Award Data

Nano forms of graphite and carbon, such as flakes, worms, and tubes, can significantly modify the properties of polymers when used as reinforcements. Challenges remain in processing composites with these nano-reinforcements in the form of attaining uniform dispersions. Many of these difficulties are due to a lack of wetting of the nano-reinforcements by the polymer. Poor wetting is caused by th ...

Aircraft encounters with turbulence are the leading cause of injuries in the airline industry and result in significant human, operational, and maintenance costs to the airline community each year. A large contributor to the above injuries and costs is that flight crews do not have sufficient situational awareness of the location and severity of potential turbulence hazards to their aircraft. Ae ...

Biofilms are ubiquitous in the environment. Few surfaces resist biofilm formation, most promote it. Biofilm formation poses problems in water systems as they can clog pipes and pores, block filters, reduce heat transfer, and in general restrict flow. Their metabolic products can aid corrosion, even of stainless steel. In potable water systems, both their metabolic products and the bacteria or ...

A new type of a photon-counting photodetector is proposed to advance the state-of the-art in deep space optical communications technology. The proposed detector would operate at 1064 and 1550 nm, and combine high speed of operation with very gain and ultra low noise. The minimal expected parameters are a bandwidth of over 500 MHz (10 GHz might be possible), internal gain of over 1000 (100,000 exp ...

One of the ultimate goals of sensor research is to build an integrated unit that harnesses its energy from its surroundings and reacts to, and transmits, any changes in its environment in a predictable and reliable manner. There are several components to this universal goal of a self-contained sensor unit: the power module, the sensor module, the control module, and the transmission module. The ...

It is desirable to develop a high-efficiency lighting source for large-area irradiation of space-based crops. The key requirements for such a system include high efficiency, light weight, easy and rapid deployment, compact storage, ruggedness, and low cost. Furthermore, in order to maximize the rate of photosynthesis, it is desirable that the light source deliver an emission spectrum that match ...

Highly-integrated, reconfigurable radar antenna arrays fabricated on flexible substrates offer high functionality in a portable package that can be rolled up and transported on the ground, or deployed into space. High levels of integration allow for: reconfigurability of operating frequency and / or gain pattern; integration of control, information processing, and communications functions directly ...

Applied Science Innovations, Inc. proposes a new tool of 3D optical coherence tomography (OCT) for cellular level imaging at video frame rates and dramatically reduced probe cross-section. Existing commercial OCT tools are focused in ophthalmology, where examination is external to the eye, the size of the probe is not important, and cellular level resolution is not required. The patent-pending 3 ...

Next-generation aerospace systems will require increased autonomy to modify system behavior based on changing mission requirements, environmental factors, and system performance. For example, intelligent systems have been employed to improve safety by adaptively compensating for unexpected failures or damage. Despite many successful demonstrations of autonomous and intelligent control laws in simu ...

As the complexity of flight controllers grows so does the cost associated with verification and validation (V&V). Current-generation controllers are reaching a level of complexity that pushes the envelopes of existing V&V approaches, and without improved approaches there is little hope for affordable V&V of next-generation intelligent systems. Unfortunately, controller complexity and controller v ...