Award Data

Seafloor methane is an abundant resource that can be exploited to produce power. Developing a power system for this application is challenging because suitable oxidizers are not readily available on the seafloor. In response, Creare proposes to develop a Buoyancy-Driven Turboalternator Energy System to produce electric power from seafloor methane without oxidation reactions. This innovative system ...

Nanoscale, material sensitive, imaging techniques are critical for progress in many disciplines as we learn to master science and technology at the smallest dimensions — on the nanometer to atomic-scale. However, progress in both science and technology is becoming increasingly limited by the constraints of current imaging techniques and metrologies. Fortunately, by combining coherent extreme UV ...

he Storable Clean Ethane-ethylene Nitrous Engine (SCENE) is a proposed technology designed to provide upper stages and spacecraft with non-toxic, liquid, non-cryogenic, high-performance propulsion with an Isp on the order of 300 seconds. The propellant components are stored as liquids under their saturated vapor pressures. With the SCENE, nitrous oxide is used as an autogenously pressurized oxidiz ...

Future space missions will utilize small spacecraft with advanced sensor systems. Cooling of these sensors is required to decrease noise and increase sensitivity by maintaining the detector at a reduced operating temperature. The cooling system comprises a mechanical cryocooler and its control electronics, both of which are critical technologies to enable future missions. Creare proposes to develo ...

Vescent Photonics and MIT Lincoln Labs (MIT-LL) propose to develop a quantum-based vector magnetometer with low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP+C) for Navy applications. The proposed system will rely on probing magnetically-sensitive, atomic-like transitions of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond to provide stable, high-bandwidth readout of the vector magnetic field with sub-picotesla sen ...

The primary objective is to develop electric machine/drive topologies and power architectures that achieve the power densities required for 50% more power without the increase in weight or space requirements. In addition to PMSM-based designs, two new machine topologies will be considered. The first is a trapped flux coreless (TFC) machine that utilizes superconducting pucks made of YBCO to produc ...

The radar cross section (RCS) of a platform, such as a ship or a submarine, is of particular importance for the Navy since it allows the detection and identification of the vessel. Minimizing the radar reflection improves the stealth properties of the vessel making it more difficult to detect. The observed RCS can also be used to identify a target by comparing it with a database of known profiles. ...

The NP Photonics/UMassD team proposes an ultra-compact coherent NIR RCS measurement range. We plan to develop a novel system for rapid 3D printing of nanostructures for emulating complex EM systems, and use coherent NIR light for scaled RCS measurements. In the NIR region, the EM properties of complex RF systems are measurable by reducing the size by factors of magnitude. The advantages of this ap ...

Gaining a deeper experimental and theoretical understanding of maritime turbulence and laser light propagation in the marine boundary is required to optimize the performance of critical communication and defensive and offensive laser light engagements. Increased understanding of beam propagation through the turbulent flows of the marine layer will help the US Navy improve the performance of beam o ...

The U.S. Navy seeks methods to improve the fuel economy of marine diesel engines through utilization of waste heat. Low temperature engine jacket water, lubrication oil, and aftercooler air are largely untapped streams of thermal energy on these ships, but their utilization circumvents many operation challenges associated with exhaust gases. For example, variable and high exhaust gas temperatures ...