Award Data

We will develop a new infrared (IR) radiation sensor technology, which will allow the development of arrays of a new class of multi-mode thermal microbolometer detector. This technology will allow radiation detection from the near-IR to long-wave IR, a capability that is absent in competing detectors. Amorphous silicon and vanadium dioxide has been the dominant materials used for infrared light ...

Modern military and civilian aircraft technologies are pushing the performance envelope through design and use of new advanced materials with superior property combinations. Aircraft powerplant manufacturers are facing intense competition to efficiently deliver ever increasing thrust, while meeting the highest standards of reliability and performance over an expanded service life. These performanc ...

Quantitative predictions of reactive flow dynamics from large-scale simulations of Liquid Rocket Engines (LRE) appear to be model dependent. Relationships and coupling among the dominant mechanisms most responsible for destabilization are obscured by the complexities of the model and subtle consequences of inherent ad hoc approximations not supported by mathematical rationale. The reliability of ...

This Phase I STTR proposal will demonstrate nanostructured “metal-black” coatings to enhance absorption by thin film solar cells. The problem is that silicon has low absorption due to its indirect gap. The opportunity is that nano-scale metallic scattering centers increase the effective optical path length and enhance the solar electric-field strength in thin-film solar cells, leading to more ...

We present a comprehensive framework for modeling, optimization and design for heterogeneous networks. The proposed solution aims to effectively address the existing limitations inherited from the generalized network utility maximization (GNUM) framework. In general, GNUM is a unifying mathematical model as it combines different objectives and constraints from different layers into a single global ...

Aurora and Georgia Tech"s Phase I efforts demonstrated the feasibility of a partially distributed control scheme with separate controllers on the engine core and fan, where the controllers are linked by a supervisory controller. This scheme is representative of the situation encountered in VTOL UAV design and the design of new turbo-props and variable pitch turbofans by the large commercial gas t ...

Two-dimensional (2D) visualization techniques have limit capacity to achieve understanding of full dimensionality of the battlefield. Rewritable 3D holographic storage is promising for updatable 3D display applications. In Phase I, New Span Opto-Technology has demonstrated novel concepts of both holographic recording technique and recording material system without the use of high voltage. We have ...

ABSTRACT: Detection of clandestine tunnels and underground facilities is a continuing interest of the US DoD and Customs and Border Protection. Research continues in an attempt to find functional and reliable sensing methods, including seismic methods. Dynamic activity in tunnels emits mechanical energy that propagates away in seismic waves. Resulting ground vibrations can be measured at offset d ...

ABSTRACT: Adversarial installations, such as those housing the means for nuclear weapons production, are increasingly being constructed in heavily fortified locations and often using ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) as the construction material. As such, the U.S. Air Force has considerable interest in further developments of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) to maintain an advantage o ...

ABSTRACT: Feature extraction and target recognition suffer from a lack of a reliable model for both exploitable target features and the electromagnetic signature they possess. Signature data are often hard to interpret and invert to recover the target robustly. Bayesian learning approaches to statistical pattern recognition are based on the use of training sets of inputs and outputs, a data mode ...