New Grant Programs Open at NIST and Rusal

JOM, Aug 2008

This summer, two new grant programs were announced to provide funding for science and engineering research. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced its first competition for the new Technology Innovation Program in the area of sensing technologies for infrastructure, while Russian aluminum producer Rusal opened a project to find the best new applications for aluminum. Both projects are currently accepting proposals.

NIST Opens Technology Innovation Program

In July, NIST's Technology Innovation Program (TIP) opened its first competition for research projects. The program is seeking proposals for high-risk research that develops innovative technologies for inspecting, monitoring, and evaluating critical components of U.S. roadways, bridges, and drinking and wastewater systems. The competition is designed to address a critical national need for improved sensing technologies to help local, state, and national authorities more cost-effectively monitor and maintain the country's vast public infrastructure.

The new program replaces NIST's former Advanced Technology Program (ATP), which also funded high-risk research. The TIP, established in 2007 by the America COMPETES Act, differs from the ATP in its focus on areas of critical national need. The mission of the TIP is to find solutions to important societal challenges.

The organization expects to award approximately $9 million in first-year funding for R&D projects focused on new, efficient, accurate, low-cost, and reliable sensors and related technologies that provide quantitative assessments of the structural integrity or degree of deterioration of bridges, roads, water mains, and wastewater collection systems. TIP awards are limited to no more than $3 million total over three years for a single company project and no more than $9 million total over five years for a joint venture.

Project proposals are due September 4, 2008. For more information on the competition, visit the TIP program web site at www.nist.gov/tip.

Rusal Project Requests Proposals for New Aluminum Applications

At the TMS 2008 Annual Meeting in March. Russian aluminum producer Rusal. in cooperation with the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), announced plans for a new Global Technology and Innovation Research Project to fund innovative projects related to aluminum. Over the next three years, the program will award up to ten research grants that use aluminum's unique properties to create environmental benefits and for projects that improve energy efficiency, optimize use of resources, encourage recycling, and create secure packaging and transportation methods.

The project is now accepting proposals for its first round of funding. For the 2008 competition, the program is looking for projects that can deliver innovations and new ideas for the use of aluminum in commercially marketable products in transportation. In 2009, the focus will shift to building and construction products, and in 2010. the focus will be on packaging solutions.

Rusal and IAI are inviting universities and research centers in America, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Russia to participate in the initiative. Research proposals must be submitted by September 30, 2008. More information is available at www.rusal.ru/en/gtip.aspx.