Award Data

Low-power Hall thrusters offer potentially important advantages for certain military applications but issues of lifetime and efficiency degradation at lower powers are issues hindering its utilization. A factor impacting efficiency is that the state-of-the-art techniques for electron generation used for neutralization (such as hollow cathodes operating on the same propellant as the thruster) do n ...

The proposed Phase II effort will result in the development of new devices for improving optical propagation of both directed energy and free space communication systems. The Phase I effort has demonstrated the feasibility of these devices. The Phase II effort will provide the optimization and maturation needed to bring them to the commercial markets through two paths. The first is a high frequ ...

We propose an unprecedented suite of Usability Engineering software tools to be built upon the conceptual foundation of Virginia Tech's User Action Framework (UAF). We will use K-A-T's proprietary Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) methods and software tools to validate and refine the UAF. We will also use LSA as the underlying analysis engine for the software tools, which will provide support for pro ...

We will provide convenient and accurate time-domain modeling capabilities for electromagnetics (EM) in dielectric media with regions having oblique boundary conditions, specifically for devices exhibiting omnidirectional reflectivity. Omnidirectional reflectors, constructed with layers of dielectrics, reflect electromagnetic radiation with 100% efficiency for all incident angles and polarizations ...

The focus of this project is on large-eddy simulation (LES) of high-speed turbulent reacting flows. The Enabling Energy Systems (EES) Inc. has assembled a well-experienced team of experts to tackle all the main issues involved in modeling of such complex flows. Several innovative ideas have been proposed and team members have complementary expertise. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop ...

ABSTRACT: In our work we are developing and applying a mathematical and computational framework for detecting and classifying weak, distributed patterns in sensor networks. Our work demonstrates the effectiveness of space-time inference on graphs, robust matrix completion and second order analysis in the detection and classification of distributed patterns that are not discernible at the level o ...

ABSTRACT: Thermal interface materials (TIMs) constitute an essential part of thermal management which is quickly becoming the limiting factor in high power, high functional density, and increasingly small-sized electronics for future U.S. Air Force (AF) platforms. Examples of critical applications of interest to the AF include that require improved thermal management include modern aircraft, dire ...

ABSTRACT: The correct representation of a resident space object's state uncertainty and the accurate propagation of the uncertainty by way of the Fokker-Planck equation, collectively referred to as uncertainty consistency, is fundamental to space situational awareness and the problems of data/track association (correlation), sensor resource management, conjunction analysis, and anomaly detec ...

ABSTRACT: MO-SCI Corporation and Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed and evaluated fusion welding technology applicable to ultra-high temperature ceramic (UHTC) composite joining during a Phase I ceramic joining program. This Phase II program will improve arc and reactive plasma arc welding techniques and consumables to improve joint quality. Work in the Phase I resulted ...

ABSTRACT: The objective of the Phase II effort is to extend the mathematical model investigated in the Phase I to include wind speed as well as temperature modeling, continue its development for a University of Notre Dame Wind Tunnel Facility, and demonstrate utility by adopting the model to a government facility specified by AFOSR. Specifically, the Phase II will include developmental work in ma ...