Tech Roundup - September 24, 2021

Fri, 09/24/2021

Welcome to ‘Tech Roundup,’ where we highlight some of the most significant tech news items from Nebraska and the surrounding area. If you have a news item you would like to see in the Roundup, please email neil.rutledge@unl.edu.


 

Local/Regional

Husker researchers work to improve landfill gas emissions, community perceptions

Nebraska Today

  • Working to create a better environment and improve community perceptions, University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers are investigating ways to remediate gas emission pollution from landfills by using an innovative ground covering system and analyzing its community impact.
  • Reducing gas emissions is particularly important for the environment because landfill gases are not only the third largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, but they include hazardous, noxious gases that often upset landfill neighbors, resulting in strained relationships with the community, regulatory actions and, in some cases, costly litigation for communities.

 

Technology Transfer

Nebraska Tech Collaborative

  • Looking at Nebraska, the primary source of technology transfer is the University of Nebraska system.
  • UNMC and UNL are particularly well-regarded for moving technologies into the commercial sphere.  But, even though well-regarded, there remains a significant gap between the number of discovered technologies and filed patents to the number of licenses, licensed revenue, or company creation.

 

Research looks to control nitrate leaching, protect Nebraska groundwater

Nebraska Public Media

  • In 2018, the Nebraska Water Center received a grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to research how injecting carbon into the subsoil — by way of mulch and sawdust — could absorb and remove extra nitrate from the soil. The project is led by Dan Snow, research professor and director of the University of Nebraska’s Water Sciences Laboratory.
  • Ultimately, the project seeks to demonstrate the efficacy and cost effectiveness of using an abundant carbon source to intercept and remove dissolved nitrate after it has left the root zone.

 

LB396 creates new opportunities for farm-to-school meals

Nebraska Today

  • “Research in the last couple years shows that more than 90% (of food) is being imported from outside the state,” said Benjamin McShane-Jewell, an assistant extension educator with Rural Prosperity Nebraska.
  • However, with Legislative Bill 396, he and others are aiming to change that ratio. Introduced by Sen. Tom Brandt, the Adopt the Nebraska Farm-to-School Program Act reserves funds to create new and promote existing farm-to-school food programs. The bill passed unanimously in May with two goals in mind:

○     Provide schoolchildren with fresh, non-processed meals and introduce them to healthy eating habits. This includes field trips to farms, cooking classes, and gardening and composting programs.

○     Increase the income of Nebraska farmers.


 

One direction: Signature approach reveals prized property in nanoscopic material

Nebraska Today

  • Xia Hong, associate professor in the department of Physics and Astronomy, developed a thin, conductive nanowire in which a ferroelectric polymer bisects a semiconductor known as rhenium disulfide. The result was the creation of what Hong described as “a lone highway for electrons amid an unpassable desert.” The research shows that the angle-dependent difference in conductivity - known as anisotropy, is about 5,000 times larger than any reported in a 2D, ferroelectric-controlled configuration to date.

 

Midwest AgTech Tests Autonomous Tractors In Nebraska

The Combine

  • Innovations in Agriculture Technology are not only being built in the midwest but are being tested right here in Nebraska.
  • Sabanto Ag is a developer of a Farming-as-a-Service technology designed to perform row-crop operations using advanced autonomous equipment. The company's technology provides total turn-key agriculture services using a supervised autonomous equipment platform, enabling farmers to get technology and systems to monitor and operate farmlands from one central location.

 

Local Startup Spotlight

Buildertrend announces groundbreaking partnership with The Home Depot

  • Excitement permeates Buildertrend’s headquarters in southwest Omaha. The cloud-based construction project management software developer recently announced a partnership with The Home Depot that will provide construction professionals the technology to help them manage and grow their businesses, along with an integrated purchasing experience and discounts.

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