$109,533 to Eliot Winer, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and James Oliver, director of the Virtual Reality Applications Center. They're working to commercialize a software package that uses 3-D visualization to help doctors model, manipulate and manage data. The result should be better surgical planning and training, as well as improving patient care.

$95,001 to Arun Somani, professor and chair of electrical and computer engineering; and Suraj Kothari, professor of electrical and computer engineeirng. They're working on a tool that will focus software testing and re-testing on the parts of the software  code  that have been changed. That will improve efficiency of software testing. It will also be designed to work with another software testing tool developed by EnSoft Corp., an Ames software company.

$93,775 to Halil Ceylan, and assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering and Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan, a post-doctoral research associate in civil, construction and environmental engineering. They want to replace chemicals used to stabilize soils beneath road projects with lignin, a co-product of ethanol produced from plant fiber.

$86,814 to Terrence Meyer, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Meyer will study how laser-based sensors can analyze combustion systems that burn alternative fuels. The sensors allow researchers to peer into combustion chambers for a better understanding of fuel sprays, fuel-air mixing, energy release and the like. The goal is to improve combustion efficiency, encourage the use of alternative fuels and reduce pollants.

$96,016 to Suraj Kothari, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Srinivas Aluru, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. They'll work to improve a software tool developed by Ensoft Corp. in Ames. The allows users of modeling software to easily see differences in models.

$73,535 to David Grewell, an assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering; Samir Kumar Khanal, a research assistant professor in civil, construction and environmental engineering; and Hans van Leeuwen, a professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. They'll study the pretreatment of corn for ethanol with high-power ultrasound. The pretreatment should aid the disintegration of mashed corn and fiber, thus exposing more of the corn starch to the production process and increasing ethanol yield.

$71,919 to Atul Kelkar, a professor of mechanical engineering. He will test a commercial-scale prototype of a technology that controls vibration in the seats of agricultural and construction equipment. The project is a collaboration with Vibroacoustics Solutions Inc. of Boone.

$21,525 to Surya Mallapragada, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. She'll study how protein patterning can aid a fast, efficient technology to measure cell health. The project is a collaboration with Cellular Engineering Technologies of Iowa City.

$132,274 to Robert C. Brown, Bergles Professor in Thermal Science; Francine Battaglia, associate professor of mechanical engineering; and Ted Heindel, professor of mechanical engineering. The researchers will work with Frontline BioEnergy of Ames to commercialize gasifiers that convert biomass into a mixture of flammable gases. The resulting gas could be used to replace some of the natural gas burned in ethanol plants. It could also be upgraded into a gas that can be converted in chemicals and transportation fuels.

$79,900 to Jacek Koziel, an assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering. Koziel will study how treating fuel ethanol with ozone and activated carbon can economically remove impurities so the alcohol can be used by the beverage industry.

$76,914 to Samir Kumar Khanal, a research assistant professor in civil, construction and environmental engineering; Buddhi Prasad Lamsal, a research associate in food science and nutrition; David Grewell, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering; and Stephanie Jung, an assistant professor of food science and human nutrition. They'll be use ultrasonics to enhance the yield of proteins and sugars from soybeans. The resulting soy whey will be used to produce a natural food preservative.

$76,806 to Hans van Leeuwen, a professor of civil, construction and enviromental engineering; Sam Beattie, an assistant professor of food science and human nutrition; and Allen Trenkle, a Distinguished Professor of animal science. They'll use a liquid byproduct of ethanol production to produce high-value fungus that can be added to animal feeds. They'll also study new and more efficient ways to treat the liquid byproduct.

$68,785 to David Grewell, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering; Michael Kessler, assistant professor of materials science and engineering; and Howard Van Auken, professor of management. The researchers will develop corn- and soy-based plastics reinforced with nanoclays. Ultrasonics will be used to break up and disperse the reinforcing material.

$63,406 to Vikram Dalal, director of the Microelectronics Research Center. Dalal will work with PowerFilm, Inc. of Ames to develop high-performance solar cells using new technology that improves the performance and stability of solar cells.