-Photo by Vivian Barrett | The State News

What started as an in-class project for ECE 320 has transformed into a $80,000 NASA-funded grant project for a team of eleven undergraduate students.

The MSU Aerial Intra-City Delivery Electric Drone, or AIDED, is dedicated to creating a delivery drone equipped to carry 20 pounds with an extended delivery range through landing on public transportation. On top of extending its range, the use of public transportation is quieter and safer for city deliveries.

Project manager and electrical engineering senior Gavin Gardner said the project began as a class assignment under engineering professor Matt Lee. The idea was submitted to a NASA grant competition and won the full grant in spring 2021.

At this stage in the project, NASA serves as a mentor for the team, Gavin said. They are able to reach out for advice when they need it.

Meet the team

The group is split into three teams: the drone team, the latching and charging team and the software team. The drone team focuses on building and flying the physical drone using computer-aided design. mechanical lead and mechanical engineering senior Ross Davis said.

Mechanical engineering senior Ross Davis is the mechanical lead on the drone team with electrical engineering sophomore Gryson Gardner and mechanical engineering junior Tate Virkus. Gryson said his focus is on ensuring the many components of the drone work together, while Virkus has focused on designing the system that carries and drops loads.

“Mostly I work on the system as a whole and just making sure that the thing is compact and reliable to fly,” Gryson said. ... Learn more Here.

The Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is partnering with The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS) to solicit research projects in the general field of fluid dynamics, particulate and multiphase processes, combustion and fire systems, thermal transport processes, and nanoscale interactions that can utilize the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab to conduct research that will benefit life on Earth.

NSF awards under this solicitation will provide PIs with support to conduct fundamental and translational research, to prepare experiments for execution onboard the ISS, to collaborate with service providers as necessary, to provide preliminary analysis to conduct the experiment, to analyze and interpret data, and to disseminate results broadly. CASIS operations will assist grantees in translating ground-based experiments and technologies into an appropriate ISS certified hardware solution where possible. All costs associated with the translation of the proposed experiments to flight experiments onboard the ISS, including training of ISS crews, transporting the experiment payload and equipment to the ISS, and conducting experiments on the ISS, will be supported by CASIS through their cooperative agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Award size: $3.6M total program funding for approx. 9 awards

Feasibility review form deadline: January 12, 2023

Through this FOA, DOE makes available up to $1.236 billion of funding to begin the process of conceptualizing, designing, planning, constructing, and operating the DAC Hubs, with additional funding opportunities expected to follow in the coming years.

This FOA (i.e., DE-FOA-0002735) offers potential Applicants three different options for seeking DAC Hub funding:

• Topic Area One (TA-1) is designed to support earlier-stage efforts to explore the feasibility of a potential DAC Hub’s location, ownership structure, business model, CO2 storage/utilization option(s), and technology partner(s) during Phase 0.

For Topic Area One, this FOA provides up to $3 million per project in federal funds, for up to twelve (12) awards, at an 80 percent maximum federal cost-share.

• Topic Area Two (TA-2) is designed for DAC Hub projects ready to pursue a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for a Hub’s initial capture capacity and supporting infrastructure during Phase 1.

To be eligible for TA-2, Applicants must:

1. be ready to design a DAC Hub that captures at least 50,000 tonnes of CO2 per year (50 KTA),
2. provide evidence from prior operations to support that scale-up, and
3. present a DAC Hub Capacity Build-Out Plan to eventually reach the goal of at least 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year (1 MTA), among other requirements.

This FOA provides up to $12.5 million per project in federal funds, for up to eight (8) awards, at a 50 percent maximum federal cost share.

• Topic Area Three (TA-3) is designed for DAC Hub projects that have already completed a FEED study and are seeking support for project development for a potential Hub.

To be eligible for TA-3, Applicants must:

1. be ready to perform a detailed design, and build a DAC Hub that captures at least 50 KTA CO2,
2. provide evidence from prior operations to support that scale- up, and
3. present a DAC Hub Capacity Build-Out Plan to eventually reach the goal of at least 1 MTA CO2, among other requirements.

This FOA provides up to $50 million per project in federal funds, for up to two (2) awards, at a 50 percent maximum federal cost share to complete the detailed design and permitting phase (Phase 2). Following a competitive (down)-selection process, this FOA provides up to $500 million per project in federal funds, for up to two (2) awards, at a 50 percent maximum federal cost share, to execute and complete procurement, construction, and operation phases (Phases 3-4) for the initial DAC Hub capacity, and the DAC Hub Capacity Build-out Plan, if applicable.

This FOA (i.e., DE-FOA-0002735) is designed to enable a range of entities to apply for DAC Hubs including, non-profits, state and local governments, academic institutions, civil society organizations, companies with relevant energy or CO2 storage resources, etc.—in addition to DAC technology developers.

969D of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) (42 U.S.C. 16298d). Section 40308 of the BIL amended EPAct 2005 and added the DAC Hubs provision which is focused on providing funding for eligible projects that contribute to the development of the DAC Hubs. Each of the Regional DAC Hubs:

1. facilitates the deployment of direct air capture projects;
2. has the capacity to capture and sequester, utilize, or sequester and utilize at least 1,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually from a single unit or multiple interconnected units;
3. demonstrates the capture, processing, delivery, and sequestration or end-use of captured carbon; and
4. could be developed into a regional or interregional carbon network to facilitate sequestration or carbon utilization.

The solicitation may be accessed online by following this link.

Resources for finding Federal, State and Foundation funding opportunities.

... Learn more Here.