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2009 Archive

MODSIM World Brings Leaders in M&S Field to Hampton Roads
From Oct. 14 through 16 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, Old Dominion University's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) will be one of the major contributors to the third annual MODSIM World Conference & Expo, which is designed to attract military, government, business and education leaders. Modeling and simulation has become a major economic driver in Hampton Roads, contributing nearly $1 billion to the region's economy, and directly employing more than 4,000 people. For more information, go here or here.

NASA's Version of a Star Trek-Like Replicator
NASA engineers are working on a novel manufacturing technique at Langley Research Center in Hampton. Known as Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication, or EBF3, the computer-driven process requires a vacuum chamber, where an electron beam focuses on a feeder metal source. Molten metal is then applied one layer at a time on top of a rotating surface until the part is complete. Reduced production and material costs and improved performance are among the advantages, with promise in the fields of aviation, spaceflight and medical technology. More detail is available here.

Helping the Environment with Fuel-Producing Algae
The College of William and Mary and its Virginia Institute of Marine Science have formed a collaborative research initiative to investigate a promising new technology to produce biofuel from the algae growing naturally in rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. The enterprise, called ChAP – the Chesapeake Algae Project – is an integrated research approach to algae-based energy production and environmental remediation. It includes a number of corporate partners, notably StatoilHydro, a Norwegian energy company that has invested $3 million in seed capital. Learn more here.

American-Made SRF Cavity Makes the Grade
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility marked a step forward in the field of advanced particle-accelerator technology with a successful test of the first U.S.-built superconducting radiofrequency niobium cavity to meet the exacting specifications of the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC). If built, the ILC would be an electron-positron collider that would enable scientists to explore matter at higher levels of energy. The ILC would require about 16,000 niobium cavities; vendors worldwide are vying to produce test cavities to meet stringent performance goals. Click here for more detail.

EVMS Breaks Ground for New Building
With help from Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine and several members of the Virginia General Assembly, Eastern Virginia Medical School has broken ground “virtually” on its new education and research building. The new structure will provide additional research space, allowing the school to expand its medical-doctor and physician-assistant programs to meet growing demand for services. Go here for more.

Research Partnership Colleague Organizations are Still One Click Away
Interested in what our parent organization, the Hampton Roads Partnership, is up to? Want to catch up with the Hampton Roads Technology Council or the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance? Behind on the latest concerning Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology? Visiting the websites of our colleague organizations is a simple click away. Just go to the Links pulldown section on the top of this page. Or you can just doubleclick here.

Discovery May Point Way to New Treatments for Diabetes and Heart Disease
Eastern Virginia Medical School scientists studying fat cells have discovered what may be a vital step in the progression of diabetes and heart disease, a finding that could lead to the development of groundbreaking new treatments. Their research, reported in the June 11, 2009 issue of Obesity, is the first to prove this link. To learn more, go here.

NASA Announces Green Aircraft Challenge
NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program and the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation have established the Green Flight Challenge. The contest aims to spur development of aircraft that can average at least 100 miles per hour on a 200-mile flight while achieving greater than 200 passenger miles per gallon of consumed fuel. The prize for the best performance is $1.5 million. To learn more, click here.

Taller Reefs Key to Oyster Restoration
A five-year Virginia Institute of Marine Science study of oyster-restoration techniques in the Chesapeake Bay has revealed that taller reefs in an extensive network of large sanctuaries are critical to the re-establishment of self-sustaining populations of native oysters. The VIMS research team compared oyster abundance and growth on reefs built to stand 10 to 18 inches above the seafloor with reefs that rise only three to five inches. Oyster densities on the taller reefs were four times those found on the smaller: 1,000 vs. 250 per square meter. For additional detail, follow this link.

Virginia Wesleyan Receives Computer-Education Grant
Virginia Wesleyan College is one of four schools to receive a Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC)/Verizon Foundation “Digital Age Initiative” grant. The award is designed to help provide incoming freshman from challenged backgrounds with instruction and assistance in developing computer skills. Selectees will receive intensive technology training through a three-day pre-session offered prior to the fall 2009 semester and regular course offerings. Read more here.

Contest Challenges Young Students to Build Water Recyling System for the Moon
Can children in grade school or middle school create a water-recycling system that astronauts could use on the moon? To find out, NASA has established a national competition with just that challenge. Small teams of students from grades 5 through 8 will participate in the project, which is slated to begin in the fall and conclude with submission of potential designs by Feb. 1, 2010. The Virginia Space Grant Consortium, which includes Old Dominion University as a member, is promoting the contest to educators throughout Virginia. For more information, go to this page.

University Students Win NASA/NIA Lunar Design Competition
Students from Georgia Tech, North Carolina State University, and the University of Maryland took first-place honors in the 2009 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage contest sponsored by NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace. They presented their work at a forum in Cocoa Beach, Fla. The winning teams competed against twelve other universities including teams from Arizona State University, Colorado School of Mines and Penn. State. Additional detail is here.

New Projects Feature Debuts on HRRP Website
We’re introducing Projects, a new feature on the Research Partnership homepage. To find out what current studies our members are conducting and details about the physical improvements they’re making to buildings and equipment, simply click the Projects button to the left of this posting, or go here.

Study Reveals Alarming Global Decline in Seagrass
VIMS marine science professor Dr. Robert Orth is among 14 researchers from the United States, Australia and Spain who have conducted the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass. The team found accelerating losses: fully 58 percent of world's seagrass meadows are currently declining, at rates similar to coral reefs and tropical rainforests. Such a trend threatens the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. Orth and his 13 co-authors have published their assessment in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To learn more, click here.

Bringing Prosperity to Hampton Roads
In an Inside Business Magazine column, HRRP Executive Director Lee Beach examines the substantial progress being made in local technology-based economic development. Beach takes note of a growing number of partnerships that are concentrating on real products for the marketplace. The result: more jobs, increased revenue and spinoffs. Read more here.

Five-Year NSF Grant Awarded to Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport University will receive $2.6 million over the next five years from the National Science Foundation for a project to link urban water quality with scientific research and education in the Chesapeake Watershed. CNU students and Newport News high schoolers will create a neighborhoods database from ecological field studies that will determine the environmental health of regional watersheds. The database will allow the City of Newport News to monitor and manage pollutants entering the James River and Chesapeake Bay. Learn more here.

VIMS, Watermen Collaborate to Clean and Protect the Chesapeake Bay
Watermen and scientists are collaborating to rid the Chesapeake Bay of abandoned crab pots that can trap and kill aquatic wildlife. The program, overseen by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and funded by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, pays out-of-work crab dredgers to use side-imaging sonar units to detect and retrieve these “ghost pots” and other marine debris that litter the bottom of the Bay. To learn more, go here.

Car Exhaust Cleanup May be Leading to More Pollution
A research team that includes Old Dominion University oceanographer Peter Sedwick has found catalytic converters that remove smog from car exhaust may actually introduce a new pollutant into the biosphere. Trace amounts of the metal osmium, which can be very toxic under certain conditions, is increasingly prevalent globally in rain and snow, as well as in rivers and oceans. Fortunately, unlike lead, osmium concentrations are extremely small and may not adversely affect biology. For additional detail, click here.

Taking a NASA Plastic to Heart
A kind of superplastic developed at NASA Langley Research Center is helping to prevent heart failure. The material is part of an implantable device to resynchronize heartbeats and improve blood flow. The plastic is biologically inert, highly flexible, resistant to chemicals, and withstands extreme hot and cold temperatures. Go here for additional information.

Latest Issue of HRRP Newsletter Now Available
The June 2009 issue of News & Notes, the Research Partnership’s newsletter, has been posted. To read it, click the "Current Issue" link on the Our Newsletter button, to the left, or go here.

Presentations for June 26 Sensors Forum Now Available
Slides and materials used by presenters at the June 26 Sensors Forum are now available for viewing. The half-day event at the Virginia Modeling & Simulation Center profiled state-of-the-art sensors for robotics and unmanned systems. Speakers and panelists discussed current and future sensor-system technology requirements. To read their materials, go here.

Additional Federal Monies to Benefit Jefferson Laboratory
Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility will receive $75 million to fund its 12 billion electron-volt upgrade project and to modernize infrastructure. The funds are part of $1.2 billion in outlays to the Department of Energy's Office of Science under the terms of the Recovery Act. The monies will support an array of Office of Science-sponsored construction and research projects across the nation. Learn more here.

Biofuels from Algae Subject of VIMS Study
Professor Elizabeth Canuel of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and colleagues have received seed funding from the College of William and Mary to establish a multidisciplinary study group to explore the use of algae as a source of biofuels. Their “exploratory Global Inquiry Group,” or e-GIG, grew out of the collaborators' interests in addressing two of humanity's most pressing problems: the urgent need to develop sustainable sources of energy and to lessen the environmental impacts of energy use. Read more here.

Women-Only Fishing Tournament Supports EVMS Cancer Research
The Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Foundation has presented the Eastern Virginia Medical School Foundation with $30,000 to support breast cancer-related research. The Foundation is a longtime supporter of EVMS cancer research, generating to date $91,000 for the EVMS Breast Cancer Research Fund and the Debbie Bunn Memorial Fund for Breast Cancer Research through its annual Wine, Women & Fishing ladies-only, charity-billfish tournament. To learn more, click here.

Award Winning NASA TV Show Takes Off for Second Season
The half-hour television program “NASA 360,” produced by NASA's Langley Research Center in partnership with the National Institute of Aerospace, is celebrating its one-year anniversary. The program is part of the NASA eClips™ project that brings free NASA educational video content to the Internet. Previous shows have highlighted global warming research, solar technologies, NASA contributions to car racing, Mars exploration, new spacesuit research and NASA contributions to cordless power tool development. Read more here.

An Encouraging Potential Treatment for Skin Cancer
Short pulses of electricity could help to safely and effectively treat skin cancer. That's the encouraging result of a first-ever human trial of a gene-transfer process conducted by a team led by Richard Heller, the director of Old Dominion University's Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectics. The Center's research focuses on cancer therapies that utilize ultrashort pulses of electricity. To learn more, go here.

Thousands of Waterbirds Logged in W&M Census
This fall, Bryan Watts and Bart Paxton of the College of William & Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology successfully completed an aerial survey of the Pacific Coast of Panama to estimate and map waterbird populations. The survey team flew 1,565 kilometers (972 miles) of shoreline in three days in late October, 2008. More than 490,000 shorebirds, seabirds, herons and egrets were counted and logged. For the complete story, click here.

VIMS Study Implicates Bacteria in Striped Bass Deaths
A study led by VIMS researchers is the first to demonstrate that striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay are succumbing to the chronic bacterial disease mycobacteriosis. More than half of all striped bass in Bay waters are infected. Striped bass are one of the region’s most economically and ecologically important finfish, and the Bay is the species’ main Atlantic coast breeding and nursery ground. More is available here.

NSU Launches Four-Day Work Week Beginning May 11
In an effort to lower energy costs, reduce fuel consumption for commuters and lessen Norfolk State University’s carbon footprint, NSU will implement a four-day work week during the summer semester. The initiative will begin Monday, May 11 and end Friday, July 31. Employees will work 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and will have one hour for lunch each day. For additional detail, go here.

Conference Slides Have Been Posted
Presentations made at the Feb. 17 "Sensors in Bioscience" meeting at the Virginia Modeling & Simulation Center have been posted on the HRRP website. To read them, go either here or here. The half-day event covered research highlights and profiled several projects actively underway.

Aerospace Sector Sees Jobs and Sales Growth
Aerospace is the economic engine that can boost Virginia's fortunes. That was the AeroSpace Day 2009 message delivered in early February to the state’s General Assembly in Richmond by NASA leaders from Langley Research Center in Hampton and Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore. In its annual year-end review and forecast, the Aerospace Industries Association reported that the aerospace sector is showing growth in both sales and employment, even as other industries are seeing dramatic downturns. For more, click here.

JLab Begins a $310 Million Facelift
With the award of a $14.1 million contract, Jefferson Laboratory has officially begun a long-awaited $310 million upgrade of its research facilities. Beginning this spring, 20,000 square feet of enclosed space will be created, including the Lab's fourth experimental hall. The project is slated for completion in late summer 2011. Learn more here.

(Click here to view our 2008 Article Archive)