TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

The FIU-FPL Solar Research Center is a solar research facility installed at FIU. The 1.4-megawatt solar array comprises more than 4,400 solar panels on canopy-like structures that provide clean energy to the grid. Faculty and students use the installation to conduct research that is helping FPL advance solar energy in the state.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death around the world. Research in the Hutcheson Cardiovascular Matrix Remodeling Lab focuses on the mechanisms through which tissues are built and maintained and the pathological changes that lead to disease. Researcher Josh Hutcheson and his team are looking at the development of vascular calcification in individuals with chronic kidney disease. They study the nanoscale events that result in formation of this mineral and investigate clinically approved drugs that may disrupt vascular calcification and improve quality of life for patients with chronic kidney disease.

Ph.D. candidate Valentina Dargam has developed an algorithm that can differentiate the sounds of a healthy heart from one that is developing disease. The concept is that using a digital stethoscope, detecting heart disease can come down to an algorithm. Dargam is currently testing the algorithm on mice to find proof that it works.

Arvind Agarwal and his research team have developed a new coating to protect machinery for use on the lunar surface against radiation levels up to 1,000 times greater than on Earth. A sample of the coating is heading to the International Space Station where it will be mounted outside the facility for exposure to space. The coating will then be analyzed for its resistance to radiation.