SRI International Digest #23 - Fall 2007

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IN THIS ISSUE:

•  SRI Conducts First-Ever Surgical Demonstration in Zero-Gravity Flight

•  Novel Generators Harness the Power of the Ocean

•  PLATO: An Electronic "Student" Learns in Human-Like Ways

•  Blast Protection Technology Available for License

•  DARPA Recognizes CALO Project with Award for Sustained Excellence

•  Cancer Drug May Hold Promise as Advanced Prostate Cancer Treatment

         Related: Biomarkers, Cancer Therapeutics, AIDS Drug Formulations, Vaccine Manufacturing

•  Improving Effective Education Interventions for Students with Disabilities

•  Revitalization of Virginia Industrial Site Mirrors Changing U.S. Economy

•  Congressional Testimony Offered on ID Safeguards for Employee Eligibility Systems

•  SRI Innovation Workshop to be Held in Tampa Bay

•  Meet Our People

•  Upcoming Events

•  SRI in the News

SRI Conducts First-Ever Surgical Demonstration in Zero-Gravity Flight

In collaboration with researchers and surgeons from the University of Cincinnati, SRI is evaluating the benefits of robotic surgery on air and space flights for NASA. In the first demonstration of robotic surgery technology in a zero-gravity environment, the researchers performed surgical tasks on simulated patients aboard a NASA C-9 aircraft on September 25 to 28. Through parabolic flights, the aircraft simulates the microgravity of space and variable gravity of military critical care air transport.

Beyond space, telerobotic capabilities could be useful for remote battlefield surgery and for care during patient evacuation and transport. The technology may also someday allow time-critical procedures requiring specialized skills to be performed in a moving vehicle.

In the news:

NASA Tests Robot Surgeon for Missions to Moon, Mars (Scientific American, 9/26/07)
First Zero-Gravity Surgical Robot Demonstration (SPACE.com, 9/25/07)
Surgical robot faces next test (San Jose Mercury News, 9/25/07)

Novel Generators Harness the Vast Energy of the Ocean

SRI recently deployed a prototype buoy-mounted, ocean wave-powered generator in Tampa Bay, Florida. The two-week test was part of a program sponsored by HYPER DRIVE Corporation, Ltd., a Japanese company developing and deploying wave-powered generators around the world.

The demonstration proves the feasibility of a new, low-cost, and highly efficient technology that can harvest electricity directly from ocean waves. The generators can be deployed on existing ocean buoys that use batteries as their energy source. They use SRI's patented electroactive polymer artificial muscle (EPAM™) technology to offer a renewable method to continually power ocean buoys.

Assisting the California-based research team are researchers in SRI's Marine Technology Program in St. Petersburg, Florida. SRI is also working with Artificial Muscle, Inc., an SRI spin-off company and the exclusive licensee of EPAM, in the development of the EPAM components for the wave-powered generators.  

In the news:

Florida Governor Visits the Wave Energy Buoy (Tampa Bay Newspapers, 8/19/07)
Harvesting Power from the Ocean, Technology Review, 8/23/07)

PLATO: An Electronic "Student" Learns in Human-Like Ways
An SRI-led team is developing an electronic "student" that can be taught and can learn in human-like ways. The domain-independent learning system, dubbed PLATO (Phased Learning through Analyzing, Teaching and Observation), is funded by a $10 million, 15-month (Phase 1) contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). SRI will serve as systems integrator.

PLATO, a major component of DARPA's newly formed Bootstrapped Learning program, will be designed to accept natural instruction, determine why it is being told this information, reason about the implication of the instruction in the context of what it already knows, and further refine it when necessary. The highly modular PLATO system will be accessible to anyone interested in trying out new learning modules. 

In the news:

Bootstrapped Learning Beats AI (EE Times, 9/4/07)

Blast Protection Technology Available for License
SRI's unique blast protection technology for glass windows is now available for licensing. The patented life-saving technology is retrofit to existing windows to prevent shattered glass from flying into a building if an explosion occurs outside.

"During recent conflicts, the U.S. has seen a dramatic increase in the use of improvised explosive devices as methods of warfare and terrorism. As a result, more government and commercial buildings will require hardened windows for added security," said Norman Winarsky, Ph.D., SRI's vice president of Ventures and Strategic Programs. "With an increased need for protection, SRI's 'soft catch' system is the right approach for retrofitting existing windows to withstand blast loads." 

For further information, contact SRI's Ventures & Strategic Programs at: alex.beavers@sri.com.

DARPA Recognizes CALO Project with Award for Sustained Excellence
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded SRI an Award for Sustained Excellence by a Performer for SRI's leadership role in the Personalized Assistant that Learns (PAL) program. The award was conferred to SRI at DARPATech 2007.

Through the PAL program, SRI leads development of CALO, a cognitive assistant that learns, which could revolutionize how computers assist decision-makers. SRI leads teams from 25 organizations throughout the U.S., providing project management and system integration. 

Cancer Drug May Hold Promise as Advanced Prostate Cancer Treatment
SRI has received support from the National Cancer Institute to further the preclinical development of SRI's drug SR16388 (PDF link), a novel antiangiogenic drug currently in development for the treatment of multiple tumor types, including metastatic prostate cancer. 

Related: SRI and Pentax Develop Biomarkers for Oncology Diagnostics
Related: Promising Cancer Therapeutics Developed by SRI
Related: SRI to Develop AIDS Drug Formulations (Watch the KGO-TV news story)
Related: SRI Collaborates to Accelerate Vaccine Manufacturing Process

Improving Effective Education Interventions for Students with Disabilities
For the U.S. Department of Education, SRI is synthesizing research and providing practice guidelines to inform and improve special education reform efforts for the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). SRI is a subcontractor to Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., which has been awarded a $50.3 million contract to administer and expand the next generation of the WWC. SRI will focus much of its work on students with disabilities, who comprise approximately 12 percent of the U.S. K-12 student population.

Revitalization of Virginia Industrial Site Mirrors Changing U.S. Economy
The Front Royal/Warren County Economic Development Authority (EDA) in Virginia is collaborating with SRI to implement a strategic economic planning roadmap that will guide the community to emerge as a national model for community development. Redevelopment includes turning a former Superfund site into a new magnet entertainment venue and other tourism and hospitality offerings linked with Front Royal's historic and picturesque downtown.  

SRI Offers Congressional Testimony about ID Safeguards for Employee Eligibility Systems
Peter Neumann, Ph.D., principal scientist in SRI's Computer Science Laboratory, gave Congressional testimony in June on security and privacy issues affecting efforts to verify employee eligibility systems. Dr. Neumann urged Congress to create the right incentives for operators and employers to maximize the achievement of U.S. immigration laws that mandate employee eligibility verification while minimizing privacy and security risks to individuals.  

SRI "Discipline of Innovation" Workshop to be Held in Tampa Bay
On October 10, the Tampa Bay Technology Forum will co-host with SRI the first-ever SRI Discipline of Innovation Workshop to be held in the region. The workshop will be presented in an accelerated one-day format to provide local executives and their teams with skills to create compelling value for their customers. World-leading organizations have participated in the workshop at SRI over the past several years, including NTT, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Nuance Communications, Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. For more information, visit http://www.tbtf.org and click on "TBTF Events".  

Meet Our People

Barbara Heydorn
Director
Center of Excellence in Energy

Christine Stensig
Technical Writer and Editor
Engineering & Systems Division

Upcoming Events

SRI hosts these events at its Menlo Park location:

Churchill Club
"Managing Thru Adversity" with John Swainson, President & CEO, CA
October 2, 6:00 p.m.

Cafe Scientifique Silicon Valley
"Gravitation and Aging": A Discussion with Joan Vernikos, Former Director of Life Sciences at NASA Headquarters
October 9, 6:00 p.m.

International Business Forum (IBF) Biotech Investing Conference
November 5-6

Cafe Scientifique Silicon Valley
"Migraine, Stress, and Peanut M&Ms": A Discussion with Steve Peroutka, MD, PhD, Johnson & Johnson Franchise Development Leader for Pain
November 13, 6:00 p.m.

SRI will participate in the following government and industry events. Contact Marty Mallonee if you would like to meet with SRI at one of these venues.

Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting
October 8-10
Washington, D.C.

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)-NCI-EORTC International Conference, Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics 2007
October 22-26
San Francisco, CA

Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness
November 3-6
San Francisco, CA

Society for Neurosciences Annual Meeting
November 3-7
San Diego, CA

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition
November 11-15
San Diego, CA

Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC)
November 26-29
Orlando, FL

SRI in the News

R&D Project on Algebra Software Seen to Show Promise
Education Week, 09/25/07 (free site registration required)
Recent research on SimCalc MathWorlds, computer software that shows students visual models of mathematical concepts, is providing some of the best evidence so far that the approach can lead to gains in student learning. Data released last spring by SRI from a scientific study of 7th grade algebra students in Texas show "large effects" from the use of SimCalc.

Swarm Theory
National Geographic, July 2007
An examination of "swarm" behavior -- how simple actions of individuals add up to the complex behavior of a group. The article explores ant and bee behaviors and how the study of swarm intelligence is providing insights that can help humans manage complex systems, from truck routing to military robots. The article describes SRI's Centibots project, an investigation to see if 100 robots could collaborate on a mission.

CONTACT US

For more information on SRI's innovations and how we can help you, contact SRI Digest editor Marty Mallonee at marty.mallonee@sri.com. The SRI Digest welcomes your feedback. Please send suggestions or comments to newsletter@sri.com. Start or discontinue a subscription by sending an email to newsletter@sri.com.

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Copyright 2007 SRI International. All rights reserved.