Future of Alternative Energy Dr. Jud Ready, EOSL senior researcher, recently appeared with Bill Griffeth and Sue Herrera on CNBC. In this special feature on alternative energy, he discusses his group's patented carbon nanotube work and its future in a variety of applications, including mobile devices and space satellites.

Researchers Examine Medical RF Interference A research team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has begun to study the effects that RFID devices may have on medical electronics. The team, headed by Ralph Herkert, director of EOSL’s Medical Device Test Center, is working to develop a test procedure that manufacturers of paramedical devices and medical equipment can use to evaluate their products’ immunity to RF signals.

Carbon Nanotube Boosting Efficiency of Electric Propulsion Systems Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Electro-Optical Systems Lab have won a $6.5 million grant to develop improved components that will boost the efficiency of electric propulsion systems used to control the positions of satellites and planetary probes.

GTRI Interns Promote Sustainable Energy Systems in Yellowstone Georgia Tech students Angela Rice and Michael Harris interned with GTRI researchers under the the Yellowstone Environmental Stewardship (YES!) Initiative, a multi-year action plan to help the Park further reduce its ecological footprint, increase operational efficiency, and better preserve resources for future generations.

EOSL Demonstrates Cargo Security Technologies for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) EOSL demonstrated its cargo container security system at a recent event sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. The projects - the Container Security Device (CSD) - was developed under contract to the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate. It was among projects featured and demonstrated in simulated and realistic supply chain scenarios at the Department's Cargo Conveyance Security Technology Demonstrations held August 17-28 at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M.

     

U.S. Army and EOSL Dedicate New Communications Electronics Laboratory The Georgia Tech Research Institute GTRI expands its collaboration with the U.S. Army by establishing an on-site laboratory at EOSL that will work closely with the Army in the field of communications electronics. Known as the Army Reprogramming Analysis Team - Support Cell Atlanta (ARAT-SC ATL), the new facility will develop software and other technologies for communications electronics used by U.S. soldiers in the field. .

    

 

Multidisciplinary GTRI Team Tackles an Urgent Aircraft Defense Upgrade When the U.S. Air Force found that one of its key combat aircraft needed more protection from an enemy missile threat, EOSL Principal Research Scientist Charlie Carstensen and a multidisciplinary team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) went into action to improve its electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures systems.

     

Georgia Tech Ireland Hosts Inaugural RFID Workshop EOSL Director Dr. Gisele Bennett joined Irish business and scientific leaders at Georgia Tech Ireland's inaugural workshop on radio frequency identification technologies.

     

Detecting Invisible Aviation Hazards EOSL is leading a team of researchers from five universities and research organizations to investigate the feasibility of using an instrument - called a forward looking interferometer - to detect invisible atmospheric hazards during takeoff, cruise and landing.

     

Sensing Technology Looks to Prevent Salmonella Outbreaks EOSL research scientist Dr. Jie Xu discusses on Fox News how technology developed by the Environmental Sensor group could prevent future salmonella outbreaks like the recent one connected to Peanut Corp. of America.

     

Micro Honeycomb Materials Enable a New Physics of Sound Reduction EOSL research engineer Jason Nadler has developed a prototype microchanneled material composed of many metallic nanotubes to validate acoustic absorption experiments designed to reduce noise in aircraft.

 

     

OLED Next Gen Displays and Solid State Lighting EOSL researchers have developed an improved organic light emitting diode (OLED) sealing process to reduce moisture intrusion and improve device lifetime. OLEDs use less power and can be more efficiently manufactured than current technology.

     

Airborne Test Platform Moves toward Next Phase It’s not quite “plug-and-play” technology, but Oculus is designed to come pretty close. This airborne test platform, under development by GTRI researchers in collaboration with West Virginia university and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, performs airborne testing of sensors and high-speed communications links.

     

Improved Decontamination: UV-C Phosphor Kills Anthrax Spores EOSL researchers collaborated with Austin-based Stellar Micro Devices, Inc. (SMD) to develop prototypes of a rapid, non-disruptive and less expensive method that could be used to decontaminate bioterrorism hazards in the future. Using flat panel modules that produce X-rays and ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light simultaneously, the researchers can kill hard-to-find anthrax spores in two to three hours without any lingering effects.

 

Improving Missile Warning Systems EOSL researchers are using genetic algorithms to improve the missile warning systems that alert pilots to approaching threats. Read about how Mother Nature has inspired software optimization in the project profile, excerpted from GTRI's 2007 Annual Report.

 

Explosives on a Chip EOSL researchers are developing tiny copper structures with pores at both the nanometer and micron size scales could play a key role in the next generation of detonators used to improve the reliability, reduce the size and lower the cost of certain military munitions. Space War, Scientific Blogging, and Bio-Medicine have also reported on this exciting project  - download PDF files of the articles here, here and here.

 

Prototype Sensor for Food Safety Research Scientist Jie Xu leads a team that is developing a sensor to measure chlorine levels in the chiller water used in poultry processing plants. Poultry Tech featured Dr. Xu's project in a recent issue, and the PDF file with the full article can be downloaded here.

 

Understanding RFID Part V: RF Characteristics Lab Director Gisele Bennett and a team of EOSL researchers conducted water readability tests on the Alien 9540 Squiggle RFID tag for this recent article by Jerry Banks and Les G. Thompson. The authors are also co-authors of RFID Applied (John Wiley, 2007). A PDF of the article, part of a series explaining the principles of RFID technology published by RFIDNews, can be downloaded here.

 

Clean Room Classic: Vacuum Evaporator Purchased 50 Years Ago Still Going Strong A 1957 classic sits in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) clean room. It’s not a Chevy, but a Veeco vacuum evaporator more than six feet tall and five feet wide. The evaporator, still in use today, deposits thin films necessary for microfabrication processes.

 

New Biosensor for Faster Detection of Avian Flu A new biosensor developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) can detect avian influenza in just minutes. In addition to being a rapid test, the biosensor is economical, field-deployable, sensitive to different viral strains and requires no labels or reagents.

 

Safe Water: Simpler Method for Analyzing Radium in Water Samples Cuts Testing Time A simpler technique for testing public drinking water samples for the presence of the radioactive element radium can dramatically reduce the amount of time required to conduct the sampling required by federal regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved use of the new testing method.

 

Wearable Captioning on CNN Watch EOSL senior research scientist Leanne West discuss the wearable captioning system developed by GTRI. The project was recently featured on CNN.

 

Providing Secure Monitoring for Cargo Shipping Engineers in EOSL's Intelligent Sensors group have developed a new security device for shipping containers that could make US ports less vulnerable to terrorist activities.

 

EOSL's Gary G. Gimmestad selected as SPIE Fellow The International Society for Optical Engineering has recognized Gary G. Gimmestad for specific achievements in the areas of remote sensing technology including LIDAR systems for atmospheric characterization and air quality monitoring.

 

Widening the Wireless World Later this year, a wireless captioning system developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and licensed by SightLine Media will debut in movie theaters across the nation for beta testing. It will offer new, unobtrusive technology to allow people who are deaf or hard of hearing to enjoy Hollywood’s latest films.

 

Three-dimensional Solar Cells New 3D solar cells developed at EOSL capture more light in smaller photovoltaic arrays. Advances like these could enable lighter, more efficient satellites and other spacecraft.

 

Close Encounters of an Electromagnetic Kind Housed within GTRI’s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory, the Medical Device Test Center works with manufacturers of EAS systems and medical devices to increase product compatibility.

 

The Chemical Companion: a First Responder's Best Friend To help first responders and hazardous materials teams, EOSL researchers have developed a software tool for Windows CE-based personal digital assistants that provides detailed information on 130 of the most common chemicals associated with hazmat incidents.

 

Medicine and the Wireless World: Understanding Electromagnetic Interference in Medical Devices EOSL's Medical Device Test Center helps protect implanted medical devices from electromagnetic emissions from increasingly common electronic surveillance systems.

 

Sensing Support: SENSIAC Helps the Military Advance Technologies for Defense Sensors In the past, military sensing technologies have focused on observing and targeting the enemy from a distance. But with the new emphasis on homeland security, sensors must get up close and personal.

 

Maintainer’s Support: EOSL Software Helps Aircraft Technicians Centralize Maintenance Tasks Aircraft technicians these days are as likely to use a laptop as a printed manual and logbook, and to turn to the Internet for the latest job-status reports and technical information. A team from EOSL are assisting them, using current computer and database technology to help military aircraft maintainers get their work done more efficiently.

 

New Leadership: Gisele Bennett Named Director of Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory at Georgia Tech Research Institute Gisele Bennett has been named director of the new Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL) at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in Atlanta. The new lab was created to highlight GTRI’s broad expertise and experience in electro-optical systems.

 

Moving the Needle: Georgia Tech Researchers Develop Portable Vein Finder for Faster, More Accurate Injections When medics are treating trauma patients, every second counts. Yet bruises, burns, and other physical conditions often make it difficult to locate veins and administer lifesaving drugs or solutions.

 

Improving Survivability and Mobility: Concept Vehicle Illustrating New Options for Military Combat Vehicles Unveiled A concept vehicle designed by EOSL engineers to illustrate potential technology options for improving survivability and mobility in future military combat vehicles was shown publicly for the first time Sept. 13-15 at a military technology meeting in Virginia.