Technologies & Strategies That Enable R&D
Detecting the undetectable
September 24, 2008 2:51 pm | Award WinnersThe Berkeley Lab PhyloChip, developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is a DNA microarray that quickly, comprehensively, and accurately identifies species within microbial samples from any environmental source, without any culturing required.
Micro pumps, mega speed
September 24, 2008 2:49 pm | Award WinnersAccelerating the pace of pharmaceutical research and production by eliminating bottlenecks in protein crystallography, assay development, and other areas of drug development is the goal of the Formulator from Formulatrix, Inc. (Waltham, Mass.). The Formulator is a microfluidic liquid handler that can dispense volumes of 200 nL and greater from 17 reagent sources into standard microplates.
Going with the flow
September 24, 2008 2:47 pm | Award WinnersVolumetric 3-Component Velocimetry (V3V) System, Particle velocimetry technique The Volumetric 3-Component Velocimetry (V3V) System, which provides time-resolved measurements of complex flows at unprecedented 3-D spatial scales using 3-D imaging technology. Developed at TSI Inc. (Shoreview, Minn.), with help from the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, Calif.), the V3V System non-intrusively measures the instantaneous fluid flow velocity field in a 3-D volumetric region at rates of 7.5 measurements/sec.
A new angle on contact measurement
September 24, 2008 2:45 pm | Award WinnersContact angles of liquids on solid surfaces are critical in practical engineering applications. Commercially available contact angle meters only measure the contact angle from the side view direction, and therefore cannot be used to investigate the wetting and spreading characteristics of liquids either on a nonisotropic solid surface or on a nonisothermal solid surface. Overcoming these drawbacks is the Multidimensional Contact Angle Measurement Device (MCAMD), developed by NASA Glenn Research Center and the Ohio Aerospace Institute.
Conquering cancer
September 24, 2008 2:42 pm | Award WinnersThe AXXENT HDR X-Ray Source, Model S700, developed by Xoft, Inc., is a micro-miniature disposable x-ray source that can be inserted into the body to deliver a 50 kVp therapeutic dose of radiation for cancer treatment.
Novel neutron detection
September 24, 2008 2:40 pm | Award WinnersConventional neutron detectors are based on high-voltage proportional counters that detect the high-voltage electrical discharges created when neutrons are absorbed by atoms in a gas cell. These detectors are susceptible to false-positive electrical discharges and are difficult to manufacture. Overcoming these flaws is the Lyman Alpha Neutron Detector (LAND), developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Gaithersburg, Md.) and the Univ. of Maryland (Callege Park, Md.).
SMART crystallography
September 24, 2008 2:38 pm | Award WinnersSMART X2S, Model S700, Benchtop instrument for atomic-resolution crystal structure determination of small molecules Traditional x-ray systems for 3-D crystal structure determination are large instruments that require significant infrastructure and extensive knowledge of crystallography to use. In the absence of these two things, chemists forgo structural confirmation at key stages of their research or send samples to a service lab. All of that has changed with the SMART X2S from Bruker AXS Inc. (Madison, Wisc.).
A GUARDION in the field
September 24, 2008 2:35 pm | Award WinnersThe GUARDION-7 GC-TMS is a small, portable gas chromatograph-toroidal ion trap mass spectrometer (GC-TMS) for field measurement of hazardous chemical compounds developed by Torion Technologies, Inc (American Fork, Utah).
DiscovIRing molecular structure
September 24, 2008 2:30 pm | Award WinnersComprehensive molecular structure information can be obtained by fraction collection from preparative liquid chromatography, followed by manual solvent evaporation, KBr pellet formation (or evaporation onto an ATR diamond probe), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, but this is laborious and has low sensitivity. Overcoming these limitations is an instrument from researchers at Spectra Analysis Inc.: the DiscovIR-LC, a liquid chromatography-infrared spectrometer that produces real-time chromatograms and complete mid-IR spectra free of solvent interference.
Increasing NMR sensitivity
September 24, 2008 2:27 pm | Award Winners600 MHz 1.7 mm TCI Micro-CryoProbe with Z-Gradient, NMR microprobe Conventional room-temperature NMR microprobes with 5-µL and 30-µL volumes have become popular in areas such as natural products chemistry, drug metabolism, protein NMR, and drug screening applications. Researchers working with very limited sample quantities in this area will benefit greatly from Bruker BioSpin AG's (Fällanden, Switzerland) 600 MHz 1.7 mm TCI Micro-CryoProbe with Z-Gradient.
The power of pathlength
September 24, 2008 2:24 pm | Award WinnersSoloVPE—Variable Pathlength Extension, Enhancement for spectroscopy For over 50 years, spectroscopists have trained and worked in a world where pathlength was considered to be a constant by developing techniques and methods around the fixed pathlength cuvettes available to them. The SoloVPE—Variable Pathlength Extension—from C Technologies Inc. (Bridgewater, N.J.)—is turning spectroscopy on its head by dynamically varying optical pathlengths, thus enabling absorption measurements of highly concentrated samples without dilution.
Simply pure
September 24, 2008 2:22 pm | Award WinnersClarity QSP, Solid-phase extraction chromatography product Academic researchers and biopharmaceutical companies are demanding lower-cost, high-quality oligonucleotides for various experimental technologies. Oligonucleotide manufacturers simply cannot satisfy the market’s needs without a new automated purification technology to complement their oligonucleotide synthesis platforms. Enter the Clarity QSP from Phenomenex, Inc. (Torrance, Calif.), a solid-phase extraction (SPE) chromatography product that provides a quick and simple alternative to conventional reversed-phase mechanisms for purifying synthetic oligonucleotides.
More complete catalyst chemistry
September 24, 2008 12:29 pm | Award WinnersMany important devices, such as automotive catalysts, fuel reformers, and fuel cells, have small reaction spaces that cannot be probed by conventional analytical instruments. Facilitating these measurements is the SpaciMS: Spatially Resolved Capillary Inlet Mass Spectrometer, developed by Cummins, Inc. (Columbus, Ind.), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), Queen's Univ. (Belfast, UK), Hiden Analytical (Warrington, UK), and Y12 National Security Complex (Oak Ridge, Tenn.). SpaciMS is an instrument for minimally invasive sampling of transient species distributions inside operating confined-space reactors.
Clearing the air
September 24, 2008 12:01 pm | Award WinnersScientists at the National Energy Technology Laboratory have created the High-Temperature Palladium Sorbent to Remove Mercury and Other Trace Elements in Gasification Processes, a scrubbing process that, as its name implies, removes mercury and other trace contaminants, such as arsenic and selenium, from high-temperature gases produced by the gasification of coal.
A clear choice for better plastics
September 24, 2008 11:41 am | Award WinnersPolypropylene (PP) is a widely used polyolefin because of its flexibility, light weight, good chemical resistance, and the fact that it can be melted and reshaped easily. Packaging and housewares are common applications for PP, but its crystallinity causes a cloudy and opaque appearance. Millad NX8000, from Milliken & Co. (Spartanburg, S.C.), overcomes this limitation by inventing a new chemistry, dibenzylidene nonitol (DBN).
