Earmarks: Department of Defense

Name of Recipient: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Location of Recipient: Lincoln, Nebraska
Purpose: To develop, demonstrate, and test ultra-dense magnetoelectronic memory devices, high-frequency electromagnetic-wave detectors, and new materials for energy conversion and storage.
Amount Earmarked: $7 million
Taxpayer Interest: The Department of Defense has identified nanotechnology-based warfighting as a priority research area, which will result in devices that will ultimately contribute to protecting American soldiers. This project will lead to dramatic improvements in sensing devices and circuits for detection, identifications and discrimination of battlefield environments; intelligent information technology; and nanomaterials for small-scale power sources for individual soldiers.

Name of Recipient: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Location of Recipient: Lincoln, Nebraska
Purpose:  To develop advanced software engineering safeguards that can be embedded in software programmed by military personnel to help them prevent and detect errors and produce more dependable military systems that save lives and money.
Amount Earmarked: $5 million
Taxpayer Interest: These technologies will protect programmers and operators from introducing most forms of errors into the programs they create, and, when errors do occur, help them detect errors before they can adversely affect system operations, saving the military and the taxpayers millions of dollars in programming development costs. This work is in very early development and federal funding will enable UNL to develop prototypes that can be tested with military partners.

Location of Recipient: Omaha, Nebraska
Purpose: For the University of Nebraska Medical Center to develop a fast-acting liquid blood-clotting product to use in trauma-related hemorrhage, which will lead to the development of a technique for tissue regeneration.
Amount Earmarked: $7.2 million
Taxpayer Interest: For troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, uncontrolled hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable combat-related deaths. Most of these deaths occur in the field before the injured can be transported to a treatment facility. The liquid bandage, engineered from natural sources, is applied directly to the wound and is completely absorbable, less expensive, more effective, safer, and has more potential applications than the currently used cloth bandage or other alternatives. It is easily transportable by soldiers and can be safely stored for more than one year.

Name of Recipient: University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC)
Location of Recipient: Omaha, Nebraska
Purpose: For UNMC to further develop a computer-aided system that simplifies complex orthopedic surgical procedures by enabling them to be performed more accurately and quickly without using cumbersome and expensive mechanical jigs.
Amount Earmarked: $5.3 million
Taxpayer Interest: This technology will provide the Department of Defense with an excellent tool to do complex surgical orthopedic procedures in remote areas and developing countries. The new technology requires minimal equipment and expertise, yet produces excellent results. The system also has a telemedicine component so planning and implementation of the surgery and system training could be assisted remotely by a specialist. The military does not always have specialized orthopedic surgeons available, this system would be beneficial because it requires less surgical expertise, is less risky, and has greater success than traditional methods.

Name of Recipient: University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO)
Location of Recipient: Omaha, Nebraska
Purpose: For the University of Nebraska-Omaha to research critical and vulnerable control networks, known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, in order to enhance their security by encryption, communications authentication, system monitoring, and software integrity.
Amount Earmarked: $1.7 million
Taxpayer Interest: SCADA system interests also pertain to our nation’s critical infrastructures in the electric, water and wastewater, oil and natural gas, and transportation sectors that are highly interdependent and widespread. A regional failure in any one infrastructure could potentially cause cascading failures in other infrastructures.

Name of Recipient: Dawn Breaker, Inc., Nebraska Business Development Center
Location of Recipient: Omaha, Nebraska
Purpose: For virtual enterprise infrastructure capability and vitally needed commercialization acceleration capability to the Heartland’s hundreds of geographically-disadvantaged – yet highly efficient and essential to America’s economy – innovator firms.
Amount Earmarked: $2 million
Taxpayer Interest: The need to facilitate commercialization for small business innovations is evidenced by the recent authorization and creation of the Commercialization Pilot Program within the Department of Defense (DOD). However, the need to specifically target rural businesses still exists. The VBA-SP will identify, select and bring to maturity technologies of critical need to the DOD with dual-use applications.  Through the VBA-SP the DOD will substantially improve access to technology originators who today are effectively geographically-disconnected from the DOD rapid commercialization process and its current innovation support infrastructure. A pilot for the new American enterprise paradigm, VBA-SP will bring forth the underutilized Heartland talent as a cost-effective alternative to off-shoring of American skilled labor.

Updated 9.15.09