October 22, 2021 — Three Southwest Research Institute-developed technologies were selected as winners of prestigious R&D 100 Awards. R&D Magazine recognized SwRI’s Catalyzed Diesel Exhaust Fluid (Cat-DEF™), Eco-Mobility with Connected Powertrains and Floodlight™ Non-Targeted Analysis System as being among the 100 most significant innovations for 2021.
“We are committed to solving difficult technology challenges with innovative approaches,” said SwRI President and CEO Adam L. Hamilton, P.E. “I am honored that SwRI remains on the forefront of technological advancement. It is an incredible honor to be recognized for having three of the top 100 most significant innovations of the year.”
The Cat-DEF technology is a catalyst- and surfactant-modified diesel exhaust fluid that improves nitrous oxide (NOx) and carbon dioxide emissions by reducing undesirable deposit formation in diesel engine exhaust systems. The improved performance of the Cat-DEF innovation will help reduce air pollution and improve air quality and allows automotive manufacturers to meet new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements and California Air Resources Board NOx regulations to reduce air pollution emissions without negative implications. SwRI’s technology can be used in new and existing vehicles without modifying existing engines.
The Eco-Mobility with Connected Powertrains technology achieves over 20% in energy savings and reduced carbon emissions in connected and automated vehicles. This breakthrough technology uses algorithms, software and testing tools to enhance vehicle route, speed profile and power flows, lowering fuel consumption by leveraging vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, and vehicle-to-everything technologies. The system, developed by SwRI through internal research funding and funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) NEXTCAR program, uses connectivity and automation to improve vehicle energy efficiency.
The Floodlight™ software tool is an artificial intelligence-based program for chemical discovery. The novel technology performs automated quality review of two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometry data at accuracies comparable to human experts in a fraction of the time. Floodlight’s software enables high-throughput, non-targeted analyses and screening of chemicals present in food, drugs, consumer products and environmental samples to efficiently discover the vast numbers of chemical components — previously known and unknown — present in samples and materials we are exposed to every day. This cheminformatics machine learning tool integrates algorithms with analytical chemistry software to provide deep analysis of data from two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometric systems.
The R&D 100 Awards are among the most prestigious innovation awards programs, honoring the top 100 revolutionary technologies each year since 1963. Recipients hail from research institutions, academic and government laboratories, Fortune 500 companies and smaller organizations. Since 1971, SwRI has won 50 R&D 100 Awards. This year’s winners were announced October 19–21 by virtual broadcast from Cleveland.
For more information, visit Aftertreatment System Technologies, Connected Powertrain or Floodlight Non-Targeted Analysis System or contact Deb Schmid, +1 210 522 2254, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166.