Victor M. Bright - US grants

CTS-0114109
Jean Hertzberg, University of Colorado

In this proposal, funding is requested to purchase a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system to enhance the research capabilities of the PI and four Co-PI's. They are actively engaged in a number of interesting research problems in fluid mechanics. These include real time simulation and control of a two-dimensional jet, evaluation of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) fluidic devices, cardiovascular fluid dynamics, and infectious aerosol generation.

Engineering - Electrical (55)


We are developing an educational resource center focused around the area of optoelectronic microsystems by integrating technology into education. The purpose of this resource center is to attract undergraduate students into this newly emerging technology and to be a key component in providing a well-rounded education to students in this area. Our goal is to satisfy the need of the local and nationwide industry for
engineers knowledgeable in optoelectronics, microelectronics and the newly emerging
field of microsystems.

To this end we are developing eight multimedia educational modules and combining
them into a multimedia resource center for use in a technology-enhanced educational
learning environment. The development of the modules is guided by experience
gained from previous projects, where we identified both the content and form of effective
multimedia modules.

The modules are constructed using existing software packages and combine text, figures, audio and video with computer generated animation within an interactive environment with a professional look and feel. The individual modules are being field-tested by embedding them into our existing courses and curriculum, where they link the subject material across course boundaries and are improved based on the feedback received through the assessment process. We also testing and evaluating the modules at a remote site in a distance-learning environment. Finally, we will disseminate the resource center nationally through our website, the NSF Digital Library, mass mailing of CD-ROMs and a commercial publisher.

This proposal to acquire a nanoindentor system from MTS corporation to support exciting and diverse
research and training at the intersection of nano and microsystems technology. In its
base configuration, the load resolution is 50 nN and the displacement resolution is 0.01 nm. These can be
significantly lowered to 1 nN and 0.0002 nm, respectively with an additional indentation head. The
nanoindentor is typically used to indent (push the tip into) a material while simultaneously measuring the
load and displacement. The concept is common to many techniques in materials characterization, except
that the mode of deformation is extremely complicated. However, with suitable analysis, typically via the
finite element method, the measured load vs. displacement curve can be inverted to infer a host of
important material properties. Because the measurement area is so small (on the order of 100s of nms),
the instrument is ideally suited to obtain quantitative information regarding mechanical properties as a
function of position in complex material systems and structures.
The nanoindentor will be the heart of a unique micro/nanomechanical characterization facility at the
University of Colorado (CU). It will greatly impact numerous diverse research efforts that are currently
supported including applications in the characterization of advanced materials, experimental mechanics of
micromechanical structures and devices, studies of biological materials/systems ranging from protein/cell
structure up to full arteries, and as a nanomanufacturing tool for the development of nanoscale circuits
using biomolecular templates.
Initially the nanoindentor will be used by the groups of 12 faculty members, spanning six
Departments and three Colleges at CU. It will be used to support research projects and instructional
activities at the graduate and undergraduate levels. A number of activities are planned to increase our
user base and the overall level of diverse expertise with the instrument. These include: i) the development
of a Micro/nanosystems Forum in which two types speakers will be solicited: those with expertise in
nanoindentation and related fields, and those with interesting research activities that may be able to make
use of the nanoindentor; ii) the development of a website devoted to activities using the nanoindentor; iii)
dissemination of capabilities and results, along with the solicitation of potential collaborative users at
semiannual meetings of our NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (CAMPmode and
MAST); iv) a user-fee structure that requires users to disseminate their results to our user community; and
v) a plan to recruit new users, particularly underrepresented groups and women pursuing advanced
degrees.

An award is made to the University of Colorado to do deep brain imaging using a novel miniature nonlinear microscope. Optical imaging methods combined with fluorescent markers offer the unprecedented ability to study functioning of the complex neural networks in the brain down to the resolution of individual neurons. However, due to light scattering in tissue, over 75% of the brain cannot be studied. Technology that offers the path for high resolution deep brain functional imaging is urgently needed in order to further advance the fundamental understanding of how the brain works. This project will investigate a fiber-optic imaging instrument incorporating adaptable optics. The miniature fiber-optic imaging system implanted minimally-invasively will enable visualization of thousands of neurons deep in the brain. The large volume of imaging is important for understanding the complex interconnections involved in neural networks while access to new regions of the brain will open up study in important areas of the brain that are currently not accessible with other techniques.

The work is interdisciplinary in nature, combining aspects of biology, materials science, physics, and engineering and will provide excellent opportunities for students to broaden their scientific knowledge outside of a specific discipline. The PI's will disseminate the results of their work through teaching and education outreach that includes student groups, undergraduate research opportunity programs and summer programs for under-represented undergraduates. Beyond basic research, results from this project will be used to further the understanding of brain function, advance artificial intelligence, and treat neurological disorders.

1631912/1631704
Gibson/Gopinath

Development of a miniature implantable device to allow transfer of neural information from one brain area to another will have a major impact on the understanding of brain function and will be applicable to treatment of brain disease. The proposed research spans neuroscience, materials science, physics and engineering, and will
provide excellent interdisciplinary research opportunities for students. Dissemination of
the work will occur through teaching, additional educational outreach, opportunities for undergraduates, and journals and conference publications. The capability of this research to develop an optical feedback control to repair brain function will captivate these future scientists.

Non-invasive feedback control to repair brain function is one of the ultimate goals in neuroscience. The recent and evolving development of genetically encoded fluorescent indicators and optogenetics makes optical readout and control a real possibility. However, there is still a critical need to understand how an optical feedback system can fully recover function in an awake behaving animal. This proposal seeks to demonstrate for the first time the actual recovery of function in an awake behaving animal using an engineered optical feedback system. The project will be performed by a highly interdisciplinary team with extensive expertise in neuroscience, optogenetics, and cognitive research in awake behaving animals along with experts in optical and MEMS devices. The proposal combines the technology development side with behavioral research with the potential for major discoveries. Unprecedented progress in the study of brain function will be enabled with the proposed device. The PIs have recently developed technology for a lightweight head-mounted miniature multiphoton microscope that can image over hundreds of neurons in three dimensions in brain tissue. The technology is the first to use electrowetting optics for non-mechanical steering of the excitation laser and enables single cell resolution imaging. We propose to combine a spatially shaped second laser at a different wavelength from our excitation laser to allow both imaging and directed optogenetic stimulation of neurons. Importantly, modulation of neural activity on the level of individual neurons is essential for controlling function in the brain. Therefore readout and control by optics has a real potential to restore function as opposed other methods such as ultrasound, EEG, and fMRI that are theoretically limited in spatial resolution. We propose to readout and control firing of individual neurons in the piriform cortex using a real-time feedback control system. We will use behavior studies in mice to determine if association of olfactory identity with reward can be recovered as we selectively turn on and off the input nerve connections to the piriform cortex where odor identity is thought to be represented. The study will allow us to identify which neurons contain information essential for decision making. The oscillatory basis for information transfer can be tested using certain frequency ranges or phases of neural activity. These studies will be useful for testing models of neural circuit function and applicable for neuroengineering devices for therapeutic use.

A membrane is a selective barrier that enables some small particles, molecules or ions to pass through but rejects others. Membrane-based separations offer a number of advantages over conventional processes used in chemical separations. They are often more energy efficient, more environmentally friendly, easier to scale-up for manufacturing, and more compatible with process streams, and thus provide lower-cost separation in a wide range of critical applications including sea water desalination, food and beverage production, pharmaceutical processing and blood dialysis. The University of Colorado Boulder site of the MAST Center is focused on providing more advanced membranes for future separations needs as well as leading the development of new separations processes. This work addresses critical national economic competitiveness, defense and health needs.

The MAST Center is a multi-campus industry-university collaborative research Center with the University of Colorado Boulder (UCB) as one of the three sites that (1) conduct fundamental and applied research in the field of membranes via innovative materials and processes to facilitate the use of membrane technology for current and emerging industrial applications; (2) sustain U.S. technological leadership in membrane materials and membrane-based separation processes and accelerate commercialization by Center industrial sponsors of novel, sustainable and innovative technologies; and (3) provide undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers with a superior educational and research experience that will enable them to become productive and effective professionals. Research at the UCB site is focused on the development of novel membrane materials and structures, innovative membrane characterization techniques and the generation of fundamental and applied knowledge regarding selective molecular transport mechanisms and membrane fouling. The technical expertise represented by participating UCB faculty from five academic departments is focused on important membrane applications in water, energy, and barrier materials.

A membrane provides a selective barrier or filter, allowing certain compounds to pass through but preventing others. Membranes separate salts from sea water to produce drinking water. In emissions control, membranes prevent pollutants from being released into the environment. In landfills, membranes stop contaminants from leaching into the groundwater. In the process of filtering contaminants, however, the retention of certain compounds can lead to fouling. Fouling is a serious and ubiquitous problem in purification processes that rely on membranes, as it decreases membrane performance, increases energy consumption, and can lead to permanent damage of the membrane. Combined, these effects increase the cost of membrane operation, and thus, fouling mitigation is of great interest for industrial membrane processes. A key part of the mitigation strategy is detection, in order to proactively prevent fouling before it proceeds unchecked. Existing detection techniques rely on bulk measurements, such as pressure drop across the membrane, which can give an early warning of fouling. However, these bulk techniques do not provide chemical specific information on what leads to fouling. It is anticipated that chemical identification could facilitate molecular-level design of membranes that are resistant to fouling. The research will demonstrate an innovative method to detect membrane fouling under realistic operating conditions.

The work will demonstrate an effective, high-resolution, label-free, non-destructive, and non-invasive real-time method for fouling detection under realistic operating conditions. A number of fundamental questions will be answered, including the sensitivity of the proposed optical detection method to early-stage reverse-osmosis, scaling initiation and growth as manifested by an increase in lateral and thickness dimensions. The research is an interdisciplinary topic spanning physics, materials science and engineering. If successful, the project will enable higher efficiency and lower-cost operation of reverse-osmosis desalination systems; and will provide similar significant benefits for other membrane-based separation applications. The project will provide research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as dissemination to under-represented students at the college and K-12 level through involvement with public scientific demonstrations, laboratory tours, K-12 courses, and involvement with the Women in Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering group.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Animals have a keen ability to find odor sources such as food, partners, pups and predators through the sense of smell in a manner that cannot be replicated by machines. How brains mediate navigation of the environment (the odor plume) through smell is an important unsolved problem. Indeed there are many instances where using machines to navigate an odor landscape is an unmet need to society. For example, even though their training requires lengthy one on one interaction with a trainer, dogs are still used to find explosives in airports and in the battlefield. Our multidisciplinary Odor Plume Neurophotonics (OPeN) team will tackle understanding the brain circuits mediating odor plume navigation. This is a daunting task because it involves characterizing how odors diffuse in the air (environmental engineering), developing advanced miniature microscopes to record from the brain of freely moving animals (electrical and mechanical engineering), recording from brain regions processing odor plume information in real time (systems neuroscience and integrative neurophotonics), and developing mathematical procedures to quantify how the information necessary for successful odor plume navigation is represented in the brain (applied mathematics). Our team will engineer a novel miniature microscope to record activity as mice navigate the odor plume and will assess how the activity of these neurons result in successful odor plume navigation. Furthermore, the team members of OPeN are thoroughly committed to foster advancement of women, underrepresented minorities, veterans and disabled individuals in science and participate in various programs to promote science diversity. Additionally, the team members have a track record of disseminating their work and have an established partnership with a local small business, Intelligent Imaging Innovation, Inc. with world headquarters located in Denver. We will continue our commercial dissemination efforts of the technology developed in this project. Finally, we will endeavor to communicate science to the broader audience through venues such as Scientific American, Public Broadcasting Service and outreach through the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Members of our OPeN interdisciplinary team developed a novel two photon fiber-coupled microscope for 3D imaging of brain activity in the freely moving mouse and generated and quantified realistic odor environments in the laboratory to explore algorithms used for odor-guided navigation. In this project we leverage the extensive expertise and achievements of the team to crack the circuit basis for odor plume navigation. We will develop a low-weight, miniature 3-photon fiber coupled microscope (3P-FCM) to record neuronal activity simultaneously in one brain area in two planes of view. In addition, OPeN will develop a portable photoionization (PID) sensor to detect the odorant concentration at the nostril as the animal navigates the odor plume. Members of the OPeN team will record neural activity in the hippocampus and cerebellum of animals navigating the odor plume and will develop a Bayesian analysis method to decode odor plume navigation from neural activity. This multidisciplinary approach will result in understanding of the brain mechanisms of odor plume navigation.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation-Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is a new modality for light detection and ranging (LIDAR), an optical technique that generates high-resolution images of an object. LIDAR is commonly used in applications such as mapping, agriculture, energy and environmental studies, and more recently, for autonomous navigation and collision avoidance for self-driving cars, drones, and satellites. These applications are all crucial to societal function today. For example, surveying the snow pack can be important for hydroelectric power and drinking water estimates. Other important applications include mapping coastlines, as well as determining the health of agricultural crops and trees to predict yields as well as fire risks. However, the mechanical-based LIDAR scanners currently used have a limited lifetime, are large, and power hungry. This can cause significant constraints; for example, a drone can only carry a very limited and small system, or battery life will be impacted. Nonmechanical scanning methods can offer a solution. The research will demonstrate an innovative technique for nonmechanical scanning applied to LIDAR systems.

The proposed project focuses on an incoherent light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system, using nonmechanical beam steering with adaptive optical elements. The system is compact, versatile, and ultra-low power. It will enable a new generation of systems that are able to adapt with agility to changing conditions and targets. Unlike conventional LIDAR systems which often use beam steering based on prisms or gimbals that rely on mechanically moving parts, which can be heavy, power hungry, and have a limited lifetime, the proposed LIDAR design has operational lifetime orders of magnitude longer due to nonmechanical components. The proposed work will enable new LIDAR technology with enhanced capabilities (ability to adapt to changing conditions) and steer the technology in a direction for eventual commercialization.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.