Award Data

Design advisors are the most viable method to guide novices and non-ID professionals through the process of creating effective instructional materials, and are especially useful in situations where experts are unavailable. Yet, production of accurate advisors requires tedious detailed analysis of relevant expertise, processes, and tasks. However, sufficient expertise may not always be available, o ...

Modular concepts will be applied to round parachutes and parafoil parachutes for the purpose of improving utility and reducing cost. Round parachute designs will be formed from the alteration of uniform fabric panels and limited sewing operations. Fabric panels of round parachutes will be connected with structurally suitable cordage ties to facilitate rapid fabrication and maintenance repairs. ...

The D.N. American research and development team proposes a novel approach to improving the process of multidisciplinary optimization for composite laminate designs. In Phase I, we successfully demonstrated the feasibility of our approach to the problem. The Phase II effort leverages these results along with the team's experience-in design optimization with Genetic Algorithms, composite laminate ...

Development of an Optimal Bioaerosol Sampler with enhanced optical triggering capability is proposed, following a highly successful Phase I effort that clearly demonstrated feasibility. The threat of a bioaerosol attack can be partially mitigated by deployment of a cost-effective sensor network. High priority programs, such as BioWatch and Portal Shield will benefit from a sensor compliant to Join ...

Reliable and sensitive detection of biowarfare agents (BWAs) such as Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, ricin, botulinum toxin, etc. is an important challenge for both military operations and domestic anti-terrorism efforts. We are proposing to develop a biomimetic polymer coating, containing receptors for BWA targets, that becomes fluorescent when exposed to samples con ...

We propose to develop a novel nano-laminated Fe magnetic core material. With our proprietary technique, we have developed a process to create Fe sheets of hundred nanometers thick. By coating these Fe sheets with a thin insulating layer and subsequent consolidation, we can achieve nano-laminated soft magnetic Fe cores, which is a nano-scale version of the conventional laminated silicon steel cor ...

This goal is to construct a low-cost, polymeric, nanomaterial-based assay for the detection of multiple biological agents in a single device using our nanomanipulation technology to meet or exceed the sensitivity of the current two-line assays used in DoD applications. The nanodevice will exhibit no background streaking, cross bleeding, or other flow problems often associated with laminar flow de ...

Touchstone Research Laboratory is currently producing carbon foam in its pilot production facility. In the Phase I feasibility study, Touchstone identified opportunities to reduce the production cycle by combining manufacturing processes. The results indicated that a batch foaming process was optimum and the heat treatment step should be converted to a continuous process. This would lead to a s ...

Touchstone Research Laboratory has developed a novel material, CFOAMr. The primary enabling carbon foam characteristic is that the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) values are comparable to carbon fiber polymer matrix systems in manufacturing advanced composites. Other advantages of carbon foam-based tools are low mass, reduced energy, easy modifications, unmatched repair capabilities, and r ...

The Navy has a need for an innovative, cost effective replacement of Electronic Warfare (EW) system antenna enclosures to meet an extended service life and source newly constructed systems. These enclosures serve to protect detection electronics from severe marine environments. The enclosures are presently constructed of a mix of aluminum, fiberglass and stainless steel sealed with rubber gaskets. ...