|
| |
|
August 2012
|
AFR receives a Commercialization Readiness Program (CRP) project
from the Air Force titled, "High-Speed Thermal Imaging of In-Service Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) Blades."
|
July 2011
|
|
AFR presents a paper at the 41st International Conference on
Environmental Systems (ICES) titled, "Microwave-Assisted Pyrolysis of Solid Waste" (July 17-21, 2011, Portland, Oregon).
|
January 2011
|
|
AFR receives two NASA SBIR Phase I projects titled, " Regenerable
Trace Contaminant Sorbent for the Primary Life Support System (PLSS)" and "Laser Stethoscope for Use in Noisy Spacecraft
Environments."
|
November 2010
|
|
AFR receives a contract to develop a smartphone version of its radiation detection software.
The app will use the onboard camera and computer to detect dangerous levels of radiation for individual users. The Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) funded project was awarded under their Transformative Apps broad agency announcement (BAA-10-41)
and will fund a series of advanced radiation detection and measurement applications.
|
July 2010
|
|
AFR presents a paper at the 40th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
titled, "A Compact, Efficient Pyrolysis/Oxidation System for Solid Waste" (July 11-15, 2010, Barcelona, Spain).
|
May 2010
|
|
AFR receives additional $150,000 supplemental funding for its Phase II SBIR
award from the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) of the Department of Homeland Security. This contract, titled “Radiological
Source Surveillance with Video-Centric Radiation Detection,” now has a total value of $932,000.
|
April 2010
|
|
Successful test of Gamma Pix video at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Lab.
All tests are passed, validating ability to detect radiation threats in seconds.
|
September 2009
|
|
AFR receives approval for
Option Year funding for its Phase II SBIR award from the Domestic Nuclear
Detection Office (DNDO) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the contract
titled “Radiological Source Surveillance with Video-Centric Radiation
Detection.” This contract modification increases the allocation by
$211,290, bringing the total contract value to $782,820.
|
August 2009
|
AFR gives invited
presentation on the success of the Medical Center (Washington, DC Metro)
deployment of video-centric radiation detection prototype to the meeting
of the Advisory Panel of the National Academy of Sciences' Transportation
Research Board. |
June 2009
|
AFR receives supplemental
funding for its Phase II SBIR award from the Domestic Nuclear Detection
Office (DNDO) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This contract, titled
“Radiological Source Surveillance with Video-Centric Radiation Detection,”
is given an additional allocation of $256,781, bringing the total contract
value to $571,530. |
April 2009
|
AFR receives a Phase II
SBIR Award from the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC)
titled “High-Speed Thermal Imaging of In-Service Turbine Blades.” The
project is to develop an innovative sensor system to map the surface
temperature of thermal barrier coated (TBC) turbine blades during
operational testing of advanced military jet engines. |
March 2009
|
Successful operational
test of a video camera-based radiation detection prototype performed at
Medical Center station of the Washington, DC Metro; a 17 mR/hr radiation
field from small, unregulated sealed source detected in about 20 seconds.
|
January 2009
|
Work begins on a critical
deployment test to the Washington D.C. Metro system under a Phase 2
contract to the National Academy of Sciences' Transportation Research
Board. A three camera system is installed into the Medical Center station
in Bethesda, MD. The title of this contract is, “Detection of
Radioactivity in Transit Stations – Phase 2, Transit IDEA Project 54” |
|
The Arnold
Air Force Base publication High Mach (vol. 55, no. 1, Jan. 9, 2009)
recognizes the R&D 100 Award winning Rumble and Screech Spatial Mapping
Analyzer Tool (RASSMAT) as a highlight in their “Year in Review 2008”.
The RASSMAT was developed and delivered by AFR under an SBIR Phase II
project with the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC). |
December 2008
|
AFR receives a Phase I
SBIR award from the NASA Ames Research Center titled “A Compact, Efficient
Pyrolysis/Oxidation System for Solid Waste Resource Recovery in Space.”
This project continues previous NASA sponsored work on the investigation
of pyrolysis processing of mixed solid waste materials for space
applications. |
October 2008
|
AFR receives an R&D 100
Award from R&D Magazine for its Rumble and Screech Spatial Mapping
Analyzer Tool (RASSMAT). Developed under an SBIR Phase II project with
the Air Force, the RASSMAT provides a non-contact method for sensing
combustion instabilities, often called rumble and screech, during
development testing of jet engine augmentors (afterburners). The R&D 100
Award was jointly received by AFR, the AEDC Air Force SBIR Program of
Arnold Air Force Base, and the Aerospace Testing Alliance of Arnold Air
Force Base. |
September 2008
|
AFR receives a Phase II
SBIR award from the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office of the Department of
Homeland Security. This contract, titled “Radiological Source
Surveillance with Video-Centric Radiation Detection,” is given an initial
allocation of $314,748. |
|
The
Japanese Patent Application for “Apparatus and Method for Detection of
Radiation,” was published on September 25, 2008 and assigned Japanese
Publication No. P2008-537774A. |
July 2008
|
Dr. Michael A. Serio,
President of AFR, receives the Distinguished Service Award from the
American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry. He had previously
served the Division of Fuel Chemistry as Program Chair, Program Secretary,
Chair, Trustee, and Head Trustee. |
June 2008
|
United States Patent
#7,391,028, “Apparatus and Method for Detection of Radiation,” issued and
assigned to AFR. This invention is concerned with a method for detecting
radiation using digital cameras. With applications in the homeland
security and military force protection markets, licensing opportunities
are being explored. The inventor is Dr. Eric P. Rubenstein. |
December 2007
|
AFR receives a Phase I
STTR Award from the National Science Foundation titled “In-Situ
Diagnostics and Process Control Based on Optical Emission Spectroscopy and
Neural Networks for Manufacturing Thin Film Silicon Photovoltaic
Materials. The Research Institution was the Institute of Energy Conversion
at the University of Delaware. |
September 2007
|
AFR receives a $150,000
Phase 1 SBIR award from the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office of the
Department of Homeland Security which was concerned with radiological
source surveillance using video-centric radiation detection. |
|
AFR receives a Phase II SBIR Award from the Air
Force titled “Distributed System for Field Detection of Stray Energy from
Laser Weapons.” This project is to develop a sensor system that can
monitor stray laser energy during open-air testing of high-energy lasers. |
July 2007
|
United States Patent
#7,241,323, “Pyrolysis Process for Producing Fuel Gas,” issued to AFR.
This invention is concerned with a staged process for pyrolysis of mixed
solid waste materials to produce fuel gases for power generation and other
applications. The inventors were Dr. Michael A. Serio, Mr. Erik Kroo, Dr.
Marek A. Wójtowicz, and Dr. Eric M. Suuberg. |
June 2007
| AFR receives a Phase II SBIR Award from the
Department of Education titled “Technology Enhanced Science Education
in Middle School.” This project will work to develop 21st
Century science curricula for middle school students by harnessing modern
computer technology. |
May 2007
|
Three papers published by
AFR personnel were listed among the Top Ten most cited papers in the
twenty-year history of the American Chemical Society journal, Energy &
Fuel. No other domestic or international fuels R&D laboratory had this
distinction. |
January 2007
|
United States Patent
#7,169,197, “Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste Resource Recovery,”
issued to AFR. This invention is concerned with an apparatus for pyrolysis
of mixed solid waste materials to produce fuel gases for power generation
and other applications. The inventors were Dr. Michael A. Serio, Mr. Erik
Kroo, Dr. Marek A. Wójtowicz, and Dr. Eric M. Suuberg. |
December 2006
| United States patent # 7,151,260 “Analyzer for Measuring Multiple
Gases” issued to AFR. With initial development for Air Force jet engine
exhaust monitoring applications, the invention enables rapid simultaneous
quantitative measurements of key infrared-active gases and
infrared-inactive gases with one instrument. |
September 2006
| The U.S. Air Force signs a contract with AFR to purchase three
“Analyzers for Measuring Multiple Gases,” to be installed in the Arnold
Engineering Development Center (AEDC) large Hypervelocity Ballistic Range
G facility at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn.
|
| Publications show that the Department of Defense Assured Fuels
Initiative gains benefits from Air Force AEDC contracts with AFR that
developed and delivered advanced gas analysis capability: 1) “AEDC Team
Supports Time Critical Alternative Fuels Test,” High Mach, August 25,
2006; and 2) “Tests of Synthetic Fuel will Shift to Fighter Engines,”
Aviation Week & Space Technology, vol. 165, no. 9, pp. 46-47, September
2006. |
June 2006
May 2006
| AFR was a team member selected to receive the 2005 Annual Technical
Achievement Excellence Award from the Air Force at Arnold Air Force Base,
TN. The JETS-APEX2 team consisted of AEDC/DOT, AEDC/ATA, AFR, Aerodyne
Research, CARB, EPA, NASA GRC, NASA LaRC, Oakland Airport, Southwest
Airlines, U. of Cal-Riverside, U. of Missouri-Rolla COE, Boeing, GEAE, and
was selected for using state-of-the-art analytical equipment to measure
particle and gaseous species in the exhaust of jet engines. |
July 2005
| The AFR/NASA Ames paper entitled "A hybrid pyrolysis / oxidation
system for solid waste resource recovery" was selected for publication in
SAE 2004 Transactions Journal of Aerospace as one of the most
outstanding SAE technical papers of 2004. The paper was originally
published at Proc. 34th Int. Conf. on Environmental Systems (ICES),
Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 19–22, 2004, SAE technical paper No.
2004-01-2380, SAE International, 2004.
|
March 2005
| United States Patent #6,869,580, “Pyrolysis-Based Fuel Processing
Method and Apparatus,” issued to AFR. This invention is concerned with a
method for generating a hydrogen-rich gas stream from hydrocarbon fuels.
The inventors were Dr. Marek A. Wójtowicz, Dr. Michael A. Serio, Mr. Erik
Kroo, and Dr. Eric M. Suuberg. |
February 2005
| Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. celebrated its
25th Anniversary on February 18, 2005. The company was started
in 1980 by Dr. Peter R. Solomon, Dr. David G. Hamblen, and Mrs. Sally
Solomon. The original goal for AFR was to create an instrumentation
company to service the rapidly growing synfuel industry. Over the past 25
years, Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. has been a leader in research and
technology development and continues to develop new technologies in engine
emission measurements, carbon materials, biomass pyrolysis, thin film
materials and auxiliary components for fuel cells. Among its
accomplishments, AFR has spun-off the
MKS
On-Line Products Group, (a designer and manufacturer of leading edge
semiconductor wafer and thin film metrology tools and multi-gas analyzers)
and
Real-Time Analyzers, Inc. (RTA), which is employing Raman spectroscopy
in their line of chemical analyzers. Applications range from process
control in polymer manufacturing to analysis of drugs in saliva. On behalf
of Advanced Fuel Research we would like to extend our thanks and
appreciations to all involved in making the past 25 years a success. |
November 2004
| Successful pilot-scale testing was performed at Metso Minerals
Corporation, Danville Pennsylvania, using AFR’s technology for producing
virgin carbon black from oils derived from waste-tire pyrolysis.
This work was performed under EPA SBIR funding received to develop a
pyrolysis-based concept for waste-tire utilization. |
October 2004
| AFR is notified that it will receive a patent for its invention
“Pyrolysis-Based Fuel Processing Method and Apparatus.” This invention is
concerned with the extraction of hydrogen from diesel fuel and other
liquid fuels, a key enabling technology for the “Hydrogen Economy.” |
August 2004
| AFR receives a DOE Phase I SBIR Award titled “Carbon Dioxide Recovery
from Combustion Flue Gas Using Carbon Supported Amine Sorbents.” This
project will investigate the use of novel sorbent materials to remove CO2
from smoke stacks. |
July 2004
|
Dr. Michael
Serio presented the paper “Kinetics of Methane and Tar Evolution During
Coal Pyrolysis” at the 30th International Symposium on Combustion held at
the University of Illinois, Chicago (July 25-30, 2004). This paper is the
latest in a series of more than 50 papers that AFR has written on the
kinetics of coal pyrolysis over the past 25 years. |
|
Dr. Michael
Serio presented a paper at the 34th International Conference on
Environmental Systems (Colorado Springs, CO, July 19-22, 2004) titled “A
Hybrid Pyrolysis/Oxidation System for Solid Waste Resource Recovery.” This
paper was a joint effort with the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett
Field, CA. |
| Dr. Wójtowicz presented two papers at the Carbon 2004 conference held
at Brown University, Providence, RI, July 11–16, 2004. Dr. Wójtowicz
also served on the Scientific Committee of the above conference. The
presented papers are entitled "Carbon Black Derived from Waste Tire
Pyrolysis Oil," and "Activated Carbon from Waste Tires For Mercury
Emissions Control." The work reported in these papers was performed
under EPA SBIR funding received by AFR to develop a pyrolysis-based
concept for waste-tire utilization. |
June 2004
| AFR receives a contract from the National Academy of Sciences titled
“Detection of Radioactivity in Transit Stations.” This project will be
based on a concept called REDSTAR™ (Radiation Event Detection System:
Track and Recognition) developed by Dr. Eric Rubenstein of AFR. During
this month, the REDSTAR™ concept was also selected for the FastTrack
program by the Connecticut Technology Council. |
May 2004
| AFR receives a USDA Phase I Award titled “Processing of Poultry Manure
for Fuel Gas Production.” This project will continue work on the
utilization of poultry manure as a source of energy for distributed power
generation. |
November 2003
| AFR receives two NASA Phase II SBIR Awards. The first award, titled “A
Hybrid Pyrolysis/Incineration System for Solid Waste Resource Recovery”
continues AFR’s development work on using pyrolysis processing for solid
waste recycling in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS).
The second award, titled “Carbon-Supported Amine Sorbent Monoliths for
Carbon Dioxide Removal” will continue AFR’s work on the development of
novel sorbents for air revitalization in space. |
September 2003
| U.S. Patent No. 6,626,981 entitled “Microporous Carbons for Gas
Storage” was issued to AFR. The subject of this invention is the
method for producing highly microporous sorbents for hydrogen and other
gases. Hydrogen storage is a critical barrier to the large-scale
implementation of fuel-cell systems. |
|
 Dr.
Marek Wójtowicz was elected Chair of the Division of Fuel Chemistry,
American Chemical Society. The ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry
provides a forum for documentation and communication to the international
community of research and development results, in order to promote
efficient and environmentally acceptable fuel production and use. |
AUGUST 2003
|
 Dr. Michael
Serio has been named to the International Editorial Board of Fuel
(The Science and Technology of Fuel and Energy) |
May 2003:
| At the 49th International Instrumentation Symposium in Orlando, FL,
the Aerospace Industries Division of the ISA presented Mr. James Markham
with the Major Charles Bassett III Outstanding Paper Award for "Instrument
for Temperature and Condition Monitoring of Advanced Turbine Blades." The
award carries a named endowment of $1,000 to support an engineering
college scholarship. |
September 2002:
| Chinese Seminar - Dr. Marek Wójtowicz was an invited
speaker on Fuel Cell Gas Storage, Fuel Cell Diesel Fuel Preprocessing, and
Coal Pyrolysis Modeling at Tianjin University, near Beijing, China. |
August 2002:
| At the Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Michael
Serio presented a paper "Pyrolysis Processing of Animal Manure to Produce
Fuel Gases." Erik Kroo also presented a paper on "The Effect of Local
Charge on Coal Reactivity Modeled with Single Large Polymer
Macromolecule." |
| Air Force Research Laboratory Headquarters publishes IMPACT story on
the Portable MultiGas Analyzer
Download SBIR Impact Story |
June 2002:
May 2002:
| AFR Next Generation Energy Group ("Hydrocarbons") received a grant
from the US Department of Energy for "High-Performance Carbon Materials
for Ultracapacitors." |
| AFR's Combustion Monitoring & Control Group ("TurboSense") received a
grant from the State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management for
turbine sensor technology intellectual property development. |
February 2002:
|
Connecticut DEP Recognizes AFR for New
Technology - The State of Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection has recognized AFR for implementing
important new environmental technology through the U.S. Department of
Energy NICE3 program.
|
Pictured here at the
recent media event are from left to right: The Honorable Lieutenant
Governor of the State of Connecticut Jodi Rell, AFR Chief Executive
Officer Jim Markham, DOE Office of Industrial Technologies Director Scott
Richlen, and the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection Commissioner Arthur Rocque, Jr.
The NICE3
Program (National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment,
and Economics) has provided AFR the opportunity to place three new
multigas combustion process monitors in industry for 12 month field
demonstrations.
December 2001
|
The Air
Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio, featured AFR’s emission analysis technology as a
Technology Horizons Spinoff. AFRL is responsible for the Air Force's
annual $1.2 billion science and technology program
http://www.afrlhorizons.com/0001/spinoffs.html
|
November 2001
|
U.S. Patent
6,322,613 issued to Dr. Marek Wójtowicz and Dr. Michael Serio for
“Process for the recovery of mercury from a gaseous mixture”: Adsorption
of mercury on activated carbons derived from scrap tires enables the
removal and recovery of mercury from combustion/incineration flue gas,
with concurrent control of SOx and NOx |
September 2001
| AFR spin-offs Real-Time Analyzers, Inc., a firm specializing in
advanced process Raman and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy |
August 2001
| AFR wins its fourth R&D 100 Award, for Surface-Enhanced Raman
Spectroscopy. |
July 2001
| In collaboration with Brown University, a joint paper presentation
at the 31st International Conference on Environmental Systems, Orlando,
FL, "A Prototype Pyrolyzer for Solid Waste Resource Recovery in Space." |
June 2001
| In collaboration with Siemens Power Generation, a joint paper
presentation at the ASME Turbo Expo 2001, New Orleans, LA, “Simultaneous
Short and Long Wavelength Infrared Pyrometer Measurements in a Heavy
Duty Gas Turbine.” |
April 2001
| AFR announced that its commercial spin-off company, On-Line
Technologies Inc., was acquired by MKS Instruments in an agreement worth
more than $20 million. For more details, see
MKS
Products Group |
| American Recycler reported on AFR’s waste-to-energy technology
development, “New Technologies for the Recycling of Waste Tires,”
|
March 2001
February 2001
| Department of Energy, Office of Industrial Technologies, Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, published a Project Fact Sheet on AFR’s
collaboration with the Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) for Continuous Emission Monitoring (CEM), “Combustion
Project Fact Sheet: Energy-Conserving Tool for Combustion-Dependent
Industries.” Download PDF file -
advfuelrsh-factsheet.pdf (93 kb) |
January 2001
| The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) featured AFR in
its "BMDO Update" newsletter, in an article entitled "Make Way for
Smaller, Cheaper Multigas Analyzers".
http://www.acq.osd.mil/bmdo/bmdolink/html/update/wint00/updhor4.htm
Download pdf file BMDO.pfd (257 kb) |
| AFR's commercialization success was featured in the corporate
newsletter of Dawnbreaker (Rochester, NY), a professional services firm
providing commercialization assistance to advanced technology firms and
their investors. |
December 2000
| SAE's "Aerospace Engineering Online" reported on AFR's collaborative
effort
with DOE; Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI); Wright Patterson AFB; Arnold
AFB;
NASA Glenn; Pratt & Whitney; General Electric; and Rolls-Royce - to
develop
a jet engine pyrometer.
http://ww.sae.org/aeromag/techupdate_12-00/techupdate5.htm |
September 2000
| The U.S. Small Business Administration has awarded AFR the Tibbetts
Award. Named after Roland Tibbetts, acknowledged as the father of the
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, this prestigious
national award recognizes AFR as exemplifying the best in SBIR
achievement (economic impact of technological innovation, business
achievement, effective collaboration, and state and regional impact)
https://secure.brtrc.com/tibbetts/ |
| National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) publishes SBIR/STTR
Success story on AFR’s surface-enhanced Raman technology,
http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/SBIR/successes/ss/9-028text.html |
July 2000
| AFR presents a paper at the 30th International Conference on
Environmental Systems in Toulouse, France titled, "Pyrolysis Processing
for Solid Waste Resource Recovery in Space." |
June 2000
| AFR presents two invited papers on combustion monitoring at the 21st
AIAA Advanced Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference in
Denver, CO. Paper AIAA 2000-2211 is a joint publication with Sverdrup
Technology, Inc./AEDC of Arnold Air Force Base. Paper AIAA 2000-2212 is
a joint publication with ABB Alstom Power Generation. |
| AFR is invited and presents results of a DOE sponsored SBIR Phase I
project on combustion monitoring titled "New Optical Coupling of
Infrared Analyzers to Industrial Processes," to the DOE OIT Sensors &
Controls Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. |
| AFR completes a NASA Phase II SBIR project titled "Gas Storage Using
Microporous Carbons." The objective of this project was to develop a
method of manufacturing microporous carbon adsorbents for lightweight,
high-energy density storage of gases. A prototype gas storage system was
delivered to NASA under this project. |
| AFR joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
as a cooperative research partner to work on the Solid State Imaging
Infrared Polarimeter. |
May 2000
| AFR presents the Real-Time Analyzers (RTA) business plan to
potential venture investors at a Department of Energy Dawnbreaker
conference in Tysons Corner, Virginia. RTA will be a new independent
spin-off of AFR sometime in 2001. The mission of RTA is to provide
analyzers that perform continuous, real-time trace chemical detection
with the ability to operate in harsh industrial environments. The
initial products will employ Raman spectroscopy to measure chemical
composition and will be targeted to serve the drug discovery and
development markets. |
| AFR is informed that it will receive an NSF SBIR Phase II award for
the project "Whole Wafer Thermal Imaging for Real-Time Process
Monitoring and Control." This is a collaborative project with FLIR and
On-Line Technologies. |
| AFR begins the DOD/AF SBIR Phase I project "Control Sensor for
Turbine Engine Augmentor Rumble & Screech," which will involve a novel
sensor system developed by AFR to detect incipient combustion
instabilities in jet engine afterburners. A field test will be performed
at an AEDC propulsion test facility at Arnold Air Force Base, TN. |
| AFR is informed that it will receive a DOC SBIR Phase I award for
the project "A Fast Scanning FT-IR Emission/Transmission Spectrometer
for Spray Combustion Diagnostics." An FT-IR spectrometer system will be
developed based on the On-Line Technologies, Inc., fast scanning
interferometer system which can operate in the noisy environment of
spray combustion systems. A field test will be performed at NIST in
Gaithersburg, MD. |
| AFR presents a paper on radiation thermometry at the 46th
International Instrumentation Symposium in Bellevue, Washington. |
| AFR completes a successful two-week field test/demonstration of a
novel instrument for measuring the temperature of high speed turbine
blades in gas turbine engines with Siemens KWU in Berlin, Germany. This
work was done under a DOE SBIR Phase II program. |
| AFR begins a DOE sponsored NICE3 project for combustion monitoring
with the Connecticut DEP as the State Sponsor. Industrial cost-sharing
partners in the project are Pratt & Whitney, Air Pollution
Characterization and Control, Northeast Generation Services, and On-Line
Technologies. |
| AFR delivers an FT-IR multi-gas analyzer prepared for turbine engine
gas analysis to AEDC at Arnold Air Force Base. This prototype product
that utilizes a new fast response long effective path gas cell was
developed during an DOD/AFR sponsored SBIR Phase II project. |
April 2000
| AFR is an invited participant in a NASA workshop held in Houston, TX
on Waste Processing and Resource Recovery for Advanced Life Support. |
| AFR hires Mr. Ken Wexler as Director of Business Development. Mr.
Wexler will focus on the commercialization of AFR's technology. He has
more than 16 years of experience in Senior marketing and sales for
worldwide manufactures of computer hardware, chemicals, plastics, pulp &
paper, and industrial equipment. He holds an M.A. in Chemistry from
Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. |
| On-Line Technologies, Inc. (OLT), an AFR spin-off, recently recorded
its second profitable quarter in a row accompanied by increasing revenue
growth. OLT is manufacturing and marketing gas-state sensors,
wafer-state sensors (for the semiconductor industry) process control
software and thin film monitors based on AFR-developed technologies. It
recently introduced the FilmExpert™ Advanced Film Analyzer and the first
unit was delivered to Lucent Technologies. Orders for two additional
units have been received. A Series 2010 Multi-Gas Analyzer was recently
sold to Intel. |
March 2000
| AFR makes a presentation at the NASA Ames Center on its Phase II
SBIR project titled "Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste Resource
Recovery in Space." |
| AFR officially introduces two new products, the "Industrial Raman
Analyzer" and the "Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)" sample
vials at the 2000 Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Instrumentation.
The Industrial Raman Analyzer has been designed specifically for
chemical process monitoring and control in production facilities. Fiber
optic probes allow for in-situ, in-line, or at-line measurements. The
SERS vials can be used to significantly enhance the Raman signals for
certain compounds, in some cases by a factor exceeding 106. These vials
are suitable for numerous applications in the biochemical, biomedical,
chemical, drug enforcement, environmental, forensics, and pharmaceutical
fields. |
| AFR supports the EPA Region 1 Accessing Federal Resources Workshop
(Boston) by providing a presentation to less experienced small
businesses. "Collaborations of a Small Business During SBIR Projects:
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" was well received. |
| AFR makes its second technology presentation to the SAE
International Committee E-31. The committee is dedicated to providing
industry with standard practices for emissions measurements from
aircraft engines. |
| AFR attends and makes a project presentation regarding combustion
monitoring at the DOE NICE3 Commercialization Strategy Workshop in
Albuquerque, NM. |
January 2000
| AFR completes a field test/demonstration of a novel performance
monitor for gas turbine engines with Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford,
CT (EPA SBIR Phase I sponsorship). The prototype was installed in a
turbine engine test cell and successfully performed in-situ gas
composition measurements through the exhaust plume of an operating jet
engine. |
December 1999
| AFR completes a field test/demonstration of a novel instrument for
measuring the temperature of gas turbine engine parts under development
with ABB Alstom Power in Windsor, CT (DOE SBIR Phase II sponsorship). |
November 1999
| AFR receives an NSF Phase I SBIR award titled "High Sensitivity
Raman Spectrometer." This project will design and test a hybrid Raman
spectrometer suitable for "on-demand" or continuous process monitoring.
This will be accomplished by employing an innovative design which
overcomes the limitations traditionally associated with Raman
Spectroscopy. |
October 1999
| AFR received an award under the NASA SBIR program. The title of this
Phase II project is "Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste Resource
Recovery in Space." The objective of this project is to produce a
prototype waste disposal unit for long term space travel based on
pyrolysis processing. This work will be done in collaboration with
Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Brown University and
On-Line Technologies, Inc. |
September 1999
| AFR holds a broad range of presentations and discussions in Japan
with Coal Utilization Japan (CCUJ), Kyoto University, and Osaka Gas Co.,
Ltd. |
| AFR receives a DOD Navy Phase I SBIR award titled "Development of a
Portable FT-Raman Instrument for Fuel Characterization." This project
will develop a field instrument to assess stored, host nation or
captured fuel supplies. |
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR,
presents two papers at the Tenth International Conference on Coal
Science, Taiyuan, China, 12–17 September, 1999. The papers are entitled "Yields of pyrolysis products for
coals originating in different parts of the world," and "Gasification
behavior of coal chars originating in different parts of the world."
The research reported in the papers was performed at AFR under
the Brain-C project funded by two Japanese agencies: the Center for Coal
Utilization Japan (CCUJ) and the New Energy & Industrial Technology
Development Organization (NEDO).
The work was carried out under a subcontract agreement with Idemitsu
Kosan Co., Ltd. |
| AFR is informed that it will receive an award under the NASA SBIR
program. The title of this Phase
II project is "Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste Resource Recovery in
Space." |
August 1999
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR, was
involved in the Organization and Chairmanship for a symposium entitled
"Recent Advances in Fuel Cells" at the 218th ACS National Meeting, New
Orleans, CA, 21-26 August 1999. |
| Organization and Chairmanship, and presentation of a paper for a
symposium entitled "Recent Advances in Fuel Cells" at the 218th ACS
National Meeting, New Orleans, CA, 21-26 August 1999. |
| AFR delivers a Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR)
Emission/Transmission (E/T) spectrometer to Arizona State University.
This system will be used by researchers in the Dept. of Mechanical &
Aerospace Engineering as a diagnostic tool for research on combustion. |
| AFR signs a research contract with a Fortune 500 company to develop
a robust biomass-pyrolysis model
|
July 1999
| A paper was presented at the 24th Biennial Conference on Carbon,
Charleston, SC, 11-16 July, 1999: Wójtowicz, M. A., Bassilakis, R. and
Serio, M. A., "Char-oxidation reactivity at early and late stages of
burn-off," Proc. Twenty-Fourth Biennial Conference on Carbon, American
Carbon Society, Charleston, South Carolina, July 11-16, 1999, vol. I,
pp. 230-231 |
| AFR is informed that it will receive two awards under the EPA SBIR
program. One is a Phase II titled “The Manufacture of Carbon Black from
Oils Derived from Scrap Tires,” and one is a Phase I titled “Gas Turbine
Engine Performance Monitor for Reduced Emissions. |
| Two-month evaluations of AFR/On-Line gas analysis equipment are
underway. In mid-July, AFR delivered an MG-2010 Multi-Gas Analyzer to
Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. A second is scheduled to go to Rolls
Royce Allison in Indiana. Both will monitor turbine engine exhaust gas. |
| AFR wins two Phase I awards under the DOE SBIR program titled “New
Optical Coupling of Infrared Analyzers to Industrial Processes,” and
“Improved Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Oxygen-Nitrogen
Separation. |
| AFR completes development of a first generation prototype FT-Raman
system with its affiliate, On-Line Technologies, Inc |
April 1999
| AFR signed a commercialization agreement with United Carbon
Corporation to develop a full-scale process for the manufacture of
carbon black from oils derived from waste-tire pyrolysis. |
| Research on AFR's technology was supported by the Environmental
Protection Agency under the Small Business Innovation (SBIR) program. |
| AFR receives an award for the outstanding paper presented at the
American Chemical Society Division of Environmental Chemistry meeting in
Boston, Massachusetts (August, 1998). The paper was titled
“Microwave-Assisted Control of Nitric Oxide, Nitrous Oxide and Ammonia
Emissions. |
| AFR and On-Line are featured in an article in BMDO Update, a
quarterly publication of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO)
Technology Applications Program. The article discusses the evolution of
On-Line as a spin-off from AFR based on technology developed with
support from the BMDO, DOE, NSF, Air Force and other government and
private sources. |
| On-Line introduces a new product called the INDUCT™ analyzer which
provides quantitative, simultaneous, rapid, in-situ determination of
over 20 gas concentrations within the feed or exhaust line of process
equipment. The system features a large dynamic range (low ppb to
percent), under 1 sec. response time, temperature and pressure
compensation and lifetime calibration. |
January 1999
| AFR receives an award for best poster presentation at the Gordon
Research Conference on Hydrocarbon Resources held in Ventura, CA. The
paper was titled “Hydrogen Storage Carbons Derived from Polyvinylvidene
Chloride (PVDC). |
| Ms. Sally Solomon retired from AFR after 18 years as Office Manager
and Director of Human Resources. She is being replaced by Ms. Susan
White, who was promoted from being the Assistant Office Manager and
Contracts Administrator. Ms. Solomon was one of the founders of AFR and
will continue in her role as Secretary-Treasurer of the corporation and
a member of the Board of Directors. In addition to her new duties, Ms.
White will continue in her role as Contract Administrator. |
December 1998
| AFR delivers a Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR)
Emission/Transmission (E/T) spectrometer to the NASA Lewis Research
Center. This spectrometer will be used as a diagnostic instrument for
laboratory and microgravity combustion diagnostics. |
| AFR participates as a finalist in the DOE/Dawnbreaker
Commercialization Assistance Program. A business plan is presented for
TurboSense, a company that will design, develop, manufacture, and market
novel turbine engine performance and health monitors. The market will be
manufacturers and end users of advanced gas turbine engines for
electricity generation and propulsion. |
November 1998
| AFR introduces its latest product, sample vials for Surface-Enhanced
Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). A solution containing the sample is injected
into vial which is placed in the sample compartment of a Raman
spectrometer. A proprietary coating on the vial enhances the intensity
of the Raman signal, in some cases more than a factor of 106. |
October 1998
| Dr.Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR,
presented an invited keynote lecture at the
Third International Conference on Materials Engineering for Resources (ICMR
'98), Akita, Japan, 26-28 October, 1998.
The paper was entitled "Microporous carbon adsorbents for hydrogen
storage." |
| AFR receives two NASA SBIR Phase I Awards, “Study of Agent
Effectiveness in Suppression of Aircraft Post-Crash Cabin Fires Using
Advanced FT-IR Diagnostics” and “Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste
Resource Recovery in Space. |
| On-Line Technologies, Inc., an AFR spin-off that is also based in
East Hartford, Connecticut has opened a Silicon Valley office to support
both its customer base as well as development work taking place in the
Western United States. Dr. Matt Richter has been hired as Applications
Manager to oversee the new operations. On-Line is a manufacturer of
optical sensors and Advanced Process Control systems. On-Line
Technologies can be reached at
MKS
On-Line Products or 860-291-0719 in CT or 650-424-8559 in CA. |
| On-Line introduces a new product, Process Sense™, a compact, low
cost quantitative, in-situ sensor for determining gas composition within
a production feed line, process equipment or exhaust gas line. This
analyzer utilizes infrared absorption; changing filters is all that is
requested to measure different gases. |
| AFR receives NSF Phase I SBIR grants titled “Macroscopic and
Molecular Interactive Simulations for Physical Science Education” and
“Whole Wafer Thermal Imaging for Real-Time Process Monitoring and
Control |
August 1998
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR,
presented a keynote lecture at the EUROCARBON '98 conference, Strasbourg,
France, 5-9 July, 1998. The paper was entitled "Microporosity development
in carbons for gas-storage applications. |
March 1998
| On-Line Technologies, Inc., an AFR spin-off will
officially open its new manufacturing facility on April 30, 1998. This
new facility will allow for increased production of On-Line's FT-IR
spectrometers which are used for thin film characterization and gas
analysis. For additional information, please visit
MKS
On-Line Products.
|
| Agreements were reached with Dynamotive Corporation
(Vancouver, BC) to continue testing their BioLime™ based technologies
for SOx, N2O, and NOx control. The
relationship with Dynamotive began in 1995 and has involved six separate
projects.
|
February 1998
| Dr. Michael Serio, President of AFR, gave an invited
lecture titled "Modeling of Coal Pyrolysis Processes" at the
International Symposium on Advanced Energy Technology in Sapporo, Japan
(February 2-4, 1998).
|
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons
Group at AFR, gave two invited lectures at the Coal Research Center (CRC)
Coal Chemistry Symposium, Sydney, Australia (February 16-18, 1998). One
lecture concerned "TGA-FTIR Analysis of Coal," while the second was on
the "FG-DVC Model of Coal Pyrolysis."
|
January 1998
| An ACS (American Chemical Society) Symposium Series
Volume titled "Synthesis and Characterization of Advanced Materials,"
was recently published by ACS Books as No. 681 in this series. The
Senior Editor was Dr. Michael Serio, President of AFR, and this volume
was based on a symposium that he organized for the Materials Chemistry
Secretariat at the 1996 ACS Orlando National Meeting.
|
| Dr. Peter R. Solomon, CEO and President of AFR since its founding in
1980, stepped down to devote full time to being CEO and President of
On-Line Technologies, Inc., an AFR spin-off. He was replaced by
Mr. James R. Markham
as CEO and Dr. Michael A. Serio as
President, who were promoted from Vice-President/Chief Operating Officer
and Vice-President/Chief Technical Officer, respectively. Dr. Solomon
will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Dr. David G. Hamblen will continue to
serve as Vice-President/Chief Financial Officer.
|
December 1997
| Efforts directed toward commercialization of AFR's
FG-DVC model continue. Work is under way at the University of Leeds, UK
on the integration of AFR's coal devolatilization model, FG-DVC, with
the FLUENT Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code, which is the most
widely used code of this type in the world.
|
June 1996
|
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