The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $35 million in funding for diverse small businesses to pursue clean energy, climate and other scientific solutions. These Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards aim to transform DOE supported science and technology breakthroughs into viable products and services.
Researchers at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory will contribute to three SBIR/STTR projects. The projects will draw upon Argonne’s many strengths in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), as well as quantum information science. Each project will receive approximately $200,000 for six months to a year.
In one project, a team led by Maria Chan will be working with VISIMO (Coraopolis, Pennsylvania) to develop data management software based on AI and ML. This software will use AI and ML to automatically label and organize microscopy images, such as those from Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), a DOE Office of Science user facility, and other Nanoscale Science Research Centers. Such automation will improve the findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability of the large datasets generated by microscopic imaging at DOE laboratories. It will thus allow researchers to more easily make discoveries such as new or improved catalysts and batteries for sustainable energy production and storage.