TechUpdate Newsletter

Issue 2, 2013

	Stability for Utilities

	Iris Recognition Put to the Test

	A Long-Term Vision

	Greener Replication

	Algorithms Target Cancer

	A Breath of Fresh Air

	Precision Biopsies

	Materials Firm Scores Biomedical Breakthrough

	One-Stop Shop for Better Silicon Carbide

	Finding Solutions Inside the ‘Bubble’

	Accurate Detection Through Advanced Sensors

	Making Versatile Composites

	From Models to Mortals

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Stability for Utilities

A novel flywheel system holds promise for the power grid.

Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories, LLC (GTL; Tullahoma, TN), has taken an MDA-funded process a step further and is applying its principles to create a technology for efficiently harnessing electrical power and improving the stability of the power grid.

Iris Recognition Put to the Test

Verification system installed at busy Dubai airport.

AOptix Technologies, Inc., (Campbell, CA) is installing its automated face and iris passenger-recognition systems at Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest. The systems will be installed at 100 “Smart Gates” and counters at Terminal 3, a major entry/exit processing point for passengers traveling through the United Arab Emirates.

A Long-Term Vision

Small companies build technical know how for solving challenges today and tomorrow.

Three decades have passed since President Ronald Reagan took to the airwaves to outline a vision in which the United States “could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies.”

Greener Replication

Eco-friendly manufacturing process builds stronger, lighter parts.

A faster, greener process to replicate aircraft, rotorcraft, and automotive parts is taking root in northern Nevada, thanks to an enterprising company that has learned from lessons gleaned from MDA contract work.

Algorithms Target Cancer

New diagnostic tools have sprouted from work for MDA predecessor.

CDx Diagnostics (Suffern, NY) has developed new endoscopy applications for its computer-aided diagnostic system, which had its origins in MDA predecessor the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO).

A Breath of Fresh Air

Robotic system assists in neck-trauma cases.

Energid Technologies, Inc. (Cambridge, MA), is making new inroads commercializing its robotics-control software—this time aiding emergency-room physicians.
The company has developed software that, when paired with a Cyton™ robotic, serves as a tool for clearing a neck-trauma patient’s airway and inserting a tube for breathing (intubation). The machine-based, precision approach to intubation—overseen by a human operator—allows a patient to maintain oxygen flow, but without suffering damage to the vocal cords or other organs.

Precision Biopsies

Fiber-optic tool can zero in on tumors, with minimal tissue damage.

Using optics technology funded in part by the Missile Defense Agency, researchers are working toward a more accurate, less intrusive way to biopsy tumors.
Intelligent Fiber Optic Systems, Inc. (IFOS; Santa Clara, CA), has developed a novel system that uses sensor-laden fiber optics, a gyroscope, and a needle to enable minimally invasive surgery. The company, whose sensor technology evolved with R&D support from agencies including MDA, has been working with university and government partners to test the technology in lab simulations. Unlike an MRI-based approach for targeting tumors, the new approach would give specialists an up-close, precise, and real-time view as instruments make their way to their tumor target. The IFOS method relies on a thin, flexible, sensor-bearing fiber-optic cable that, along with tiny surgical instruments, can be inserted near the point of a tumor. A physician can then visually track and maneuver the fiber-optic tool precisely to the location of a tumor. The precise navigation of the probe minimizes damage to neighboring tissue. After a tumor is located, it can be biopsied. IFOS officials anticipate their technology to be lab-tested on animals by 2015.

Materials Firm Scores Biomedical Breakthrough

MDA-funded technology used in developing world’s first synthetic human trachea

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Scientists have transformed a solar-radiation-reducing material developed by an MDA-funded company into the structural basis for the world’s first fully synthetic human trachea.
The material, a nanocomposite polymer technology called “POSS®, is the brainchild of Hybrid Plastics, Inc. (Hattiesburg, MS). Over the years, the company developed ways to form POSS into an array of coating applications to protect everything from electronics components to historical monuments to human skin. MDA funded Hybrid Plastics’ successful foray into transforming POSS into a radiation-reducing material through a 2005 SBIR Phase II contract.

One-Stop Shop for Better Silicon Carbide

Material delivers high strength and high quality at a lower cost.

Today Japan is the primary manufacturer of silicon-carbide (SiC) fiber, which is not only very costly, but often of uneven quality. A domestic source of high-quality SiC would be highly desirable for the U.S. technical sector. MATECH (Westlake, CA), through its work in the MDA SBIR program, has found a way to produce ultra-high-temperature (UHT) ceramic-matrix composites, some of which benefit from the use of SiC and silicon carbide/silicon nitride (SiNC) ceramic fibers, using domestic raw materials and completing the manufacturing process “under one roof” in its California facility.

Finding Solutions Inside the ‘Bubble’

Plasma technology could make aircraft, automotive, maritime components lighter and stronger.

An MDA-funded company that developed the world’s first plasma-display touch system could soon revolutionize the manufacture of aircraft, automotive, and maritime structures through the incorporation of innovative composite subcomponents.

Accurate Detection Through Advanced Sensors

Hyperspectral devices offer adaptability from farms to the high seas.

Opto-Knowledge Systems, Inc. (OKSI; Torrance, CA), is adapting its hyperspectral sensing devices to accurately detect things like water pollution levels and traces of radiation.
MDA first funded OKSI through a 2005 SBIR Phase II contract to develop remote sensors for potential use in mitigating missile threats.
Company researchers initially worked to commercialize their MDA-funded technology by developing a hyperspectral remote sensing tool to help farmers examine irrigation levels and overall crop health. When the farm-related project turned too costly, OKSI looked to other organizations for potential applications of the company’s technology.

Making Versatile Composites

Coal-based carbon foam offers strong, lightweight option for parts manufacturing.

A novel, patented material designed to provide stronger, lighter alternatives for parts manufacturing is tapping in to markets the world over.
Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd. (Triadelphia, WV), a company pioneering coal-based material development, created C-FOAM®, a carbon foam with exceptionally high tensile strength that can be formed into just about any kind of parts used in applications as varied from sporting goods to automotive.

From Models to Mortals

Human-on-a-chip project provides lessons in anatomy.

In 2012, CFD Research Corporation (CFDRC; Huntsville, AL) announced a cooperative agreement with Harvard University and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create “human-on-a-chip” technology that can simulate the operations of the lung, liver, heart, and brain.


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