The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $65,000 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  INVESTIGATE THE LU-HF ISOTOPE SYSTEMATICS OF BASALTIC EUCRITE, DIOGENITE, AND ANGRITE METEORITES IN ORDER TO CONSTRAIN APPARENT EXCESSES OF 176HF (E.G. ALBAR DE ET AL, 2006; THRANE ET AL., 2010) AND THEIR INITIAL HF ISOTOPE COMPOSITIONS. CONSTRAIN ABSOLUTE CRYSTALLIZATION AGES OF THE EUCRITES TARGETED FOR LU-HF ANALYSIS BY IN SITU U-PB ANALYSIS OF ZIRCON BY LASER ABLATION MC-ICP-MS AND CONVENTIONAL U-PB ANALYSIS OF CONSTITUENT PHASES BY TIMS.INVESTIGATE THE AGES OF BASALTIC CLASTS AND MINERAL FRAGMENTS IN HOWARDITES AND POLYMICTEUCRITES BY IN SITU LASER ABLATION MC-ICP-MS ANALYSIS OF ZIRCON AND PHOSPHATE.

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• $55,008 - Wednesday the 12th of October 2011
  Veterans Affairs Department
  580-HOUSTON
  OPERATION ROOM SOP FLOW CONSULTANT

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• $30,000 - Friday the 28th of September 2012
  National Institutes Of Health
  NIH, CC, OD OCOO OA OFC ACQUISITIONS
  UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM:1151460 [12-015513]

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• $200,000 - Tuesday the 14th of June 2016
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  RAPID PATHOGEN DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS GOALS: A SPACE FRIENDLY TECHNOLOGY TO RAPIDLY IDENTIFY AND QUANTIFY UNLABELED PATHOGENS OF INTEREST CAN TRANSFORM ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND CONTROL DURING SPACE MISSIONS. TO THIS END, THE PI PROPOSES AN INTEGRATED MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORM COMBINING ULTRAHIGH-THROUGHPUT LABEL-FREE MOLECULAR SENSING VIA PLASMONIC NANOSTRUCTURES AND ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL ALGORITHMS, TO BYPASS TIME-CONSUMING BACTERIAL CULTURE AND LABOR-INTENSIVE MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES. IN PARTICULAR, THE PI RECOGNIZES CONSTRAINTS IN SPACE MISSIONS SUCH AS MICRO-GRAVITY AND RESOURCE LIMITATIONS, AND PROPOSES TO DEVELOP REALISTIC TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN FUNCTION PROPERLY WITHIN THE OPERATIONAL ENVELOPE. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS A LOGICAL EXTENSION OF PI S ON-GOING RESEARCH SUPPORTED BY A RECENT NSF CAREER AWARD, WHICH SEEKS TO DEVELOP CLINICALLY-VIABLE SOLUTIONS FOR RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN HOSPITAL SETTINGS. THIS CURRENT PROPOSAL, HOWEVER, WILL FOCUS ON DETECTING, COUNTING AND TYPING PATHOGEN SPECIES THAT ARE MOST RELEVANT TO SPACE MISSIONS FROM BOTH THE CREW HEALTH AS WELL AS ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING/ CONTROL PERSPECTIVE. THEREFORE, THE PI ENVISIONS TO BREAK NEW GROUNDS IN SPACE MEDICINE AND MISSION CONTROL AND SIMULTANEOUSLY EXPLOIT SYNERGY WITH HIS ONGOING PROJECT. THE PI HAS TEAMED UP WITH TOP NASA SCIENTISTS (XXX AND XXX) FROM SPACE MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORY IN THE JOHNSON SPACE CENTER. THEY WILL PROVIDE MICROBIAL ISOLATED FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND EXPERTISE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING/CONTROL ISSUES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL COMPLEMENT THEIR ON-GOING RESEARCH IN SPACE MICROBIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING/CONTROL. THE COLLABORATION WILL PROMOTE AND STRENGTHEN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES BETWEEN UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON AND NASA. APPROACHES: THE PI PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AN AUTOMATED SENSING PLATFORM BASED ON OUR RECENTLY PUBLISHED AND PATENTED SNAP-SHOT GUIDED PARALLEL RAMAN MICROSPECTROSCOPY TECHNOLOGY TO OBTAIN THE UNIQUE MOLECULAR BARCODES OF PATHOGENS AT UNPRECEDENTED SPEED, SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY. AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL, THE PROPOSED PLATFORM WILL BE EMPLOYED TO DIFFERENTIATE BACTERIAL SURFACES (PEPTIDOGLYCANS OR LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDES) FROM ENVIRONMENTAL PARTICLES AND HUMAN CELL SURFACES (PHOSPHOLIPIDS AND PROTEINS), THE MOST LIKELY INTERFERING CELL CLASS, AND FURTHER PERFORMS GRAM TYPING, FINGERPRINTING AND COUNTING WITH MINIMAL SAMPLE PREPARATION. THE SURFACE-SPECIFIC SCREENING CAN BE ACHIEVED BY SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN IMAGING USING NANOENGINEERED PLASMONIC SUBSTRATES. IN PARTICULAR, A SIZE-SELECTIVE PLASMONIC SUBSTRATE BASED ON NANOPARTICLE-DECORATED NANOPOROUS GOLD COATING WILL BE DEVELOPED AND APPLIED. THE PI ENVISIONS THAT THIS NOVEL SUBSTRATE WILL PROVIDE THE SURFACE SPECIFICITY DESCRIBED ABOVE, AS WELL AS THE POTENTIAL OF MEASURING TRACE AMOUNT OF ANALYTE DERIVATIVES RELEASED BY PATHOGENS. ONCE DETECTED, NORMAL RAMAN IMAGING WILL BE PERFORMED ON THE SUSPICIOUS ENTITIES FOR FURTHER PATHOGEN TYPING AND IDENTIFICATION, THUS GREATLY ENHANCING THE THROUGHPUT COMPARED TO EXISTING SPECTROSCOPY IMAGING TECHNIQUES. TO MINIMIZE SAMPLE PREPARATION, THE PI PROPOSES TO DIRECTLY COLLECT MICROFLUIDIC SAMPLES FROM AIR/WATER FILTERS AND CONTAMINATED SURFACES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING/CONTROL AND WASTE MANAGEMENT. COMPUTATIONAL SENSING WILL BE EMPLOYED AT MULTIPLE JUNCTIONS OF THIS TECHNOLOGY SUITE SUCH AS COMPRESSED SENSING BASED SPECTROSCOPY IMAGE ACQUISITION AND STATISTICAL SPATIAL-SPECTRAL PATTERN RECOGNITION AND CLASSIFICATION TO YIELD OBJECTIVE ANSWERS. INITIALLY, FOUR MOST COMMONLY ENCOUNTERED PATHOGEN SPECIES WILL BE ANALYZED, INCLUDING SALMONELLA, STAPHYLOCOCCUS, ESCHERICHIA AND BACILLUS SPECIES. THIS TECHNOLOGY WOULD BE EXTENDED FOR SPACE BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS.

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• $20,000 - Tuesday the 31st of January 2017
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE SPACE LIFE SCIENCES CURRICULUM (SLS) IS A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE AT UH AND THE NASA/JOHNSON SPACE CENTER. HHP AND NASA SHARE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP; MANY OF OUR FACULTY ARE DRAWN FROM THE RANKS OF FORMER NASA SCIENTISTS WHO CURRENTLY MAINTAIN RESEARCH RELATIONSHIPS WITH NASA. MANY OF OUR GRADUATE STUDENTS HAVE CONDUCTED RESEARCH IN NASA LABORATORIES, WHILE OTHERS HAVE HELD SUMMER APPOINTMENTS OR COMPLETED INTERNSHIPS AT JSC. SEVERAL OF OUR GRADUATES ARE NOW SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYEES IN THE SPACE INDUSTRY AT JSC. HHP RESEARCHERS ARE ALSO INVOLVED IN A LARGE NUMBER OF SPACE LIFE SCIENCES RELATED PROJECTS WHICH COMPLEMENT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SPACE LIFE SCIENCES CURRICULUM AT THE NASA/JOHNSON SPACE CENTER. THE SELECTED GRADUATE STUDENT SUPPORTED BY THIS STIPEND WILL BE TRAINED TO POTENTIALLY SMOOTHLY TRANSITION INTO THE HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AND CONDUCT HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT RELATED RESEARCH WHILE SUPPORTED BY THE STIPEND.

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• $150,173 - Wednesday the 20th of April 2016
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ENHANCEMENT OF GRACE TEMPORAL GRAVITY FIELD SOLUTIONS TO STUDY TERRESTRIAL WATER DYNAMICS IN THE CONGO BASIN PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED. THE CONGO BASIN IS THE WORLD##S THIRD LARGEST IN SIZE, AND SECOND ONLY TO THE AMAZON RIVER IN DISCHARGE. THE IMPACT AND CONNECTIONS OF THIS HYDROLOGIC FLUX WITH THE REGIONS CLIMATE, BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING, AND TERRESTRIAL WATER STORAGE, ESPECIALLY IN WETLANDS, IS CLEARLY OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. YET, THERE IS A GREAT LACK OF PUBLISHED RESEARCH DOCUMENTING THE CONGO BASIN TERRESTRIAL WATER BALANCE. THIS LACK OF RESEARCH IS RELATED IN PART TO THE LIMITED AMOUNT OF IN-SITU DATA; HOWEVER, THE ABUNDANCE OF SPACE-BORNE DATA SUGGESTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DISCOVERY. WE RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HYDROLOGY OF THE AMAZON AND CONGO, PARTICULARLY REGARDIN THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE INTER-TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE (ITCZ) AND ITS RAINFALL IMPLICATIONS FOR SURFACE WATER FLOW. STILL, COMPARISON BETWEEN THESE ENORMOUS BASINS WILL ENABLE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE TROPICAL WATER CYCLE. GIVEN THE VAST SIZE AND REMOTE LOCATION OF THE CONGO BASIN, SATELLITE-BORNE OBSERVATIONS PROVIDE THE ONLY VIABLE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF ITS HYDROLOGIC WATER BALANCES. FOR EXAMPLE, THE AMOUNT OF WATER ON THE FLOODPLAINS/WETLANDS AND THE AMOUNT EXCHANGED WITH RIVER CHANNELS ARE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION FOR UNDERSTANDING THE SEDIMENT DELIVERY AND NUTRIENT EXCHANGES. WE PROPOSE TO CHARACTERIZE AND QUANTIFY TERRESTRIAL WATER DYNAMICS OVER THE CONGO BASIN BY ESTIMATING THE WETLAND STORAGE VOLUME AND ITS WATER SOURCE USING GRACE AND OTHER SATELLITE-BORNE OBSERVATIONS. APPROACH AND OBJECTIVES. WE PROPOSE TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE CONGO WATER STORAGE CHANGES USING GRACE GRAVITY FIELD OBSERVATIONS AND OTHER MULTI-SENSOR MEASUREMENTS. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ARE TO: (1)PRODUCE A HYDROLOGIC MASS-BALANCE AND HYDRAULIC TRANSPORT MODEL (HRR) FOR THE CONGO BASIN AT A SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF 101 TO 102 KM2; (2) DETERMINE CONTAMINATED MONTHS OF GRACE L2 SOLUTIONS DUE TO THE LEAKAGE OF STRONGER SIGNALS OCCURRING OUTSIDE OF A BASIN OR SUB-BASIN WITH HRR MODEL OUTPUTS; (3) PROVIDE A METHODOLOGY TO EMPIRICALLY REPAIR THE GRACE SIGNAL LEAKAGE; (4) PROVIDE SPATIALLY (300X300 KM) AND TEMPORALLY (15-DAY) IMPROVED REGIONAL SOLUTIONS OVER THE ENTIRE CONGO BASIN; (5) QUANTIFY WETLAND STORAGE VOLUME AND EXAMINE ITS SOURCE OF WATER IN THE CONGO BASIN USING OUR BEST ESTIMATES OF WATER STORAGE CHANGES FROM GRACE ALONG WITH OTHER SATELLITE-BORNE MEASUREMENTS.ANTICIPATED RESULTS. OUR ANTICIPATED RESULTS INCLUDE IMPROVED QUANTIFICATION OF THE WETLAND STORAGE VOLUME IN THE CONGO BASIN AND ITS DETERMINATION OF WATER SOURCE. THIS PROPOSAL DIRECTLY ADDRESSES NASAS GRACE AO: "DEVELOPMENT OF NEW METHODS, ALGORITHMS,AND MODELS FOR THE EXPLOITATION OF GRAVITY FIELD OBSERVATIONS TO BE MADE BY GRACE". THE PROPOSAL ADDRESSES EACH OF THE NASA SCIENCE QUESTIONS WITHIN NASA'S STRATEGIC PLAN SUB-GOAL 3A, "TO STUDY PLANET EARTH FROM SPACE TO ADVANCE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING AND MEET SOCIETAL NEEDS".

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