Award Data

The occurrence of combustion instability has long been a matter of serious concern in the development of liquid-propellant rocket engines due to the high rate of energy release in a confined volume in which energy losses are relatively small. Positive feedback between the acoustic waves and unsteady combustion could lead to the destruction of an engine in a fraction of a second. The situation is ...

To build a more intelligent grid, electric utilities must now construct a new architecture from connected, standard technologies. This smart architecture will connect SCADA systems so they can interact more efficiently. It will employ distributed monitoring and power-use optimization. It will also connect SCADA networks to corporate networks, wireless systems, and remote monitoring stations. ...

This STTR program proposes to exploit the tremendous benefits that could be offered by the development of ultra fine grain steel alloys for application to the production of high performance components for military rotorcraft applications. A severe plastic deformation technology based on isothermal forging technologies will be explored here. The goal is to demonstrate a practical, production leve ...

The real-time implementation of controls in nonlinear systems remains one of the great challenges in applying advanced control technology. Often, linearization around a set point is the only practical approach, and many controllers implemented in hardware systems are simple PID feedback mechanisms. To apply Pontryagin’s principle or Bellman’s equation using conventional hardware and algorith ...

The ever-decreasing size of the electronic microchips and the ever-increasing density of electronic components required to support future Air Force platforms are creating the problem of substantial localized heat generation that can impair component operation. State of the art thermal interface materials (TIMs), that are used to dissipate heat from the source to the spreader in a microchip, are se ...

Pressure gain combustion (PGC) offers means to a more efficient energy use in propulsion and power generation devices. Integrating PGC concepts in gas turbine engines often results in highly unsteady flow conditions at turbine inlet. Further, the backpres

Detecting explosives and weapons under clothing or in hand carried packages, and imaging terrain and objects through fog and smoke are two high-priority needs that can be met using light in the Terahertz frequency range. However, to image concealed threats, and aid in navigation in fog and smoke, a practical, low cost THz camera is needed. Intelligent Optical Systems (IOS) in collaboration with Re ...

A goal of Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) is to use computer simulation of complex systems to make scientifically informed assessments for high-consequence decisions. Because end-to-end empirical data is difficult to obtain for the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), computer simulation provides the best method for understanding BMDS capabilities against a wide range of threats. Numerica Co ...

Genome-scale predictable cellular design and engineering of biomanufacturing systems is the overarching a goal of DARPA's Living Foundry thrust and, if realized, will enable rapid engineering of living biosystems for a broad range of applications in biotechnology and pharmacology. However, constructing living cells with designed genome is not fully automated and is severely limited by inhere ...

The development and integration of three unique and innovative algorithm prototypes into a"Fused Track and Characterization Schema"are proposed. This Schema will encompass the determination of signatures and characteristics of objects that can be identified by RF and EO/IR Sensors in order to enable multi-sensor data fusion and correlation. The first algorithm, the"3D Pose Estimation"Algorithm, p ...