Letter from the Regional Coordinator

I hope you enjoyed the joint regional meeting as much as I did! This year we had more than 60 attendees, the Midwest Region presented five awards, and everybody had a great time at the networking events. For those of you who did not attend, the presentations are available on our website, and videos will be available shortly. Read more

Drinking Water Researchers Replicate Distribution Pipelines

"Stuff grows on pipes." That's how one drinking water expert sums up the National Risk Management Research Laboratory's (NRMRL's) innovative research into the pipe-wall dynamics of the distribution systems that carry finished water from treatment plant to consumer tap. Read more

Analytical Methods for Chemical Warfare Agent Degradation Products

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) have been used in the past to incapacitate and kill, and their potential use in a homeland security incident is a concern. Many CWAs don't persist in the environment, but quickly degrade into other harmful substances. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has several suggested methods for analyzing CWAs and their degradation products in environmental matrices, but most of these methods have not been validated. Read more

New State-of-the-Art Facility Coming to FPL

The Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has been an international leader in forest products research for nearly a century. But while FPL's research has evolved to meet the needs of modern society, much of the work is being conducted in outdated facilities. As a result, a new combined research facility called the Multi-Use Laboratory (MUL) has been designed. Construction is slated to begin this summer, with completion estimated just in time for FPL's centennial in 2010. Read more

NASA Develops Chemical Battery Replacement

At NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC), the Hybrid Power Management Program (HPM) has been working on using ultracapacitors in place of rechargeable batteries. The applications examined to date include everything from electrical power storage on the International Space Station to powering electric toothbrushes on Earth. Most recently, the GRC HPM has focused on the control and regulation of hybrid propulsion systems. Read more

NASA and NOAA Partner to Monitor Algae in Great Lakes

Researchers at NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) have teamed up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), Ann Arbor, Michigan, to monitor harmful algae in the western basin of Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron. Read more

Power Tool Noise Reduction 101

College students get involved in occupational safety and health. Starting again this fall, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will sponsor college engineering student groups to evaluate and redesign power tools to reduce noise emissions as part of a class project. Read more

U.S. Army ERDC Improves Design and Construction Project Delivery

Among other missions, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of military facilities for the Army and Air Force. In support of this mission, the Engineer Research and Development Center's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) in Champaign, Illinois, has developed Project Extranet (ProjNetSM). ProjNetSM is a secure, web-based information exchange platform that allows interaction between project managers' agents, facility owners, architects and engineers, and contractors to quickly and effectively identify and resolve technical issues. Read more

Eichrom Technologies: Lessons Learned From a Successful High-Tech Startup

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, about 60 percent of new companies fail within six years. One that has succeeded and grown is Eichrom Technologies LLC, founded in 1990 to commercialize chemical separation technology developed in the Chemistry Division at Argonne National Laboratory. The story of the company’s founding and early travails provides insight into key issues faced by high-tech startups and illustrates resources available through U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, such as Argonne, that can help smooth some of the bumps. Read more

Nano-Boric Acid Makes Motor Oil More Slippery

One key to saving the environment, improving our economy and reducing our dependence on foreign oil might just be sitting in your mother’s medicine cabinet. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have begun to combine infinitesimal particles of boric acid – known primarily as a mild antiseptic and eye cleanser – with traditional motor oils in order to improve their lubricity and by doing so increase energy efficiency. Read more

FLC Midwest Region Presents Five Awards for 2007

At the 2007 Midwest/Southeast joint regional meeting, the Midwest Region was pleased to present the following awards: Excellence in Technology Transfer Award, Regional Coordinator's Excellence Award, and Partnership Award. Read more

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