Two new OCAST
grants have been approved by the board of directors of the Oklahoma Center for
the Advancement of Science and Technology. The projects support supervised,
student interns conducting research for improving row crops and for rapid
monitoring of calves for disease using technology patented by an Oklahoma
company.
The two awards
amount to $66,000 and will support undergraduate students who are working in the
seven-year-old OCAST program, which helps Oklahoma small businesses locate
hard-to-find, technology- trained employees.
The business pays
half of the cost for the interns to work on their research and development
projects that have the potential for short-term commercialization and OCAST
program pays the other half.
To date, the
OCAST program has facilitated 310 undergraduate students interning at 74
Oklahoma firms.
The two OCAST
awards announced today involve:
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Dr.
Gina McMillen, D.V.M., of Ekips Technologies Inc. directing a one- year project
designed to develop a rapid sensor to monitor health of newly received calves.
The study will be conducted at the OSU animal research facility in Stillwater
where Dr. Clinton R. Krehbiel and Dr. McMillen will mentor students. The
specific research will determine if the Ekips Technologies Inc.'s laser-based
breath sensor - which is designed to quantify exhaled nitric oxide
concentrations will be able to diagnose Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in
calves.
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Professor
Elizabeth Wallace of Western Oklahoma State College in directing a two-year
project involving Dr. J. C. Banks of the OSU Southwest Research and Extension
Center in Altus to investigate several factors impacting the quality of cotton.
The group will study the affects of mid-fruiting stress on fiber development of
individual cotton bolls.