The Department of Energy (DOE) has allocated $93 million for 71 university-led research projects focusing on high energy physics to benefit, energy technologies, national security and other fields. 

DOE said Monday that the projects under the High Energy Physics program will cover various topics across the field of particle physics such as quantum theory and the Higgs boson.

Researchers from the Penn State University, Cornell University and the University of Wyoming will study the elusive dark matter and dark energy and their effect on the expansion of the universe.

Another set of research will see scientists from the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado will also work on particle physics theory, advanced particle accelerators and new detector technologies.

"Particle physics plays a role in many major innovations of the 21st century, and to keep our competitive edge America must invest in the scientists and engineers that are advancing basic physical science today to create the breakthroughs of tomorrow," explained Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

With the projects, the High Energy Physics program aims at providing a deeper understanding of the fundamental processes at work across the universe, with technologies developed in the effort expected to affect other societal demands.

Project Time & Cost (PT&C) announced the launch of PT&C CostCenter on Tuesday. This cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) offers an integrated set of tools for agencies and commercial enterprises who need up-to-date construction cost data and efficient solutions for collaborative cost estimating. 

CostCenter will be one of the most secure and innovative cost estimating toolboxes of the market. 

“The tools we’re delivering to market today represent a full integration of capabilities that will reduce risk in cost estimating for construction management with price volatility in material and labor costs being greater than ever before, we deliver a solution to meet industry demand head-on, with a cost estimation process that is fast, safe and accurate,” commented Bob Stalick, CEO of Caliburn International.

PT&C CostCenter serves as an information hub for its cost engineering applications and supplies an overview of critical performance indicators. When users integrate additional PT&C applications into their company, they will use E2E facilities' cost lifecycle ecosystem. The ecosystem includes PT&C CostBook, PT&C CostBase and PT&C CostPro solutions. 

In addition, PT&C CostBook provides transparent construction cost data and works in parallel with either estimation solution. CostBook is supported by experienced cost engineers and features over 35,000 searchable constructive tasks alongside an extensive catalog of modern construction materials.

PT&C CostBase quickly builds out simple estimates. PT&C CostPro is a full cost estimating platform built with decades of expertise calculating accurate assessments of complex construction costs that enables clients to work efficiently.

“Our users gain increased visibility and efficiency of enterprise facilities management through a centralized application suite. This built-in modularity allows users to use only the applications they need, giving clients a solution to create detailed estimates based on current, accurate, and defensible cost data,” stated Andy Reape, PT&C vice president. 

“Offering these software tools to our clients will help them do their job better, faster, and with less rework required,” added Reape.

The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy jointly demonstrated a new concept with airborne positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies in Centennial, Colorado. 

The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) worked with the Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) Office to test a mix of PNT technologies in an Agilepod sensor pod across six sorties, Air Force Materiel Command said Monday.

The sorties demonstrated a concept that adapts open-systems architectures with Vision Navigation and other existing PNT technologies.

“This concept recognizes that a single alternative-PNT technology isn’t going to give us the edge against our adversaries as they attempt to disrupt traditional GPS sources; we need to think differently about ways to employ those technologies together to achieve our desired effects," said Maj. Andy Cottle, the operational experimentation lead for complementary PNT at SDPE.

The team also tested the PNT technologies' integration with a T-38 trainer aircraft at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Future tests under the effort's second phase are scheduled to run in August.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded Catalyst Communications Technologies a $2.9 million contract to commercialize an interoperable communications system under a program run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

The company will commercialize its product developed through the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program of DHS' Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate, DHS said Monday.

Catalyst developed interworking communication systems for public safety under SBIR's first two phases, through which DHS provided funds. The company's technology supports interoperability between LTE and land mobile radio communications.

"S&T’s partnership with Catalyst, and soon their continued work with NIST, are steps toward ensuring that public safety using MCPTT apps on LTE devices can seamlessly communicate with counterparts on their LMRs,” said Norman Speicher, S&T program manager.

NASA has launched an internal effort to determine what the space agency can do in support of orbital debris reduction and space safety, Space News reported Sunday.

Bhavya Lal, who advises the NASA administrator on budget and finance, now leads a team working to explore efforts the agency can adopt in the area of space sustainability.

“We’ve assembled an orbital debris review team in-house to evaluate how NASA can be a more effective leader in the area of space sustainability," Lal said at the Secure World Foundation’s Summit for Space Sustainability, which took place last Wednesday.

The new team's activities aim to improve debris tracking, reduce the addition of new debris and create debris removal methods.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded a total of $100,000 to six companies that built artificial intelligence-based information technology applications to help former military personnel manage their health.

The 2020-2021 AI Tech Sprint, hosted by VA’s National Artificial Intelligence Institute, drew 44 participants from the commercial and academic sectors, the department said Monday.

VA plans to conduct further evaluation of winning tools from the three-month prize competition and said it will consider implementing the innovations at pilot sites before a potential nationwide rollout.

“The short timeline and mentoring allow VA to partner with industry leaders without any roadblocks to develop the health care solutions of the future — not just for those giving the care, but those who will benefit from it most,” said Rafael Fricks, lead for the AI Tech Sprint.

Behavidence won the $50,000 grand prize for its smartphone app that works to monitor veterans’ digital behavior patterns and flag users at a higher risk for suicide.

SoKat Consulting, which developed a chatbot that is compatible VA’s Blue Button repository of medical records, secured $25,000 as the second-place winner and General Dynamics Information Technology received the third-place award of $10,000 for a skin lesion classification algorithm.

JumpStartCSR, the HIVE Lab at George Washington University and Ouva won $5,000 each through the sprint. The department is scheduled to start the next round of its AI competition later this year.