SBIR Phase I: Dynamic Web Application Development Environment for eLearning and Research

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project addresses the feasibility of designing a development framework that academics and industrial professionals can use to create dynamic Web applications for eLearning and research environments, as applied to broad areas of chemistry in drug discovery, but more specifically applied to synthetic organic chemistry in the area of drug design. The use of computer driven learning and research in the broader field of chemistry is becoming more commonplace, yet there is still a considerable gap between academic pedagogy and the use of computers in industrial methods and workflows at the juncture of synthetic organic chemistry and drug discovery. Presently, there are very few software tools, at the disposal of synthetic organic chemists, that are easy to use and well integrated for the use in either eLearning or research that reflect the industrial experience of those working in the field of drug discovery. Academics and industrial professionals in the computer chemistry area of drug discovery often cobble together disparate software packages from freeware in the case of the former, and from commercial sources in the case of the latter for instruction, on the job training, or research purposes. Dynamic web application environments provide an extremely effective way to deliver the integration of such software, while making the interaction of the many underlying programs invisible to the user. Having a way to modify and otherwise extend such environments, and thereby tailor them to very specific eLearning (e.g. distant learning, industrial training), industrial workflows, or research needs, provides enormous flexibility and power. This project is at the very leading edge of what in the industry is known as 'Chemist of the Future' projects, whereby even synthetic chemists will train and perform research via computer. The worldwide market for such a tool extends across thousands of academic institutions -- rural, small colleges to major universities, to synthetic organic chemistry programs in industrial laboratories. The proposed development framework is broad enough fro ti to be used in related scientific disciplines and industries.