Northern Technology Grants

Now is the time to apply for a grant to help develop that good idea you have for making life better in Alaska. Grants up to $5,000 are available from the Alaska Council on Science and Technology, the deadline for submission of proposals being July 7, 1980.

Proposals can be in the areas of energy generation, waste disposal, recycling, food production, transportation, building design and any residential or industrial enterprise which may be more efficient, less costly or less energy-intensive than methods now in use.

If you don't already have an idea in mind, perhaps the list of last year's winners of northern technology grants will trigger something. Also, the chances of winning this year are better since the money available is more than three times the $50,000 last year's winners received.

Last year, twenty-one innovators received grants ranging from $200 to the limit of $5,000. Several grants went to help build and test innovative greenhouses particularly suited to northern use. Awards were made to projects to heat air and water with solar energy and to generate electricity with paddle wheels driven by river currents. One project involved the construction of a multi-family freezer that capitalizes on the coldness of northern winter to preserve foods year-around. Another was to reduce the waste when fruit becomes overripe in stores by converting it to usable juice.

Also winning support were projects to overwinter honeybees, to develop an electric auto for northern use and one using an energy-saving hydraulic propulsion system. A new splint design to assist the transportation of injured persons, and a suction dredge driven by tidal currents were among the winning ideas as were an oil-fired clothes dryer and a pilot methyl-fuel plant.