Award Data

Small, modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) offer the promise of reliable, base-load energy that is not dependent on weather. Currently, around a dozen nations have programs to develop and deploy MSRs. Challenges to the deployment of MSRs are due primarily to the corrosive and dynamic molten salt. For safe operation of the reactor it is paramount to accurately monitorandcontrolthemoltensalt properties. ...

Air quality data from top-of-the-line platforms, such as satellites, are difficult to obtain without a high- level of technical knowledge. For this reason, local air quality patterns and trends are often inaccessible to disadvantaged communities (DACs). Many technologies that will be used for deep decarbonization of industrial and power facilities have the added co-benefit of reducing non-CO2 poll ...

Space systems’ cyber vulnerabilities represent the “soft underbelly” of the U.S. satellite infrastructure. USSF SpOC Commander, Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting said governments such as China’s and Russia’s can attack satellites in orbit, but that cyberattacks offer a “lower bar to entry” to lesser powers, such as Iran or North Korea. In response to national security threats such as this one ...

Textured piezoceramics is now of increasing interest to the underwater acoustic community due to their performance and/or cost benefits compared to conventional PZT and single crystals. Recent work at QorTek has shown the technology to increase source level and provide larger bandwidth relative to Type III PZT ceramics for specific designs. This enables form factor reductions and/or improved perfo ...

Every particle collider experiment needs large acceptance and low mass tracking detectors between the interaction point and the calorimetric detectors. The current trend of increasing the luminosity of the next generation of particle colliders will significantly increase the number of possible hit combinations, making it extremely difficult to identify tracks with the current tracking detectors. T ...

Proton exchange membrane electrolyzers (PEMs) are an integral technology for driving the transition to a renewable energy economy. For water splitting and the production of green hydrogen, PEMs are the industry standard due to their relatively high efficiency and flexible operating conditions. Water splitting PEMs operate under acidic conditions, and typically rely on Pt catalysts at the cathode w ...

Busek Co. Inc. proposes to develop the world’s best 15 kW Hall Effect Thruster (HET).  The thruster will have the lowest mass and highest performance of any HET in its class, including HETs in development in countries perceived as US adversaries. Proposed

Trying to relay information in the back of a plane en route to an objective is difficult due to the ambient noise and congested radio traffic. This results in operators having to scream at each other to share important mission updates, which in turn are p

Abstract: Polaris Aero’s Aviation Safety Intelligence Platform   More than 6,000 U.S. non-combat military aviation mishaps occurred between 2013 and 2018, claiming the lives of 198 people and costing more than $9 billion in damages, including 157 destroye

The US Air Force has identified the need for global detection of nuclear facilities and radioactive material using hyperspectral signatures. Direct detection of nuclear materials (U, UF6, HF, etc.) from an appreciable stand-off distance suffers from varia