INL named winner of four 2019 R&D 100 awards

Idaho National Laboratory has received four R&D 100 awards for 2019. Since they were started by R&D Magazine in 1963, R&D 100 Awards have identified and celebrated the top technology products from the public and private sectors. The U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories typically have dozens of finalists every year.

Winners will be honored Dec. 4-5 at a banquet in San Mateo, Calif., also the site for the fifth annual R&D 100 Conference, an event where leaders from the R&D community can attend multi-disciplinary general sessions and exchange new ideas in innovation and technology transfer.

In the Analytical/Test category, INL took honors with its Electronic Neutron Generator Calibration System and its High-Temperature Irradiation-Resistant Thermocouples (HTIR-TC).

In the IT/Electrical electrical category, it received a joint award with the University of Utah School of Computing for Wireless radio Frequency signal Identification and protocol Reverse Engineering—WiFIRE.

In the Software/Services, INL was recognized for Consequence-driven Cyber-informed Engineering.

INL’s finalists included Lithium-ion battery defect detector, Waste-to-Energy Ionic Gasification Technology (a joint award with Cogent Energy Systems, Inc.), Wireless sensor system for online monitoring of valve position, and HELICS, a project also involving Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).

Smart Foodservice Warehouse plans grand opening Saturday

The Smartfoodservice Warehouse Store at Lindsay Boulevard and U.S. Highway 20

The Smart Foodservice Warehouse Store at 1240 Lindsay Boulevard will be having its grand opening Saturday, opening its doors at 6 a.m. There will be free food, giveaways and prize drawings. A Business Preview Day is planned for Friday. Local business owners are invited to walk the aisles and meet with vendors. For more information, call (208) 419-0796.

A wholesale food distributor and food service supplier headquartered in Portland, Ore., until recently the chain was known as Cash&Carry Smart Foodservice. The company specializes in food products, chef supplies, wholesale restaurant supplies and catering supplies. The company has been operating throughout the Northwest for more than 60 years.

This is the chain's 509th store. The company has stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana and Utah. In addition to Idaho Falls, stores have been scheduled to open this year in Meridian, and Kalispell, Mont. Other stores have opened this year in Salt Lake City, Portland, Ore., Carson City, Nev., and Sacramento, Calif.

The value of the 20,265-square-foot Idaho Falls project was estimated at $2.4 million.

INL inducted into Tech Council's Hall of Fame

Idaho National Laboratory was inducted into the Idaho Technology Council’s Hall of Fame in Boise on Oct. 23.

The Hall of Fame, now in its tenth year, recognizes innovative technology leaders and companies that have made a significant contribution to Idaho’s technology community. Bestowed upon only two inductees each year, this honor recognizes INL as a leader within the state of Idaho, promoting the growth and development of the technology ecosystem, creating new and innovative systems, deploying emerging technologies and pioneering disruptive approaches to solving demanding issues.

At the same ceremony, three INL nominees were recognized at the 14th annual Idaho Innovation Awards, presented by Stoel Rives LLP, Trailhead and the Idaho Technology Council (ITC), with support from Deloitte.

The Advanced Electrolyte Model (AEM) was recognized as a finalist in the Commercialized Innovation of the Year. Developed by Dr. Kevin Gering, AEM is a computer simulation program designed to give fast information on the properties of complex electrolyte formulations and how they can influence the performance of batteries. Since version 1.0 was first made available in 2010, AEM has been licensed to universities and industrial users, including chemical and automotive companies and a major lithium-ion cell manufacturer. Commercialization efforts at INL have been led by Ryan Bills.

Dr. Henry Chu, a Directorate Fellow and the chief technology officer of Defense Systems for National & Homeland Security at INL, was honored as a finalist/winner in the Innovator of the Year category. As the chief research scientist in INL’s Defense Systems Directorate, Chu’s main responsibilities are research and development, demonstration and manufacture of armor grade materials as well as specialized protective systems and solutions for critical military and civilian infrastructures, facilities and installations.

A team of INL researchers had their technology, Wireless radio Frequency signal Identification and protocol Reverse Engineering, or WiFIRE, recognized as a finalist in the Early-Stage Innovation of the Year category. Co-developed with the University of Utah School of Computing, WiFIRE is a breakthrough technology that provides real-time wireless communications security by continuously monitoring the wireless spectrum. WiFIRE revolutionizes protection and analysis by including capabilities for real-time identification of multiple signal types used by different frequencies, tracing system communication activities and reporting the presence of authorized and unauthorized wireless users.

Idaho Falls housing market remains strong

With the third quarter of 2019 over and the holidays almost upon us, we thought it might be a good time to take a look at the local residential real estate market. As usual, for the numbers we consulted our two favorite sources: the Snake River Multiple Listing Service and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s HPI calculator.

What the numbers show is that home prices are continuing to chug along on much the same path as they’ve been on for the past five years. Through the end of August, the number of homes sold was up 7.5% while homes on average spent 11 fewer days on the market. New listings held pretty even, but what is most dramatic is the median price, which rose almost 12 percent.

That’s in line with the numbers we crunched in the House Price Calculator. Your mileage may vary, but if you paid $100,000 in the second quarter of 2018 that would have risen to $112,454 (11.24%), based on market-wide sales averages.

Looking back, a home bought in 2014 would have appreciated in value about the same about every year. It’s a hot market with tight inventory, which means you might want to consult a real estate professional if you've got an itch.

Idaho Falls council votes to expand residential fiber citywide

The dark-shaded areas are where Idaho Falls Fiber currently offers residential service.

In a unanimous vote at a special meeting Thursday night, the Idaho Falls City Council voted to continue expansion of the city’s fiber network to provide high-speed broadband access to all residents within city limits.

In September 2018, the council directed Idaho Falls Fiber to test the economic feasibility of leveraging the existing conduits and infrastructure of Idaho Falls Power to install fiber-optic lines to residential areas. The first customers were connected in March this year, with the final phase of construction completed in early September. This pilot project encompassed approximately 1,250 residential homes.

Meanwhile. Idaho Falls Fiber has been gathering data and evaluating the costs and feasibility of expanding the high-speed fiber network through the rest of the Idaho Falls community. That information was presented to the City Council at Thursday’s meeting. Council members also heard from the residents who have taken part in the pilot program.

At the outset, city leadership envisioned working with local internet providers to bring broadband internet access to the community. During the pilot program, Idaho Falls Fiber worked with four local Internet providers -- Direct Communications, Qwk.net, Silver Star, and SUMO Fiber -- to offer residents a variety of services and pricing.  Idaho Falls Fiber also partnered with UTOPIA Fiber, which owns and operates open access fiber networks in Utah. UTOPIA provided consulting, network design and is Idaho Falls' technology provider for the open access system software.

“Designing a system like this is a complicated operational and engineering function,” said Bear Prairie, Idaho Falls Power director. “That’s why the Council approved the agreement for us to partner with UTOPIA Fiber, a not-for profit entity like Idaho Falls Fiber that has the experience in operating successful networks similar to our design."

The build out of the city wide network is projected to take place over the next four years, starting with areas with the most customers requesting the fiber utility. The network will be built in areas that are served by Idaho Falls Power, which is also a not-for-profit electric utility owned by the city and its residents.

The network and areas of future expansion community can be viewed at www.idahofallsfiber.com or at Idaho Falls Fiber’s office at 140 S. Capital Avenue. Customers can pre-sign up for the high speed fiber network service online or in person, which will help direct Idaho Falls Fiber determine the most under-served areas first.

Idaho Falls Power dates back to 1900, when it was established to provide limited street lighting in downtown, drawing power from a hydro-electric generator in a local canal hydro project. Today it has five run-of-river hydro-electric projects and has one of the lowest electric rates in the United States.

Idaho Falls Fiber was formed in 1998 with the construction of a limited fiber network for the power utility. It was expanded in 2002 in order to provide high-bandwidth service to other city and county buildings, educational institutions and commercial businesses.