Missouri S&T Install Microgrid System To Power Student-Occupied Homes

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Two lead battery microgrid systems have been installed at the EcoVillage at Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T). The EcoVillage has been named a ‘living laboratory’ due the availability of solar-powered homes that have been designed and constructed by S&T students, with the aim of capturing results from smart living research.

To celebrate the installation of the microgrids, Missouri S&T scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the EcoVillage last week. The microgrids were installed by the Missouri S&T Micro Grid Industrial Consortium with the main purpose of testing advancements in lead battery energy storage capacity. As such, the lead battery technologies hold a huge potential in renewable energy in the future. Stored electricity from the system will be supplied to two student-occupied houses, with the systems using charging algorithms from a cloud-based control system.

This research into the application of advanced lead batteries in stationary grid-tied applications will be novel, as most similar research has been conducted with lithium batteries. Lead batteries are well-known for being a reliable rechargeable energy source. As a result, the International Lead Association has been quick to praise the fact that most lead is now produced through a recycling process rather than through mining. Therefore, this rechargeable battery becomes an excellent energy source for circular economies.

The project has received positive comments and support from key players in the industry such as EnerSys, Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) and Ameren. The project is estimated to be completed by 2021.

Missouri’s Agriculture Matching Grant Program Funds Innovative Projects

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Missouri is set to fund some urban agriculture entrepreneurs and non-traditional farmers like wine producers, beekeepers as well as shrimp farmers. The program has been dubbed the Urban and Non-Traditional Agriculture Matching Grant Program. The main objective of this program is to stimulate job creation, innovation and R&D in Missouri’s agricultural sector. Christi Miller, the Missouri Grown Program Manager, has stated that they want to grow the agricultural industry and encourage more individuals to work there. The team is aware that a transformation of the agriculture sector requires developing new agribusiness concepts that have not previously been tested in the state, which is a key goal of the program. Miller says that the program’s activities are far from soybeans, cows or corn.

One winner from the previous year was a shrimp farm. Bee and honey farms have also won the grant. In addition, a flower business dubbed Urban Buds in St Louis has also been a beneficiary of this funding. The owner of the business stated that the grant assisted her to expand by buying an adjacent lot of vacant land. This shows that numerous businesses from various sectors in Missouri can be eligible for the grant.

Applications for grants can be accessed through the agriculture.mo.gov website.  These grants offer up to $7,500 and help innovative urban farmers cover expenses for their activities. Although the sum is not such huge, it is substantial in recognizing the efforts by the farmers.

$220M Mizzou Research Facility To Be Established In Missouri

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A research facility is to be built at the University of Missouri Columbia Campus. The $220.8 million facility will be built by the Burns and McDonnell architecture and engineering company.

This new facility will be a platform for private researchers, government agencies and students in the medicine, engineering and veterinary science faculties to do research and development. The Vice Chancellor at Missouri University, Elizabeth Loboa, stated that the Translational Precision Medicine Complex (TPMC) will build upon the institution’s current strengths to bring outstanding minds together to develop novel biomedical solutions.

The TPMC’s location will be along Hospital Drive, Columbia, and is set to be opened in October 2021 with the groundbreaking being set to take place in April, 2019. The Director of Healthcare for Burns & McDonnell, Rich McKown, asserted that this project remains a top priority for the University of Missouri, as it sets the institution to be one of the top research centers in Missouri and possibly the United States at large. For Burns & McDonnell, it is an excellent opportunity to express their support for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) development.

External companies wanting to conduct research in Missouri will not be left out either. In addition to collaboration spaces, there will be an innovation space at the TPMC facility whose role is to attract outside players and bring researchers in.

The Hyperloop Could Be The Next Revolutionary Mode Of Transport

The Hyperloop Could Be The Next Revolutionary Mode Of Transport device detection

Over a century ago, airplanes were the latest form of transportation to be invented. However, a strong contender exists for the 21st century named the Hyperloop. This new transportation innovation is close to becoming a reality in Missouri.

The company behind the project is Virgin Hyperloop One. The business has a working demonstration model in Nevada already, where they aim to establish a passenger-bearing loop. This is scheduled to be built by 2025. Black & Veatch, an international engineering firm, was contacted to complete a feasibility study of the project. The company selected Missouri for the piloting process due to its flat and straight topography. The state is also centrally located in the nation and is hence closer to the country’s main routes and manufacturing plants.

The proposed route in Missouri has the potential to service around 5 million residents from Kansas to St Louis, with a stop in Columbia. With the Hyperloop, residents can transverse 250 miles in 30 minutes. While in Columbia (home to the renowned Missouri University), accessing either Kansas or St Louis would take only 15 minutes.

The I-70 Hyperloop route is projected to have an initial cost of between $30 million to $40 million per mile of track constructed and $7-10 billion will be required to ensure the 250 mile project is completed. A point worth noting is that this cost estimate does not include security measures, portal transit hubs or even the Hyperloop technology itself. However, with the flexibility that this exciting new innovation brings, it will be worth the investment. Explosive economic development could result as it would make it possible for people to live miles away from their place of work and still be effectively connected, as well as increasing business efficiency for meetings and transferring products.

Smithfield Foods Is Working To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 25 Percent

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Smithfield Foods Inc. specializes in meat processing in the United States and is owned by the WH Group of China. The company recently announced innovative biogas projects that have been specifically designed to aid in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent by 2025, which will help contribute to the national move towards clean and renewable energy.

In Missouri, Smithfield has engaged itself in a collaborative effort with Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE). The two will be working to launch a second phase of an already existing project that converts manure into renewable natural gas (RNG). The company owns numerous farms that source the manure and the energy created is efficient enough to power an approximately 15,400 homes annually. Biogas infrastructure will be installed on the company’s Missouri farms during this second phase.  Senator Roy Blunt noted that the initiative by Smithfield in Missouri will boost the state’s input with regards to energy security in the country. As such, the state has an important role in the contributing to global food demand and renewable energy.

For some time, Smithfield has been actively involved in prairie restoration efforts in Northern Missouri. Another aspect of the initiative involves harvesting prairie grass to generate methane. This will serve as a biogas generation supplement for use during winter in particular. This company also boasts of being the first food company to engage in Monarch Butterfly Exchange Program. The program’s purpose is to restore the insect’s habitat on private property including Smithfield hog farms. It is evident that the firm is innovative for a food company, with its engagement in the creation of renewable energy as well as conservation activities.

Soy Innovation Center To Be Established in Missouri

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An 18-month project to build a Center for Soy Innovation in Jefferson is in progress.

The Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council chairman, John Kelley, noted that upon completion, the soy innovation center will put the organisation’s soybean research to work and communicate the impact that soybeans have on everyday life. The center will also bring workers working with and across Missouri’s soybean industry together, serving as a perfect hub for incubation, value-added agriculture, and business development.

The project will make use of soy-based building materials in the construction of the necessary facilities. This illustrates the diversity of the soy sector, with soy being used in the construction of items such as soy-based countertops, insulation, flooring and turf products. Directors from the Missouri Soybean Association and Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council have engaged The Architects Alliance to develop the new facility’s concept and design plans. They will also look for a suitable location for the center in Jefferson.

The soy innovation center will include a conference space and education center. This will provide an opportunity to connect youth, agricultural and community groups that might not have strong links to the soy industry.

Research in Missouri Leads To Production Of Virus Resistant Pigs

genetically modified pigs

Researchers from the University of Missouri have successfully come up with a breed of pigs that are resistant to the deadly porcine virus.

Transmissible Gastroenteritis is a virus that infects the intestines and has an almost 100 percent mortality rate in young pigs. A collaborative team from Kansas State University, Missouri University and Genus plc (an animal genetics company), created the genetically resistant pigs through gene editing.

Randall Prather, a professor at the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources stated that the ANPEP enzyme had been identified in previous research and could be a significant factor in allowing the virus to affect the pigs, as the enzyme is a potential receptor for the virus. The team’s litter of seven virus resistant pigs do not produce ANPEP and hence when exposed to the virus, they do not get sick. Prather and his colleagues achieved this by editing the ANPEP enzyme producing gene, creating a “null” gene that did not make the enzyme. Furthermore, the genetically modified pigs were healthy and developed normally.

The discovery is significant for the pork industry, as the virus is a major concern for US producers. In 2013, around seven million pigs were killed by an outbreak. The production of virus resistant pigs will help to ease the burden of finances, time and labor invested by farmers in pigs that may contract the virus. Preventing the pigs from getting sick will also improve the welfare of the animals. As the population grows and food becomes more scarce, innovative projects like these will be crucial for future food production.

R&D Tax Incentive inspiring ground-breaking research

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3D printing has revolutionized hundreds of industries and has been particularly notable in the biomedical field. The technology is being used to make prosthetic limbs, replacements for bones, tendons, functional organ pieces and living human tissue for the testing and development of new drugs.

In 2007, Keith Murphy and Professor Gabor Forgacs from the University of Missouri founded the company Organovo. Organovo designs and prints functional human tissue for disease modelling and toxicology, human body implants and drug research and testing. The company also provides 3D printed tissue to academic facilities allowing future medics to get better training.

With the 3D printing market becoming increasingly more popular to invest into, particularly with the increase of government incentives for research and development, companies like Organovo can significantly benefit from substantial tax credits.

The federal R&D Tax Credit allows a credit of eligible spending for new and improved product and processes if qualified research meets the following four criteria:

  • New or improved products, processes or software
  • Technological in nature
  • Elimination of uncertainty
  • Process of experimentation

In 2015 the R&D Tax Credit became permanent, allowing the claiming of employee wages, cost of supplies, cost of testing, contract research expenses and costs associated with developing a patent. In 2016 start-up businesses could begin to utilize up to $250,000 credit in payroll taxes, which is particularly beneficial for 3D bio printing companies like Organovo, due to the long R&D time period of the projects.

The R&D tax incentive scheme has allowed for some ground breaking research achievements which will significantly benefit the wellbeing and treatment for people as well as improving future research. Organovo have been able to produce a 3D liver, named the ExVive Human Liver, which is being used to study predictive liver tissue-specific toxicity. The company has also created the ExVive Human Kidney which is being used to study nephrotoxicity due to drug responses. Additionally, the Missouri founded research company is also working on 3D printed tissue to be used as a source of therapy for patients with damage and disease to natural tissue.

Such ground-breaking findings pin point the significance of R&D tax credits in supporting innovation and development of revolutionary technologies. If you would like to find out more about the R&D incentive and whether your company may qualify for a tax credit, contact a Swanson Reed R&D tax specialist today, we look forward to speaking with you.

3D printing shows potential to create wearable electronics

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Researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) have started the project of creating stretchable electronics that can be elongated, compressed, or twisted to fit practically any surface.

Integrating the wide variety of materials needed to make such an electronic device with such components is proving to be challenging and researchers at Missouri S&T have decided to tackle this challenge using 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing has the benefit that it can easily change from one material to the another and integrate all the different materials together in one print.This process allows manufacturers to print highly conductive materials onto an elastomer surface layer by layer to create a stretchable electronic device.

At Missouri S&T, researchers are experimenting with a 3D printing approach called ‘direct aerosol printing’. The process involves spraying a conductive material and integrating with a stretchable substrate to develop sensors that can be placed on skin. A working prototype has been created of a stretchable electronic device that can adhere to the face. This project is still in the early phases, however it is believed the technology has a lot of potential, particularly in the biomedical engineering space, because of the soft and conformable nature of the device.

One of the most significant benefits of these electronics is that they can be completely wearable, and can form to any kind of motion, for example, being mounted on the face and detect any small motion from your face. Stretchable electronics could also be developed and installed in shoes and used to measure pressure and weights, the possible applications are extensive.

However, several challenges must be addressed before stretchable electronics become widely used as components in consumer electronics, medical devices and other fields. All the materials needed to make each stretchable electronic device needs to be printable, which means developing ink and printable materials that have all the necessary properties for each type of electronic device. In addition, there are also integration challenges, such as varying temperature requirements among different materials. It is also important to ensure that the stretchable electronics and the malleable surfaces they’re built upon perform and age well together.

One of the biggest research focuses right now is to develop an effective, long-lasting stretchable battery, as the energy device is a very critical component in order for stretchable electronics to be realistic.

Following the perfection of the technology, the products will also need to be scaled-up. 3D printing does make that process more streamlined as it can be easily moved to any location, however there are still a lot of unknown factors. The device itself will also need to be low-cost to create, and eventually biodegradable. Despite these hurdles, researchers are optimistic that stretchable electronics, made using 3D printing, will become more commonplace going forward.

If your company is using 3D printing, you may be eligible for the federal R&D Tax Credit.  Contact a Swanson Reed specialist to see if you qualify.