Award Data

High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) characterization and maintenance accounts for a significant portion of the overall life cycle cost of most military propulsion systems.  A key variable that drives HCF margin is dynamic response which is directly related to the geometry of each part.  This is especially true of integrally bladed rotors (IBRs, or blisks).  It has been well established that HCF is a proba ...

High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) characterization and maintenance accounts for a significant portion of the overall life cycle cost of most military propulsion systems.  A key variable that drives HCF margin is dynamic response which is directly related to the geometry of each part.  This is especially true of integrally bladed rotors (IBRs, or blisks).  It has been well established that HCF is a proba ...

Mesodyne’s Light-Cell technology was developed at MIT and is being commercialized for the small UAV market. In this effort, the UAV generator is being adapted to meet the needs of dismounted warfighters. Mesodyne’s patented Light-Cell generator converts fuel into electricity via light. Specifically, a microcombustor heats a nanophotonic material to incandescence. The nanophotonic material, whi ...

Enemies use radar system to identify and target Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). To prevent detection, the UAV should be able to reduce its RF signature by reducing its Radar Cross Section (RCS). In addition, it is essential for the "blue force" UAV to be able to use its RF systems (radar/comms) while not being detected. Traditional Radar Absorbing Materials (RAM) are used to absorb radar's Electr ...

We have developed a novel low-cost, multi-functional blood coagulation sensor that can measure a patient’s coagulation status within less than 10 minutes using a 25mL drop of blood. This device addresses the critical unmet need to identify and manage patients with an elevated risk of life-threatening bleeding or thrombosis, the major causes of in-hospital preventable death. In addition, our inno ...

Advanced Air Force turbine engines with integrated engine exhaust systems require diagnostic flow measurements. Integration of these systems into altitude test cells creates problems with T&E requirements such as impingement problems, exhaust cooling spray blowback, acoustic emission issues and limited space for measurement systems. Propulsion system analysts need better understanding of low aspec ...

Pendar Technologies proposes to develop the next generation of compact, high power quantum cascade laser (QCL) sources with output power exceeding 10 Watts at a wavelength of 4.6 microns. The proposed subsystem will include a DFB QCL array integrated monolithically with power amplifiers, low-loss passive waveguides resulting from ion implantation and optical elements aimed at realizing on-chip wav ...

Effective mission planning is critical for military strategy and execution. This process is complex as human operators must consider many variables (e.g., resource limitations, threats, risks) when formulating a plan to accomplish mission goals. Although powerful tools, such as the Navy’s Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS), provide advanced functionality, mission planning remains a hybrid acti ...

The Phase I effort of this STTR aimed to reinforce ply-drop laminates. When laminates taper from a thicker to thinner cross section, the termination of plies locally create resin pockets that can reduce the life of a part due to the lower strength of the resin compared to the fibers, local stress concentrations, and the propensity for voids in these resin rich areas. Thus, Metis Design Corporation ...

The future success of military teams operating in dynamic and uncertain environments will require the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) to help structure those teams, create plans of actions, execute those plans, and adapt plans as the environment and goals change. Successfully combining human of AI team members can achieve better results than either could on their own, but an uninform ...