year period and took into account three different scenarios: the use of hybrid vehicles and two different urban growth scenarios through which population density was increased over time, a central component of smart growth planning.

“In this study we looked at two general approaches on how to deal with the challenge of climate change,” said Stone. “One approach is to improve vehicle technology and become more efficient. We can use less gas and reduce tailpipe emissions of CO2. The second approach is to change behavior by changing the way we design cities. We can travel less and take more walking and transit trips.”

Stone says he believes it would be possible for virtually all cars on the roads by 2050 to be hybrid electric vehicles, assuming the costs of these vehicles become more competitive with conventional engine technologies. Today’s hybrid electric vehicles can achieve 40 miles to the gallon and higher.

However, even the full hybridization of the national vehicle fleet by 2050 would not meet the CO2 targets identified though the Kyoto Protocol, an international climate change agreement which the United States has signed but not yet ratified. To meet these global targets, CO2 emissions from all sectors on the U.S. would need to return to 1990 levels or lower. According to Stone’s work, meeting this goal in the transportation sector would require a combination of technological improvements and higher density land use patterns in cities.

“If we can help cities to grow in more compact ways, what we call smart growth, it will help reduce emissions even further by allowing people to travel less often, travel shorter distances when they do travel and take advantage of public transit,” said Stone.

The eleven metropolitan regions that were studied include Madison, Wisconsin, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Ohio, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan and Dayton, OH. In addition to Stone, Dr. Tracey Holloway, Scot Spak, and Adam Mednick also authored the study.

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Georgia Tech and CDC Work to Improve Safety of Blood Supply

The Georgia Tech College of Computing, working in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has developed a Web-based tool for tracking blood safety. The tool is expected to help developing countries improve the adequacy and safety of their national blood supplies through better monitoring and evaluation.

The tool, which is accessed through a standard Web browser, tracks about 80 blood safety indicators continuously at the hospital and provincial levels. A pilot test in Zambia showed that the tool could improve the timeliness and accuracy of data collection efforts, allowing blood safety officials to better forecast or predict regional and seasonal blood usage patterns.

“A simple, scalable, Web-based tool like this can make a tremendous difference in public health around the world,” said Santosh Vempala, distinguished professor in the College of Computing’s School of Computer Science and faculty leader for the project. “The Zambian health officials immediately saw the benefits of real-time data collection and the ability to compare different regions’ needs and see trends over time.”

The project started when John Pitman, public health advisor in CDC’s Global AIDS Program, met Vempala and explained the challenges involved in ensuring global blood safety. Their vision of a web-based tracking system was taken up in 2008 by students in the College of Computing’s Computing for Good class, co-taught by Vempala. Using information about current conditions and future demands within the target countries, the Georgia Tech team, computer science Ph.D. students Adebola Osuntogun and Stephen Thomas, built a Web-based system that resource-limited countries of any size could use to report data to national authorities. The system could also be used by a global organization, like CDC, to monitor multiple projects.

The Georgia Tech team developed the new Web-based tool from a Microsoft Excel version created by CDC. The team field-tested the Web-based tool in Zambia in July-August 2008 to obtain feedback from blood safety program staff.

“I was impressed by the team’s ability to adapt to the computing environment in Zambia, and to make the changes necessary to ensure this would be an appropriate solution for developing countries,” Pitman said. “Including staff from the Zambian national blood transfusion service in the development process was essential to be sure it fit their needs.”

Ministries of health in Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia will begin using the new tracking system on January 1, 2009. All 14 countries are recipients of U.S. financial support through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Georgia Tech’s Computing for Good class gives students the opportunity to understand how computing can be used to improve the human condition, according to Vempala. “Projects such as this collaboration with the CDC present computer science as a cutting-edge technological discipline that empowers our students to solve problems and make a positive impact on society.”

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Cleaner Coal Technology Key to the World’s Energy Future

(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Energy and the University of Wyoming today announced an agreement to further cleaner coal technology, making coal-fired power generation more viable in America. Under the agreement, GE and the university will develop the High Plains Gasification Advanced Technology Center to accelerate the commercial use of cleaner coal technology.

In the United States, coal supplies more than 50 percent of the country’s current electricity generation and it plays an important role in meeting the nation’s energy needs. Coal is an abundant, low-cost, domestic, natural resource that continues to be a significant part of America’s energy mix.

Wyoming is uniquely positioned in the nation’s energy landscape and has vast coal resources capable of supporting a substantial portion of the nation’s energy needs. The state produces approximately 40 percent of all of the coal used in the United States to generate electricity.

The new center will include a small-scale gasification system that will enable researchers from GE and the university to develop advanced gasification solutions for Powder River Basin and other Wyoming coals. The research is expected to expand the range of coals that can be used with GE’s integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) technology for power plants. The facility is expected to be operational by 2012.

To create a path forward for coal, future climate change policy will be needed to incentivize the deployment of already-available low carbon technology and to foster further improvements that will bring down the cost of carbon capture and sequestration.

“This project underscores the commitment of both the University of Wyoming and GE to work toward U.S. energy independence and plan for future energy needs,” said Steve Bolze, president and CEO of GE Energy’s Power & Water business. “We believe that our country’s energy and environmental policies should promote a balance of available, reliable, cleaner and low-cost energy. The use of cleaner coal technology helps create jobs, support economic growth and positively impacts the environment.”

GE is a world leader in IGCC technology and has been at the forefront of IGCC technology since the Coolwater project, a 120 MW technical demonstration IGCC project started in 1984. GE's IGCC technology also has operated at the 250 MW TECO Polk I station in Florida for more than 12 years. Today, GE offers a 630 MW IGCC reference plant that produces 75 percent less SOx, 33 percent less NOx, 40 percent less particulate matter, uses 30 percent less water and offers 90 percent mercury capture, compared to a traditional pulverized coal plant.

In addition to providing a cleaner alternative for power generation, IGCC is well-suited for carbon capture. Carbon capture technology is in use in GE’s industrial gasification applications around the world today. IGCC technology will offer cost and efficiency advantages for carbon capture and storage, once clear policies and regulations are in place to support storage and an economically viable value is established for carbon.

Although IGCC technology is relatively new, gasification is more than a century old. The process uses pressure, heat and steam to convert carbon-based materials like coal into a synthesis gas (syngas) that has a variety of uses including the production of chemicals or fertilizers and power generation.

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Making Aquariums and Museums More Accessible

Georgia Tech researchers are using music to aid the visually impaired in understanding the movements and displays featured in aquariums, zoos, museums and other dynamic facilities.

The research is using technology that tracks movements; in the case of an aquarium, it tracks the fish and interprets the movements into music and automated commentaries and narrations.

“We have three main components to this research,” said Bruce Walker, associate professor in the School of Psychology and the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. “The first is tracking the animals, the second is interpreting it into music and the third is making a seamless and interactive human experience.”

According to Walker, there are several challenges associated with these research goals.

“It is challenging to automatically track animals when they go behind rocks or venture to other parts of the environment,” said Walker. “The music and narration also pose a challenge because we need to make sure that it is pleasant and interesting, but also communicates what’s happening in the exhibit. Our final challenge comes in trying to coordinate all of this technology into a seamless, real-time experience for the aquarium visitor.”

Walker is leading an interdisciplinary team to put the pieces of this research puzzle together. Gil Weinberg, director of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, is focusing on the interpretation of movements into music. Tucker Balch, in the School of Interactive Computing, is leveraging his expertise on tracking the movements of animals. Researchers Carrie Bruce and Jon Sanford of the Georgia Tech Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) are working to evaluate the effectiveness of the resulting multimodal exhibit. The Tech team is also collaborating with the Atlanta Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI), and with staff at local zoos and aquariums.

Walker says that tracking moving objects and then communicating the dynamics to someone who cannot look at, or cannot see, the actual moving items has broad application in biological research, entertainment and sports, and tactical situations.

The technology is still in the research stage, but Walker and his colleagues are excited about the potential of opening up a whole world of new experiences for aquarium and zoo visitors who have vision impairments. Walker says, “There are lots of possibilities. We chose to begin by making exhibits more accessible to people with low vision. We’ll see where this leads after that.”

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DOE Announces Additional Steps in Developing Sustainable Biofuels Industry

Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman and Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer today (October 7, 2008) released the National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP). The Plan, developed by an interagency board co-chaired by DOE and USDA, outlines specific action areas and goals toward achieving renewable fuels production targets. Secretary Bodman also announced additional steps the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is taking to support the development of a sustainable biofuels industry: research to enable increased use of biofuels, deployment of cellulosic biorefineries, and biofuels research and development.

“The challenge is to find ways to go farther and to go faster – we must progress to the next level,” said Secretary Bodman. “That means we must accelerate the development and deployment of next generation biofuels, fuels made from cellulose, algae and from other non-food products as well as fuels compatible with our existing energy infrastructure including renewable diesel, green gasoline and bio-butanol.”

Increasing the Use of Biofuels
U.S. consumers already use E10, gasoline blended with 10 percent ethanol, in conventional vehicles and other engines. In order to meet the goals set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, however, the U.S. will likely need to use higher blends of ethanol in conventional vehicles. To assess the potential impacts of higher blends of ethanol such as E15 and E20, gasoline blended with 15 and 20 percent ethanol, on conventional vehicles and other gasoline engines, DOE initiated a testing program in August 2007.

A preliminary report released today by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, provides results available to date from testing E15 and E20 on 13 vehicles and 28 small non-road engines, including lawn equipment and generators. The information reported today, along with data that will be collected over the course of this broad test program, will help determine whether higher blends of ethanol can be effectively used in conventional vehicles. The report showed that most of the regulated emissions with E15 and E20 were within the normal test variation, and no statistically-significant change was detected. While the data collected to date is encouraging, particularly with regard to regulated emissions, additional studies are needed on a wider range of vehicles and engines

Supporting Deployment of New Technologies
The deployment of cellulosic biorefineries is a critical pathway to meeting renewable fuels production mandates. Today, DOE announced additional funding with POET, LLC of Sioux Falls, S.D. This commercial-scale cellulosic biorefinery project was originally announced by Secretary Bodman in February 2007; today an additional phase of funding was announced. POET received $3.7 million in the first phase of funding under a cooperative agreement that covers initial design, permitting, and preparation of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation. Today in the second phase the Secretary announced POET would be awarded an additional award for up to $76.3 million in federal funding, subject to annual appropriations. Today’s funding supports final design, construction, and commissioning of the project to develop an economically viable cellulose-to-ethanol biorefinery that employs alternative energy technologies will be co-located at POET’s Emmetsburg, Iowa ethanol plant and will use corn cob, and potentially corn fiber, to increase plant production of ethanol by up to 25 million gallons per year. Subject to annual appropriations, DOE’s total investment in the POET project is up to $80 million, with an expected total project cost of nearly $200 million.

Pyrolysis Oils Projects
While supporting deployment and increased biofuels usage, DOE continues to focus on research and development of advanced biofuels technologies. Today, DOE announced the selection of five advanced biofuels projects up to $7 million, subject to annual appropriations. The five projects selected will develop cost-effective, environmentally friendly ways to convert non-food feedstocks into stabilized pyrolysis oils. These biologically-derived oils are generated through the rapid heating of biomass, for the ultimate production of transport fuel. Pyrolysis oils offer the potential of a greenhouse-gas neutral, renewable, and domestically produced alternative to petroleum-based fuels.

Five advanced biofuels projects received negotiation of awards:

UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.) With partners: Ensyn Corp, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, Colo.), DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland, Wash.) and USDA-Agricultural Research Service.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Blacksburg, Va. and New Brunswick, N.J.) With partner: Rutgers University.
Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa and Houston, Texas) With partner: ConocoPhillips.
RTI International (Research Triangle Park, N.C. and Decatur, Ill.)With partner: Archer Daniel Midland Co.
University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Amherst, Mass.) With partner: Renewable Oil International.

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News to Use in Fayetteville, Atlanta, Macon, Peachtree City and all of Georgia

Samsung Expands Wireless Research Facility at Georgia Tech

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. has significantly increased its research presence here, opening a new wireless-technology laboratory and expanding its working relationship with the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Homoon Kang, CEO of Korea-based Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., led a recent dedication ceremony that marked the expansion of the company’s North American Design Center on the Georgia Tech campus. The Samsung Design Center focuses on research and development of mixed-signal integrated circuits, primarily for use in wireless applications.

The new Samsung facility, located in the Centergy One Building at 75 Fifth St. NW, houses 5,400 square feet of laboratory and office space. The new center is located close to its Georgia Tech research partner, the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC), which is headquartered in the Technology Square Research Building at 85 Fifth St. NW.

“This is a very satisfying day for us at Samsung,” said Kang. “We are proud of our research work in Georgia, and we look forward to ongoing success in our partnership with the Georgia Electronic Design Center.”

The Samsung Design Center first opened in 2005 in the Technology Square Research Building. It has now grown to more than 50 full- and part-time employees, and Samsung has announced its intention to have 100 full-time and 50 part-time people working for the center within two years.

"The Samsung project is a prime example of the importance of the city’s and the Atlanta Development Authority’s (ADA) focus on strong, long-term economic development partnerships,” said Shirley Franklin, mayor of Atlanta. “ADA has been a partner with Georgia Tech since the inception of Technology Square and maintains a great working relationship with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the Georgia Electronic Design Center and the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute.”

Mayor Franklin praised Samsung for its investment and expressed confidence in the continued growth of the company’s research center.

Among the dignitaries on hand at the opening ceremonies was Ken Stewart, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Stewart later noted that since its inception the Samsung effort has had the combined support of his department, the Georgia Research Alliance and Georgia Tech.

"The expansion of the Samsung design center is a true win-win event for both Samsung and the State of Georgia,” he said. “This successful center can be expected to serve as an ongoing economic asset for the city and the state, as well as a beacon to other top international microelectronics players.”

Kwang Wook Bae recently took over as executive director of the Samsung center. Chang-Ho Lee, Ph.D., who has been with the center since it began, now serves as research director.

The Samsung center is currently researching core technologies for next-generation communication systems, with particular focus on development of CMOS-based system-on-chip devices for modem, digital and RF systems. One device under development is a cost-effective, highly efficient CMOS-based transmitter for wireless communication applications.

Innovations developed by researchers at the Atlanta-based design center are expected to impact a broad spectrum of Samsung’s worldwide product offerings, according to company executives.

Samsung’s former space in the Technology Square Research Building will continue to be used by GEDC for work related to Samsung’s research interests.

“We are delighted that Samsung is increasing its research profile here,” said Joy Laskar, director of GEDC and Schlumberger Chair in Microelectronics in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “We expect this partnership between Samsung and GEDC to continue to develop key new technologies in cognitive radio and other important wireless fields.”

New UGA Biomass Technology Dramatically Increases Ethanol Yield from Grasses and Yard Waste

University of Georgia researchers have developed a new technology that promises to dramatically increase the yield of ethanol from readily available non-food crops, such as Bermudagrass, switchgrass, Napiergrass—and even yard waste.

“Producing ethanol from renewable biomass sources such as grasses is desirable because they are potentially available in large quantities,” said Joy Peterson, professor of microbiology and chair of UGA’s Bioenergy Task Force. “Optimizing the breakdown of the plant fibers is critical to production of liquid transportation fuel via fermentation.” Peterson developed the new technology with former UGA microbiology student Sarah Kate Brandon, and Mark Eiteman, professor of biological and agricultural engineering.

The new technology features a fast, mild, acid-free pretreatment process that increases by at least 10 times the amount of simple sugars released from inexpensive biomass for conversion to ethanol. The technology effectively eliminates the use of expensive and environmentally unsafe chemicals currently used to pretreat biomass.

The technology is available for licensing from the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., which has filed a patent application.

Inexpensive waste products—including corn stover or bagasse, the waste from corn and sugar cane harvests, fast-growing weeds—and non-food crops grown for biofuel, such as switchgrass, Napiergrass and Bermudagrass, are widely viewed as the best sustainable resources for ethanol made from biofuels.

“Using non-food crops that can be grown on marginal lands, like grasses, and fibrous waste streams like corn stover, is important because of the ongoing food-versus-fuel debate,” said Peterson. “When agricultural crops, such as corn or potatoes, are grown for biofuels production, the cost of the starting material may fluctuate greatly because of competing demands for food and feed. The trade-off with using a biomass like grasses is that grasses are harder to break apart than corn or potatoes, and the cost of making the same fuel, like ethanol, rises.”

Developing an efficient, cost-effective process to convert the fibrous stalks, leaves, and blades of plant wastes into simple sugars is the biggest challenge to bio-based ethanol production. Thick, complex plant cell walls are highly resistant to efforts to break them down.

Currently, woody biomass requires soaking under high pressure and temperatures in expensive, environmentally aggressive bases or acids before it is subjected to enzymes that digest it, producing simple sugars. The harsh pretreatment solutions subsequently must be removed and disposed of safely. They also cause formation of side products that can slow down the conversion of the sugars into ethanol.

In contrast, the environmentally friendly UGA technology eliminates the expense of harsh pretreatment chemicals and their disposal, and the formation of side products is minimal.

“The new technology has commercial application for the biomass industry, including producers of sugar cane, corn, switchgrass, Napiergrass and other woody biomass crops,” said Gennaro Gama, UGARF technology manager responsible for licensing this technology. “It may also help renewable energy and biofermentation companies—and local governments.

“By allowing for the use of myriad raw materials, this technology allows more options for ethanol facilities trying to meet nearby demand by using locally available, inexpensive starting materials,” he added. “This would greatly reduce the costs and carbon footprint associated with the delivery of raw materials to fermentation facilities and the subsequent delivery of ethanol to points of sale. Local production of ethanol may also protect specific areas against speculative fluctuations in fuel prices.

“It’s easy to imagine that this easy-to-use, inexpensive technology could be used by local governments, alone or in partnership with entrepreneurs, to meet local demand for ethanol, possibly using yard waste as a substrate,” he said.