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NASA 2008 STTR Phase 2 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation	NAME:	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
STREET:	9950 Wakeman Drive	STREET:	77 Massachusetts Avenue
CITY:	Manassas	CITY:	Cambridge
STATE/ZIP:	VA  20110 - 2702	STATE/ZIP:	MA  02139 - 4301
PHONE:	(617) 500-0536	PHONE:	(617) 324-7210

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Dr. Jessica Duda
jduda@aurora.aero
1 Broadway, 12th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142 - 1189
(617) 500-0552

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End:

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Space policy direction is shifting, particularly with respect to human goals. Given the uncertainty of future missions to the moon, Mars, and other bodies, a tool that allows for informed analysis of the option space is particularly relevant. Aurora Flight Sciences and MIT propose to further develop the Multi-Robot Planetary Exploration Architecture (MRPEA) methodology, a suite of software tools and analysis algorithms developed to provide decision aides to architecture planners of planetary surface exploration missions. MRPEA provides 1. A logical and graphical representation of the system space (e.g. interrelated decision variables with constraints), 2. Structural reasoning for rapid exploration of architectural spaces, 3. Simulation, and 4. Results viewing for a set of feasible architectures. Given the robots available or predicted to be available, the expected duration, and the mission goals, our methodology provides analysis results such as knowledge benefit-vs.-mass Pareto front graphs, to allow the designers to provide the best possible architecture for the planned mission or missions. The MRPEA analysis methodology primarily addresses the planning requirements of planetary surface missions, providing useful analyses of the many elements of the architectural decision space; in addition, the principles and techniques developed to analyze and select multi-robot architectures on planetary surfaces can also be applied to future fractional satellite systems, an area of increasing interest.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The primary NASA application for which the MRPEA methodology will be used is in overall mission planning of future planetary surface missions. This is applicable to future planetary surface missions. Last summer President Obama formed a "Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee" (NASA, Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worth of a Great Nation: Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, 2009), tasked with identifying viable options for the future of human spaceflight. One option identified by the group, the "flexible pathway", does not explicitly call for human exploration of any planetary surface. This is in contrast to the 2004 Vision for Space Exploration (NASA, 2004), which lays out plans for human exploration of the surface of the moon, followed by Mars. Given the uncertainty of the involvement of crewmembers in planetary surface exploration, the application of a mission planning aide that allows the flexibility to utilize either robots and humans, or just robots, is highly relevant. The MRPEA methodology provides a flexible process by which mission planners can optimize future planetary surface missions, with varying resources (robots and/or humans), purposes, mission lengths and number of missions, and launch capabilities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Potential non-NASA Commercial Applications primarily includes the Department of Defense. In particular, battlefield asset allocation requires optimizing the fleet of available unmanned and manned resources, depending on the purpose of a particular sortie or overall mission. We anticipate that a planner would be able to use our tool to better understand how to allocate networks of UGV's, manned vehicles, UAV's, and other assets. The MRPEA methodology can be extended to accommodate varying assets and mission purposes.
In addition, we anticipate that this methodology could be used for design of human/robotic collaborative medical health care scenarios. Specifically, extended hospital or facility care (e.g. senior citizens) will, in the future, utilize robots for certain tasks. As this market sector grows, MRPEA will be useful in designating appropriate human or robot tasks and timelines, and designing architectural scenarios.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Computer System Architectures Software Development Environments

Form Generated on 05-25-10 13:36

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Rolling Hills Research Corporation	NAME:	The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
STREET:	420 N. Nash Street	STREET:	1901 South First Street, Suite A
CITY:	El Segundo	CITY:	Champaign
STATE/ZIP:	CA  90245 - 2822	STATE/ZIP:	IL  61820 - 7473
PHONE:	(310) 640-8781	PHONE:	(217) 333-2187

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Michael F Kerho
Mike.Kerho@RollingHillsResearch.com
420 N. Nash Street
El Segundo, CA 90245 - 2822
(310) 640-8781 Extension :23

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
The proposed innovation is an aircraft flight envelope monitoring system that will provide real-time in-cockpit estimations of aircraft flight envelope boundaries. The adaptable system will provide information on current and predicted aircraft performance and controllability, alerting the pilot to any aerodynamic degradation of the aircraft control surfaces. This includes heavy rain, in-flight icing encounters, environmental contamination of surfaces, and structural damage such as bird strikes or battle damage. The real-time monitoring system measures the unsteady control surface hinge moment from all aircraft aerodynamic controls. Control surface hinge moments are sensitive to the aerodynamics of the section, including separation. These data are processed and information on the current and predicted future state of aircraft performance and control (including asymmetric cases) is made available to the pilot or flight management system. Phase I results have shown that the hinge moment sensor concept is a viable technology for the monitoring and prediction of airfoil stall. The hinge moment monitoring system was able to provide reliable stall warning and prediction across an incredibly wide range of simulated aerodynamic hazards. The proposed aircraft flight envelope monitoring system is an integral part of an overall integrated vehicle health management system.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The proposed control surface hinge moment based flight envelope monitoring system technology is synergistic with national and NASA priorities in aerospace R/R&D, as described in the National Research Council's "Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics", in 2006. Aircraft health management systems are listed as critical research initiatives within the Aviation Safety Program, specifically in the Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) project. IVHM calls for advancing the state-of-the-art in on-board health state assessment including continuous diagnosis and prognosis. The proposed hinge moment based flight envelope monitoring system directly addresses these NASA priorities by providing pilots with real-time estimates of the vehicle flight envelope, including restrictions due to aerodynamic degradation from heavy rain, icing, insect or bird impacts, or structural damage.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Flight envelope monitoring systems have a large potential for use on both existing and future aircraft, including general aviation, military, commercial/commuter, and UAVs. Commuter aircraft are particularly important targets because they typically operate at lower altitudes/airspeeds, putting them at greater risk of environmental or structurally based aerodynamic performance degradation, including ice, heavy rain, and bird strikes. The real-time estimation of aircraft boundaries and controllability provided by the system is of utmost importance to the pilot encountering edge of the envelope flight, or flight into adverse conditions. The technology is equally valuable for UAVs where it is difficult, or impossible for the remote operator to sense differences in performance due to environmental hazards or structural/battle damage. The flight envelope monitoring system can aid these types of aircraft either as a standalone warning system, or possibly licensed to the aircraft manufacturer and built into a more complex, integrated system.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence Expert Systems Guidance, Navigation, and Control Human-Computer Interfaces On-Board Computing and Data Management Pilot Support Systems

Form Generated on 05-25-10 13:36

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Intelligent Fiber Optic Systems Corporation	NAME:	Washington State University
STREET:	2363 Calle Del Mundo	STREET:	Spokane Street, Sloan 120
CITY:	Santa Clara	CITY:	Pullman
STATE/ZIP:	CA  94085 - 1008	STATE/ZIP:	WA  99164 - 3140
PHONE:	(408) 565-9004	PHONE:	(509) 335-5183

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Vahid Sotoudeh
vs@ifos.com
2363 Calle Del Mundo
Santa Clara, CA 95054 - 1008
(408) 408-9000 Extension :21

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
IFOS and its research institute collaborator, Washington State University (WSU), have demonstrated feasibility of a structural health monitoring (SHM) system for aerospace vehicles such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or commercial airliners. In Phase 1, a unique high-speed, high-channel count fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system enabling a new Lamb wave-based damage detection method was demonstrated. This SHM system allows accurate detection of damage in rectangular composite plates simultaneously collected from a plurality of strategically placed FBG sensors using relatively few piezo actuators. Utilization of structurally integrated, distributed sensors to monitor the health of a structure allows for high-speed collection and interpretation of sensor signals, coupled with real-time data processing. The proposed system provides automated diagnosis and prognosis capabilities, greatly reducing the overall inspection burden. Phase 2 is designed to advance the technology towards specific NASA flight research testbed platforms, particularly Ikhana. During Phase 2, IFOS will collaborate with prime system contractors to address challenges and risks associated with the intended operational environment, including (a) generation of a complete flight worthy design, (b) performance enhancement and ruggedization of the interrogator and sensors, (c) optimization of damage detection algorithms and their implementation, and (d) total system performance validation and evaluation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
This project has direct NASA applications in the following areas:
1)Real-time SHM for UAVs such as Ikhana, Golfstream and Global Hawk
2)Advanced Technology Composites (ATC) project for Ares V launch vehicle and Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV)
3)NASA support of Air Transportation Security programs
4)Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring (IVHM)
5)Automated Nondestructive Evaluation for faulty structural components
6)Flight control System Real-time autonomous sensor validity monitors
7)Monitoring and control of composite structures manufacturing and assembly process
8)Self-monitoring structures with alarm and abort capabilities
9)Pyrotechnic test and data acquisition for shock response spectrum analysis.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
For aerospace vehicle health monitoring applications, the integrated, distributed optical sensor-actuator systems developed by the IFOS team will significantly increase the sensing capability as well as extend the applicability of fiber-optic sensors systems at low cost. Further applications include instrumentation for jet engines and flight control systems, oil exploration, marine structures, power plants, and critical infrastructures for homeland security. The IFOS systems will greatly contribute to improved aviation security technologies. IFOS' high-speed, high-resolution and multiplexed sensor systems coupled with advanced SHM techniques are uniquely suited to monitoring the health and real time condition of Air Transportation Systems (ATS). The proposed technology can be readily developed into on-board and real-time monitoring systems, allowing frequent and timely damage detection, security risk assessment and incident precursor identification. Thus, timely preparedness, preventive maintenance or repair activities can be more focused and efficient, enhancing the safety, security and service life of the ATS.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Aircraft Engines Airframe Composites Multifunctional/Smart Materials Optical Optical & Photonic Materials Photonics Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors Structural Modeling and Tools Tankage Testing Facilities Testing Requirements and Architectures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	NEI Corporation	NAME:	University of California, San Diego
STREET:	201 Circle Drive N., Suite 102/103	STREET:	9500 Gilman Drive #0934
CITY:	Piscataway	CITY:	La Jolla
STATE/ZIP:	NJ  08854 - 3723	STATE/ZIP:	CA  92093 - 0934
PHONE:	(732) 868-3141	PHONE:	(858) 534-0247

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Nader M Hagh
nmhagh@neicorporation.com
400 Apgar Drive, Suite E
Somerset, NJ 08873 - 1154
(732) 868-3141

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Currently used cathode materials in energy storage devices do not fully satisfy the power density and energy density requirements for NASA's exploration missions. Working in collaboration with our STTR partner at University of California – San Diego, we propose to develop layered-layered composite cathode materials that offer superior performance over commercially available positive electrode materials such as, LiCoO2, or LiNi1-xCoxO2. This includes delivering high discharge capacity and high energy density, which significantly reduces the volume and mass of the battery pack. To date, through innovations in the structure and morphology of the composite electrode particles, we have successfully demonstrated an energy density in excess of 1000Wh/kg (at 4V) at room temperature. The objective of the Phase II program is to enhance the kinetics of Li-ion transport and electronic conductivity at low temperature (T=0 C) so as to meet the target performance set by NASA. This is being done through modifications to the atomic structure as well as the surface of the cathode particles. This will allow us to (i) maintain high energy and power densities at low temperature, (ii) lower the first cycle irreversible capacity loss and improve the efficiency, and (iii) further stabilize and enhance the safety of the cell. The practical implication of the R&D in Phase II is that it will lead to an advanced and robust energy storage system. By the end of the Phase II program, this next generation cathode material will be ready for implementation in NASA missions for powering the Altair Lunar Lander, Lunar EVA spacesuit and Lunar Surface Systems. The capabilities developed in this program will enhance NEI's abilities to service the US Li-ion battery market with specialty electrode materials.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Advanced Li-ion batteries with high specific energy and power densities are required for NASA's lunar exploration missions. These batteries, which need to have good low temperature performance, are required to power the Altair Lunar Lander, EVA Spacesuit Portable Life Support Systems (PLSS), and Lunar Surface Systems (LSS) or Rovers. The composite cathode material developed in this program will lead to a high performance Li-ion battery that meets NASA's high power and high energy density requirements (> 800 Wh/kg, C/10 at a temperature of T=0 C).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Non-NASA commercial applications for the proposed composite electrode include (i) automotive applications such as Li-ion packs in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), (ii) consumer electronics such as laptops, mobile phones, cameras, camcorders, electric razors, toothbrush, portable TVs and radios, and power tools, (iii) medical devices, (iv) electric bikes/scooters, and (v) military applications such as underwater batteries, air, ground, emergency and pulse power applications.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Composites Energy Storage

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Creare Inc	NAME:	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
STREET:	P.O. Box 71	STREET:	77 Cambridge Avenue
CITY:	Hanover	CITY:	Cambridge
STATE/ZIP:	NH  03755 - 0071	STATE/ZIP:	MA  02139 - 4307
PHONE:	(603) 640-2487	PHONE:	(617) 253-3906

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Richard W. Kaszeta
rwk@creare.com
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03755 - 0071
(603) 643-3800 Extension :2441

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) are critical for future space and planetary exploration missions. Small improvements in the RPS performance, weight, size, and/or reliability can have a dramatic effect on the scientific capability of the vehicle and the overall mission costs. Radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) energy converters are a particular type of RPS that directly convert the heat produced by a general purpose heat source to electrical power using a specialized photovoltaic (PV) cell. A key element in an RTPV system is the radiative emitter that converts thermal energy to radiative energy that illuminates the PV cell. In this project, Creare and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) propose further development of an advanced, 2-D, photonic crystal radiative emitter optimized for RTPV systems that provides high emittance matched to the bandgap of the PV cell with low emittance elsewhere that will provide high system efficiency. In Phase I, we designed, fabricated, and tested prototype emitters. In Phase II, we will improve and scale up the fabrication processes, and fabricate larger, improved test samples, which will be fully characterized for high-temperature emittance and durability. We will also assess the impact of this new emitter on the overall RTPV system design and performance.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
NASA has a critical, long-term need for deep space power systems based on the decay of radioisotopes and the resulting thermal energy produced. These systems are critical for flagship missions to explore the outer solar system for both spacecraft and rovers. The current radioisotope converters based on thermoelectric technology are inefficient and have low mass specific power. Radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) energy converters have the potential to be an attractive alternative to competing radioisotope energy converter technology. RTPV has the potential to provide comparable or higher mass specific power, at similar (probably lower) conversion efficiency.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
RTPV and the associated technology proposed on this project have a number of potential non-NASA government uses. Radioisotope power sources based on thermoelectrics have been used for terrestrial military applications for many years. For example, they are used to provide power for deep sea monitoring instruments deployed by the Navy. They have also been used in remote locations for monitoring stations. RTPV could be a credible alternative in all these applications. Small radioisotope batteries based on TPV have been proposed and are being developed for a number of military sensing applications. The technology being developed on this project has the potential to benefit these ongoing efforts.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Nuclear Conversion Photovoltaic Conversion Thermodynamic Conversion Thermoelectric Conversion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Maxion Technologies, Inc.	NAME:	University of Maryland
STREET:	20 New England Business Center	STREET:	3112 Lee Building
CITY:	Andover	CITY:	College Park
STATE/ZIP:	MA  01810 - 1077	STATE/ZIP:	MD  20742 - 5141
PHONE:	(978) 689-0003	PHONE:	(301) 405-6274

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
John Bruno
bruno@maxion.com
5000 College Avenue, Ste 3121
College Park, MD 20740 - 3817
(301) 405-6447

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End:

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
The purpose of this project is to advance the technology of interband cascade (IC) lasers and their facet coatings and to design, build, and deliver to NASA a tunable, narrow linewidth mid-infrared laser source operating in the 3.2 ¡V 3.6 micron wavelength band. Initial work will develop improved IC laser active regions as well as ultra-low-reflectivity anti-reflection facet coatings. We will also develop an effective epi-side-down die attach process for IC lasers using a Au/Sn solder. The objective of this initial work is to achieve laser chips emitting in the appropriate wavelength region and operating in continuous wave mode at heat sink temperatures > 25„aC and with several 10s of mW of output power. The team will then use our extensive experience with external cavity laser sources to design, build, and deliver a versatile, tunable mid-infrared source to NASA using the developed IC laser gain chip. The delivered tunable laser source will be at a TRL level of 5 and will enable sensitive earth science trace gas measurements and enhance NASA¡¦s existing measurement capability by significantly improving the sensitivity and performance of trace gas sensing by virtue of a considerably improved source technology.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The tunable source developed under this program could be used in LIDAR instruments and components that are required by NASA to support remote sensing measurements for future earth science missions. NASA particularly needs advanced components for in-situ gas measurements using tunable laser spectrometers in circumstances where available platforms such as aircraft, balloons, surface and entry probes, and landed rovers, present severe limitations on resources. Tunable laser absorption spectroscopy is a simple measurement technique known for its high sensitivity and specificity. For instance, tunable laser spectroscopy can measure the CH4 abundance down to 10 parts in 1E12 with preconcentration and to 1 ppbv without preconcentration. Measurement of the isotopic ratio 13C/12C in CH4 will help assess the biogenic origin of CH4 on a planet like Mars. Also important are laser sources for remote measurements of carbon-based trace gases (CO2, CH4, C2H6, and CO) from aircraft and spacecraft operating to nadir using the earth¡¦s surface as a target, as well as for profiling measurements from the ground using atmospheric backscatter. The same laser source developed for these NASA requirements would also be a very attractive spectroscopy product for the scientific community.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The tunable laser technology developed in this project can be used to support a wide variety of commercial products. Leak detection alone is a huge industry hampered by the lack of such a portable laser source. Residential natural gas companies routinely search for leaks in distribution systems using very expensive methods (including trucks manned with funnel suction lines and spectroscopic equipment). The same situation exists at supplier levels where gas transmission, production, and storage facilities use enormous amounts of resources detecting leaks. Low cost, portable leak monitors, enabled by this source technology, would reduce the cost of facility ownership. Finally, the cost benefits that come with volume opportunities associated with semiconductor-based lasers could lead to devices with costs easily below $1000 per unit in large volumes and hence, portable sensors at unit costs below $2500. This is well below a critical price point in the chemical sensor industry.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Optical

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	ADVR, Inc.	NAME:	Montana State University
STREET:	2310 University Way, Bldg. 1	STREET:	PO Box 172470, 309 Montana Hall
CITY:	Bozeman	CITY:	Bozeman
STATE/ZIP:	MT  59715 - 6504	STATE/ZIP:	MT  59717 - 2470
PHONE:	(406) 522-0388	PHONE:	(406) 994-2381

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Will Suckow
suckow@advr-inc.com
2310 University Way, Building #1-1
Bozeman, MT 59715 - 6504
(406) 522-0388

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
AdvR, Inc. proposes the development of an efficient process for fabricating ridge waveguides in magnesium-doped lithium niobate (MgO:LN). The effort will include, but will not be limited to, fabricating ridge waveguides in periodically poled MgO:LN for highly efficient, single-pass, quasi phase-matched frequency conversion. Ridge waveguides in MgO:LN will significantly improve the performance (power handling and conversion efficiency), increase photonic component integration, and be well suited to space based applications. The key innovation in this effort is to combine recently available large, high photorefractive damage threshold, z-cut 5% MgO:LN with novel ridge fabrication techniques to achieve high optical power, low cost, high volume manufacturing of frequency conversion structures. The ridge waveguide structure maintains the characteristics of the periodically poled bulk substrate, allowing for the efficient frequency conversion typical of waveguides and the high optical damage threshold and long lifetimes typical of the doped bulk substrate.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Ridge waveguide structures will directly benefit a wide range of NASA laser-based missions including: efficient frequency doubling and tripling elements used for the Tropospheric Wind Lidar Technology Experiment (TWiLiTE-GSFC), next generation planar lightwave circuit (PLC) components for the High Spectral Resolution cloud and aerosol Lidar system (HSRL-LaRC), high optical power phase modulators used for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA-GSFC), integrated waveguide components such as fast switching logic gates for use in quantum communication systems (Quantum Information Laboratory-AMES), and high power second harmonic generation (SHG) at 1550 nm for O2 detection (ASCENDS-LaRC).

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
AdvR has identified NLO ridge waveguide structures as having suitable value to be the leading frequency conversion structure. Its value is based on having the low cost fabrication necessary to satisfy the challenging pricing requirements as well as achieve the power handling and other specifications in a suitably compact package. Green lasers have major revenue potential in displays, projection, spectroscopy, and instrument markets. The display and projection market will be the primary product focus of AdvR. AdvR will also maintain a secondary focus on the lower volume spectroscopy and instrument markets, due to its allowable higher pricing. These two markets share the common need for green and other visible wavelength lasers particularly in the 50-100 mW range.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Laser Optical Optical & Photonic Materials

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Intelligent Automation, Inc.	NAME:	University of Central Florida
STREET:	15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400	STREET:	3100 Technology Parkway
CITY:	Rockville	CITY:	Orlando
STATE/ZIP:	MD  20855 - 2737	STATE/ZIP:	FL  32826 - 0544
PHONE:	(301) 294-5221	PHONE:	(407) 882-1114

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Sendil Rangaswamy
sendilr@i-a-i.com
15400 Calhoun Drive, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20855 - 2737
(301) 294-4756

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 6
End:

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
In the phase II effort, Intelligent Automation Inc., (IAI) and University of Central Florida (UCF) propose to develop a comprehensive numerical test suite for benchmarking current and future high performance computing activities that will include: (1) dense and unsymmetrical matrix problems faced in space aviation and problems in thermally driven structural response and radiation exchange, (2) implicit solution algorithms with production models and benchmarks for indefinite matrices and pathological cases, (3) configurations scaling for large systems in shared, distributed and mixed memory conditions, (4) documentation for strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of the toolkits used together with recommendations and (5) precision and round-off studies on serial and parallel machines, comparison of solutions on serial and parallel hardware with study of wall clock performance with respect to the number of processors
We successfully demonstrated in phase I that we can accurately and precisely benchmark run time solvers of dense complex matrices in hybrid-distributed memory architecture. We achieved highly scalable super-linear speed-up and scalability of the algorithm for large problem sizes. The tools developed in phase II will greatly improve the performance and efficiency to adapt the benchmarks to HPC systems different hardware architectures at NASA facilities and for non-NASA commercial applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Our technical approach builds on our experience in cluster computing, distributed agents system, parallel model developments for High Performance Computing (HPC) and our teams expertise in these areas for problem selection. The benchmarking application will be directly useful for high performance computing applications for NASA.
For NASA there is a vast potential need for benchmarking the solutions that could be applied to heat transfer problems in structures in avionics, diagnostic of structures in space exploration and exploration of structure formation, weather, nuclear simulations and problems in geology. Applications include testing requirements testing requirements for temperature contour of space shuttle, boundary layer Transition protuberance, heat shield problems computations and computation architectures where simulation modeling environments have solvers that run into hundreds of degrees of freedom. IAI has a long history of successfully developing distributed computing simulation applications for NASA. Our previously developed distributed agent simulation system has been embraced by NASA as the development platform for its simulator for the next generation air traffic control system.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The bench marking suite developed for HPC under this topic is applicable to computations in aerospace, avionics, military and civilian use. These high performance applications include thermal and structural problems in industry, manufacturing sectors and military. Other applications include diagnostics, weather, nuclear simulations and health monitoring applications.

IAI has tremendous experience of developing distributed applications and simulation platforms and commercializing them by packaging to field-ready units. We had successfully sold our developed distributed computing applications to established companies. Here again the developed technology from this contract will be packaged for different market segments with the goal of licensing our technology and possible collaboration efforts.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Computer System Architectures Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation Testing Requirements and Architectures Training Concepts and Architectures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Austin Satellite Design	NAME:	The University of Texas at Austin
STREET:	4104 Aqua Verde Drive	STREET:	Office of Sponsored Projects, PO Box 7727
CITY:	Austin	CITY:	Austin
STATE/ZIP:	TX  78746 - 1017	STATE/ZIP:	TX  78713 - 7726
PHONE:	(512) 663-3069	PHONE:	(512) 471-1422

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Glenn Lightsey
glightsey12@gmail.com
4104 Aqua Verde Drive
Austin, TX 78746 - 1017
(512) 663-3069

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Pico-satellites are an emerging new class of spacecraft. Maneuverable pico-satellites require active guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) systems to perform coordinated tasks such as formation flying and automated rendezvous and docking. A compact, low power GN&C system will be fabricated and tested for use on pico-satellites. The proposed design provides 6 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) translation and rotation control in less than 25% of a 3-Unit CubeSat or 3 DOF rotation only control in less than one half a standard Cubesat volume. During Phase 2, flight components will be procured, integrated, and tested as a single embedded system and delivered as a flight unit for environmental qualification and in-orbit demonstration on a suitable pico-satellite flight opportunity. The technology is expected to reach TRL 6 by the conclusion of Phase 2.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Maneuverable pico-satellites have many potential NASA commercial applications. For example, swarms or formations of pico-satellites could provide global real-time space weather monitoring in a way that is presently not possible from a single satellite. Autonomous rendezvous and docking technology could perform on-orbit inspection of a nearby vehicle. The relatively low-cost and rapid access to space of pico-satellites enables lower cost on-orbit testing of new components, allowing quicker and more reliable progression to higher Technology Readiness Levels. Pico-satellite maneuverability and control is a key, often required aspect of mission performance.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Non-NASA federal agencies and commercial ventures will benefit from maneuverable pico-satellites. Rapid response communications, imaging, and situational awareness solutions are needed by the Department of Defense, National Reconnaissance Office, and Department of Homeland Security. DARPA's F6 program is an example of a fractionated spacecraft formation application that can be addressed with pico-satellites. Low cost and rapid access to space will also improve the profitable realization of new commercial space applications. Commercial applications such as on-orbit spacecraft servicing and direct to user remote sensing are viable. The mission return will be substantially improved with reliable low-cost pico-satellite maneuverability.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Attitude Determination and Control Autonomous Control and Monitoring Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence Guidance, Navigation, and Control Micro Thrusters Mobility Operations Concepts and Requirements Telemetry, Tracking and Control

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Physics, Materials, and Applied Mathematics Research, LLC	NAME:	Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)
STREET:	1665 E. 18th Street, Suite 112	STREET:	1470 William D. Fitch Parkway
CITY:	Tucson	CITY:	College Station
STATE/ZIP:	AZ  85719 - 6808	STATE/ZIP:	TX  77843 - 4645
PHONE:	(520) 903-2345	PHONE:	(979) 458-7616

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Helen Reed
helen.reed@tamu.edu
Texas A&M University, College Station
College Station, TX 77843 - 4645
(979) 589-1321

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 6
End:

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Current autonomous rendezvous and docking (AR&D) capability in low Earth orbit (LEO) is constrained by sensor and effector mass, power, and accuracy limits. To this end, NASA Johnson Space Center has developed a GPS receiver, called DRAGON (Dual RF Astrodynamic GPS Orbital Navigator), specifically to address the sensor constraints. The proposed innovation includes creating a small, low-cost, and versatile technology demonstrator to validate and increase the technology readiness level of DRAGON and other state-of-the-art miniaturized sensors and effectors in an on-orbit AR&D operational scenario. For Phase 1, a demonstration platform was developed that utilizes two picosatellites in LEO, and relative GPS as the primary sensor. These satellites were launched as a single unit from the SSPL (Space Shuttle Payload Launcher) on STS 127, to separate and transmit DRAGON data. The picosatellite technology demonstrator was at a TRL of 7 at the end of Phase 1. For Phase 2, NASA plans a second flight, and the technical objectives are to further characterize the DRAGON receiver and develop navigational solutions using DRAGON data. Additional technologies addressed include the development of a simple low-cost, low-mass three-axis stabilization and pointing system for small satellites, WiMax transceiver capabilities, and video camera capabilities. The technologies should be at a TRL of 6 at the end of Phase 2.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Autonomous rendezvous and docking will be utilized in the Constellation Program for unmanned cargo vehicles and in space assembly. The proposed technology demonstrator platform is being designed to specifically validate enabling devices and other critically needed technologies for Constellation, such as NASA Johnson Space Center's DRAGON GPS system, docking mechanisms, miniaturized sensors and control effectors, control algorithms, and navigation solutions. Moreover, it is anticipated that the technology demonstrator platform itself will be plug and play, and available and adaptable to further mission validations.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The validated miniaturized sensors and effectors will be applicable to a variety of missions for DoD, companies, and universities, and the demonstrator platform itself will be plug and play, and available and adaptable to other mission validations. As an example, PM&AM Research has been working in laser-based micro-space propulsion with the AFRL Space Propulsion Directorate for many years, which has led to a number of applications of distributed systems based on picosats. Our concept will help realize such distributed systems. The communities with immediate interest include: responsive space, midcourse ballistic missile defense, and space situational awareness. PM&AM Research is working with DoD in each of these, and a suitable platform for specific test scenarios will allow us to perform test and evaluation measurements/scenarios attractive to these customers. These anticipated development efforts are expected to lead to follow-on efforts and eventual products, which may require the involvement of the large integrators.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Architectures and Networks Attitude Determination and Control Autonomous Control and Monitoring Autonomous Reasoning/Artificial Intelligence Chemical Computer System Architectures Control Instrumentation Controls-Structures Interaction (CSI) Cooling Data Acquisition and End-to-End-Management Data Input/Output Devices Energy Storage General Public Outreach Guidance, Navigation, and Control Intelligence K-12 Outreach Kinematic-Deployable Launch and Flight Vehicle Manipulation Metallics Micro Thrusters Mission Training Mobility On-Board Computing and Data Management Operations Concepts and Requirements Optical Perception/Sensing Photovoltaic Conversion Portable Data Acquisition or Analysis Tools Power Management and Distribution Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors Simulation Modeling Environment Software Development Environments Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation Structural Modeling and Tools Tankage Telemetry, Tracking and Control Testing Facilities Testing Requirements and Architectures Thermal Insulating Materials Training Concepts and Architectures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	CFD Research Corp.	NAME:	University of Florida
STREET:	215 Wynn Drive, 5th Floor	STREET:	P.O. Box 116550 (339) Weil Hall
CITY:	Huntsville	CITY:	Gainesville
STATE/ZIP:	AL  35805 - 1944	STATE/ZIP:	FL  32611 - 6550
PHONE:	(256) 726-4858	PHONE:	(352) 392-9448

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Peter Liever
sxh@cfdrc.com
215 Wynn Drive
Huntsville, AL 35805 - 1944
(256) 726-4800

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Current modeling of Lunar and Martian soil erosion and debris transport caused by rocket plume impingement lacks essential physics from the peculiar granular characteristics of highly irregular regolith particles. Current granular mechanics models are based on mono-disperse spherical particles empiricism unsuitable for capturing the poly-disperse irregularly shaped grain mechanics. CFDRC and the University of Florida successfully demonstrated a novel approach in Phase I to develop granular mechanics constitutive models through innovative Discrete Element Methods emulating non-spherical, jagged particles constructed as clusters of linked/overlapping spheres. This first principle modeling captures the fundamental relationship between particle shape and particle-phase stress, cohesion, and particle flow kinetics. In Phase II, detailed regolith granular flow constituent models will be derived with these methods. An Eulerian granular phase model with the resulting constitutive models will be implemented in the Unified Flow Solver (UFS) simulation framework developed by CFDRC and UF for lunar debris transport and applied in Eulerian multi-phase gas-regolith interaction simulations. Surface stresses from turbulent jet plume scouring and regolith roughness that amplify erosion mechanisms will be captured using a Reynolds Stress Turbulence model. The integrated UFS simulation tool will be validated against erosion and cratering experiments with sand, lunar/Mars simulants, and reduced gravity effects. The technology will be applied for Moon/Mars landing crater formation and debris transport predictions. This high-fidelity simulation capability will be essential for predicting regolith dust and debris transport and for developing mitigation measures.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The debris simulation tool will be of first order importance to the Space Exploration program for lunar robotic and human mission architecture definition. The tool will be equally applicable to follow-on Mars robotic and human missions. The developed technology will also be applicable for analysis of solid propulsion systems with embedded solid particle.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Many potential non-NASA commercial applications exist in civil and military industries. Dust, sand and snow stir-up during helicopter landing and take-off in a desert or arctic environment result in severe visibility impairment (brown-out), windshield abrasion and danger of debris ingestion. Civil engineering and environmental engineering applications include wind-borne landscape erosion and dust transport to populated areas

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Fundamental Propulsion Physics Simulation Modeling Environment Software Tools for Distributed Analysis and Simulation Testing Requirements and Architectures

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	ZONA Technology, Inc.	NAME:	Regents of New Mexico State University
STREET:	9489 E. Ironwood Square Drive	STREET:	MSC PSL, PO Box 30002
CITY:	Scottsdale	CITY:	Las Cruces
STATE/ZIP:	AZ  85258 - 4578	STATE/ZIP:	NM  88003 - 8002
PHONE:	(480) 945-9988	PHONE:	(575) 646-4502

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Shuchi Yang
shuchi@zonatech.com
9489 E. Ironwood Square Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85258 - 4578
(480) 945-9988

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 7
End:

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
An efficient and accurate software package named ZMGP (ZONA Multi-scale Gaskinetic/Particle simulation package) is proposed as a 3D tool to predict the lunar dust trajectory and crater formation process when a retro-rocket lands on the lunar surface. ZMGP has many special features including: 1, the hybrid flow module by coupling the gaskinetic Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) model and the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method (BGK/DSMC) to efficiently compute the rarefied flowfield; 2. by dividing the crater into different small slices, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) provides an accurate external Mass Erosion Rate (MER) database; 3. one Reduced Order Modeling (ROM) is built up from the vast DEM runs with the Neural Network (NNW) method, and then coupled with the BGK/DSMC module to predict the MER from the lunar surface; 4. integrating the lunar crater MER results provides the initial velocities for the dust particles off the lunar crater; 5. ZMGP utilizes an Overlay module or a two-species BGK module alternatively to produce the trajectories and shootout velocity of ejected particles. With finished concept verification for 2D case in Phase I, we plan to fully develop the software for 3D case and validate it with available experiment data in Phase II.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The ZMGP method is to simulate various PCIDI problems in vehicle landing/launching for NASA space explorations. These include events taking place on the Moon, Mars, Titan or asteroids. ZMGP can be used efficiently to simulate various conceivable PCIDI interactions. Thus NASA could decide the worst case scenario for vehicle design, e.g. a robot, or for landing site selection to avoid engine/hardware damage.

ZMGP can also be used for space access and space exploration which includes atmospheric entry/maneuver on Earth/Mars in term of (a) Aerothermodynamics analysis and vehicle/TPS design, (b) Aeroassist design/analysis to increase drag of capsules/ballutes during atmospheric entry for vehicle maneuver needs the ZMGP method to handle a relatively rarefied, 2-phase, dusty flow environment. ZONA will package the ZMGP simulation package into commercial software for the above applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Other applications of the ZMGP simulation package are supported by non-aerospace domains and private industry related with single or two-phase flows, especially for rarefied flow situations, i.e.,
- Army/Navy air-breathing engine vehicle operation in desert/dusty environment.
- Fluid dynamic aspects of Geophysics and Astrophysics, e.g. space weather prediction.
- R&D in multiphase flows and reacting flows.
- Dust storms and dust devils, and their contribution to air pollution.
- Wind erosion.
- Aerosols and their effects on weather.
- Avalanche with a large amount of snow.
- Shell explosion in desert or other dusty area.
- Materials processing with vacuum chamber, thin film deposition, aerosol reactors.
- Masks with thin fiber to filter air for dust, pollen, and industrial waste.
- Gas-solid two-phase flows inside micro-machines, e.g. MEMS.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Guidance, Navigation, and Control On-Board Computing and Data Management Particle and Fields Spaceport Infrastructure and Safety

Form Generated on 05-25-10 13:36

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	MicroXact, Inc.	NAME:	Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
STREET:	2000 Kraft Drive, Suite 1207	STREET:	Physics Dept, Robeson Hall (0435)
CITY:	Blacksburg	CITY:	Blacksburg
STATE/ZIP:	VA  24060 - 6373	STATE/ZIP:	VA  24061 - 0002
PHONE:	(540) 392-6917	PHONE:	(540) 231-6544

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Vladimir Kochergin
vkochergin@microxact.com
2000 Kraft Drive, Suite 1207
Blacksburg, VA 24060 - 6373
(614) 917-7202

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Thermoelectric (TE) devices already found a wide range of commercial, military and aerospace applications. However, at present commercially available TE devices typically offer limited heat to electricity conversion efficiencies, well below the fundamental thermodynamic limit, calling for the development of higher efficiency materials. The team of MicroXact Inc., Virginia Tech and Sundew Technologies Inc. is proposing to develop a revolutionary ultrahigh efficiency thermoelectric material fabricated on completely new fabrication principles. The material comprises the three-dimensional "wells" of Bi2Te3/Bb2Te3 Quantum Well Superlattices fabricated by a conformal coating of macroporous silicon (MPSi) pore walls. Such a material will provide ZT >2 at macroscopic thicknesses of the material, permitting 15% or more conversion efficiencies. In Phase I of the project the thorough model of the proposed TE material was developed, the achievable efficiency and ZT of the material were confirmed through numerical modeling, and conformal coating of pore walls with Sb2Te3 was experimentally demonstrated, validating the proposed concept. In Phase II the team will fabricate the proposed material and device, and will demonstrate ZT>2 and conversion efficiencies exceeding 15%. After the Phase II MicroXact will commercialize the technology.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The largest immediate NASA application of the proposed ultraefficient thermoelectric materials and devices is thermoelectric generators, already actively using in a large number of NASA missions. The advantages of the proposed technology (unmatched efficiency combined with the small size and low weight) would provide the competitive advantage to MicroXact sufficient for successful market penetration. Other potential NASA applications, including potential powering small devices from human thermal energy, etc. can be allowed by the proposed technology as well. Due to the unique benefits the proposed ultrahigh efficiency TE materials and devices are expected to penetrate these and other NASA applications. The proposed concept, when developed and commercialized, is expected to cause a significant impact on the cost, safety and reliability of future NASA missions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
In addition to NASA applications, the proposed ultraefficient thermoelectric materials and devices are expected to find applications in such fields as electronic device cooling (microprocessors, focal plane arrays, etc.), food storage/processing (wine cellars, Freon-free refrigerators), automotive and aviation industry (to enhance the fuel consumption). Due to the unique performance expected from proposed materials and devices all these markets can be potentially addressable with the proposed technology. The most promising market for initial penetration is believed to be the electronic component cooling market, where the benefits of the proposed technology (high efficiency combined with potentially reduced size) would provide the largest competitive advantage.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Thermoelectric Conversion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	TXL Group, Inc.	NAME:	University of Texas at El Paso
STREET:	2000 Wyoming Avenue	STREET:	500 W. University Ave.
CITY:	El Paso	CITY:	El Paso
STATE/ZIP:	TX  79903 - 3501	STATE/ZIP:	TX  79968 - 8900
PHONE:	(915) 533-7800	PHONE:	(915) 747-5680

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
David Nemir
david@txlgroup.com
2000 Wyoming Avenue
El Paso, TX 79903 - 3502
(915) 533-7800 Extension :131

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 5
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Thermoelectric (TE) generators have the advantages of no moving parts and flexibility in deployment but suffer from low heat to electricity conversion efficiencies, with a major loss component being conductive (phonon) heat transfer through the TE lattice. By using a high pressure shockwave consolidation, nanopowders can be fused into a solid bulk TE material while preserving the nanostructure. The high density of grain boundaries and lattice defects impedes phonon transport while allowing electron flow. Specific Phase 2 research thrusts will be directed at transitioning laboratory fabrication into volume manufacturing, at producing a graded thermoelectric that is optimized for different temperature ranges over the length of the element, and at preparing bulk thermoelectric material from transition metal trichalcogenides that are not appropriate for melt or powder sintered fabrication.

The overall conversion efficiency of a TE device will always be limited by the Carnot ratio of (Th-Tc)/Th, where Th and Tc are the temperatures of the hot and cold junctions. With the restrictions on phonon transport accruing from nanopowder consolidation, conversion efficiencies in excess of 30% of the Carnot limit are reasonable.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Nanostructured bulk thermoelectric material can be diced and pelletized for incorporation into any application previously served by conventional crystal grown or powder sintered material. Thermoelectric efficiency enhancement will allow the fabrication of smaller, lighter TE devices such as radioisotope generators for satellites and deep space probes. Efficiency enhancements will also enable applications that have not previously been practical such as harvesting sensor energy from astronaut body heat. Improvements in thermoelectric efficiency benefit thermoelectric (Peltier) cooling of astronauts, CCD cells and electronics since less energy will be required for these heat pumping applications.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
High efficiency thermoelectric generation allows significant energy capture from waste heat streams in industrial and power plants. Combined with escalating electricity prices, the payback times are reduced and this allows both scale and scope economies. Even relatively low thermal gradients become candidates for energy capture including electric generation from temperature differences across interfaces, for example, earth to air for powering roadway lighting and water to air for powering sensors in floating buoys. In the highway of the future, thermoelectric sensor pods might be installed directly into the pavement for sensing traffic volume, vehicle weight, vehicle speed, light levels, icing and general road conditions. By networking the devices via radio frequency transceivers into a highly interconnected mesh, their information could be processed in real time to forecast driving conditions, manage traffic flow through variable speed limits and roadside warning systems, and communicate advisories to drivers, police or road maintenance crews.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Semi-Conductors/Solid State Device Materials Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors Thermoelectric Conversion

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Keystone Synergistic Enterprises, Inc.	NAME:	Mississippi State University
STREET:	698 SW Port Saint Lucie Blvd., Suite 105	STREET:	P.O. Box 6156
CITY:	Port Saint Lucie	CITY:	Mississippi State
STATE/ZIP:	FL  34953 - 1565	STATE/ZIP:	MS  39762 - 6156
PHONE:	(772) 343-7544	PHONE:	(662) 325-7396

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Bryant Walker
bryanthwalk@aol.com
698 SW Port Saint Lucie Blvd., Suite 105
Port Saint Lucie, FL 34953 - 1565
(772) 772-7544

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
The Keystone and MSU team propose to build on the successful feasibility demonstration conducted during Phase I to complete the development of solid-state joining of high strength and temperature alloys utilizing the Thermal Stir Welding process. The focus alloy for this project is Haynes 230; the alloy of choice typically utilized in rocket engine nozzel skirts. This class of alloy is difficult to fusion weld and with the successful Phase I demonstratipon has now been shown weldable using solid-state methods. Therefore, the Keystone team is proposing to utilize a Thermal Stir Welding process; a solid-state welding process that decouples the stirring and heating features of the process to enable optimization of each key process parameter. By independently controlling and optimizing these process parameters, the best metal working parameters can be established and utilized to plasticize and stir the Hanyes 230 alloy. Achievement of this objective will enable superior mechanical properties in the weld joint and thus maximize the capability of the weld for the intended application. During Phase II the Keystone team will complete process development and demonstrate TRL-4 readiness by producing a 24" diameter subscale nozzel skirt for testing and evaluation by NASA.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Solid-state welding of high strength and temperature alloys is required to support the Constallization and NASA ARES systems. Specifically, haynes 230 is a high strength and high temperature alloy utilized in the engine nozzel skirt. The proposed Phase II STTR program will complete process development on this alloy and produce experimental components for testing and evaluation by NASA.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Potentila non-NASA applications include thermal stir welding of high strength and temperature alloys for aerospace applicatioons; specifically, military aqnd commercial gtas turbine engines. Non-aerospace applications include component welding for chemical processing and heat exchangers industries.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Aircraft Engines Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization Launch and Flight Vehicle Metallics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Streamline Numerics, Inc.	NAME:	Mississippi State University
STREET:	3221 NW 13th Street, Suite A	STREET:	449 Hardy Road, 133 Ethredge Hall
CITY:	Gainesville	CITY:	Mississippi State
STATE/ZIP:	FL  32609 - 2189	STATE/ZIP:	MS  39762 - 6156
PHONE:	(352) 271-8841	PHONE:	(662) 325-7397

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Siddharth Thakur
st@snumerics.com
3221 N.W. 13th Street, Suite A
Gainesville, FL 32609 - 2189
(352) 352-8841

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
The innovation proposed here is a high-performance, high-fidelity framework in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code called Loci-STREAM to enable accurate, fast and robust simulations of unsteady multiphase flows such as combustion involving liquid-gas phases in liquid rocket injectors and solid-gas phases in solid rocket motors, and cryogenic cavitation in delivery systems of liquid rocket engines. This framework will provide a state-of-the-art multiphase unsteady turbulent flow simulation capability employing Hybrid RANS-LES (HRLES) methods which are a blend of Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approaches. Robust primary atomization models for liquid jet breakup and both phenomenological and stochastic secondary droplet breakup models will be developed. Lagrangian particle tracking and Eulerian multiphase models will be coupled to enable simulation of multiphase combustion involving solid particles or liquid droplets. The work proposed here will result in a state-of-the-art design and analysis tool to enable the accurate modeling of: (a) multiphase combustion in solid and liquid rocket engines, (b) combustion stability analysis (c) acoustic fields of space propulsion systems in near-ground operation, (d) small valves and turbopumps, etc. which constitute critical components of versatile space propulsion engines part of NASA's space near- and long-term space programs.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The outcome of Phase 2 work will be a powerful CFD-based design and analysis tool for propulsion engines at NASA. This will facilitate analysis of flow environments in propulsion devices including full rocket engine simulations, injector design, turbopump and valve design, etc. Specific applications at NASA include: (a) design improvements of injectors of J-2X and RS68 engines as well as other engines using LOX and LCH4 as part of the PCAD project, (b) modeling of multi-element injectors coupled with fuel and oxidizer feedlines and manifolds, (c) prediction of stability and stability margins, (d) design of acoustic cavities for combustion stability, (e) analysis of small valves and turbopumps, (f) prediction of loads during launch of new launch vehicle, (g) prediction of acoustic loads on rocket engine test stands, (h) launch pad modifications, (i) development of new launch facilities, (j) analysis of rocket engine exhaust plumes, (k) modeling of flow of liquids and supercritical fluids through piping system components such as valves and run tanks.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The computational tool resulting from this project will have wide-ranging commercial applications. The Hybrid RANS-LES methodology can be used for a wide variety of engineering applications involving unsteady turbulent flows. The multi-phase combustion modeling capability can be used for simulating combusting flows in various industrial applications, such as gas turbine engines, diesel engines, etc. The real-fluids methodology can be used in a large number of industrial flow situations involving both chemically inert and reacting flows.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Chemical Feed System Components Fundamental Propulsion Physics

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):		RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:	Combustion Research and Flow Technology	NAME:	University of Florida
STREET:	6210 Keller's Church Road	STREET:	339 Weil Hall
CITY:	Pipersville	CITY:	Gainsville
STATE/ZIP:	PA  18947 - 1020	STATE/ZIP:	FL  32611 - 0001
PHONE:	(215) 766-1520	PHONE:	(352) 392-3261

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Vineet Ahuja
vineet@craft-tech.com
6210 Keller's Church Rd.
Pipersville, PA 18947 - 1020
(215) 766-1520 Extension :23

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 5

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Instabilities associated with the operation of liquid rocket propulsion systems and test facilities usually manifest themselves as structural vibrations and may cause structural damage. While the source of the instability is directly related to the performance of a component such as a turbopump, the associated pressure fluctuations as they propagate through the system have the potential to amplify and resonate with natural modes of the system. In this proposal, a novel multi-level (system and component) instability analysis tool is proposed to identify these resonant modes. In Phase I of this program, a Transfer Matrix based approach was developed to analyze the propagation of an instability through a limited range of components such as ducts, bends, orifices and diffusers. The initiation of an instability was resolved with the help of high-fidelity CFD simulations. Demonstration of the tool was successfully carried out for the propagation of an instability in a scaled down system. In Phase II, the tool will be expanded to include a wider array of components such as turbopumps, valve systems etc. This will permit analysis of a greater range of instabilities from multi-phase instabilities involving cavitation based events in turbopumps to valve based instabilities such as water hammer.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The integrated multi-level (system and component) simulation software resulting from this proposal would predict performance of liquid rocket propulsion systems and test facilities for rocket engines. The salient features of the framework include diagnosis of system anomalies/transients and prediction of system feedback and response to the transients. Our product addresses core needs of NASA in the Constellation program, and the mission to the moon, in reliably predicting instability modes, resonance and structural vibrations in propulsion systems such as the J-2X and RS-68 engines as well as test facilities with complex networks of valves, venturis, control elements etc. The software technology developed here can also be deployed by engine health monitoring systems and/or by control algorithms that require rapid response models of systems that consist of vast array of fluid dynamic components.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The commercial market for our product is very large and includes plants and industrial facilities such as nuclear power generation, chemical process plants etc. Recently, commercial space ventures ranging from space transportation systems (COTS) for the international space station (ISS), to low-cost satellite launch systems are getting interested in simulation tools capable of providing risk assessment of propulsion systems. The primary market for this product will be in the design and analysis of high-performance, high-reliability systems used for inherently transient operations in the nuclear and chemical process industry. Here characterizing the transient performance of the system is a critical safety issue and the availability of a well-validated, reliable predictive software tool can play an integral role in reducing costs and managing risk.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

Feed System Components Fundamental Propulsion Physics Simulation Modeling Environment Tankage Testing Facilities