We create new products with DoD, NIH, USDA, DoE and others. We've highlighted a few of them below.
Uncovering hidden defects through non-destructive testing methods
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How can a company determine whether counterfeit materials entered its supply chain, or the supply chain of its suppliers? For the Defense Logistics Agency, which manages over 5 million different parts annually and suspects that as much as 40% of them may contain counterfeit materials or other defects, this is a particularly crucial challenge.
Ultrasound and industrial computed tomography are expensive, slow processes that require immobile equipment. A better solution would be rapid, portable, easy to use, and low enough cost to enable scanning of as many parts as possible. Nano Terra is working to optimize and transfer a promising non-destructive testing technology from lab scale to industrial scale. The cutting-edge technology, based on magnetism and differential density, has the potential to be a game-changer for defense applications and in a variety of commercial uses. |
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Developing a low-cost, mass-producible biosensor
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With the rise in popularity of fitness trackers, and a growing level of sophistication in information-processing, biosensors are poised to play an increasingly important role in society. Most biosensors, however, are expensive to manufacture; reducing those costs would have the potential to increase adoption rates, both within the military as well as in broader commercial applications.
Nano Terra, along with its partner Professor Howard Katz from Johns Hopkins University, is working on a US Air Force-sponsored program to mass produce organic field effect transistor-based biosensors. This technology should enable the Air Force to monitor its pilots during flight and gain a better understanding of how a pilot’s body responds to various types of missions. This program leverages Nano Terra's prior work in bio-inert coatings, surface attachment chemistry, screen printing, soft-lithography, and circuit architecture. |
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Making an environmentally friendlier chemistry to fight wildfires
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The number of acres of land burned by wildfires has more than doubled over the last 30 years. In 2015, approximately 3.5 million acres of affected land were in the Pacific Northwest, a region that contains many waterways with fragile ecosystems and species protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Why would the US Department of Agriculture look for a new firefighting chemical? Because current wildfire-fighting chemicals contain ammonium, which is highly toxic to aquatic species. To solve the challenge of developing a more environmentally friendly chemical to fight wildfires, we applied our expertise in designing and synthesizing new molecules with flame-retardant properties. Our initial results showed significant promise, both for fighting wildfires as well as for making specialty clothing less flammable. Our new chemistry should help fight wildfires while doing less harm to the aquatic wildlife that live there. |
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