Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology board funds 7 R&D partnerships.

Byline: Journal Record Staff

The Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology has approved funding for seven research and development intern partnerships. The partnerships will operate for two years in collaborationwith universities and private-sector companies in Tulsa, Catoosa, Durant and Oklahoma City. The awards total $308,832 and support undergraduate student internships in computer science, health care improvement, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, sensors and homeland security. Through the program, OCAST pays half of the cost for an undergraduate intern to work for research and development projects. More than 400 undergraduate students have been interns at 80 Oklahoma firms and farms since 1998. The awards include: * William Potter of the University of Tulsa will work with interns on a project that will investigatethe efficacy of the active ingredient in an algaecide product to be used against new pests on a variety of substrates. The $34,800 two-year project will be conducted in collaboration with the Winston Company Inc. * Potter also will oversee interns working on a one-year project to help develop a process to create an improved catalyst coater and optimization of noble metals in automotive catalysts. The $17,775 project will be conducted in collaboration with a small business, Delphi Catalyst. * Tom Jobe of ICx Nomadics Inc. in Oklahoma City will work with interns to develop biosensors with a greater sensitivity to the company's SensiQ product line. The two-year project will receive $52,340 from OCAST. * Jerald Dawkins of DESA Research LLC in Tulsa will supervise interns who will design and develop a new encryption-based email service that will integrate into existing email programs. OCAST has awarded $58,164 for the two-year program. * Surendra Singh ofthe University of Tulsa will work with interns in collaboration withthe John Zink Co. in developing several low nitrogen oxide and ultra-low nitrogen oxide boilers used in refinery, petrochemical and commercial applications. The award is for $60,000 for two years. * Kaveh Ashenayi of the University of Tulsa and his intern team will work on developing and testing a temperature sensor to be placed on a pressuresensor used to measure bottom hole pressure at oil and gas wells. The small business sponsor is GRC Amerada Gauges and the project was awarded $59,185 from OCAST. * Stanley Rice of Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant will direct interns who will research the health protecting qualities of organically grown Oklahoma vegetables. The $26,568 two-year project will be conducted at the USDA-ARS South Central Research Lab at Lane, Okla.