Refined Imaging

Our very own Les Butler has been invited to speak at 12th World Conference on Neutron Radiography. This weeklong conference focuses on the latest methods, instrumentation and facilities, improvements in data processing and interpretation, and new applications of neutron imaging. #NeutronImaging #MaterialScience #AdditiveManufacturing

Refined Imaging is honored to be part of the Emerge Accelerator! "The Emerge Accelerator connects DoD mission partners with emerging technology teams and startups at our nation’s top research universities." #supplychainsecurity #DoD #additivemanufacturing

A week from Thursday I will be in Phoenix celebrating the founders of NSIN - National Security Innovation Network’s Emerge program! 12 weeks went by in a blink, but I am thrilled with the progress made by these teams. Want to join us? Head over to your nearest Defense Innovation OnRamp hub located in Renton, Wa, Oahu, HI, Wichita, KS, and Dayton, OH for local watch parties! You can also join us at the OnRamp Hub in Phoenix. Teams include… ARMADA Marine Robotics Covert Defenses EMP Technology Solutions Fourier, LLC FreeFall Aerospace L5vel, Inc. MicroAvionics, Inc. Mithril Technologies ModiFly Pi-Radio Refined Imaging SoloPulse Corp Spectrum Defense Systems You’ll also get to hear from people like Drew Trojanowski and Abigail Desjardins. Hope you can make it out! WHAT: Emerge Showcase WHEN: Thursday, April 11, 2024 from 10am - 2pm (PDT) WHERE: SWMAC/OnRamp Hub 101 N 1St Ave, Phoenix, Az

In graduate school, cumulative exams serve as a rigorous method for evaluating a student's comprehensive understanding of the material covered throughout an academic program. A group of #LSUChemistry graduate students recently experienced a unique twist on this traditional assessment format. For an inorganic chemistry cumulative exam, Professor Les Butler incorporated an innovative approach by allowing the use of ChatGPT 4 to solve chemistry problems. Discover the students' reactions and thoughts on this examination method and learn how it mirrors a broader trend of students embracing technological advancements in academia > https://lnkd.in/gKM4h4JZ

The TCT Group recently interviewed Andreas Bastian of Lumafield for the article "We have to rethink what it takes to safely use an additively manufactured product". My deep dive found a recommendation to use #artificialintelligence to increase throughput in X-ray inspection of AM components. On Saturdays, I zoom mentor a high-school student. Her science fair poster (she made up the title) will be "Optimizing Quality Assurance in Additive Manufacturing: AI-Enhanced Image Analysis of Aluminum Parts". It's fascinating to see how fast AI is spreading. This student is working with fifty three distinct, but similar internal features as a prelude to hundreds of features. A Swiss colleague, Dr. Christian Grünzweig of the Paul Scherrer Institute and ANAXAM - Technology transfer center for advanced manufacturing (https://www.anaxam.ch/en) just published a really over-the-top #nde publication about clogging in pre-filled syringe needles using X-ray tomography and neutron #radiography (https://lnkd.in/gU8KmZ26). The combination of imaging methods yielded metal and fluid geometries that reveals the problem of clogging due temperature and pressure (air transport) cycling. However, Christian used simple image analysis, not AI, indicating AI-enhanced corroborative X-ray/neutron NDE is still in a transition phase. Today, the AI-enhanced use cases are speed or massive data as illustrated by the Lumafield and science fair poster examples. Thus, I look forward to Christian's next corroborative X-ray/neutron work. - Refined Imaging's Chief Scientist, Les Butler

"Cutting-edge companies will demonstrate how intellectual property from top research universities can be commercialized for dual-use, civilian, and military markets during the next cohort of National Security Innovation Network (NSIN)’s Emerge Accelerator program." Refined Imaging is very honored and excited to be a part of this cohort. Special thanks to NSIN - National Security Innovation Network. Our Co-Founder and Lead Scientist Les Butler has been at Louisiana State University for 40 years and is eager to be part of the program among other researchers from top universities.

Great piece and podcast by TCT, Peter Rogers, and Andreas Bastian "For those trying to produce components with 3D printing technologies, part inspection is also paramount to ensure quality and safety." People want safe but they don't know where to start. To put it simply, Refined Imaging leverages blockchain and non-disruptive processes for cost-effective part authentication. Ask me how if you'd like to learn more!

Our cyber-physical trust anchor team just published an open-source article about the connections between “internet of things,” “autonomous vehicle networks,” “counterfeit vehicle parts,” and “cyber-physical trust anchors.” These topics are connected by starting with a simple car repair---new tires---and then a discussion of the safety concerns for a recently repaired vehicle joining a fleet of autonomously driven vehicles. From the point of view of the fleet, repaired vehicles must demonstrate a quality repair as a condition for joining the fleet and engaging autonomous driving capabilities.   The problem with demonstrating a quality repair is the abundance of counterfeit parts ranging from air bags, brake pads, spark plugs, timing belts, and tires. The transition from ICE to EV still retains sensitivity to counterfeit air bags and tires. An autonomous vehicle fleet is at risk with a vehicle driving on counterfeit tires and may not allow a vehicle with suspect tires to join the fleet.   The label #internetofthings includes experts in RFID tags where RFID tags are frequently used for part tracking and authentication. However, an authentic tire with an RFID tag in the showroom is not necessarily the tire the mechanic in the shop will install on your car. This old-as-the-hills attack vector inspires the question, why not use the sensor, computation, and communication capabilities of the vehicle for part authentication?   Our article “Key parameters linking cyber-physical trust anchors with embedded internet of things systems” by Prof. Michele Maasberg (US Naval Academy), Dr. Ian Taylor (SIMBA Chain), and Prof. Les Butler (LSU/Refined Imaging) discusses tire authentication via acoustics, hashing, and blockchain as well as the cost-benefit ratio. A background discussion about counterfeit coffee bean supply chains shows that just a minor investment in security can be enough to yield a substantial financial return.   The “Key parameters” article is published open-source via the link below. An earlier paper “Cyber-Physical Trust Anchors In Additive Manufacturing: Secure, Low-Cost, And Educational” is copyrighted by ASME and cannot be freely posted. Please reach out to receive a copy. #anticounterfeiting #additivemanufacturing #securesupplychain

Blockchain & Counterfeit Prevention in... Coffee? Coffee growers in Hawaii and at the Mexican-Guatemalan border have been affected by insecure supply chains. In one case, the US legal system provided a remedy and in the other case, a cyber-physical trust anchor provides the ongoing solution. Kona coffee is grown in Hawaii by 700 small farmers with a total annual production of 2 million pounds. Remarkably, sales for a time exceeded 20 million pounds annually. How can this happen? The details are in a class action suit, Bruce Corker et al v. Costco Wholesale Corp. 2:19-CV-00290-RSL, Western District of Washington at Seattle, June 25, 2021 (web links below). In brief, Kona coffee was diluted with other coffees and labels did not correctly describe the Kona coffee content. The defendants in the suit included major retailers and small distributors based in Hawaii; some of the distributors have since gone out of business. Social media sites indicate the average compensation to each farmer was less than $20,000. The Tacaná Natural Reserve is a distinct biosphere on the Mexican-Guatemalan border. Coffee grown here is featured in the Toks Restaurants, a chain of over 200 restaurants across Mexico. The Tacaná coffee is special its flavor and cultivation with sustainable farming. Like Kona coffee, the Tacaná coffee supply chain was under threat. Our colleagues at SIMBA Chain provided a solution in 2021 which has proven to be robust, sustainable, simple and low cost. Each coffee bean bag, about 70 kg initially, is tagged with a QR code linked via cell phone app to a blockchain created by SIMBA Chain. Physical attribute of each bag, including mass and coffee bean moisture content, are linked to the blockchain record. The physical attributes are updated via the cell phone app to account for shelling and roasting. Does a paper QR code on the outside of the coffee bean bag, backed by physical anchors and blockchain work? Well, the farmer income increased 700%! Coffee has given us two stories of supply chain vulnerability and two distinct solutions, one solution is traditional and yields a modest compensation. The other solution is novel, sustainable, and has an impressive return on investment. Now, when you embed that blockchain-backed code in #additivemanufacturing parts, you get absolute, on-demand authentication and part provenance. Refined Imaging built on our expertise in imaging and additive manufacturing to develop a simple yet powerful concept that can be applied to enhance #supplychainsecurity in various high-security industries. Visit our site to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gs6PsuBR