Slick Sheet: Project
University of Pittsburgh is developing buoy-based optical fiber sensors for measuring pH and carbon dioxide in seawater from the ocean’s surface to the seafloor. Using chemically selective and optically sensitive coatings, the proposed project would integrate a fiber optic sensing technology into low-cost commercial fibers used for marine buoy sensor systems. A reel-to-reel continuous manufacturing approach enables straightforward large-scale manufacturing.

Slick Sheet: Project
General Electric (GE) Global Research is developing a fiber optic sensor cable that would span multiple kilometers of ocean volume and measure chemical ocean carbon parameters over large areas when towed from marine vessels. Conventional methods take measurements of ocean pH and dissolved carbon dioxide in water using sensors that are fixed at one point or lowered slowly from a stationary vessel.

Slick Sheet: Project
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is developing a natural thorium decay sensor that would attach to gliders, autonomous vehicles, and profiling floats to quantify the flux rates of particulate organic carbon to the deep ocean for marine carbon dioxide removal. WHOI’s proposed sensor takes advantage of the naturally occurring radioactive isotope thorium-234, which provides a “clock”, much like carbon dating, that indicates the rate of carbon-containing planktonic detritus sinking from the surface to the deep ocean.

Slick Sheet: Project
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is developing a biogeochemical computer model that improves our estimates of how the vast population of ocean zooplankton—tiny marine animals—move and lock away carbon in the deep ocean. Most ocean models treat zooplankton as a “black box” and lack key zooplankton behaviors that can result in carbon transport, leading to uncertainties in carbon accounting.

Slick Sheet: Project
University of Utah is developing a micro-optical, micro-electronic seafloor probe that would extend the longevity and persistence of current-day seafloor carbon storage measurement tools. The proposed probes—deployed in a group across a wide seafloor area—would be inserted directly into the seafloor to measure the accumulation of carbon in ocean sediments for more than a year.

Slick Sheet: Project
The University of Maryland will design modular interlocking multifunctional superinsulation panels that can be roll-to-roll manufactured and readily assembled by robotic automation. The rapid-prototyping hydrophobic panels, which consist of recyclable biogenic materials (cellulose, straw, etc.) and superinsulating silica aerogel, will provide high thermal insulation, structural durability, moisture and fire resistance, soundproofing, and easy installation at a low cost.

Slick Sheet: Project
MetOx Technologies is developing faster manufacturing of low-cost high-temperature superconducting tapes to enable the energy transition, such as supporting more powerful electric grid cables and more powerful magnets to unlock fusion power generation. MetOx will transform its manufacturing process in several areas including improving equipment throughput, material efficiency, and tape performance.

Slick Sheet: Project
The Boeing Company will develop a comprehensive approach for mitigating aircraft induced cirrus that would leverage satellite observations, deep learning, new developments in onboard humidity sensors, and a numerical weather prediction model. Useful for flight planning, Boeing’s approach could improve observational datasets, forward scientific understanding of humidity in the upper troposphere, and advance weather forecasting capabilities for the general public.

Slick Sheet: Project
RTX Technologies Research Center (RTRC) will develop a platform for a physics-informed forecast of aircraft induced cirrus potential 100 kilometers ahead of the aircraft (up to 10 minutes ahead of time). The platform would include a novel on-board lidar sensor for water vapor that would be installed on a small fraction of a fleet’s aircraft to furnish data and predictions for the entire fleet.

Slick Sheet: Project
Umaro Foods is leveraging advancements in chelator technology to efficiently extract rare earth elements and platinum group metals from seaweeds. They will be applying advanced metal chelator molecules to selectively extract metals in a non-destructive manner from process streams producing valuable food-grade seaweed proteins and commodities such as agar, alginate, and carrageenan.