WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

SCALING TEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ASSISTMENTS

IMPACT: INTEGRATIVE MINDFULNESS-BASED PREDICTIVE APPROACH FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN TREATMENT - IMPACT ABSTRACT CHRONIC PAIN IMPACTS 50 MILLION U.S. ADULTS, SEVERELY INTERFERES WITH THE WORK AND LIFE OF OVER 25 MILLION, AND COSTS $635 BILLION ANNUALLY FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT AND RESULTANT LOSS OF PRODUCTIVITY. WHILE SOME NON- PHARMACOLOGICAL COMPLEMENTARY PAIN MANAGEMENT METHODS, SUCH AS MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION (MBSR), ARE EFFECTIVE AT REDUCING THE PAIN OF SOME PATIENTS, OTHERS DO NOT RESPOND. CLINICIANS LACK THE TOOLS TO ACCURATELY AND RELIABLY PREDICT WHICH PATIENTS WILL RESPOND TO COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENTS. IN RESPONSE TO RFA-NS-22-050 (UG3/UH3), IMPACT – INTEGRATIVE MINDFULNESS-BASED PREDICTIVE APPROACH FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN TREATMENT PROPOSES USING MACHINE LEARNING METHODS (A SUBFIELD OF AI) TO IDENTIFY BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP). THIS RESEARCH WILL INCLUDE A POPULATION (TOTAL N=350) SUFFERING FROM CLBP. COMPREHENSIVE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL DATA (LOCOMOTOR ACTIVITY, SLEEP, CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, HEART RATE VARIABILITY, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, PAIN OUTCOMES, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT) WILL BE COLLECTED FROM PATIENTS TREATED WITH MBSR FOR CLBP. AIM 1 (UG3) WILL INVOLVE THE INITIATION OF A CLINICAL TRIAL OF MBSR FOR CLBP (N=50) AND ML MODELING WITH LONGITUDINAL BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL DATA AND RELATED CLINICAL TRIAL DATASETS TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP PRIOR TO EXPANDING THE TRIAL IN THE UH3 PHASE. MILESTONES FOR TRANSITION FROM THE UG3 PHASE (AIM 1) TO THE PENDING CLINICAL TRIAL OF THE UH3 PHASE (AIMS 2+3) WILL INCLUDE: (1) FINALIZED DATA COLLECTION AND PRIMARY ANALYSIS PROTOCOLS FOR THE CLINICAL TRIAL OF MBSR FOR CLBP, (2) SUCCESS WITH PASSIVE DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES AND EXPERIMENTATION WITH ML MODEL TRAINING AND TESTING FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP, AND (3) PRELIMINARY VALIDATION OF CANDIDATE ML-BASED BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP USING STATISTICAL AND CROSS-VALIDATION METHODS. AIM 2 (UH3) WILL EXPAND THE CLINICAL TRIAL INITIATED IN AIM 1 TO COLLECT BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL DATA FROM A SAMPLE OF 300 INDIVIDUALS. AIM 3 (UH3) WILL INVOLVE ML MODELING WITH DATA COLLECTED IN AIM 2 TO IDENTIFY AND VALIDATE ACCURATE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP. TO COMPLETE OUR AIMS, CLINICIAN SCIENTISTS FROM BOSTON UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS CHAN MEDICAL SCHOOL, AND CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE WITH EXTENSIVE EXPERTISE IN SUCCESSFULLY RECRUITING AND ENGAGING POPULATIONS IN CLINICAL TRIALS OF MINDFULNESS INTERVENTIONS FOR PAIN WILL COLLABORATE WITH BIOMEDICAL, DATA SCIENTISTS AND MACHINE LEARNING RESEARCHERS FROM WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL ULTIMATELY ENHANCE CLINICAL DECISION- MAKING AND TARGETED TREATMENT OF CLBP.

CYBERCORPS SFS RENEWAL: SUPPORTING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE

GRANT PROGRAM

NRT-HDR: DATA-DRIVEN SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

CHARGE-BASED BRAIN MODELING ENGINE WITH BOUNDARY ELEMENT FAST MULTIPOLE METHOD - ABSTRACT ALL MAJOR OPEN-SOURCE BRAIN MODELING PACKAGES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE (E.G., SIMNIBS, DUNEURO, SCIRUN, ROAST) AS WELL AS THEIR COMMERCIAL COUNTERPARTS (E.G., SIM4LIFE, ANSYS MAXWELL, COMSOL) USE THE ELECTRIC POTENTIAL- BASED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD (FEM) FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC MODELING. FEM HAS BEEN CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVED OVER THE PAST 60 YEARS, IS SIMPLE TO IMPLEMENT AND CAN MODEL AVERAGED TISSUE ANISOTROPY. AT THE SAME TIME, FEM MAY HAVE SOME INTRINSIC WEAKNESSES SPECIFICALLY AFFECTING HIGH-DEFINITION BRAIN MODELING. THE PRESENT PROPOSAL AIMS TO DEVELOP AND DISSEMINATE A NOVEL ALTERNATIVE BRAIN MODELING ENGINE. IN CONTRAST TO FEM WHICH USES THE ELECTRIC POTENTIAL, IT OPERATES WITH THE PRIMARY (BIO)PHYSICAL QUANTITY – SURFACE (AND VOLUMETRIC) INDUCED ELECTRIC CHARGE DENSITY. TO MODEL CHARGE INTERACTIONS, IT NATURALLY EMPLOYS THE MODERN FAST MULTIPOLE METHOD (FMM) INSTEAD OF FEM. FOR PIECEWISE HOMOGENEOUS BIOLOGICAL MEDIA OF ANY COMPLEXITY, ONLY SURFACE CHARGES AT BOUND- ARIES ARE PRESENT. THEIR INTERACTIONS ARE MOST ACCURATELY DESCRIBED BY THE BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD (BEM). THIS COMBINATION OF BEM AND FMM IS THE NEW PROPOSED BEM-FMM CHARGE ENGINE. THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGE OF BEM- FMM IS ITS NUMERICALLY UNCONSTRAINED SPATIAL FIELD RESOLUTION. AIM 1. IMPROVE AND COMPLETE THE BEM-FMM MODELING ENGINE. SUB-AIMS: (I) MAJOR SPEED UP OF THE BEM-FMM ENGINE; (II) NEW ADAPTIVE MESH REFINEMENT ALGORITHM; (III) NEW VOLUMETRIC ANISOTROPIC CO-SOLVER, (IV) COMPUTING ACTIVATING FUNCTION WITH UNCONSTRAINED NUMER- ICAL RESOLUTION AND; (V) FULL-SCALE NUMERICAL VERIFICATION AGAINST ESTABLISHED FEM SOLVERS SIMNIBS AND DUNEURO AT MESO (SUBMILLIMETER) SCALE. AIM 2. BEM-FMM TESTBED FOR NON-INVASIVE RECORDINGS AND STIMULATION. 2A. DEVELOP BEM-FMM SOURCE LOCALIZATION STREAM FOR EEG/MEG RECORDINGS. WE WILL CONSTRUCT AND VALIDATE AN IMPROVEMENT OVER CURRENTLY EXISTING BEM EEG/MEG SOURCE LOCALIZATION SOFTWARE SUITES USING BEM-FMM. WE WILL DELIVER A READY-TO-USE TESTBED WITH TWENTY HEAD MODELS AND EEG/MEG EXPERIMENTAL DATA. 2B. DEVELOP A BEM-FMM MODELING STREAM WITH EXTRACEREBRAL COMPARTMENTS FOR NONINVASIVE STIMULATION. FOR ENHANCED RESOLUTION, WE WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADD FINE-RESOLUTION MAJOR EXTRACEREBRAL COMPARTMENTS INTO EXISTING SEGMENTA- TIONS PIPELINES BASED ON ANATOMICAL RULES. WE WILL THEN DELIVER THE READY-TO-USE BEM-FMM TESTBED TARGETING TES AND ECT (ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY) WHERE THEIR EFFECT MIGHT BE CRITICAL FOR THE CORRECT DOSAGE PREDICTION AND CORRECT TARGETING. AIM 3. BEM-FMM TESTBED FOR INVASIVE ELECTRICAL STIMULATION. 3A. VALIDATE BEM-FMM TESTBED FOR MODELING ACTIVATING FUNCTION IN ANIMAL AXONS. VERIFICATION FOR A GIANT INTER-NEURONAL AXON OF CRAY- FISH PROCAMBARUS CLARKIA VIA ELECTRICAL/MAGNETIC STIMULATION AND COMPOUND ACTION POTENTIAL GENERATION FOR PARAL- LEL FIBERS IN TURTLE PSEUDEMYS SCRIPTA ELEGANS CEREBELLUM WILL BE DONE. 3B. VERIFY BEM-FMM TESTBED FOR MOD- ELING DBS RESPONSES. USING RETROSPECTIVE CLINICAL DATA, WE WILL DEVELOP A BEM-FMM ALGORITHM FOR PATIENT- SPECIFIC MULTIPOLAR DBS AND EVALUATE WHETHER THE MODEL PREDICTIONS ALIGN WITH CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS.

CREATING A PATH TO ACHIEVING SUCCESS AND SENSE OF BELONGING IN COMPUTER SCIENCE -THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATIONAL NEED FOR WELL-EDUCATED SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, ENGINEERS, AND TECHNICIANS BY SUPPORTING THE RETENTION AND GRADUATION OF HIGH-ACHIEVING, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED. OVER ITS SIX-YEAR DURATION, THIS PROJECT WILL AWARD A TOTAL OF 112 SCHOLARSHIPS TO 28 TALENTED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, WITH A DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED, WHO ARE PURSUING DEGREES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AT WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE (WPI) IN WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE ACADEMIC PREPARATION FOR INCOMING STUDENTS AND CREATE STUDENT-CENTERED SUPPORT FOR COHORT ACADEMIC EXPERIENCES BASED ON PREVIOUS STUDIES OF THE EXPERIENCES OF DISADVANTAGED AND MARGINALIZED STUDENTS. THIS PROJECT WILL HELP TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN PELL-ELIGIBLE AND NON-PELL-ELIGIBLE STUDENTS IN THEIR RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, AND PREPARE STUDENTS FOR SUCCESS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL AND ULTIMATELY THEIR PROFESSIONAL CAREERS. THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE 1) CLOSING THE RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATE GAP BETWEEN THE LOW-INCOME (PELL) SCHOLARS AND NON-PELL COMPUTING STUDENTS, AND 2) PROVIDING INTERCONNECTED SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND SENSE OF BELONGING FOR STUDENTS EARNING A B.S. DEGREE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. TO MEET THESE GOALS THE PROJECT WILL STUDY, DEVELOP, AND IMPLEMENT AN EVIDENCE-BASED NETWORK MODEL WHERE COHORT PEERS CONNECT, STUDY TOGETHER, AND BUILD THEIR COMPUTER SCIENCE IDENTITY THROUGHOUT THEIR COLLEGE EDUCATION. THESE ACTIVITIES WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON THE SUCCESS, RETENTION, AND GRADUATION OF LOW-INCOME STUDENTS IN COMPUTING. THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS THAT WILL ASSIST OTHER EDUCATORS TO IMPROVE STEM EDUCATION. THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED BY NSF?S SCHOLARSHIPS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS PROGRAM, WHICH SEEKS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF LOW-INCOME ACADEMICALLY TALENTED STUDENTS WITH DEMONSTRATED FINANCIAL NEED WHO EARN DEGREES IN STEM FIELDS. 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.

TALKING MATH: IMPROVING MATH PERFORMANCE AND ENGAGEMENT THROUGH AI-ENABLED CONVERSATIONAL TUTORING

SMARTPHONE-BASED WOUND INFECTION SCREENER AND CARE RECOMMENDER BY COMBINING THERMAL IMAGES AND PHOTOGRAPHS USING DEEP LEARNING METHODS - I. PROJECT SUMMARY: SMARTPHONE-BASED WOUND INFECTION RISK SCREENER AND CARE RECOMMENDER BY COMBINING THERMAL IMAGES AND PHOTOGRAPHS USING DEEP LEARNING METHODS CHRONIC WOUNDS, WHICH AFFECT 6.5 MILLION PATIENTS IN THE US12 SEVERELY AFFECT THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE, CAN TAKE UP TO A YEAR TO HEAL AND RE-OCCUR IN 60-70% OF PATIENTS. WOUNDS OFTEN GET INFECTED (BACTERIA IN WOUND), RESULTING IN LIMB AMPUTATIONS IF NOT TREATED PROPERLY AND ON TIME1. IN CURRENT PRACTICE, AT THE POINT OF CARE (POC) (E.G., NURSES VISITING PATIENTS’ HOMES AND TRAUMA SITES), CAREGIVERS WHO ARE NOT WOUND EXPERTS HAVE NO WAY TO DIAGNOSE INFECTIONS. THUS, THEY CAUTIOUSLY REFER WOUNDS SUSPECTED TO BE INFECTED TO CLINICS FOR DEBRIDEMENT OF DEAD TISSUES, BLOOD TESTS AND INFECTION DIAGNOSES BY EXPERTS57-60. HOWEVER, REFERRALS INCREASE TIME BEFORE INFECTED WOUNDS ARE TREATED, AND THE CHANCES OF LIMB AMPUTATION. MOREOVER, SOME REFERRED WOUNDS END UP NOT BEING INFECTED, WASTING PATIENT AND EXPERT TIME AND EXPENSES (E.G., TRANSPORTATION)15-16. WHAT IS NEEDED IS A DIGITAL HEALTH SOLUTION THAT ENABLES NON-EXPERT WOUND CAREGIVERS TO ACCURATELY DETECT INFECTED WOUNDS AT THE POC EVEN WITHOUT DEBRIDEMENT AND PROVIDE STANDARDIZED RECOMMENDATIONS ON EVIDENCE-BASED CARE AND WHEN TO REFER. SMARTPHONES EQUIPPED WITH HIGH RESOLUTION CAMERAS AND THE PROCESSING POWER TO RUN MACHINE/DEEP LEARNING METHODS ARE OWNED BY MOST WOUND CAREGIVERS IN THE US56. PRIOR WORK BY GOYAL ET AL1 REPORTED PRELIMINARY RESULTS THAT SHOW THAT INFECTION CAN BE DETECTED FROM VISUAL ATTRIBUTES SUCH AS INCREASED REDNESS IN/AROUND THE WOUND IN A PHOTOGRAPH USING DEEP LEARNING (ACCURACY 0.727± 0.025, SENSITIVITY 0.709 ± 0.044, SPECIFICITY 0.744 ± 0.05). WHILE PROMISING, THEIR RESULTS NEED TO BE IMPROVED AND VALIDATED BEFORE CLINICAL APPLICATIONS. MOREOVER, THEIR DATASET INCLUDED ALREADY DEBRIDED WOUNDS WITH EASILY DISCERNABLE INFECTION CASES, AND THEY DID NOT RECOMMEND EVIDENCE BASED BEST CARE AND DECIDE WHEN REFERRALS TO WOUND CLINICS WERE THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION. CERTAIN THERMAL IMAGE PATTERNS ARE RELIABLE INDICATORS OF WOUND INFECTION20, AND SOME MODELS OF SMARTPHONES ARE NOW EQUIPPED WITH THERMAL CAMERAS55. OUR HYPOTHESES ARE THAT 1) THE ACCURACY OF SMARTPHONE WOUND INFECTION DETECTION CAN BE IMPROVED BY COMBINING THERMAL IMAGES WITH PHOTOGRAPHS JOINTLY ANALYZED USING A DEEP LEARNING METHOD 2) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTIONABLE, EVIDENCE-BASED WOUND CARE AND WHEN TO REFER CAN BE GENERATED USING MACHINE LEARNING TO STANDARDIZE CARE PROVIDED BY NON-EXPERTS. IN RESPONSE TO NOT-EB-19-018, WE PROPOSE RESEARCH TO INVESTIGATE THE CAPABILITY AND ACCURACY OF DETECTING INFECTED WOUNDS BEFORE DEBRIDEMENT USING DEEP LEARNING METHODS APPLIED TO COMBINATIONS OF WOUND PHOTOGRAPHS AND THERMAL IMAGES AND GENERATING CARE AND REFERRAL RECOMMENDATIONS. WE ALSO PROPOSE INTEGRATION OF THE SMARTPHONE-BASED INFECTION SCREENER INTO OUR GROUP’S EXISTING WOUND ASSESSMENT SYSTEM7-9, 21-29 AND VALIDATING IT ON NEW PATIENTS (N=100). SUCCESS ON OUR PROPOSED AIMS WILL INCREASE THE NUMBER AND OBJECTIVITY OF WOUND INFECTIONS DETECTED OUTSIDE THE WOUND CLINIC AND FAST-TRACKED TO THE CLINIC FOR TREATMENT, REDUCING THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WHO REQUIRE AMPUTATIONS. OUR FINDINGS WILL APPLY TO DIVERSE WOUND TYPES INCLUDING DIABETIC, PRESSURE, ARTERIAL, VENOUS, SURGICAL61 AND TRAUMA WOUNDS62, WHICH ALL GET INFECTED.

ROBOTIC LUNG ULTRASOUND FOR TRIAGE OF COVID-19 PATIENTS IN A RESOURCE-LIMITED ENVIRONMENT

DARPA ROBOTICS CHALLENGE - TRACK C

REVISIONS TO THE ASSISTMENTS DIGITAL LEARNING PLATFORM TO EXPAND ITS SUPPORT FOR RIGOROUS EDUCATION RESEARCH

SERDP RC20-1362

PROCESS RE-DESIGN AND ENGINEERING APPLICATION SUPPORT SERVICES

IMPACT: INTEGRATIVE MINDFULNESS-BASED PREDICTIVE APPROACH FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN TREATMENT - IMPACT ABSTRACT CHRONIC PAIN IMPACTS 50 MILLION U.S. ADULTS, SEVERELY INTERFERES WITH THE WORK AND LIFE OF OVER 25 MILLION, AND COSTS $635 BILLION ANNUALLY FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT AND RESULTANT LOSS OF PRODUCTIVITY. WHILE SOME NON- PHARMACOLOGICAL COMPLEMENTARY PAIN MANAGEMENT METHODS, SUCH AS MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION (MBSR), ARE EFFECTIVE AT REDUCING THE PAIN OF SOME PATIENTS, OTHERS DO NOT RESPOND. CLINICIANS LACK THE TOOLS TO ACCURATELY AND RELIABLY PREDICT WHICH PATIENTS WILL RESPOND TO COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENTS. RACIALLY AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS ARE ALSO UNDERREPRESENTED IN BOTH RESEARCH AND PRACTICE OF COMPLEMENTARY INTERVENTIONS DESPITE INCREASED RISK FOR CHRONIC PAIN AND RELATED ADVERSE OUTCOMES. IN RESPONSE TO RFA-NS-22-050 (UG3/UH3), IMPACT – INTEGRATIVE MINDFULNESS-BASED PREDICTIVE APPROACH FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN TREATMENT PROPOSES USING MACHINE LEARNING METHODS (A SUBFIELD OF AI) TO IDENTIFY BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE ’ RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP). THIS RESEARCH WILL TARGET A DIVERSE, HIGH RISK POPULATION SUFFERING FROM CLBP (TOTAL N=350). COMPREHENSIVE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL DATA (LOCOMOTOR ACTIVITY, SLEEP, CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, HEART RATE VARIABILITY, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, PAIN OUTCOMES, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT) WILL BE COLLECTED FROM DIVERSE PATIENTS TREATED WITH MBSR FOR CLBP. AIM 1 (UG3) WILL INVOLVE THE INITIATION OF A CLINICAL TRIAL OF MBSR FOR CLBP (N=50) AND ML MODELING WITH LONGITUDINAL BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL DATA AND RELATED CLINICAL TRIAL DATASETS TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP PRIOR TO EXPANDING THE TRIAL IN THE UH3 PHASE. MILESTONES FOR TRANSITION FROM THE UG3 PHASE (AIM 1) TO THE LARGER CLINICAL TRIAL OF THE UH3 PHASE (AIMS 2+3) WILL INCLUDE: (1) FINALIZED DATA COLLECTION AND PRIMARY ANALYSIS PROTOCOLS FOR THE CLINICAL TRIAL OF MBSR FOR CLBP, (2) SUCCESS WITH PASSIVE DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES AND EXPERIMENTATION WITH ML MODEL TRAINING AND TESTING FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP, AND (3) PRELIMINARY VALIDATION OF CANDIDATE ML-BASED BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP USING STATISTICAL AND CROSS-VALIDATION METHODS. AIM 2 (UH3) WILL EXPAND THE CLINICAL TRIAL INITIATED IN AIM 1 TO COLLECT BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL DATA FROM A LARGER SAMPLE (N=300). AIM 3 (UH3) WILL INVOLVE ML MODELING WITH DATA COLLECTED IN AIM 2 TO IDENTIFY AND VALIDATE ACCURATE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTIVE AND MONITORING MARKERS OF THE RESPONSE TO MBSR FOR CLBP. TO COMPLETE OUR AIMS, CLINICIAN SCIENTISTS FROM BOSTON UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS CHAN MEDICAL SCHOOL, AND CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE WITH EXTENSIVE EXPERTISE IN SUCCESSFULLY RECRUITING AND ENGAGING DIVERSE POPULATIONS IN CLINICAL TRIALS OF MINDFULNESS INTERVENTIONS FOR PAIN WILL COLLABORATE WITH BIOMEDICAL, DATA SCIENTISTS AND MACHINE LEARNING RESEARCHERS FROM WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL ULTIMATELY ENHANCE CLINICAL DECISION- MAKING AND TARGETED TREATMENT OF CLBP.

HARVESTING ENERGY FROM WASTEWATER BY CONVERTING SEWAGE SLUDGE TO RENEWABLE NATURAL GAS

UNIFIED DESIGN, MODELING, AND CONTROL OF EXTENSIBLE CONTINUUM ROBOTS FOR OPERATION IN HUMAN WORKSPACES -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP A HIGHLY FLEXIBLE ROBOTIC ARM CALLED COBRA (CONTINUUM BIOINSPIRED ROBOTIC ASSISTANT) TO HELP PEOPLE WITH DAILY TASKS AND IMPROVE THEIR INDEPENDENT LIVING SKILLS. INSPIRED BY ORIGAMI, THESE SOFT ROBOTS ARE LIGHTWEIGHT, ADAPTABLE, AND SAFE FOR HUMAN INTERACTION, MAKING THEM PERFECT FOR USE IN HOMES AND HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENTS. THE RESEARCH IS FOCUSED ON CREATING ROBOTIC ARMS THAT CAN HANDLE COMPLEX TASKS LIKE PICKING UP ITEMS FROM SHELVES OR OPENING CABINET DOORS AND DRAWERS, WHICH ARE DIFFICULT FOR MANY EXISTING ASSISTIVE DEVICES. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OR WHO USE WHEELCHAIRS, TO PROMOTE INDEPENDENCE, AND TO EASE THE WORKLOAD OF CAREGIVERS. FURTHERMORE, THE BREAKTHROUGHS IN DESIGNING AND CONTROLLING THESE SOFT ROBOTS COULD ALSO OPEN UP NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR THEIR USE IN INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURING, AND SERVICES. THE RESEARCH TEAM IS COMMITTED TO EXPLORING AVENUES FOR THE TRANSLATION OF THIS TECHNOLOGY, WHICH COULD SIGNIFICANTLY BENEFIT THE ROBOTICS AND HEALTHCARE INDUSTRIES. THIS AWARD WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO STEM EDUCATION, FURTHER ENHANCING ITS SOCIETAL IMPACT. THE RESEARCH AIMS TO ADVANCE THE FIELD OF SOFT ROBOTICS, CONTINUUM ROBOTS, AND MANIPULATION CONTROL. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY INTEGRATING A MODULAR SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE WITH CUSTOMIZABLE DESIGN ALGORITHMS, ALLOWING FOR THE DESIGN OF ROBOTS TAILORED TO SPECIFIC ASSISTIVE TASKS. THE PROJECT WILL INCORPORATE ADVANCED PROPRIOCEPTIVE SENSING AND REAL-TIME SMOOTH INVERSE KINEMATICS, ENHANCING THE ROBOTS' ABILITY TO ADAPT TO EXTERNAL LOADS AND AVOID OBSTACLES WHILE PERFORMING PRECISE MOVEMENTS. ADDITIONALLY, THE PROJECT WILL INTRODUCE ADVANCED CONTROL STRATEGIES, INCLUDING CLOTHOID-BASED VISUAL SERVOING AND MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL, TO ENSURE ACCURATE AND SAFE INTERACTION WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. THE PROJECT'S OVERALL GOAL IS TO DELIVER HIGHLY CAPABLE AND RELIABLE ASSISTIVE SYSTEMS THAT IMPROVE PERFORMANCE OVER EXISTING TOOLS AND METHODS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THESE ROBOTS WILL BE CAPABLE OF CARRYING A CUP FULL OF WATER WITHOUT SPILLING ITS CONTENTS AND OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED THROUGH AN ITERATIVE PROCESS OF BUILDING, MODELING, CONTROLLING, AND TESTING THESE ROBOTS IN A COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION PLAN WITH REAL-WORLD USE CASES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

PREDICTING THE FUNCTIONAL IMPACT OF ALTERNATIVE SPLICING ON PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS USING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH - ALTERNATIVE SPLICING (AS) OF PRECURSOR MRNA PROVIDES AN IMPORTANT MEANS OF GENETIC CONTROL AND IS A CRUCIAL STEP IN THE EXPRESSION OF MOST GENES. AS GIVES RISE TO MULTIPLE ISOFORMS THAT CAN EXHIBIT DIFFERENTIAL STABILITIES, MOLECULAR BINDING CAPABILITIES, AND PHENOTYPIC EFFECTS, THEREBY GREATLY EXPANDING THE FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY OF GENES. THESE FUNCTIONS ARE FREQUENTLY DEREGULATED IN HUMAN DISEASE, LEADING TO ABERRANTLY EXPRESSED ISOFORMS THAT CAN ACT AS DRIVERS AND “REWIRERS” OF CELLULAR PATHWAYS. GIVEN THE INTRINSIC ROLE OF AS IN NEARLY EVERY ASPECT OF BIOLOGY, TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE FUNCTIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF ISOFORMS ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED. UNFORTUNATELY, PREDICTION OF ISOFORM FUNCTIONS ARE NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT, DUE TO OUR ONLY CRUDE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS OF ISOFORM ACTIVITIES AS WELL AS A PAUCITY OF EXPERIMENTAL DATASETS ANNOTATED AT ISOFORM RESOLUTION. THE EXPERIMENTS, IN TURN, ARE CHALLENGING IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, DUE TO A LACK OF ROBUST METHODS FOR THE DETECTION, MAPPING, AND PHENOTYPING AT ISOFORM-RESOLUTION IN VIVO. AS A CONSEQUENCE, ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAPS IN THE GENOMICS AND PROTEOMICS FIELDS IS AN UNDERSTANDING THE FUNCTIONAL AND EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS OF THE ASTONISHING COMPLEXITY OF THE HUMAN PROTEOME. TO MAKE PROGRESS TOWARDS THIS GAP, WE MUST REFORMULATE EXISTING APPROACHES. HERE, WE PROPOSE TO BUILD COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGIES THAT ARE INTERTWINED ACROSS THE ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION LIFECYCLE. COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES, CAPITALIZING ON EVER-IMPROVING MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS, CAN PREDICT THE EFFECT OF AS AT HIGH COVERAGE. EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS CRITICAL TO BENCHMARK THE PREDICTIONS AS WELL AS SHED LIGHT ON HERETOFORE UNCHARACTERIZED FEATURES OF ISOFORM FUNCTIONALITY. THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO DEVELOP (I) A PREDICTOR OF PROTEIN ISOFORM STABILITY, A “FIRST LINE OF EVIDENCE” AND PREREQUISITE OF ISOFORM FUNCTIONALITY, (II) A NOVEL BIOINFORMATICS APPROACH TO STUDY THE “REWIRING” EFFECTS OF AS ISOFORMS ON PROTEIN INTERACTIONS, AND (III) A NOVEL MEASURE, THE ALTERNATIVE SPLICING IMPACT FACTOR, THAT PREDICTS THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF AN ISOFORM BASED ON METRICS SUCH AS THE LOSS OF INTERACTION AND EXPRESSION PATTERNS, AND APPLY THIS CONCEPT TO DETERMINE AS-INDUCED PHENOTYPES IN-SILICO AND IN VITRO/VIVO (CELL-BASED ASSAY). EACH COMPUTATIONAL STAGE WILL BE CLOSELY COMPLEMENTED WITH A HIGHLY CUSTOMIZED AND NOVEL EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH– LARGE-SCALE ISOFORM PROTEOGENOMICS, INTERACTOMICS, AND FUNCTIONAL ASSAYS EXPERIMENTS–TO VALIDATE AND BENCHMARK THE PREDICTORS, AS WELL AS FEED INTO AN ITERATIVE COMPUTATION-EXPERIMENTAL “VIRTUOUS CYCLE”.

(NO IDC) SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION FOR EMERGING INNOVATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE WARFIGHTER

TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) PLEASE GO TO THE ARPA-E WEBSITE AT HTTPS://ARPA-E-FOA.ENERGY.GOV. TO APPLY TO THIS FOA, APPLICANTS MUST REGISTER WITH AND SUBMIT APPLICATION MATERIALS THROUGH ARPA-E EXCHANGE (HTTPS://ARPA-E-FOA.ENERGY.GOV/REGISTRATION.ASPX). FOR DETAILED GUIDANCE ON USING ARPA-E EXCHANGE, PLEASE REFER TO THE ARPA-E EXCHANGE USER GUIDE (HTTPS://ARPA-E-FOA.ENERGY.GOV/MANUALS.ASPX). ARPA-E WILL NOT REVIEW OR CONSIDER CONCEPT PAPERS SUBMITTED THROUGH OTHER MEANS. FOR PROBLEMS WITH ARPA-E EXCHANGE, EMAIL EXCHANGEHELP@HQ.DOE.GOV (WITH FOA NAME AND NUMBER IN THE SUBJECT LINE). QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS FOA? CHECK THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AVAILABLE AT HTTP://ARPA-E.ENERGY.GOV/FAQ. FOR QUESTIONS THAT HAVE NOT ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED, EMAIL ARPA-E-CO@HQ.DOE.GOV. AGENCY OVERVIEW THE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY – ENERGY (ARPA-E), AN ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE), IS CHARTERED BY CONGRESS IN THE AMERICA COMPETES ACT OF 2007 (P.L. 110-69), AS AMENDED BY THE AMERICA COMPETES REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2010 (P.L. 111-358), AS FURTHER AMENDED BY THE ENERGY ACT OF 2020 (P.L. 116-260): “(A) TO ENHANCE THE ECONOMIC AND ENERGY SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES THAT— (I) REDUCE IMPORTS OF ENERGY FROM FOREIGN SOURCES; (II) REDUCE ENERGY-RELATED EMISSIONS, INCLUDING GREENHOUSE GASES; (III) IMPROVE THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF ALL ECONOMIC SECTORS; (IV) PROVIDE TRANSFORMATIVE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT, CLEAN-UP, AND DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL; AND (V) IMPROVE THE RESILIENCE, RELIABILITY, AND SECURITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE TO PRODUCE, DELIVER, AND STORE ENERGY; AND (B) TO ENSURE THAT THE UNITED STATES MAINTAINS A TECHNOLOGICAL LEAD IN DEVELOPING AND DEPLOYING ADVANCED ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES.” ARPA-E ISSUES THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) UNDER ITS AUTHORIZING STATUTE CODIFIED AT 42 U.S.C. § 16538. THE FOA AND ANY COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS OR GRANTS MADE UNDER THIS FOA ARE SUBJECT TO 2 C.F.R. PART 200 AS SUPPLEMENTED BY 2 C.F.R. PART 910. ARPA-E FUNDS RESEARCH ON, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF, TRANSFORMATIVE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS THE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MISSIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. THE AGENCY FOCUSES ON TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN BE MEANINGFULLY ADVANCED WITH A MODEST INVESTMENT OVER A DEFINED PERIOD OF TIME IN ORDER TO CATALYZE THE TRANSLATION FROM SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY TO EARLY-STAGE TECHNOLOGY. FOR THE LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION ABOUT ARPA-E, ITS PROGRAMS AND THE RESEARCH PROJECTS CURRENTLY SUPPORTED, SEE: HTTP://ARPA-E.ENERGY.GOV/. ARPA-E FUNDS TRANSFORMATIONAL RESEARCH. EXISTING ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES GENERALLY PROGRESS ON ESTABLISHED “LEARNING CURVES” WHERE REFINEMENTS TO A TECHNOLOGY AND THE ECONOMIES OF SCALE THAT ACCRUE AS MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION DEVELOP DRIVE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE COST/PERFORMANCE METRIC IN A GRADUAL FASHION. THIS CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT OF A TECHNOLOGY IS IMPORTANT TO ITS INCREASED COMMERCIAL DEPLOYMENT AND IS APPROPRIATELY THE FOCUS OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR OR THE APPLIED TECHNOLOGY OFFICES WITHIN DOE. IN CONTRAST, ARPA-E SUPPORTS TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE FUNDAMENTALLY NEW LEARNING CURVES. ARPA-E TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS TYPICALLY START WITH COST/PERFORMANCE ESTIMATES WELL ABOVE THE LEVEL OF AN INCUMBENT TECHNOLOGY. GIVEN THE HIGH RISK INHERENT IN THESE PROJECTS, MANY WILL FAIL TO PROGRESS, BUT SOME MAY SUCCEED IN GENERATING A NEW LEARNING CURVE WITH A PROJECTED COST/PERFORMANCE METRIC THAT IS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN THAT OF THE INCUMBENT TECHNOLOGY. ARPA-E FUNDS TECHNOLOGY WITH THE POTENTIAL TO BE DISRUPTIVE IN THE MARKETPLACE. THE MERE CREATION OF A NEW LEARNING CURVE DOES NOT ENSURE MARKET PENETRATION. RATHER, THE ULTIMATE VALUE OF A TECHNOLOGY IS DETERMINED BY THE MARKETPLACE, AND IMPACTFUL TECHNOLOGIES ULTIMATELY BECOME DISRUPTIVE – THAT IS, THEY ARE WIDELY ADOPTED AND DISPLACE EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE MARKETPLACE OR CREATE ENTIRELY NEW MARKETS. ARPA-E UNDERSTANDS THAT DEFINITIVE PROOF OF MARKET DISRUPTION TAKES TIME, PARTICULARLY FOR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES. THEREFORE, ARPA-E FUNDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT, IF TECHNICALLY SUCCESSFUL, HAVE CLEAR DISRUPTIVE POTENTIAL, E.G., BY DEMONSTRATING CAPABILITY FOR MANUFACTURING AT COMPETITIVE COST AND DEPLOYMENT AT SCALE. ARPA-E FUNDS APPLIED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DEFINES “APPLIED RESEARCH” AS AN “ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION UNDERTAKEN IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE NEW KNOWLEDGE…DIRECTED PRIMARILY TOWARDS A SPECIFIC PRACTICAL AIM OR OBJECTIVE” AND DEFINES “EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT” AS “CREATIVE AND SYSTEMATIC WORK, DRAWING ON KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE, WHICH IS DIRECTED AT PRODUCING NEW PRODUCTS OR PROCESSES OR IMPROVING EXISTING PRODUCTS OR PROCESSES.” APPLICANTS INTERESTED IN RECEIVING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR BASIC RESEARCH (DEFINED BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET AS “EXPERIMENTAL OR THEORETICAL WORK UNDERTAKEN PRIMARILY TO ACQUIRE NEW KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNDERLYING FOUNDATIONS OF PHENOMENA AND OBSERVABLE FACTS”) SHOULD CONTACT THE DOE’S OFFICE OF SCIENCE (HTTP://SCIENCE.ENERGY.GOV/). OFFICE OF SCIENCE NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC USER FACILITIES (HTTP://SCIENCE.ENERGY.GOV/USER-FACILITIES/) ARE OPEN TO ALL RESEARCHERS, INCLUDING ARPA-E APPLICANTS AND AWARDEES. THESE FACILITIES PROVIDE ADVANCED TOOLS OF MODERN SCIENCE INCLUDING ACCELERATORS, COLLIDERS, SUPERCOMPUTERS, LIGHT SOURCES AND NEUTRON SOURCES, AS WELL AS FACILITIES FOR STUDYING THE NANOWORLD, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND THE ATMOSPHERE. PROJECTS FOCUSED ON EARLY-STAGE R&D FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY ALONG DEFINED ROADMAPS MAY BE MORE APPROPRIATE FOR SUPPORT THROUGH THE DOE APPLIED ENERGY OFFICES INCLUDING: THE OFFICE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY (HTTP://WWW.EERE.ENERGY.GOV/), THE OFFICE OF FOSSIL ENERGY AND CARBON MANAGEMENT (HTTPS://WWW.ENERGY.GOV/FECM/OFFICE-FOSSIL-ENERGY-AND-CARBON-MANAGEMENT), THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY (HTTP://WWW.ENERGY.GOV/NE/OFFICE-NUCLEAR-ENERGY), AND THE OFFICE OF ELECTRICITY (HTTPS://WWW.ENERGY.GOV/OE/OFFICE-ELECTRICITY). PROGRAM OVERVIEW THE ROSIE (REVOLUTIONIZING ORE TO STEEL TO IMPACT EMISSIONS) PROGRAM IS A 3-YEAR, $35 MILLION PROGRAM DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO ZERO EMISSIONS IRONMAKING AND ULTRA-LOW LIFE CYCLE EMISSIONS FOR STEELMAKING. THE PROGRAM SEEKS TO FUND THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION OF NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES THAT PRODUCE IRON-BASED PRODUCTS FROM IRON-CONTAINING ORES AND ALTERNATIVE FEEDSTOCKS WITHOUT PROCESS EMISSIONS IN THE IRONMAKING STEP. THE PROGRAM’S TECHNOLOGIES WILL DEMONSTRATE A PATH TO COST-COMPETITIVENESS WITH TRADITIONAL INCUMBENT CARBOTHERMIC BLAST FURNACE IRONMAKING. THE TECHNOLOGIES FUNDED THROUGH THIS PROGRAM HAVE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL, BECAUSE NO TECHNOLOGY ROUTE EXISTS TODAY THAT MEETS BOTH THIS EMISSIONS CONSTRAINT AND THIS COST PARITY GOAL. THE PROGRAM WILL HAVE TWO CATEGORIES. CATEGORY A INCLUDES PROCESSES FROM ORE TO IRONMAKING. CATEGORY B MUST INCLUDE IRONMAKING BUT CAN EXTEND TO DOWNSTREAM STEEL PRODUCTION. TECHNOLOGIES MUST HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO ACHIEVE: • ZERO NON-BIOGENIC GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS SPECIFICALLY FROM THE IRONMAKING PROCESS • ULTRA-LOW CRADLE-TO-GATE LIFECYCLE GHG EMISSIONS EMITTED PER TONNE OF IRON OR STEEL PRODUCT (< 0.7 TONNES CO2 EMITTED PER TONNE OF HRC STEEL) • PROCESS AND PRODUCT SCALABILITY OF >15 MILLION TONNES • COST PARITY WITH THE IRON OR STEEL PRODUCT BEING DISPLACED • MATERIALS PROPERTIES CONSISTENT WITH RELEVANT COMMERCIAL PRODUCT BEING DISPLACED • PRODUCED 10 KILOGRAMS (KG) OF PROPOSED PRODUCT BY PROJECT END • A DEMONSTRATED PRODUCTION RATE OF 1 KG/HOUR BY PROJECT END IF SUCCESSFUL, NOVEL IRONMAKING TECHNOLOGIES MEETING THE METRICS SET FORTH BY THE PROGRAM WILL ENABLE A REDUCTION OF U.S. EMISSIONS BY OVER 65 MILLION TONNES (MT) CARBON DIOXIDE EMITTED (CO2E) ANNUALLY (~1% OF U.S. EMISSIONS) AND GLOBAL EMISSIONS BY OVER 2.9 GIGATONNES (GT) ANNUALLY (5.5 % OF GLOBAL EMISSIONS).

SCH: IN-VIVO REAL-TIME ASSESSMENT OF THROMBUS IN STROKE TREATMENT VIA FIBER RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AND MULTI-PHYSICS NEURAL-OPERATOR LEARNING -STROKE IS A LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AND DISABILITY WORLDWIDE, CREATING A SIGNIFICANT SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BURDEN. IT OCCURS WHEN A BLOOD CLOT BLOCKS AN ARTERY IN THE BRAIN, CUTTING OFF THE BLOOD SUPPLY AND LEADING TO THE DEATH OF BRAIN CELLS. TO TREAT STROKE, PROMPT REMOVAL OF THE CLOT VIA AN INSERTED TUBE IS CRITICAL. IT HAS BEEN NOTICED THAT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT CLOT REMOVAL DEVICES AND TECHNIQUES VARIES DEPENDING ON THE CLOT'S CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES. HOWEVER, THERE IS CURRENTLY NO SUITABLE METHOD TO DETERMINE THE PROPERTIES OF A CLOT STUCK IN THE BRAIN IN ADVANCE OF THE SURGICAL PROCESS. THUS, THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ACHIEVE REAL-TIME ASSESSMENT OF CLOT MECHANICAL PROPERTIES TO GUIDE DECISION-MAKING FOR HIGHER CLOT REMOVAL SUCCESS RATES. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO PROVIDE DOCTORS WITH AN IMAGING CABLE, WITH A SPECIAL LIGHT SOURCE, THAT CAN BE DELIVERED THROUGH THE TUBE TO MEASURE THE CLOT'S PROPERTIES. TO QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY INTERPRET THE LIGHT COLLECTED FROM THE CLOT FOR CHEMICAL- AND MECHANICAL-PROPERTY MEASUREMENT, AN ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE ALGORITHM WILL BE CREATED. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMAGING CABLE AND THE ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE ALGORITHM FOR CLINICAL USE WILL BE ENABLED IN THIS PROJECT BY THE ADVANCEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE IN MULTIPLE AREAS INCLUDING ENGINEERING, PHYSICS, DATA SCIENCE, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND MEDICINE VIA THE COLLABORATION AMONG ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS, AND DOCTORS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL INVOLVE UNDERGRADUATE, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, AND HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS IN RESEARCH, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON DIVERSITY IN RACE, GENDER, AND ACADEMIC STAGES. THE CURRENT STANDARD OF CARE FOR ISCHEMIC STROKE CAUSED BY LARGE-VESSEL OCCLUSION IS MECHANICAL THROMBECTOMY. THE FAILURE AND COMPLICATIONS OF MECHANICAL THROMBECTOMY CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BLOOD CLOT TO BE RETRIEVED. CURRENTLY, THE EVALUATION OF CLOT PROPERTIES CAN BE ONLY VAGUELY ACHIEVED PREOPERATIVELY BY MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OR COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHY, WHICH CANNOT ASSIST REAL-TIME DECISION MAKING. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ACHIEVE INTRAVASCULAR, IN-VIVO, REAL-TIME ASSESSMENT OF CLOT MECHANICAL PROPERTIES TO GUIDE THROMBECTOMY DECISION-MAKING FOR HIGHER SUCCESS RATES. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, THE PROJECT HAS THREE OBJECTIVES: 1) TO EVALUATE CLOT CHEMICAL COMPOSITION IN-VIVO USING A CATHETER WITH FIBER RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY; 2) TO PREDICT CLOT MECHANICAL PROPERTIES BASED ON ITS CHEMICAL COMPOSITION VIA MULTI-PHYSICS MODELING AND MACHINE LEARNING; AND, 3) TO VALIDATE THIS IN-VIVO REAL-TIME INTRAVASCULAR APPROACH IN ANIMAL AND HUMAN CADAVERIC MODELS FOR CLINICAL TRANSLATION. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT HAS THE FOLLOWING TASKS: 1) INTEGRATION OF A SUB-MILLIMETER RAMAN FIBER PROBE INTO A CATHETER FOR NEURO-INTERVENTION; 2) TRAINING OF A CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORK TO INTERPRET RAMAN SPECTRA FOR CLOT BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS, ADDRESSING INCONSISTENT SPECTRAL BIOMARKERS AND FIBER-INDUCED BACKGROUND NOISE; 3) DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-PHYSICS DISSIPATIVE PARTICLE-DYNAMICS MODEL OF BLOOD CLOTS WITH CELLULAR COMPONENTS DESIGNED TO ADDRESS VARIATIONS IN INDIVIDUAL CLINICAL CASES; AND 4) TRAINING OF A NEURAL OPERATOR TO ACHIEVE REAL-TIME MAPPING FROM RAMAN SIGNALS TO CLOT MECHANICS. THIS PROJECT HAS THE FOLLOWING POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS. IN PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING, DOWNSIZING THE RAMAN FIBER PROBE TO THE UNPRECEDENTED SUB-MILLIMETER SCALE DEMONSTRATES THE PHILOSOPHY OF USING MACHINE LEARNING TO OVERCOME HARDWARE DIFFICULTIES, WHICH CAN DRIVE SENSOR INNOVATION. IN BIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, THE MINIATURIZED RAMAN PROBE WILL REMOVE SPATIAL CONSTRAINTS TO ENABLE RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY IN A WIDER RANGE OF SPECIMENS AND SETTINGS. IN MEDICINE AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, THE MULTI-PHYSICS PARTICLE-BASED NUMERICAL MODEL OF BLOOD-CLOT BIOMECHANICS CAN SERVE AS AN IN-SILICO PLATFORM FOR INVESTIGATING THE PATHOGENESIS OF THROMBOSIS AND TESTING DRUGS AND DEVICES INTERACTING WITH CLOTS. IN DATA SCIENCE, THIS PROJECT SHOWCASES THE NEURAL OPERATOR ACCELERATING SCIENTIFIC SIMULATION FOR REAL-TIME, DATA-DRIVEN, CLINICAL DECISION-MAKING, WHICH MAY PROMOTE MACHINE-LEARNING USE FOR FAST INTERPRETATION OF CLINICAL DATA. THE PROJECT MAY PROMOTE SENSOR-ENABLED, DATA-DRIVEN, REAL-TIME, INTRAOPERATIVE DECISION-MAKING FOR OPTIMIZED THROMBECTOMY WITH SAFE, FAST, AND COMPLETE CLOT REMOVAL. GIVEN THE FACT THAT STROKE IS A LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AND DISABILITY ALL AROUND THE WORLD, THIS PROJECT PROMISES SIGNIFICANT SOCIETAL IMPACTS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FW-HTF-R: MOBILIZING NONPROFIT RESOURCES AND TALENTS WITH A COMMUNITY TOOL FOR PURPOSE-DRIVEN WORK -THIS PROJECT IS ITERATIVELY DESIGNING, ASSESSING, AND REFINING A COMMUNITY TOOL THAT PROVIDES A NEW WAY FOR NONPROFITS TO OBTAIN THE NECESSARY RESOURCES AND TALENTS TO SUPPORT THEIR PURPOSE-DRIVEN NEEDS. THIS PLATFORM CAN INCREASE THE COLLECTIVE IMPACT OF SMALL-TO-MEDIUM NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROVIDE CRITICAL SOCIAL AND HUMAN SERVICES, PARTICULARLY FOR HISTORICALLY MARGINALIZED AND LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES. PARTNERING WITH NONPROFITS, THIS PROJECT INTEGRATES THE EXPERIENCES OF IMPACTED WORKERS INTO THE ITERATIVE DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS. THROUGH A COLLECTIVE IMPACT FRAMEWORK, THE PROJECT AIMS TO ENSURE THAT THE PLATFORM REMAINS A COMMUNITY TOOL THAT HONORS THE TIME AND TALENTS OF NONPROFIT WORKERS AND ENABLES NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO SHARE TALENTS AND RESOURCES IN AN INCLUSIVE, SCALABLE, AND FAIR WAY OVER TIME. THE RESEARCH TEAM IS MEASURING ITS TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT ON WORKERS, NONPROFITS, AND THE COMMUNITY AND IS STUDYING NONPROFIT WORKERS? INTER-WORKPLACE MOBILITY EXPERIENCES, PURSUIT OF MEANINGFUL WORK, AND SENSE OF BELONGING AND PURPOSE. THIS PROJECT CONVERGENTLY BRINGS TOGETHER EXPERTISE IN DOMAINS INCLUDING MECHANISM DESIGN, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, COLLECTIVE IMPACT, APPLIED ETHICS, NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP, COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION, AND LAW. NEW MECHANISMS ARE BEING DEVELOPED TO CONDUCT RECURRENT MULTILATERAL COMBINATORIAL EXCHANGES, ENABLING NONPROFITS TO TEMPORARILY ACQUIRE NEW RESOURCES BY MOBILIZING THEIR OWN IN CONJUNCTION WITH STORED CREDITS. THESE ARE BEING INFORMED BY RIGOROUS RULES OF ENGAGEMENT THAT ARE INCLUSIVE, FAIR, AND SCALABLE. EACH RECURRENT EPISODE FEATURES AN EXCHANGE OF OFFERED RESOURCES, USING COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION TO REALLOCATE BOTH RESOURCES AND CREDITS IN A WAY THAT MAXIMIZES COLLECTIVE COMMUNITY VALUE. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT ARE BEING CO-DESIGNED USING COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH. AN INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ITERATIVELY INTEGRATES BOTH QUANTITATIVE TECHNOLOGY FEEDBACK AND QUALITATIVE FEEDBACK REFLECTING THE EXPERIENCES OF MOBILIZED WORKERS AND NONPROFIT LEADERS. IN ADDITION, A FRAMEWORK IS BEING DEVELOPED TO MEASURE THE TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT AND TO ILLUMINATE THE INFLUENCE ON WORKERS? SENSE OF BELONGING AND PURPOSE, AS WELL AS WORKERS? CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ROLES AS CHANGE AGENTS AND THEIR PURSUIT OF MEANINGFUL WORK; THE EXTENT TO WHICH NONPROFITS? CAPABILITIES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITY-SETTING AND PLANNING ARE TRANSFORMED; AND HOW ENABLED INTER-WORKPLACE MOBILITY CAN LEAD TO NEW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND TALENT RETENTION IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. FINALLY, THIS PROJECT IS EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL FOR TECHNOLOGY TO SERVE AS THE BACKBONE SUPPORT FOR THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND ENGENDER FURTHER COOPERATION WITHIN THE NONPROFIT COMMUNITY. 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.

REMOVING PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL BOTTLENECKS FOR HYDROTHERMAL WASTE-TO-ENERGY THROUGH INTENSIFIED CONDITIONING OF BLENDED HIGH SOLID WASTE SLURRIES

TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF MEGAFARM IRRIGATION AT LEAST BY 50%THROUGH AN ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF ROOT-ZONE SOIL MOISTURE THAT ISATTAINED BY DEVELOPING AN AI-BASED RADAR SYSTEM .

ADVANCING THE MATURITY OF THE FLAME RELUXER TECHNOLOGY

CULTIVATING UNIVERSITY-SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS TO PREPARE STEM UNDERGRADUATES TO TEACH IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

GENETIC ANALYSIS OF SIGNALING PATHWAYS IN CILIA ASSEMBLY AND REMODELING - PROJECT SUMMARY PRIMARY CILIA MEDIATE TRANSDUCTION OF ALL MAJOR SIGNALING PATHWAYS, WHICH IN TURN MODULATE CILIA MORPHOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL OUTPUTS. THE RESEARCH IN MY LAB IS FOCUSED ON IDENTIFYING NEW GENES AND MAPPING SIGNALING NETWORKS THAT REGULATE CILIA ASSEMBLY DURING DEVELOPMENT AND CILIA REMODELING IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AT SINGLE-CELL RESOLUTION IN VIVO. TO PURSUE THESE RESEARCH QUESTIONS, WE USE SOPHISTICATED MOLECULAR GENETICS, PROTEOMICS, AND LIVE IMAGING APPROACHES IN C. ELEGANS WITH COMPLEMENTARY STUDIES IN MAMMALIAN CELL CULTURE MODELS. IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WE PROPOSE TO ADDRESS THREE RESEARCH GOALS. A FIRST MAJOR GOAL IS TO DEFINE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT REGULATE HETEROTRIMERIC G PROTEIN SIGNALING DURING CILIA MORPHOGENESIS. HETEROTRIMERIC G PROTEINS AND THEIR CANONICAL ACTIVATORS G PROTEIN COUPLED RECEPTORS (GPCRS) LOCALIZE TO CILIA, MODULATE CILIA MORPHOLOGY, AND WHEN DISRUPTED CAUSE GENETIC DISORDERS IN HUMANS. KEY OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS THAT WE PROPOSE TO ADDRESS ARE: WHAT CONSERVED AND SPECIES-SPECIFIC MECHANISMS REGULATE CILIARY TRAFFICKING OF HETEROTRIMERIC G PROTEINS? HOW DO NON-CANONICAL, GPCR-INDEPENDENT MECHANISMS MODULATE FUNCTIONS OF CILIARY G PROTEINS? A SECOND MAJOR GOAL IS TO DETERMINE IN VIVO MECHANISMS THAT REGULATE AND MEDIATE CILIA REMODELING IN RESPONSE TO STRESS. AFTER EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS, PRIMARY CILIA UNDERGO STRUCTURAL REMODELING, WHICH IS ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED SIGNALING OUTPUT. WE WANT TO KNOW HOW STRESS MODULATES SIGNALING CAPACITY OF CILIA IN VIVO. WHAT ARE THE STRESS- AND CELL-SPECIFIC MECHANISMS OF STRESS-INDUCED CILIA DYNAMICS? A THIRD MAJOR GOAL IS TO IDENTIFY NEW CONSERVED GENES AND PATHWAYS IN CILIA MORPHOGENESIS AND FUNCTION. CELL- AND TISSUE-SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES IN THE CILIOGENIC PROGRAMS ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD, AND THE CAUSATIVE GENES FOR MANY CILIOPATHY CASES ARE UNKNOWN. FOR EXAMPLE, NEARLY 40 PERCENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH NEURODEVELOPMENTAL CILIOPATHIES ARE ESTIMATED TO BE WITHOUT GENETIC DIAGNOSIS. WE WANT TO HARNESS THE POWER OF BIOINFORMATIC APPROACHES AND C. ELEGANS GENETICS TO ASK – WHAT ARE THE DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS THAT OPERATE IN CELL-SPECIFIC CONTEXTS TO ASSEMBLE CILIA? COLLECTIVELY, THESE PROJECTS WILL GENERATE FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHT INTO CELL-SPECIFIC SIGNALING NETWORKS THAT REGULATE CILIA ASSEMBLY, REMODELING, AND CILIA- MEDIATED CELLULAR FUNCTIONS. THIS KNOWLEDGE IS AN IMPORTANT STEPPINGSTONE TOWARD BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE GENETIC BASIS OF CILIOPATHIES, AND MORE BROADLY, OF MECHANISMS THAT ALLOW CELLS TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THIS AWARD WOULD ALSO ALLOW US TO RECRUIT AND TRAIN A DIVERSE POOL OF RESEARCHERS, LAUNCH NEW COLLABORATIONS, AND FOLLOW NEW HYPOTHESES THAT EMERGE IN THE COURSE OF THIS STUDY.

CAREER: CHARACTERIZATION OF EPIGENETIC FACTORS AND THEIR REGULATORY ROLES IN MODULATING MITOTIC FIDELITY

IGF::OT::IGF AN OFFSHORE OIL BURN ENHANCED BY FLOATING IMMERSED OBJECTS

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE), OFFICE OF FOSSIL ENERGY AND CARBON MANAGMENT INTENDS TO HELP BUILD OFF OF PRIOR DOE AND PRIVATE INDUSTRY INVESTMENTS ACROSS THE CRITICAL MATERIALS SUPPLY CHAIN, FROM EXTRACTION, PROCESSING, REFINING, MANUFACTURING, AND RECYCLING, AS WELL AS ON INVESTMENTS IN DEVELOPING ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS OR MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS WITH LESS SUPPLY VULNERABILITY. THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY IS LOOKING TO DEVELOP BENCH SCALE CONCEPTS IN THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL (TRL) 2 TO 4 RANGE AND TO DEMONSTRATE PROCESSES ON A CONTINUOUS/SEMICONTINUOUS BENCH SCALE BEFORE SCALING UP TO PILOT SCALE, AT TRL 6. FECM SUPPORTS REBUILDING THE U.S. LEADERSHIP ROLE IN THE ECONOMICALLY VIABLE, ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE EXTRACTION, SEPARATION, PROCESSING, REFINING, AND RECYCLING OF CRITICAL MINERALS AND MATERIALS (CMM)

BEGINNINGS: NORTHEAST EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING ONHYDROGEN ADVANCEMENTS THROUGH MENTORSHIP, PROJECT INTEGRATION, OPERATION, AND NETWORKING -THE NEXT CHAMPION PROGRAM AIMS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HYDROGEN ENERGY CAREERS AND SUPPORT WORKFORCE PARTICIPATION FROM ALL AMERICANS. HYDROGEN IS A KEY ENABLER OF U.S. ENERGY SECURITY AND RESILIENCE, WITH OFFICIAL REPORTS PROJECTING THAT THE HYDROGEN SECTOR COULD SUPPORT UP TO 100,000 JOBS NATIONWIDE BY 2030. THIS INITIATIVE BUILDS A REGIONAL HYDROGEN WORKFORCE PIPELINE BY CONNECTING TWO-YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS TO ADVANCED TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES, INDUSTRY INTERNSHIPS, AND JOB PLACEMENT SERVICES. THROUGH STRONG PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGES, INDUSTRY LEADERS, REGIONAL WORKFORCE ORGANIZATIONS, AND FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS, PARTICIPANTS ENGAGE IN HANDS-ON LEARNING, RECEIVE MENTORING, AND COMPLETE IN-SITU INTERNSHIPS. THE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO BROADEN ACCESS AND PARTICIPATION BY OFFERING MENTORING, NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES, AND TARGETED INTERVENTIONS THAT ADDRESS COMMON BARRIERS TO WORKFORCE ENTRY. THE LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO STRENGTHEN THE ENERGY WORKFORCE AND ENSURE THAT OPPORTUNITIES IN HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGIES ARE OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS. THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND TECHNICAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT FOR NON-TRADITIONAL LEARNERS PURSUING CAREERS IN HYDROGEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES. BUILT AROUND THE RECRUITMENT?AWARENESS?MENTORSHIP?POST-INTERNSHIP (RAMP) MODEL, THE PROGRAM IS DEVELOPED AND DELIVERED IN CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY PARTNERS WHO HELP SHAPE THE CURRICULUM, CO-DESIGN LEARNING ACTIVITIES, AND HOST PARTICIPANTS FOR IMMERSIVE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES. THE TRAINING INCLUDES INTENSIVE MODULES ON PEM ELECTROLYZERS, FUEL CELLS, HYDROGEN SAFETY, AND INFRASTRUCTURE, SUPPORTED BY LAB ACTIVITIES, SIMULATION TOOLS, AND REAL-WORLD CASE STUDIES INFORMED BY INDUSTRY INPUT. INTERNSHIPS PROVIDE HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE AND DIRECT MENTORSHIP IN OPERATIONAL SETTINGS, ENSURING THAT PARTICIPANTS GAIN SKILLS ALIGNED WITH CURRENT AND EMERGING WORKFORCE DEMANDS. THE PROGRAM?S COGNITIVE APPRENTICESHIP FRAMEWORK EMPHASIZES MODELING, COACHING, ARTICULATION, AND REFLECTION. OUTCOMES WILL BE EVALUATED USING BOTH FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE METHODS, TARGETING PARTICIPANT RETENTION, SKILL DEVELOPMENT, AND EMPLOYMENT PLACEMENT. PROJECT FINDINGS AND CURRICULUM MATERIALS WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO SUPPORT BROADER ADOPTION IN OTHER ENERGY SECTORS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

PFI-RP: A NOVEL TECHNIQUE FOR SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT ENHANCEMENT OF COASTAL SOILS -THE BROADER IMPACT OF THIS PARTNERSHIPS FOR INNOVATION ? RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP (PFI-RP) PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE, COST-EFFECTIVE, AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY SOIL IMPROVEMENT SOLUTION FOR COASTAL REGIONS. THIS TECHNOLOGY ADDRESSES A HIDDEN BUT SERIOUS CLIMATE-INDUCED HAZARD TO COASTAL CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE DUE TO SEAWATER INTRUSION AND CONCOMITANT SOIL SALINIZATION. TRADITIONAL CALCIUM-BASED METHODS OF STABILIZATION ARE NEITHER EFFECTIVE NOR SUSTAINABLE DUE TO HIGH ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND LARGE CARBON EMISSIONS IN THEIR MANUFACTURING PROCESS. THIS TECHNOLOGY OFFERS A GREENER ALTERNATIVE WITH A SIGNIFICANT MARKET POTENTIAL AND APPLICATIONS TO CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE, WATER SYSTEMS, AND OTHER GROUND IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS. THE MARKET SIZE IS EXPECTED TO GROW TO $30.2 BILLION BY 2032. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO CREATE SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS BY ENHANCING THE SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE OF COASTAL COMMUNITIES. ADDITIONALLY, THE PROJECT ADDRESSES GLOBAL ISSUES SUCH AS CONSERVING ENERGY AND RESOURCE RECOVERY BY RECYCLING WASTE MATERIALS. THE USE-INSPIRED, TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH WILL REPLACE THE CURRENT, NON-SUSTAINABLE CALCIUM-BASED STABILIZATION PRACTICE, GENERATING JOBS AND PROMOTING THE ADOPTION OF THE NEW MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES. AN INTEGRATED ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATIONAL AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN WILL BE USED TO TRAIN GRADUATE STUDENTS TO BECOME FUTURE ENTREPRENEURSHIP LEADERS IN ADVANCED, NEXT-GENERATION SOIL IMPROVEMENT TECHNOLOGIES. THE PROJECT PRESENTS AN INNOVATIVE, COST-EFFECTIVE, AND PRACTICAL SOLUTION TO IMPROVE SALINE COASTAL SOILS WHEN TRADITIONAL PORTLAND CEMENT-BASED METHODS ARE INEFFECTIVE OR EVEN PROBLEMATIC. THE SOIL IMPROVEMENT TECHNOLOGY ADDRESSES TECHNOLOGICAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND MARKET NEEDS BY DEVELOPING COST-EFFECTIVE AND ?GREENER? SOIL STABILIZER DERIVED FROM ABUNDANT INDUSTRIAL WASTE (I.E., FLY ASH-BASED GEOPOLYMER). SUCH A SOIL STABILIZER IS TECHNICALLY SOUND FOR TREATING SALT-BEARING COASTAL SOILS. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO: (I) OPTIMIZE FLY ASH-BASED GEOPOLYMERS SUITABLE FOR IMPROVING COASTAL SALT-BEARING SOILS; (II) DEVELOP A SOIL IMPROVEMENT PROCEDURE THAT IS READY FOR ENGINEERING IMPLEMENTATION BY HOLISTICALLY CONSIDERING STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT, VOLUME CHANGE, AND DURABILITY THROUGH MEDIUM-SCALE LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS; AND (III) DEMONSTRATE COST EFFECTIVENESS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESILIENCY BENEFITS OF THE SOIL IMPROVEMENT TECHNOLOGY BY PERFORMING LIFE CYCLE COST AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS, FACILITATING COMMERCIALIZATION AND ADOPTION. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CONNECTING MENTOR PARTNERS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF UNDERGRADUATES IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS

BEGINNINGS: SENSOR TECHNOLOGY AS A VEHICLE TO CULTIVATE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING FOR EMERGING AND NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO SERVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST BY TRAINING A SKILLFUL WORKFORCE TO MEET THE GROWING TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES DELINEATED IN THE CHIPS AND SCIENCE ACT OF 2022. SENSOR TECHNOLOGY IS AMONG THE FASTEST-DEVELOPING BRANCHES IN MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND CONTRIBUTES TO ALL ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. THE TRANSFORMATION IN MINIATURE, INTELLIGENT AND CONVOLUTED SENSOR SYSTEMS WILL ENABLE SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING INNOVATIONS IN THE DEFENSE, SPACE, CIVIL, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY SECTORS. TO EMBRACE SUCH A TRANSFORMATION, ILLINOIS TECH?S EXLENT PROJECT, THROUGH THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SENSOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (ICSSE), ASSEMBLED A TEAM OF EXPERTS TO PROVIDE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY, EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING IN COMBINED AREAS OF ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BIOTECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL, SEMICONDUCTOR AND MICROELECTRONICS. THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO PREPARE UNDERSERVED GROUPS, PARTICULARLY VETERANS, AND UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS IN STEM WITH THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITY TO TACKLE THE MULTIFACETED CHALLENGES IN THE SENSOR TECHNOLOGY SECTOR. THE PROJECT CONSISTS OF EDUCATION AND MENTORED RESEARCH IN SENSOR TECHNOLOGY IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING, FOLLOWED BY RELATED INDUSTRIAL INTERNSHIP TRAINING. SPECIFICALLY, THROUGH A 9-CREDIT CERTIFICATE PROGRAM, ILLINOIS TECH?S EXLENT PROJECT OFFERS DEDICATED MENTORSHIP, HANDS-ON TRAINING, AND ONE-ON-ONE COLLABORATIVE CAREER SUPPORT THROUGH FACULTY MENTORS, INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS, AND VETERANS ADMINISTRATION (VA) ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS. OF NOTE, THE PROJECT WILL AFFORD VETERANS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESKILLING/UPSKILLING AND REINTEGRATING INTO CIVILIAN SOCIETY, CREATING A STRONG CAREER PATH INTO THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE. THIS PROJECT ALIGNS WITH THE NSF EXLENT PROGRAM, FUNDED BY THE NSF TIP AND EDU DIRECTORATES, AS IT SEEKS TO SUPPORT EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS FROM DIVERSE PROFESSIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUNDS TO INCREASE THEIR INTEREST IN, AND THEIR ACCESS TO, CAREER PATHWAYS IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY FIELDS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CAMPUS BASED-FWS

IGF::OT::IGF PROJECT, WP18-1176

IUCRC PHASE II: WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: CENTER FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH IN DRYING (CARD)

DEVELOP FLOATINGFLAME REFLUXER SYSTEM

SCH: A NOVEL BIAS-MITIGATED MULTIMODAL OXYGEN MONITOR - ANNUALLY, ~300,000 NEONATES ARE ADMITTED TO THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU) IN THE U.S., MOSTLY DUE TO RESPIRATORY DISTRESS. AFTER A SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL TREATMENT IN THE NICU, EARLIER DISCHARGE TO A STABLE HOME LIFE COULD IMPROVE THE CHANCE OF SURVIVAL FOR NEONATES. HOWEVER, THE OUTPATIENT MANAGEMENT OF BABIES WITH FRAGILE RESPIRATORY STATUS IS CHALLENGING IN THE ABSENCE OF RELIABLE REMOTE MONITORING DEVICES SUITABLE FOR USE AT HOME. DUE TO THE SMALL FORM FACTOR AND EASE OF USE, CONTEMPORARY HOME MONITORING DEVICES DEPLOY SENSORS MEASURING SPO2, THE SATURATION OF HEMOGLOBIN BOUND TO OXYGEN. NEVERTHELESS, ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF OXYGENATION IS COMPLICATED AND NOT POSSIBLE WITH ONLY ONE PARAMETER. THEREFORE, IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, INVASIVE BLOOD GAS MEASUREMENTS - INCLUDING PARTIAL PRESSURE OF OXYGEN (PAO2), WHICH IS THE FREE DISSOLVED OXYGEN (NOT BOUND TO HEMOGLOBIN) - ARE NOT ENTIRELY REPLACED WITH SPO2. PAO2 IS AN ESSENTIAL CARDIO-RESPIRATORY MEASUREMENT AND THE DIRECT INDICATION OF LUNG EFFECTIVENESS. A DIRECT NONINVASIVE METHOD OF ASSESSING PAO2 IS PTCO2, OXYGEN GAS THAT DIFFUSES THROUGH THE SKIN. CREATING AN ABILITY TO SENSE TWO RESPIRATORY PARAMETERS (PTCO2 AND SPO2) WITH ONE WEARABLE IS UNIQUE AND SUPERIOR TO THE CURRENT PRACTICE OF MEASURING ONLY SPO2, FILLING AN IMPORTANT GAP IN MINIATURIZATION OF THE TRANSCUTANEOUS BLOOD GAS MONITORS.

PACSP TOOLS: STRENGTHENING CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIPS BY ADVANCING MOLECULAR AND ANALYTIC TOOLS FOR DISRUPTING ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE -BIODIVERSITY LOSS IS ONE OF THREE CRITICAL INTERLINKED CHALLENGES FACING HUMANITY TODAY, ALONGSIDE CLIMATE CHANGE AND POLLUTION. NATURE CRIME, PARTICULARLY, UNDERMINES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACTIVITIES TO REDUCE BIODIVERSITY LOSS. AMONG THESE CRIMES, ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE (IWT) IS EGREGIOUS AND A CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS. THIS ILLEGAL ACTIVITY SPANS ALL US STATES AND TERRITORIES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL USE NEW SCIENCE-PRACTITIONER PARTNERSHIPS TO OVERCOME SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE FAILURES ABOUT A) DATA GENERATION AND CLASSIFICATION AND B) DATA INTEGRATION AND APPLICATION. THE SCIENCE TEAM WILL USE SHARKS, RAYS, AND TURTLES AS CONSERVATION EXAMPLES AND INCLUDE EXPERTISE IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, WILDLIFE FORENSICS, OPERATIONS RESEARCH, NETWORK DISRUPTION, COMPUTER AND DATA SCIENCE, CONSERVATION CRIMINOLOGY AND HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. THIS RESEARCH WILL ENHANCE CONSERVATION EFFORTS BOTH IN THE US AND GLOBALLY BY INCREASING SCIENTIFIC AWARENESS AND IMPROVING THE PRECISION OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE SCOPE AND RATE OF LOSS OF SHARKS, RAYS AND TURTLES INVOLVED IN THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE. FINDINGS WILL CONTRIBUTE VALUABLE DATA ABOUT THESE SPECIES AND WILL ALSO BE INTEGRATED WITH OTHER DATA TO BETTER UNDERSTAND FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES OF SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS. ADDITIONALLY, THE RESULTS WILL INFORM SCIENCE-BASED STRATEGIES FOR DISRUPTING ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE INCLUDING CRIME PREVENTION, RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT MEASURES. THE SCIENCE TEAM WILL ALSO ENGAGE WITH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, SUPPORT PHD DISSERTATIONS, AND PROVIDE SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THEIR PARTNERS THROUGH A 5-DAY TOOL-TRAINING WORKSHOP. FURTHERMORE, THE RESEARCHERS WILL COLLABORATE WITH DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS BY SHARING INFORMATION, CO-DESIGNING INITIATIVES, AND OFFERING DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT. THE RESEARCH AIMS FOCUS ON NOVEL SPECIES IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES, ONLINE MARKET ANALYSIS, DATA INTEGRATION, AND OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL CHALLENGES HINDERING EFFECTIVE ACTION FOR IWT. THE GOALS AND SCOPE OF THIS RESEARCH INCLUDE: 1) PRODUCING NEAR REAL TIME SPECIES-LEVEL GENETIC IDENTIFICATION FOR 185 SPECIES USING UNIQUE HIGH-RESOLUTION MELT (HRM) PROFILES; 2) DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING NEW MACHINE LEARNING FRAMEWORKS THAT EXPLORE VARIOUS HRM RANGES, UTILIZING ADVANCED DEEP LEARNING AND TRANSFER LEARNING APPROACHES USING DATA AUGMENTATION TECHNIQUES; 3) ADVANCING THE ACCURACY OF SPECIES IDENTIFICATION THROUGH IMPROVED ANALYSIS OF HRM CURVE PROFILES; 4) CONDUCTING LARGE-SCALE DATA COLLECTION, INNOVATIVE DATA LABELING, AND AUTOMATIC CLASSIFICATION TO PROVIDE DATA OPENNESS, HIGH RECALL RATE, EFFECTIVE IWT POST CLASSIFICATION MODELS, AND A VISUALIZATION TOOL; 5) INTEGRATING PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL CRIME ECOSYSTEMS USING SPATIALLY INTEROPERABLE DATA FROM EXPERTS AND NON-EXPERTS; 6) ADDRESSING ADVERSARIAL CHALLENGES THROUGH ADAPTIVE LEARNING AND SEQUENCE CREATION TO IMPROVE DECISION-MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY; AND 7) DEVELOPING A MODEL STRUCTURE CAPABLE OF ACCOUNTING FOR COMPLEXITY OF REAL-WORLD NETWORKS. THIS RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE SCIENCE UNDERSTANDING AND HELP OVERCOME CONSERVATION KNOWLEDGE FAILURES, THEREBY AIDING EFFORTS TO DECREASE THE ACCELERATION OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS FROM IWT. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE DIVISIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY AND INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL SYSTEMS THROUGH THE PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE PROGRAM. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF ELECTRO-CHEMO-MECHANICAL INTERPLAY FOR SELECTIVE AND INTERCALATIVE EXTRACTION OF URANYL IONS USING DISORDERED METAL OXIDES

EXPANDQISE: TRACK 1: EDUCATION AND RESEARCH OF SYSTEM AND NETWORK SUPPORTS FOR QUANTUM CLOUD -NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: QUANTUM COMPUTING OFFERS THE PROMISE OF SOLVING INTRACTABLE PROBLEMS ACROSS MANY SCIENTIFIC DOMAINS INCLUDING CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY. HOWEVER, DESPITE THE RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN QUANTUM HARDWARE, WE ARE STILL FAR FROM THE REALITY OF QUANTUM RESEARCHERS HAVING ON-PREMISES QUANTUM COMPUTERS. THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEMOCRATIZE ACCESS TO QUANTUM COMPUTING RESOURCES BY ALLOWING RESEARCHERS TO WORK WITH QUBITS VIA THE INTERNET. TO ACHIEVE THIS EVOLUTION TO WHAT WE HAVE OBSERVED IN CLASSICAL CLOUD COMPUTING WITH THE GENERAL AVAILABILITY OF SHARED, PUBLIC CLOUD PLATFORMS SUCH AS AMAZON WEB SERVICE, THIS PROJECT STUDIES THE SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR THE QUANTUM CLOUD BY DEVELOPING GENERAL WORKFLOW AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ALGORITHMS. ON THE EDUCATION FRONT, THIS PROJECT INTEGRATES THE FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTUM COMPUTING AND TRADITIONAL CLOUD COMPUTING TECHNIQUES INTO THE CURRICULUM, AIMING TO PROVIDE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL TRAINING TO THE STUDENTS AND PREPARE THEM FOR LATER INNOVATING IN VARIOUS ASPECTS OF SCIENCE REQUIRING QUANTUM COMPUTING AND QUANTUM NETWORKING KNOWLEDGE. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT: THE PROJECT?S FOUNDATION IS THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A QUANTUM CLOUD FRAMEWORK CALLED QCLOUD THAT CONSISTS OF NOVEL JOB PLACEMENT, JOB SCHEDULING, AND NETWORK SCHEDULING ALGORITHMS BASED ON PROPOSED MODELS OF QUANTUM CIRCUITS, GATES, AND REMOTE GATES. TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE QUANTUM CLOUD RESOURCES, THE RESEARCH TEAM INVESTIGATES ALGORITHMS FOR SCHEDULING QUANTUM PROGRAMS CONSIDERING VARIOUS TYPES OF QUANTUM ERRORS TO IMPROVE QUANTUM APPLICATION FIDELITY WITHOUT SACRIFICING OTHER TRADITIONAL SCHEDULING METRICS. THE PROJECT ALSO LOOKS AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A QUANTUM CLOUD SIMULATOR WITH BOTH COMPUTING AND NETWORK MODULES. THE SIMULATOR IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF QCLOUD, PROVIDING A MEANS TO EVALUATE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF QCLOUD. FURTHERMORE, THE RESEARCH TEAM PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN BUILDING AND RUNNING QUANTUM PROGRAMS WITH THE DEVELOPED SIMULATOR. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ARE BUILT ON PIS? PRIOR WORK IN QUANTUM CLOUD, QUANTUM NETWORKS, AND TRADITIONAL CLOUD AND EDGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE RESEARCH CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE EVOLUTION OF THE QUANTUM CLOUD, PROVIDE A MORE DIVERSE COMMUNITY WITH EASIER ACCESS TO QUANTUM RESOURCES, AND BUILD THE QUANTUM PRESENCE AT THE PI?S INSTITUTE. THIS AWARD WAS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE DIRECTORATE FOR MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES, OFFICE OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES; AND THE DIRECTORATE FOR COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, DIVISION OF COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION FOUNDATIONS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

IGF::OT::IGF BURNING OF CRUDE OIL IN ICE CAVITIES - II

A NOVEL FLOW MODELING PARADIGM FOR HEMODYNAMICS IN FETAL AORTA AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE DIAGNOSIS OF FETAL COARCTATION OF THE AORTA - COARCTATION OF THE AORTA (COA) IS A COMMON CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT, ACCOUNTING FOR 6-8% OF LIVE BIRTHS WITH CHD. IF THE COA IS SIGNIFICANT AND IS NOT DIAGNOSED AND TREATED IN A TIMELY FASHION, THE NEWBORN OR YOUNG INFANT MAY DEVELOP CARDIOGENIC SHOCK OR MAY DIE. CONTEMPORARY PRENATAL SCREENING AND DIAGNOSIS OF COA RELY ON ANATOMIC AND BLOOD FLOW CONDITIONS ACQUIRED BY THE FETAL IMAGING TECHNIQUE. THE LIMITED RESOLUTION OF THE IMAGING TECHNIQUE CONFINES THE ANATOMICAL AND HEMODYNAMIC METRICS AVAILABLE FOR PRENATAL SCREENING AND DIAGNOSIS. BOTH FALSE POSITIVE AND FALSE NEGATIVE DIAGNOSES OCCUR FREQUENTLY. HENCE, THERE IS AN EMERGING NEED FOR A NOVEL TECHNIQUE THAT PROVIDES NEW METRICS AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE FETAL AORTA. PERSONALIZED FLOW MODELING OFFERS A COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO EVALUATING HIGH-FIDELITY HEMODYNAMICS IN THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM. IT HAS LED TO PARADIGM SHIFTS IN UNCOVERING MECHANISMS, IMPROVING DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS, AND DEVELOPING AND OPTIMIZING MEDICAL DEVICES AND TREATMENTS FOR HEART DISEASE. HOWEVER, FEW MODELS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR FETAL CIRCULATION. THEREFORE, THE PROPOSED WORK AIMS TO DEVELOP NOVEL, PERSONALIZED FLOW MODELS THAT ASSESS HIGH-FIDELITY HEMODYNAMICS OF THE FETAL AORTA AND TO USE THE MODELS TO EVALUATE NOVEL FLOW METRICS FOR THE IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS OF COA IN FETUSES, LEVERAGING AN EXISTING, LARGE COHORT OF FETUSES (N=250 NORMAL AORTAS AND 250 COA IN FETUSES) FROM THE FETAL HEART SOCIETY. WE AIM TO (1) DEVELOP A NOVEL PERSONALIZED, COMPUTATIONAL FLOW MODEL OF THE FETAL AORTA USING A CLINICALLY ROUTINE IMAGING TECHNIQUE AND VALIDATE IT AGAINST IN VIVO MEASUREMENTS; (2) DEVELOP A NOVEL IN VITRO FLOW MODEL OF THE FETAL AORTA FOR THE VALIDATION OF NOVEL FLOW METRICS; AND (3) EVALUATE NOVEL FLOW METRICS FOR THE IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS OF COA IN THE FETUS. THE METRICS OF INTEREST INCLUDE (1) WALL SHEAR STRESS (WSS), AN IMPORTANT FLOW STIMULUS FOR THE MATURATION AND REMODELING OF EMBRYONIC AND POSTNATAL VESSELS, AND LINKED TO RECURRENT COARCTATION AFTER SURGICAL REPAIR IN COA PATIENTS, (2) FRACTIONAL FLOW RESERVE (FFR) AND FLOW RESISTANCE, WELL- RECOGNIZED MARKERS OF VASCULAR OBSTRUCTION. HOWEVER, THESE FLOW METRICS HAVE RARELY BEEN EXPLORED IN FETAL COA. THIS PROJECT BUILDS UPON OUR EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN DEVELOPING AND APPLYING BLOOD FLOW MODELING IN CONGENITAL HEART DEFECTS, UNIQUE CLINICAL EXPERTISE IN FETAL IMAGING, AND ACCESS TO A COMPREHENSIVE CLINICAL DATABASE (N = 500) FROM THE FETAL HEART SOCIETY. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES AND GAPS IN THE RESEARCH ON FETAL CIRCULATION AND CHDS IN FETUSES. THE PROJECT WILL YIELD NEW DATA AND KNOWLEDGE ON IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS OF COA IN FETUSES. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL DELIVER THE FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND, VALIDATED COMPUTATIONAL AND IN VITRO FLOW MODELS FOR THE FETAL AORTA. THE FINDINGS AND TECHNOLOGY OBTAINED THROUGH THIS PROJECT WILL LAY A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE CLINICAL STUDIES THAT COULD LEAD TO IMPROVED SCREENING, DIAGNOSIS, AND OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN WITH COA. IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE NIH’S MISSION STATEMENT, THE PROPOSED WORK AIMS TO IMPROVE LIFELONG HEALTH FOR COA PATIENTS AND REDUCE THE BURDEN ON THESE PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

A CARBON NEGATIVE SELF-HEALING ENZYMATIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL -SECOND ONLY TO WATER, CONCRETE IS THE MOST CONSUMED MATERIAL ON EARTH. EVERY YEAR, WASTE CONCRETE FROM CONSTRUCTION AND CARBON DIOXIDE EXCRETION FROM CEMENT PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORT IS INCREASING, AND CONCRETE ALONE NOW CONTRIBUTES TO 9 PERCENT OF THE OVERALL CO2 EMISSIONS. ADDITIONALLY, CONCRETE IS INHERENTLY BRITTLE, AND IT REQUIRES FREQUENT REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT, WHICH ARE ECONOMICALLY EXPENSIVE AND FURTHER GENERATE LARGE VOLUMES OF CARBON DIOXIDE. SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AND LOW-COST SUBSTITUTES FOR CONCRETE FOR DECADES. THE GOAL OF THIS AWARD IS TO CREATE A NEW CLASS OF INEXPENSIVE, CARBON-NEGATIVE, SELF-HEALING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS USING A COMBINED MODELING AND EXPERIMENTAL FRAMEWORK. THE MATERIAL UTILIZES A SAFE, UBIQUITOUS, BIOLOGICAL ENZYME THAT CAN EFFICIENTLY CAPTURE CO2 DURING ITS PRODUCTION. USING THIS NEW PARADIGM, A SELF-HEALING ENZYMATIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL WILL BE PRODUCED. THIS ENZYMATIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL CAN SIGNIFICANTLY LENGTHEN THE SERVICE LIFE OF CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE WHILE CAPTURING CARBON. IT IS PREDICTED THAT ONE CUBIC YARD OF ENZYMATIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL WILL APPROXIMATELY STORE 18 POUNDS OF CO2. IN CONTRAST, ONE CUBIC YARD OF CONCRETE EMITS AROUND 400 POUNDS OF CO2. THE RESEARCH TASKS WILL BE COMPLEMENTED BY TRAINING BOTH GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND DEVELOPING A PROGRAM TO HELP INSPIRE UNDERPRIVILEGED GIRLS TO LEARN ABOUT CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING. INSPIRED BY THE EFFICIENT PROCESS OF CO2 TRANSPORT IN CELLS BY ENZYMES, A NEW PARADIGM IS INTRODUCED TO CREATE THE ENZYMATIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL WITH SELF-HEALING PROPERTIES. THE ENZYME, CARBONIC ANHYDRASE, CATALYZES CALCIUM CARBONATE CRYSTAL PRECIPITATION, ESTABLISHING MINERAL BRIDGES ALONG THE POLYMER SCAFFOLDING THAT BONDS THE AGGREGATE TOGETHER. HENCE, CURING OF THE MATERIAL CAN BE PERFORMED AT LOW TEMPERATURES IN A SHORT TIMEFRAME. THE MATERIAL EXHIBITS AN AVERAGE STRENGTH VALUE THAT IS THREE TIMES AS HIGH AS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR CEMENT MORTAR AND IS ALSO CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING MANY CYCLES OF HEALING AFTER FRACTURE. THE SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTION OF THE PROJECT INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING. (1) THE FORMULATION OF A NEW CLASS OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS THROUGH ENZYMATIC CRYSTAL PRECIPITATION. THE RATE OF CRYSTAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE ENZYMATIC MECHANISM IS FOUR ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE FASTER THAN BACTERIAL METHODS MAKING IT SCALABLE TO INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. (2) THE ENZYMATIC MECHANISM PROVIDES A MEANS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CARBON-NEGATIVE MATERIALS TO ULTIMATELY REPLACE CONCRETE. (3) A NOVEL FLUCTUATION-BASED SEMI-GRAND CANONICAL MONTE CARLO SIMULATION METHOD WILL BE USED AS A MODELING TECHNIQUE FOR THE THERMODYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF THE ENZYMATIC CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CCRI: NEW: REVISIT: SCALABLE EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATIONS -THIS PROJECT FURTHERS PROGRESS IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF DATA VISUALIZATION BY DEVELOPING INFRASTRUCTURE TO ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO CONDUCT FEATURE-RICH ONLINE EXPERIMENTS. DATA VISUALIZATIONS ARE CRUCIAL IN DATA DRIVEN DISCOVERY IN FIELDS AS DIVERSE AS MEDICINE, BIOLOGY, OR INTELLIGENCE. VISUALIZATION IS ALSO OFTEN USED IN COMMUNICATION, FOR EXAMPLE BY NEWSPAPERS OR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. HOWEVER, IT IS DIFFICULT TO KNOW WHICH VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES ARE BETTER FOR PARTICULAR DATASETS AND TASKS. CAN CERTAIN VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES ENABLE PEOPLE TO MAKE JUDGEMENTS MORE EFFICIENTLY, OR MORE CORRECTLY? DOES A PARTICULAR TECHNIQUE LEAD TO MORE INSIGHTS, OR TO MORE DIVERSE TYPES OF INSIGHTS THAN OTHERS? IS ONE TECHNIQUE MORE ENJOYABLE TO USE, OR MORE VERSATILE? IS ONE TECHNIQUE EASIER TO LEARN THAN ANOTHER ONE? IS A TECHNIQUE BETTER AFTER DEVELOPING FAMILIARITY? THESE ARE THE KINDS OF QUESTIONS THAT THE VISUALIZATION COMMUNITY NEEDS TO ANSWER TO DEVELOP A RIGOROUS UNDERSTANDING OF DATA VISUALIZATION. HAVING ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS WILL ALLOW US TO MAKE BETTER VISUALIZATION DESIGN CHOICES, DEVELOP BETTER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VISUALIZATIONS, AND ALLOW US TO TAILOR VISUALIZATIONS TO AUDIENCES AND SITUATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP TESTING INFRASTRUCTURE, SO THAT SCIENTISTS CAN ASK THESE QUESTIONS EFFICIENTLY IN LARGE SCALE WEB-BASED EXPERIMENTS, WITH DIVERSE PARTICIPANTS THAT REFLECT THE INTENDED AUDIENCE OF VISUALIZATIONS. THE TEAM WILL DEVELOP THE REVISIT INFRASTRUCTURE, A SUITE OF MODULAR BUT COMPATIBLE TOOLS TO DESIGN AND DEBUG ONLINE STUDIES OF INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES, TO EFFICIENTLY DESIGN TRAINING MATERIAL FOR THE STUDY, TO ELICIT FREE-FORM, SPOKEN RESPONSES FROM PARTICIPANTS, AND TO PROVIDE ADVANCED TOOLS FOR ANALYZING SUCH DATA. THE PROPOSED REVISIT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT ADDRESSES A CRITICAL BOTTLENECK IN VISUALIZATION RESEARCH: HOW CAN WE BETTER AND MORE EFFICIENTLY EMPIRICALLY EVALUATE VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES? THE REVISIT INFRASTRUCTURE AIMS TO DEMOCRATIZE EVALUATION OF INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES, AN AREA THAT HAS BEEN UNDER-EXPLORED, DUE IN PART TO THE HIGH TECHNICAL BURDEN AND SKILLS REQUIRED TO CREATE COMPLEX ONLINE EXPERIMENTS. THE KEY INNOVATIONS OF THIS PROJECT ARE: (1) SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR FLEXIBLE STUDY CREATION AND INSTRUMENTED DATA COLLECTION, INCLUDING INTERACTION PROVENANCE, INSIGHTS, AND RATIONALES, COMPATIBLE WITH ONLINE CROWDSOURCED STUDY CONTEXTS. (2) SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE TO WRANGLE THE RESULTS DATA INTO FORMATS COMPATIBLE WITH OFF-THE-SHELF ANALYSIS TOOLS, AND ADVANCED SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE TO ANALYZE THESE DIVERSE DATA STREAMS THAT CAN BE USED FOR PILOTING, QUALITY CONTROL, AND ANALYZING USAGE TYPES, INSIGHTS, RATIONAL, AND PERFORMANCE. THESE METHODS WILL ALLOW VISUALIZATION RESEARCHERS TO GATHER EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ABOUT THE MERITS OF DIFFERENT INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES. IT WILL ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO UNDERSTAND THE TYPES OF INSIGHTS THAT DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES SUPPORT, REVEALING DIVERGING ANALYSIS STRATEGIES USERS MAY TAKE. ULTIMATELY, THESE METHODS WILL ENABLE A WIDER SET OF VISUALIZATION RESEARCHERS TO RUN A MUCH BROADER RANGE OF EXPERIMENTS USING CROWDSOURCING THAN BEFORE. 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.

CAREER: EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION IN ENGINEERED PROKARYOTES -THE SOIL CONTAINS A COMPLEX WEB OF MICROBES, DOMINATED BY BACTERIA SPECIES, AND THESE MICROBES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR SOIL HEALTH, SOIL STABILITY AND CROP PRODUCTION. ENGINEERED VARIETIES OF SOIL BACTERIA MAY HELP PROTECT OUR SOILS BY DETECTING AND REMOVING POLLUTANTS, OR REDUCING THE NITROGEN NEEDED TO FERTILIZE FARMLANDS. TO ENGINEER SOIL BACTERIA EFFICIENTLY AND WITH MINIMAL RISK TO THE ENVIRONMENT, A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IMPORTANT GENES ARE TURNED ON AND OFF IS NEEDED. THIS CAREER RESEARCH FOCUSES ON EPIGENETIC REGULATION ? GENE EXPRESSION THAT IS CONTROLLED BY CHEMICAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE DNA-AND ITS ROLE IN THE SURVIVAL AND PERFORMANCE OF NATIVE AND ENGINEERED STRAINS OF SOIL BACTERIA. THIS WORK WILL BE THE SOURCE OF PROJECTS FOR A RESEARCH-ORIENTED UPPER-LEVEL UNDERGRADUATE COURSE AND FOR INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES THAT TEACH THE PRINCIPLES OF BIOENGINEERING TO UNDERGRADUATES. EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION VIA GENOME METHYLATION IN PROKARYOTES HAS BEEN VASTLY UNDERSTUDIED. DIFFERENCES IN GENOME METHYLATION HAVE BEEN OBSERVED UNDER CHANGING GROWTH CONDITIONS, SUCH AS BETWEEN EXPONENTIAL AND STATIONARY PHASE GROWTH, WHICH SUGGESTS THAT THE GROWTH ENVIRONMENT SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCES EPIGENETIC REGULATION. HOWEVER, UNDERSTANDING OF EPIGENETIC REGULATION IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY CHASSIS ORGANISMS BEYOND E. COLI, AND IN REAL-WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXTS, IS EXTREMELY LIMITED. PSEUDOMONAS PUTIDA IS A VERSATILE GRAM-NEGATIVE ORGANISM THAT IS NATIVE TO SOIL, AND IS BEING DEVELOPED AS A CHASSIS FOR NUMEROUS INDUSTRIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS. YET, NO COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF EPIGENETIC REGULATION, NOR ANY INVESTIGATION OF EPIGENETIC EFFECTS ON SYNTHETIC GENE CIRCUIT FUNCTION, HAS YET BEEN REPORTED IN P. PUTIDA. THIS CAREER PROGRAM WILL EXAMINE HOW GENOME METHYLATION AFFECTS GENE EXPRESSION CHANGES THAT ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE TRANSITION OF P. PUTIDA FROM LABORATORY TO SOIL CONDITIONS. THESE EPIGENETIC CHANGES MAY SIMILARLY AFFECT THE FUNCTION OF INTEGRATED SYNTHETIC GENE CIRCUITS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF GENOME METHYLATION ON GENE EXPRESSION AND SYNTHETIC GENE CIRCUIT FUNCTION IN P. PUTIDA WITHIN ITS NATIVE SOIL ENVIRONMENT. TO ACHIEVE THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE, TWO SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES WILL BE PURSUED: 1) DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF GENOME METHYLATION ON ENDOGENOUS GENE EXPRESSION OF P. PUTIDA IN SOIL. 2) CONTROL SYNTHETIC GENE CIRCUIT EXPRESSION IN P. PUTIDA BY MODULATION OF DNA METHYLATION. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL BE COMPLEMENTED BY EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT CREATE NEW OPEN-ACCESS HIGHER EDUCATION RESOURCES FOR TEACHING THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY. THE RESEARCH PROPOSED IN THIS CAREER PROGRAM WILL UNCOVER IMPORTANT EPIGENETIC PRINCIPLES THAT PERMIT ENGINEERED ORGANISMS TO THRIVE WITHIN A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT. THE KNOWLEDGE WILL BE BROADLY TRANSLATABLE TO THE OPTIMIZATION OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MICROBES FOR A RANGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

CAREER: DEVELOPING NEW SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS FOR CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: A MULTI-MODAL MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH

MULTISCALE MODELING OF FLUIDITY IN PARTIAL EMT (PEMT) PLANAR TISSUES - 20*2%. +2(&402 2+/&+1%- /6(34+*%402 %34 +234 +''-( WU, MIN ! # (( +/3425&4+0/3 TO DATE, THE STUDIES ON TISSUE FLUIDITY ARE LIMITED TO THE EPITHELIAL-TISSUE PARADIGM, WHILE A VARIETY OF TISSUE MIGRATION AND MORPHOGENESIS INVOLVES CELLS IN THE PARTIAL EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL-TRANSITION (PEMT) STATE, INCLUDING ABNORMAL EARLY DEVELOPMENT, TISSUE REGENERATION, AND CANCER GROWTH. THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO UNRAVEL HOW TO CONTROL TISSUE FLUIDITY AND FLOWS WITH CELLS POCESSING THE HYBRID EPITHELIAL/MESENCHYMAL PHENOTYPE ALONG THE PEMT SPECTRUM. DIFFERENT FROM EPITHELIAL TISSUES, PEMT CELL MONOLAYERS PRESENT A UNIQUE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF FORCE-BEARING ACTIN NETWORK, AND IT IS NOT CLEAR HOW TISSUE FLOW AND FLUIDITY IS FACILITATED SPATIOTEMPORALLY IN THE PEMT TISSUE. THE PROJECT AIMS TO INVESTIGATE THE FLUIDITY PATTERNING IN THE PARTIAL EMT STATE AT THE LARGE-SCALE TISSUE LEVEL AND CELL-CELL AGGREGATE LEVEL. TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL, WE WILL DEVELOP A MULTISCALE THEORY-EXPERIMENT FRAMEWORK TO ELUCIDATE THE CELL-CELL INTERCALATION AND LARGE-SCALE KINEMATICS REGULATION IN THE IN VITRO TISSUE MONOLAYER INDUCED BY A PROFOUND WOUNDS. TO INVESTIGATE THE DISTINCTION OF THE PARTIAL EMT STATE TO THE EPITHELIAL STATE IN THE FLUIDITY CONTROL, WE WILL STUDY CELL LINES WITH DIFFERENT EMT POTENTIAL UNDER DIFFERENT TREATMENT CONDITIONS THAT CHANGE THEIR EXTENT OF PARTIAL EMT STATE AND PROTOCOLS KNOWN TO PERTURB CELL INTERCALATIONS AND TISSUE FLOW. TO DESCRIBE THE LARGE-SCALE TISSUE FLOW, WE WILL LEVERAGE THE MORPHOELASTICITY THEORY AND DEVELOP NOVEL NUMERICAL METHODS WHICH SOLVE THE COUPLED SYSTEM OF NONLINEAR ELLIPTIC AND TIME-EVOLUTION EQUATIONS BY CONSTRAINED NONLINEAR OPTIMIZATIONS. TO DESCRIBE THE CELL-CELL INTERCALATIONS AMONG THE TISSUE FLOW, WE WILL HYBRID THE MORPHOELASTICITY THEORY WITH CELL-CELL JUNCTIONAL KINEMATICS AND MECHANICS, AND SOLVE THE MULTISCALE SYSTEM AS A NONLINEAR OPTIMZATION PROBLEM. " (( +/3425&4+0/3 ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENT AND CANCER GROWTH INVOLVE BOTH SOLID AND FLUID PROPERTIES IN LIVING TISSUES, BUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR PRECISE IMPACT ON PATHOLOGICAL PROCESSES REQUIRES FURTHER INVESTIGATION. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP MATHEMATICAL THEORIES, NUMERICAL METHODS, AND EXPERIMENTS TO STUDY HOW FLUIDITY IS PATTERNED AT BOTH TISSUE AND CELLULAR LEVELS DURING IN VITRO TISSUE WOUND CLOSURE. +) %''+4+0/%- 31%&( +3 /(('(' 53( 20,(&4 (2)02.%/&( +4( 02.%4 %*( 2*%/+8%4+0/%- %.( WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE ! 04-1508581 42((4 100 INSTITUTE ROAD 42((4 +47 WORCESTER 05/47 4%4( MA 206+/&( 05/427 USA $+1 034%- 0'( 01609-2280 20,(&4 (2)02.%/&( +4( 0/*2(33+0/%- +342+&43 MA-002 2*%/+8%4+0/%- %.( UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST ! 153926712 42((4 100 VENTURE WAY 42((4 +47 HADLEY 05/47 4%4( MA 206+/&( 05/427 USA $+1 034%- 0'( 01035-9450 20,(&4 (2)02.%/&( +4( 0/*2(33+0/%- +342+&43 MA-002 5HY $SSURYHG 7KURXJK 0 %*( 74,7&2 .7*(947 7.3(.5&1 3;*89.,&947 &89 .789 .))1* WU, MIN ! $ ! !** .3897:(9.438 94 574;.)* 9-* 7*6:.7*) .3+472&9.43 .3 9-* +472&9 8-4<3 '*14< !9&79 <.9- 74,7&2 .7*(947 8 7.3(.5&1 3;*89.,&947 8 .89 &11 49-*7 8*3.47 0*> 5*78433*1 .3 &15-&'*9.(&1 47)*7 1&89 3&2* +.789 &2* * 422438 #8*7 &2* 7,&3.?&9.43 41* 43 74/*(9 WU,MIN MINWU3 WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC PI INSTITUTE SUN, YUBING YBSUN1 UMASS AMHERST CO-I WEN,QI QIWENWPI WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC CO-I INSTITUTE " ! " " #" ! &2* 7,&3.?&9.43 41* 43 74/*(9 $ !' # " " # ! " ! # % % " $ !' "# " "# & # ! "#! # $ ! # " " ! # & "# -9958 ,7&398 3.- ,4; 89*2%(*118 7*,.897> (:77*39 -92 + & 85*(.+.( 1.3* (&3349 '* 7*+*7*3(*) &9 9-.8 9.2* .3(1:)* & 89&9*2*39 9-&9 43* +742 9-* *,.897> <.11 '* :8*) ■ ! 5HY $SSURYHG 7KURXJK 4 &,* ! # $ :2'*7 9-* 5&,*8 (438*(:9.;*1> 9-74:,-4:9 9-* &551.(&9.43 4 349 :8* 8:++.=*8 8:(- &8 & '

SOUND NAVIGATION: ENABLING TINY ROBOTS TO FIND THEIR WAY THROUGH SMOKE, DUST, AND DARKNESS -THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH TO ENABLE AERIAL ROBOTS SMALLER THAN 100 MILLIMETERS AND WEIGHING LESS THAN 100 GRAMS TO NAVIGATE THROUGH CLUTTERED SURROUNDINGS IN THE PRESENCE OF SMOKE, DARKNESS, DUST, FOG, AND SNOW. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS IN A COMPLETELY SELF-CONTAINED WAY, THE ROBOTS IN THIS PROJECT WILL USE SOUND WAVES INSTEAD OF LIGHT TO SENSE NEARBY OBJECTS. SOUND WAVES PENETRATE MUCH FARTHER THAN LIGHT THROUGH AIRBORNE PARTICLES, BUT ARE EASILY CONFUSED BY PROPELLOR NOISE AND ARE UNABLE TO RELIABLY DISTINGUISH SMALL FEATURES. THROUGH ADVANCES IN MATHEMATICAL MODELING, NEURAL NETWORK DESIGN, AND SENSOR CHARACTERIZATION, THIS PROJECT WILL GREATLY IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF SOUND-BASED IMAGES, WITHOUT EXCEEDING SIZE, WEIGHT, AND POWER CONSTRAINTS IMPOSED BY THE LIMITATIONS OF THE SMALL AERIAL PLATFORM. THE RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN INEXPENSIVE AND EASILY TRANSPORTED DRONES WITH THE POTENTIAL TO SAVE LIVES IN FOREST FIRES, CAVE RESCUE, WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, AND NATURAL DISASTERS, THEREBY CONTRIBUTING TO THE HEALTH, WELL-BEING, AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH OF THE NATION. THE RESEARCH BRINGS TOGETHER MULTIPLE FIELDS INCLUDING ROBOT PERCEPTION, BIO-INSPIRED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, SENSOR FUSION, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, THUS GERMINATING NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND CREATING RESEARCH TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS TRADITIONAL DISCIPLINARY SILOS. AERIAL ROBOT NAVIGATION BUILT ON MULTI-MODAL VISUAL-SONIC-INERTIAL (VSI) SENSING CAN OVERCOME CHALLENGES IN VISUALLY DEGRADED AND CHALLENGING SCENES THAT MAY CONFOUND CURRENT SENSING SYSTEMS SUCH AS MAY ARISE DUE TO DARKNESS, SNOW, SMOKE, DUST, OR FOG. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES SCIENTIFIC BARRIERS TO WIDESPREAD DEPLOYMENT OF VSI-BASED SYSTEMS, THROUGH THE ADVANCEMENT OF REPRESENTATIONS, MATHEMATICAL MODELS, AND NEURAL ARCHITECTURES. THESE ADVANCES WILL ALLOW EFFECTIVE EXTRACTION AND FUSION OF INFORMATION FROM VSI SYSTEMS, WITHOUT RELIANCE ON ANY EXTERNAL INFRASTRUCTURE OR PRIOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT, WHILE RESPECTING PRACTICAL CONSTRAINTS ON ON-BOARD COMPUTATION AND INFORMATION PROCESSING. THE PROJECT BUILDS ON THE FOLLOWING THREE KEY IDEAS: (1) ENHANCING ULTRASONIC DEPTH ESTIMATION THROUGH BIO-INSPIRED PASSIVE STRUCTURES, ACTIVE NOISE REDUCTION TECHNIQUES, AND PHYSICS-INFORMED NEURAL NETWORKS THAT LEVERAGE ROBOT MOTION TO OVERCOME THE ILL-POSED NATURE OF SPARSE SENSOR TRILATERATION; (2) FUSING MULTI-MODAL SENSOR DATA USING UNCERTAINTY-AWARE DEEP LEARNING MODELS AND FACTOR GRAPH OPTIMIZATION TO ACHIEVE ROBUST DEPTH ESTIMATION ACROSS VARYING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS; AND (3) IMPLEMENTING A HIERARCHICAL REINFORCEMENT LEARNING NAVIGATION STACK WITH COMPOSITIONAL POLICIES FOR PERCEPTION-ACTION SYNERGY, OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE, AND GOAL-DIRECTED MOVEMENT. THE APPROACH COMBINES MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF WAVE PHYSICS WITH DEEP DECLARATIVE NETWORKS, EMPLOYS SIM2REAL2SIM METHODOLOGIES FOR ROBUST GENERALIZATION, AND UTILIZES FACTOR GRAPH FORMULATIONS FOR TEMPORAL CONSISTENCY. THE RESULTS WILL BE EXTENSIVELY TESTED IN CONTROLLED PHYSICAL EXPERIMENTS SIMULATING AUTONOMOUS OPERATIONS IN (1) DENSE FOREST WITH LOW LIGHT AND HEAVY FOG, (2) FOREST FIRES WITH CORRESPONDING THICK SMOKE, AND (3) CAVES, MINES, AND COLLAPSED STRUCTURES SUBJECT TO HIGH DUST AND LOW LIGHT. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.