Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOE)
Explosives go green for the environment
August 31, 2006 8:00 pm | Award WinnersLos Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, N.M.) developed Green Primaries: Enviro-Friendly Energetic Materials, novel explosive compounds that are environmentally friendly and nontoxic to human health, yet they also possess all the physical and chemical properties and sensitivities required of primary explosives.
Modeling with Michelle
August 31, 2006 8:00 pm | Award WinnersHigh-power microwave tubes are used in a variety of applications including defense radar systems, satellite communication systems, particle accelerators, and even deep space communication systems. The design requirements, and indeed, the overall effectiveness of these tubes, however, can be extraordinarily complex to build, leading to the use of specialized finite element simulation software. MICHELLE, is a response to that effort.
Breakthrough catalyst
August 31, 2005 8:00 pm | Award WinnersLos Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., developed a Metal NanoFoam Fabrication Technique that produces materials that are significantly more efficient than competing catalysts and also useful in other non-catalysis applications. Tappan’s technique produces self-supporting, nanoporous metal foams with pore sizes, surface areas, and densities comparable to those of silica aerogels, the lightest known solids.
Torch impacts heat dissipation
August 31, 2004 8:00 pm | Award WinnersThe Plasma-Torch Production of Spherical Boron Nitride Particles created at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), N.M., is a method that melts crystalline (hexagonal phase) boron nitride, creating the first-ever spherical particles of crystalline boron nitride.
Pushing the envelope at your desk
August 31, 2004 8:00 pm | Award WinnersThe skyrocketing popularity of online downloads continues to emphasize the need for faster connectivity levels. The 10-Gigabit Ethernet Adapter, developed by researchers at Intel Corp., Austin, Texas, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., has the potential to transfer information from one computer to another up to 148,000 times faster than a high-speed modem connection and 23,000 times faster than a DSL connection.
The naked truth
August 31, 2004 8:00 pm | Award WinnersArt historians would undoubtedly take notice of the technology behind the first Confocal X-ray Fluorescence Microscope, developed by a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., and XOS (X-Ray Optical Systems) Inc., East Greenbush, N.Y. Geared but not limited to art conservation, this new approach is capable of providing 3-D elemental images of objects thicker than a few hundred nanometers without sample damage, with a 15-nm spatial resolution and parts-per million sensitivity.
High-throughput superconductors
August 31, 2003 8:00 pm | Award WinnersEvolutionary improvements continue to be made to high-temperature superconducting materials for use as electrical conductors. Paul Arendt, a technical staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., has developed a Flexible Superconducting Tape that goes beyond the evolutionary improvements to an enabling process improvement enhancing performance, lowering production cost, and increasing manufacturability.
Rapid x-ray scanning
August 31, 2003 8:00 pm | Award WinnersDeveloped jointly by a group of researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and HYTEC, Inc., both from Los Alamos, N.M., the FLASH-CT is a high-speed, industrial computed tomography (CT) scanning system.
Lead-free matches transform pyrotechnics
August 31, 2003 8:00 pm | Award WinnersA group led by Darren Naud, Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., and PyroLabs, Inc., Whitewater, Colo., have devised Super-Thermite Electric Matches. These devices are made out of Metastable Intermolecular Composite (MIC) materials, which do not emit any toxic lead smoke and resist friction, impact, and static. Their potential goes beyond transforming pyrotechnics and extends into igniting rocket motors or as a possible triggering device for car air bags.
Fixing assembly line blues
August 31, 2003 8:00 pm | Award WinnersThe diaper production line at The Procter & Gamble Co. had the potential to go wrong in numerous places—and each time it did, the line had to be stopped, with other foul-ups potentially arising. The Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G), Cincinnati, Ohio, teamed up with Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., to create PowerFactoRE-A Suite of Reliability Engineering Tools for Optimizing the Manufacturing Process.
