{"670819":{"#nid":"670819","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AI\/ML Conference Helps School of Physics Launch New Research Initiative","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019 new initiative to catalyze research using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) began October 16 with a conference at the Global Learning Center titled \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aiml2023.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERevolutionizing Physics \u2014 Exploring Connections Between Physics and Machine Learning\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAI and ML have the spotlight right now in science\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, and the conference promises to be the first of many, says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/expert\/feryal-ozel\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFeryal \u00d6zel\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Professor and Chair of the School of Physics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0022We were delighted to host the AI\/ML in Physics conference and see the exciting rapid developments in this field,\u201d \u00d6zel says. \u201cThe conference was a prominent launching point for the new AI\/ML initiative we are starting in the School of Physics.\u0022\u200b\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat initiative includes \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/multiple-open-rank-faculty-positions-aiml-physics-research-job-id-263230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehiring two tenure-track faculty members\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, who will benefit from substantial expertise and resources in artificial intelligence and machine learning that already exist in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EColleges of Sciences, Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EComputing.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe conference attendees heard from colleagues about how the technologies were helping with research involving exoplanet searches, plasma physics experiments, and culling through terabytes of data. They also learned that a rough search of keyword titles by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/staff\/staff_bio.jsp?lan=aberlind\u0026amp;org=NSF\u0026amp;from_org=\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAndreas Berlind\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, director of the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019s \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/div\/index.jsp?div=AST\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDivision of Astronomical Sciences\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, showed that about a fifth of all current NSF\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Egrant proposals include components around artificial intelligence and machine learning.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThat\u2019s a lot,\u201d Berlind told the audience. \u201cIt\u2019s doubled in the last four years. It\u2019s rapidly increasing.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBerlind was one of three program officers from the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENSF\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eand\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENASA\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E invited to the conference to give presentations on the funding landscape for AI\/ML research in the physical sciences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s tool development, the oldest story in human history,\u201d said \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/staff\/staff_bio.jsp?lan=giannacc\u0026amp;org=DMR\u0026amp;from_org=DMR\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGermano Iannacchione\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, director of the NSF\u2019s \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/div\/index.jsp?div=DMR\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDivision of Materials Research\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, who added that AI\/ML tools \u201chelp us navigate very complex spaces \u2014 to augment and enhance our reasoning capabilities, and our pattern recognition capabilities.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat sentiment was echoed by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/dmitrios-psaltis\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDimitrios Psaltis\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, School of Physics professor and a co-organizer of the conference.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThey usually say if you have a hammer, you see everything as a nail,\u201d Psaltis said. \u201cJust because we have a tool doesn\u0027t mean we\u0027re going to solve all the problems. So we\u0027re in the exploratory phase because we don\u0027t know yet which problems in physics machine learning will help us solve. Clearly it will help us solve some problems, because it\u0027s a brand new tool, and there are other instances when it will make zero contribution. And until we find out what those problems are, we\u0027re going to just explore everything.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat means trying to find out if there is a place for the technologies in classical and modern physics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, optics, geophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and astrophysics, to name just a few branches of study.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sanaz-vahidinia-ab802037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESanaz Vahidinia\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E of NASA\u2019s \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/new.nsf.gov\/funding\/opportunities\/astronomy-astrophysics-research-grants-aag-0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAstronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E told the attendees that her division was an early and enthusiastic adopter of AI and machine learning. She listed examples of the technologies assisting with gamma-ray astronomy and analyzing data from the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/hubble\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHubble\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/kepler\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EKepler\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E space telescopes. \u201cAI and deep learning were very good at identifying patterns in Kepler data,\u201d Vahidinia said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESome of the physicist presentations at the conference showed pattern recognition capabilities and other features for AI and ML:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physast.uga.edu\/directory\/people\/cassandra-hall\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECassandra Hall\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, assistant professor of Computational Astrophysics at the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.uga.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUniversity of Georgia\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, illustrated how machine learning helped in the search for hidden forming exoplanets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/directory\/christopher-john-rozell\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EChristopher J. Rozell\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Julian T. Hightower Chair and Professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, spoke of his experiments using \u201cexplainable AI\u201d (AI that conveys in human terms how it reaches its decisions) to track depression recovery with deep brain stimulation.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.space.ucla.edu\/paulo-alves\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPaulo Alves\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eassistant professor of physics at \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.space.ucla.edu\/home\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUCLA College of Physical Sciences Space Institute,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E presented on AI\/ML as tools of scientific discovery in plasma physics.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAlves\u2019s presentation inspired another physicist attending the conference, Psaltis said. \u201cOne of our local colleagues, who\u0027s doing magnetic materials research, said, \u2018Hey, I can apply the exact same thing in my field,\u2019 which he had never thought about before. So we not only have cross-fertilization (of ideas) at the conference, but we\u2019re also learning what works and what doesn\u0027t.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMore information on funding and grants at the National Science Foundation can be found \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/new.nsf.gov\/funding\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehere\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. Information on NASA grants is found \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/grants-2\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehere\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Physicists from Georgia Tech and around the country shared their AI and ML research successes, and heard presentations from NSF and NASA officials on the funding landscape for proposals that include the technologies."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPhysicists from Georgia Tech and around the country shared their AI and ML research successes, and heard presentations from NSF and NASA officials on the funding landscape for proposals that include the technologies.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physicists from Georgia Tech and around the country shared their AI and ML research successes, and heard presentations from NSF and NASA officials on the funding landscape for proposals that include the technologies."}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-11-01 14:16:23","changed_gmt":"2023-12-14 17:11:20","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672238":{"id":"672238","type":"image","title":"Physicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1698849174","gmt_created":"2023-11-01 14:32:54","changed":"1698849174","gmt_changed":"2023-11-01 14:32:54","alt":"Physicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","file":{"fid":"255445","name":"Physicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. (Photo Benjamin Zhao).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/Physicists%20from%20around%20the%20country%20come%20to%20Georgia%20Tech%20for%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/Physicists%20from%20around%20the%20country%20come%20to%20Georgia%20Tech%20for%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":477793,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/01\/Physicists%20from%20around%20the%20country%20come%20to%20Georgia%20Tech%20for%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg?itok=k-YnviDY"}},"672237":{"id":"672237","type":"image","title":"School of Physics Professor Tamara Bogdanovic prepares to ask a question at the recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","body":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics Professor Tamara Bogdanovic prepares to ask a question at the recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1698849064","gmt_created":"2023-11-01 14:31:04","changed":"1698849064","gmt_changed":"2023-11-01 14:31:04","alt":"School of Physics Professor Tamara Bogdanovic prepares to ask a question at the recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","file":{"fid":"255444","name":"School of Physics Professor Tamara Bogdanovic prepares to ask a question at the recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/School%20of%20Physics%20Professor%20Tamara%20Bogdanovic%20prepares%20to%20ask%20a%20question%20at%20the%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/School%20of%20Physics%20Professor%20Tamara%20Bogdanovic%20prepares%20to%20ask%20a%20question%20at%20the%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":436888,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/01\/School%20of%20Physics%20Professor%20Tamara%20Bogdanovic%20prepares%20to%20ask%20a%20question%20at%20the%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg?itok=RxFzWAIv"}},"672236":{"id":"672236","type":"image","title":"Matthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EMatthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1698848931","gmt_created":"2023-11-01 14:28:51","changed":"1698848931","gmt_changed":"2023-11-01 14:28:51","alt":"Matthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","file":{"fid":"255443","name":"Matthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/Matthew%20Golden%2C%20graduate%20student%20researcher%20in%20the%20School%20of%20Physics%2C%20presents%20at%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/Matthew%20Golden%2C%20graduate%20student%20researcher%20in%20the%20School%20of%20Physics%2C%20presents%20at%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":298146,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/01\/Matthew%20Golden%2C%20graduate%20student%20researcher%20in%20the%20School%20of%20Physics%2C%20presents%20at%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg?itok=AYlNC-Ve"}}},"media_ids":["672238","672237","672236"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"190811","name":"Feryal \u00d6zel"},{"id":"190812","name":"Dimitrios Psaltis"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"191934","name":"National Science Foundation (NSF)"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"14207","name":"plasma"},{"id":"4079","name":"astrophysics"},{"id":"4188","name":"astronomy"},{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"192251","name":"cos-quantum"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: Renay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEditor: Jess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"664521":{"#nid":"664521","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lunar Flashlight Heads to the Moon to Search for Water","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA small spacecraft assembled and tested at the Georgia Institute of Technology is on its way to the moon, where it will use lasers to search for surface water ice in lunar craters that are never warmed by light from the sun.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe briefcase-sized Lunar Flashlight will be \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/11\/mission-moon-lunar-flashlight\u0022\u003Emonitored and controlled\u003C\/a\u003E over the next several months by a team of graduate and undergraduate students in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering. The team will keep the spacecraft on track and capture the data it gathers to be studied by the Lunar Flashlight Science team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/zD76AmurgOw\u0022\u003EWatch a video on the Lunar Flashlight mission on YouTube\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe spacecraft launched at 2:38 a.m. December 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that also carried a Japanese-built lunar lander and a United Arab Emirates rover. Shortly after launch, Lunar Flashlight separated from the Falcon 9 to begin an approximately three-month journey that will carry it into a fuel-conserving orbital trajectory 42,000 miles beyond the moon. Gravity from the moon, Earth, and Sun will ultimately bring it into a path that will come within nine miles of the lunar surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce in its science orbit around the moon, Lunar Flashlight will shine four lasers into perpetually-dark craters near the lunar South Pole. Each laser operates at a slightly different frequency, and the reflected light acts like a spectral fingerprint that identifies the material that it illuminated. If ice is there, the near-infrared light from the lasers will be absorbed by the water. If the light reflects back to the Lunar Flashlight, that will indicate the absence of ice. Data from the spacecraft will be radioed to NASA\u0026rsquo;s Deep Space Network and received by student controllers on the Georgia Tech campus, who will then share it with the Lunar Flashlight Science Team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESurface water ice may be a treasure trove of water from different sources such as volcanic outgassing and meteorite impact, so knowing where it resides will help point future assets to examine it at the surface. If sufficient amounts exist, the precious liquid may be used to help meet the drinking water needs of future lunar colonies.\u0026nbsp;Water molecules from potential ice reservoirs in the South Pole craters could also be split to provide a source of oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for rocket fuel.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBig Capabilities in a Small Spacecraft\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite its small size, Lunar Flashlight \u0026ndash; which was designed by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/jpl\/nasa-s-lunar-flashlight-ready-to-search-for-the-moon-s-water-ice\u0022\u003ENASA\u0026rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ndash; has big capabilities. Lunar Flashlight carries a propulsion system that will be used to make mid-course corrections and allow the spacecraft to get into lunar orbit and accomplish its mission. Built at Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering, the propulsion system uses a new monopropellant developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory to be more environmentally safe than earlier propellants.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a very capable spacecraft for sure,\u0026rdquo; said Jud Ready, a Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) principal research engineer who served as principal investigator for the\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/newsroom\/lunar-flashlight\u0022\u003E final assembly and testing\u003C\/a\u003E of Lunar Flashlight at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;Achieving lunar orbit insertion can be challenging for a conventional spacecraft, let alone a vehicle the size of a desktop computer.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe solar-powered Lunar Flashlight is part of a new generation of small spacecraft with capabilities formerly seen only on larger vehicles. First used in low earth orbit, the smaller vehicles are now traveling to the moon, and potentially to other planets in the solar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Space exploration was formerly the realm of major governments \u0026ndash; the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and a few others,\u0026rdquo; said Ready. \u0026ldquo;Using smaller spacecraft like Lunar Flashlight means a lot more opportunity for this. There will likely be thousands of other small spacecraft launching behind us.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Learning Experience for GTRI and Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFinal assembly of the Lunar Flashlight took place in a cleanroom in a GTRI building on the main Atlanta campus, where the laser system also was tested. Specialized equipment at GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Cobb County Research Facility tested the spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s radio equipment and simulated the stresses of launch. Thermal, vacuum, and other testing took place in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the faculty, staff, and students involved, Lunar Flashlight has provided a great learning experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We learned how to apply NASA\u0026rsquo;s rigorous protocols to everything we did, protect the spacecraft from electrostatic discharge, schedule complex testing tasks, and utilize our student researchers who must also maintain their schoolwork and take exams,\u0026rdquo; Ready said. \u0026ldquo;There have been some real sacrifices by a lot of folks who worked long and odd hours.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter completion of the final assembly and testing at Georgia Tech, Lunar Flashlight traveled to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for fueling and additional testing. Finally, it made the trip to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for integration onto the SpaceX rocket.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EReady is hopeful that if Lunar Flashlight finds evidence of significant ice deposits on the moon\u0026rsquo;s South Pole, the precious water will help set the stage for creating a permanent human presence there.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s really disappointing that we went to the moon in the 1970s, but didn\u0026rsquo;t stay there,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;However, when you look at the big scheme of things, exploration is often measured in hundreds or even thousands of years. So, it\u0026rsquo;s not surprising that colonization of the moon would take longer than a few decades.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWriter: John Toon (john.toon@gtri.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAtlanta, Georgia USA\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout GTRI\u003C\/strong\u003E: The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, the state, and industry. For more information, please visit\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ewww.gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A small spacecraft assembled and tested at the Georgia Institute of Technology is on its way to the moon, where it will use lasers to search for surface water ice in lunar craters that are never warmed by light from the sun."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2023-01-09 17:43:24","changed_gmt":"2023-01-23 19:15:53","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-01-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-01-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"664514":{"id":"664514","type":"image","title":"Lunar Flashlight Illustration","body":null,"created":"1673285749","gmt_created":"2023-01-09 17:35:49","changed":"1673285749","gmt_changed":"2023-01-09 17:35:49","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251434","name":"e_lunar_flashlight_wo_laser-dec2019.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/e_lunar_flashlight_wo_laser-dec2019.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/e_lunar_flashlight_wo_laser-dec2019.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":691767,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/e_lunar_flashlight_wo_laser-dec2019.jpg?itok=tuyPxXT0"}},"664515":{"id":"664515","type":"image","title":"Lunar Flashlight in GT Clean Room","body":null,"created":"1673285820","gmt_created":"2023-01-09 17:37:00","changed":"1673285820","gmt_changed":"2023-01-09 17:37:00","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251435","name":"1_old-lunar-flashlight_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1_old-lunar-flashlight_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1_old-lunar-flashlight_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":664062,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1_old-lunar-flashlight_0.jpg?itok=SXVrhMVx"}}},"media_ids":["664514","664515"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1316","name":"Green Buzz"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"188307","name":"Lunar Flashlight"},{"id":"191844","name":"water ice"},{"id":"4191","name":"moon"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"167441","name":"student research"},{"id":"41501","name":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"663555":{"#nid":"663555","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Inexpensive Airborne Testbeds Could Study Hypersonic Technologies","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMiniature satellites known as CubeSats are taking on larger roles in space missions that might previously have been carried out by more expensive conventional spacecraft. Now, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are envisioning a still larger mission for CubeSats as airborne testbeds for technologies that are being developed for future generations of hypersonic vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe development of hypersonic vehicles able to travel through the Earth\u0026rsquo;s atmosphere at Mach 5 or faster \u0026ndash; five times the speed of sound \u0026ndash; is attracting substantial new government and industry funding. But test facilities needed to evaluate thermodynamic, aerodynamic, acoustic, and other issues critical to operating in that harsh environment are limited, in high demand, and costly to use.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers want to eliminate that roadblock by building hardened CubeSats that could use re-entry from space to generate the conditions needed to evaluate hypersonic technologies. The small satellites, with their key systems protected from the heat of re-entry, would be launched into the upper atmosphere from the International Space Station or a \u0026ldquo;rideshare\u0026rdquo; rocket to provide several minutes of testing at velocities of up to Mach 25.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are looking at the feasibility of building what would be an inexpensive flying wind tunnel,\u0026rdquo; said Krish Ahuja, Regents Professor of Aerospace Engineering and division chief for aerospace and acoustics in the Aerospace, Transportation, and Advanced Systems Laboratory of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the project\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator. \u0026ldquo;We could gather pretty much any data that would be needed for hypersonic research and provide a new way to conduct studies that now can be quite difficult to do.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInitial Study Suggests Developing 6U Vehicle\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBased on a six-month feasibility study that included collaborators from Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering and two private companies, Ahuja believes it would be worthwhile to pursue design of a 6U test vehicle to evaluate the concept. (A 6U CubeSat is about the size of the system unit of a desktop computer). If that proves promising, larger vehicles could be constructed with more capable instrumentation, guidance, and even propulsion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe goal of the project\u0026rsquo;s first year is to understand what would be required to develop and launch the flying testbeds \u0026ndash; and recover them after flight. Design and development of the new test vehicles must overcome significant challenges related to controlling the flight duration, speed, altitude, and orientation of the vehicle during data collection. Systems to communicate with the ground and track the vehicle\u0026rsquo;s trajectory must also be developed. Also, part of the first-year goal is creating a roadmap showing the development and test process.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Ongoing work will include a \u0026lsquo;system-of-systems\u0026rsquo; analysis of the concept to model its performance and interaction with other support systems to assess its capability to conduct scientific research,\u0026rdquo; Ahuja said. \u0026ldquo;Our initial calculations indicate that a 6U CubeSat could be hardened with a thermal protection system for hypersonic conditions to help conduct limited feasibility experiments. This will be a building block for future systems that would be larger and able to conduct the testing we envision.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInitial testing is likely to involve free fall of the test vehicle, but subsequent tests would include control surfaces that would provide steering to prevent tumbling and other undesired effects. Multiple CubeSats could also be operated together.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPossible New Capabilities for Small Satellites\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECubeSats, so-called because they are designed in standard cube sizes, aren\u0026rsquo;t normally designed to be recovered after a mission; when their work is done, they simply burn up in the atmosphere. Because Ahuja wants to study effects on materials and capture data from onboard instruments, the flying wind tunnel satellites will need to be recovered using parachutes that would drop them into a recovery zone, perhaps in the desert Southwest.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Getting them down at the right location will require good guidance and control, good telemetry, and a propulsion system,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The challenge will be to make these very small and inexpensive. To get the information we need, we will have to bring the testbed safely to the ground.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe high temperatures generated by re-entry into the Earth\u0026rsquo;s atmosphere could be useful for more than simulating hypersonic conditions. Ahuja believes the heat could be used to operate a proprietary device that could provide steering for the CubeSats, which normally don\u0026rsquo;t have propulsion systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMuch of current research on hypersonic flight depends on data from computational fluid dynamics simulations, which need validation from testing. Beyond the information gained from the testbed, Ahuja believes the small spacecraft could make big contributions by providing a real-world anchor for the analysis tools that researchers are using for a variety of hypersonic vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA New Approach to Hypersonic Testing is Needed\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHypersonic testing is typically done in short-duration wind tunnels or high-temperature testbeds, meaning high-speed and high-temperature conditions are difficult to achieve simultaneously and at test durations relevant to hypersonic vehicles. In addition, there are few existing facilities where such testing can be done, and they are in high demand. The new testbed is expected to provide about three minutes of testing per flight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, there is a critical need to understand how much and what kind of thermal protection system is needed to protect hypersonic vehicles at high velocities where friction can produce temperatures of more than 4,000 degrees F. Additionally, there are questions about acoustic effects and how uneven heating will spread across a vehicle and potentially damage its structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The airflow across a hypersonic vehicle can be both turbulent and laminar, different on different parts of the vehicle,\u0026rdquo; said Ahuja. \u0026ldquo;These wide variations of the flow properties can produce large variations in temperatures over the vehicle surface, which is highly undesirable with respect to the vehicle\u0026rsquo;s structural integrity. As such, we need to understand what is happening to the material as a result of temperature changes over time. This thermal loading cannot be studied in conventional wind tunnels, which normally offer fractions of seconds of run time at hypersonic conditions, because it takes a while for those conditions to become steady.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAcoustic loading can also dramatically affect the structural integrity of a hypersonic vehicle, and that likewise requires time to evaluate. \u0026ldquo;Acoustic loading of the kind that could generate a crack in a structure that develops over time,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We could create and study these conditions with our flying testbed.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFunding from GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Independent Research and Development (IRAD) program has supported the initiative so far, and by gathering enough data from the initial studies, Ahuja hopes to attract collaborators to help implement the new test approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There is so much enthusiasm for this that I believe our chances of success are high,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;By launching from another space system, we won\u0026rsquo;t have to worry about the initial launch propulsion. This could address a lot of challenges in conducting hypersonic research.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWriter: John Toon (john.toon@gtri.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAtlanta, Georgia USA\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout GTRI\u003C\/strong\u003E: The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,900 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $800 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, the state, and industry. For more information, please visit\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ewww.gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are envisioning a larger mission for CubeSats as airborne testbeds for technologies that are being developed for future generations of hypersonic vehicles."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2022-12-01 02:39:26","changed_gmt":"2022-12-01 02:39:26","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"663552":{"id":"663552","type":"image","title":"Plasma Source","body":null,"created":"1669861998","gmt_created":"2022-12-01 02:33:18","changed":"1669861998","gmt_changed":"2022-12-01 02:33:18","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251166","name":"Plasma Jet_08-lg.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Plasma%20Jet_08-lg_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Plasma%20Jet_08-lg_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":241804,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Plasma%20Jet_08-lg_0.jpg?itok=YkZFAvRI"}}},"media_ids":["663552"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"182638","name":"hypersonic"},{"id":"191693","name":"Testbeds"},{"id":"80041","name":"CubeSat"},{"id":"169608","name":"satellites"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"189175","name":"airborne"},{"id":"169423","name":"space station"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"7141","name":"IRAD"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"663073":{"#nid":"663073","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI\u0027s SEEDLab Ground Zero for Lunar Flashlight Project","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/newsroom\/lunar-flashlight\u0022\u003ELunar Flashlight\u003C\/a\u003E is small for a satellite, but could be big for research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENASA plans to launch Lunar Flashlight, a small satellite (SmallSat) about the size of a briefcase that will use lasers to search for water ice inside craters at the Moon\u0026rsquo;s unexplored South Pole.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/jpl\/nasa-s-lunar-flashlight-ready-to-search-for-the-moon-s-water-ice\u0022\u003ENASA says\u003C\/a\u003E that the Lunar Flashlight, traveling aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will take about three months to reach its \u0026ldquo;science orbit.\u0026rdquo; The launch itself has been delayed:\u0026nbsp;SpaceX has pushed back the launch several times. Currently, it is expected to launch later this month.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe work on earth leading up to the launch has already taken quite some time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and GTRI have been instrumental in the development of the Lunar Flashlight mission. Researchers in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering worked with NASA\u0026rsquo;s Marshall Space Flight Center to develop the SmallSat\u0026rsquo;s novel propulsion system. Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) collaborated to assemble and test the Lunar Flashlight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESeasoned researchers were assisted by students in their efforts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne such student is Mary Kate Broadway, a student assistant in GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL), whose academic and professional experiences in modeling and fabrication were called upon to create a near 1:1 model of the Lunar Flashlight SmallSat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway, who is pursuing a bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree in mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineering at Kennesaw State University, used GTRI\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/webwise.gtri.gatech.edu\/communities\/working-groups\/workplace-enhancement-working-group\/seedlab\u0022\u003ESEEDLab makerspace\u003C\/a\u003E to fashion the model based on designs produced by NASA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I got the SolidWorks (a popular solid modeling computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering application) file, and then I started by taking all the SolidWorks parts, making the 3D printables, and then exporting them out as \u0026lsquo;.stl\u0026rsquo; files. Here (at the SEEDLab), I queued everything up and printed it,\u0026rdquo; Broadway explains. She did \u0026ldquo;all of the painting and the printing\u0026rdquo; by herself. \u0026quot;However, of course, the SEEDLab helpers (student assistants) all helped me whenever I had trouble.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway, who already has a BFA in animation and digital arts from Florida State University, has the savvy to make use of the SEEDLab\u0026rsquo;s wide variety of equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the Lunar Flashlight project, Broadway employed:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EAn Ultimaker S5 FDM, a fused-filament fabrication 3D printer.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA FormLabs Cameo resin printer.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EA Glowforge 3D laser printer and cutter.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EVarious traditional hand tools.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway employed traditional materials such as PET and PLA plastics for some of the more intricate parts of the model. The main body of the model is aluminum, which Broadway collaborated with the Aero Maker Space on the Georgia Tech campus to get pressed and fashioned to specifications with a Waterjet cutting machine. To simulate working solar panels, Broadway designed printed vinyl labels.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBroadway\u0026rsquo;s supervisor, EOSL Research Engineer Eric Brown, was initially contacted by Principal Research Engineer Jud Ready, Ph.D., who has worked extensively with NASA. Ready has been the liaison to NASA, reporting on Broadway\u0026rsquo;s progress.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs of Nov. 4, just days before the Lunar Flashlight launch, Broadway was still engrossed in making final adjustments to the model, particularly the tight tolerances of its solar arrays. Broadway began working on the Lunar Flashlight project in April. Working part-time at the SEEDLab, she has spent dozens of hours\u0026mdash;amounting to about a month of work--perfecting the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter: Christopher Weems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPhotos: Sean McNeil\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia USA\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Mary Kate Broadway, a student assistant in GTRI\u2019s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL), whose academic and professional experiences in modeling and fabrication were called upon to create a near 1:1 model of the Lunar Flashlight SmallSat."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2022-11-10 13:05:18","changed_gmt":"2022-11-11 16:21:17","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"663071":{"id":"663071","type":"image","title":"GTRI\u0027s Mary Kate Broadway","body":null,"created":"1668084096","gmt_created":"2022-11-10 12:41:36","changed":"1668084096","gmt_changed":"2022-11-10 12:41:36","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251037","name":"2022_1104_image_Lunar Flashlight SEEDLab_Mary Kate Broadway_04.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022_1104_image_Lunar%20Flashlight%20SEEDLab_Mary%20Kate%20Broadway_04.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022_1104_image_Lunar%20Flashlight%20SEEDLab_Mary%20Kate%20Broadway_04.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":423854,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022_1104_image_Lunar%20Flashlight%20SEEDLab_Mary%20Kate%20Broadway_04.JPG?itok=HoQ77Sca"}}},"media_ids":["663071"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"191623","name":"SEEDLab"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"188307","name":"Lunar Flashlight"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"191624","name":"SmallSat"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"191625","name":"SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"167880","name":"SpaceX"},{"id":"187527","name":"orbit"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"7689","name":"EOSL"},{"id":"191626","name":"SolidWorks"},{"id":"191627","name":"automation engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"661325":{"#nid":"661325","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Laurie Garrow Featured as Moderator at 2022 U.S. Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Global Aerospace Summit","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ce.gatech.edu\/directory\/person\/laurie-garrow\u0022\u003EProfessor Laurie Garrow\u003C\/a\u003E was recently featured as a speaker at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/events.uschamber.com\/globalaerospacesummit\/2164082\u0022\u003EU.S. Chamber of Commerce\u0026rsquo;s Global Aerospace Summit.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;Garrow, whose expertise is in aviation, travel behavior analysis, and forecasting, moderated the panel\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMeeting the Needs of the Modern\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECustomer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003E. Panelists\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;were Matt Davis, chief commercial officer, FlightAware; Clotilde Enel-R\u0026eacute;hel, executive director of programs, Connected Aviation Solutions, Collins Aerospace; and Stacey Wronkowski, vice president of digital technology, United Airlines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the 30-minute panel session, Garrow led the discussion on examining the new ways data and technology are helping create a more connected, efficient, and sustainable journey for modern airline passengers. The panelists were able to highlight how their companies are tracking information across the entire passenger journey, highlighting ways that they are adopting sophisticated data collection and analysis to make real-time operational decisions and improve the experience for customers across the globe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnited Airlines spotlighted its ConnectionSaver tool, which sends travelers\u0026nbsp;messages\u0026nbsp;with\u0026nbsp;directions to the gate for their connecting flight,\u0026nbsp;information about expected travel time between the two gates, and will even hold the flight for a few minutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGarrow also asked how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are being used to improve technologies and make flying a smoother and more enjoyable process for passengers. Among the many initiatives mentioned,\u0026nbsp;Enel-R\u0026eacute;hel from Collins Aerospace spoke on that company\u0026rsquo;s ongoing efforts to develop and improve the technology used for predictive maintenance monitoring for aircraft to prevent unexpected maintenance issues.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo close out the discussion, Garrow asked the panelists what\u0026rsquo;s next and how they see technology playing a role. Each panelist responded by emphasizing the importance of data collection, AI, and machine learning.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGarrow expressed her appreciation for being invited to the panel saying, \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s important as a woman [in] engineering to be featured at conferences like these.\u0026rdquo; She noted that there is an underrepresentation of women in aviation and emphasized the ongoing efforts to change that.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGarrow is a professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/schools\/civil-and-environmental-engineering\u0022\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;is the first woman and the first academic to serve as president in the Airline Group of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies\u0026rsquo; 60-year history.\u0026nbsp;In her role as co-director for the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/airmobility.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Urban and Regional Air Mobility,\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;she has conducted research in advanced air mobility that has focused on understanding demand for these new modes of transportation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Garrow led a discussion on how technology is improving the airline passenger experience."}],"uid":"35798","created_gmt":"2022-09-20 21:22:57","changed_gmt":"2022-09-22 16:47:54","author":"Ayana Isles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"661326":{"id":"661326","type":"image","title":"Laurie Garrow US Chamber Aerospace Summit ","body":null,"created":"1663709049","gmt_created":"2022-09-20 21:24:09","changed":"1663709078","gmt_changed":"2022-09-20 21:24:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250512","name":"DSC03745.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC03745.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC03745.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":784714,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DSC03745.jpg?itok=_QOck_Oq"}}},"media_ids":["661326"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"1173","name":"aviation"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"2556","name":"artificial intelligence"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:aisles3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAyana Isles\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nMedia Relations\u0026nbsp;Representative\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"660746":{"#nid":"660746","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Color Change in Space Materials May Help Measure Degradation Remotely","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the next six months, a camera system on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) will be snapping photos of more than a dozen different material samples, gathering detailed information that will help researchers determine how \u0026ndash; and why \u0026ndash; the harsh conditions of space affect these materials. Among the issues to be studied are color changes that may indicate the degradation caused by exposure to the environment in space.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA key goal of the research will be to correlate the color changes that occur under low-Earth orbital (LEO) exposure with variations in the materials\u0026#39; properties \u0026ndash; such as structural strength, chemical composition, and electrical conductivity \u0026ndash; to determine how these spectral changes might allow scientists and engineers to visually assess deterioration. The LEO space environment exposes materials to the damaging effects of atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, and high-energy electrons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to know not only how space affects materials, but also why that happens,\u0026rdquo; said Elena Plis, a senior research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) who is leading the multi-organization research team. \u0026ldquo;For instance, we know that a commonly used material from DuPont, Kapton\u0026reg; polyimide film, is subject to changes in its conductivity in space, but we want to know why, how we might prevent that, or how we can use it to our benefit.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERegularly photographing the materials in both visible and infrared spectral ranges will provide a dynamic record of what happens with optical properties in space, improving upon the knowledge that has often been limited to measurements before and after space exposure. The research team will extensively analyze the materials returned to Earth to understand better how space degradation may affect other material properties and use this information for long-term space mission planning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m interested in the dynamics of damage caused to materials in space,\u0026rdquo; explained Plis. \u0026ldquo;Up until now, we have generally only had two data points for assessing the effects of space: the pristine materials that we launch, and the cumulative effects we can see when materials are returned. The uniqueness of this experiment is in letting us watch the damage occur over time.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond GTRI, the research team includes researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), NASA, the University of Texas at El Paso, and DuPont, a multi-industrial company headquartered in Wilmington, Del. Utilizing the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) Flight Facility, the research is also supported by Aegis Aerospace Inc., the company which owns and operates the MISSE platform installed on the ISS.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnalyzing the spectral data obtained by the experiment could also allow observers to determine whether a piece of space junk is from a lightweight insulating blanket or a heavier circuit board that could damage orbiting spacecraft. Beyond providing a new way to assess the structural health of materials remotely and assessing the risks from space debris, the experiment will also help engineers evaluate novel materials that could provide designers of future spacecraft with new options.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;DuPont Kapton\u0026reg; HN polyimide film, for instance, is a material that has been used ever since the Apollo missions, which makes it the gold standard,\u0026rdquo; Plis said. \u0026ldquo;But there are many more materials that may offer improved properties, so we are going to see how some examples of those are affected by space.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany of the materials being studied are used to protect spacecraft systems and crews from the effects of rapid thermal changes that take place in orbit, and from damaging electrical charging effects. The MISSE-16 materials selection includes different types of polyimides, liquid crystal polymers (LCP), polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS), carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymers, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester films.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe samples were installed on the exterior of the ISS using a robotic arm and will be retrieved in the same way in about six months. The samples will be placed on three different faces of the ISS to receive preferential exposures to atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, and high-energy electrons. The samples were delivered to the ISS by a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft that launched on July 16.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo facilitate the long-term observation on orbit, the MISSE testbed has been upgraded with a camera and illumination system to cover a broader spectral range, including infrared, which is important to observing certain aspects of degradation. The upgraded hardware will remain part of the MISSE instrumentation after the GTRI-led experiment is over.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe samples, which are one-inch squares, are expected to be returned to Earth next spring. The materials flown in space will be examined in detail to understand the degradation and compared to identical samples subjected to simulated space conditions in the laboratory. In all, the samples will be subjected to 10 different characterization techniques, including atomic force microscopy, optical characterization of reflection and absorptance, and measurements of electrical charge transfer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We will be trying to connect the optical properties with surface changes and chemical changes,\u0026rdquo; said Plis. \u0026ldquo;With our ground experiments, we hope to understand these changes and the physics that lies behind them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Plis, who has been studying the effects of space exposure on materials since 2015, seeing the research launch into space was the result of a years-long application and development process.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For me, launching the materials was very emotional,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s like a dream come true to be sending my research into space and getting data from space. This is my first project to go into space, and I hope there will be more.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWriter: John Toon (John.Toon@gtri.gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout GTRI\u003C\/strong\u003E: The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, the state, and industry. For more information, please visit\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ewww.gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"For the next six months, a camera system on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) will be snapping photos of more than a dozen different material samples for researchers to analyze how the harsh conditions of space affect these materials."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2022-08-31 17:53:48","changed_gmt":"2022-08-31 17:53:48","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"660743":{"id":"660743","type":"image","title":"MISSE-16 Materials Samples","body":null,"created":"1661966702","gmt_created":"2022-08-31 17:25:02","changed":"1661966702","gmt_changed":"2022-08-31 17:25:02","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250345","name":"space-materials-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/space-materials-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/space-materials-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":389293,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/space-materials-2.jpg?itok=uR5FNYQl"}},"660742":{"id":"660742","type":"image","title":"Elena Plis, a GTRI senior research engineer","body":null,"created":"1661966637","gmt_created":"2022-08-31 17:23:57","changed":"1661966637","gmt_changed":"2022-08-31 17:23:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250344","name":"space-materials-9.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/space-materials-9.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/space-materials-9.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":674641,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/space-materials-9.jpg?itok=FzwVQpmf"}}},"media_ids":["660743","660742"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"2681","name":"iss"},{"id":"2798","name":"International Space Station"},{"id":"191201","name":"MISSE-16 program"},{"id":"191202","name":"space materials"},{"id":"191203","name":"AFRL"},{"id":"191204","name":"Air Force Research Laboratory"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"658185":{"#nid":"658185","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Your Next Personal Assistant Could Be a Drone","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch3\u003EImagine you\u0026rsquo;re a college student cramming for a test in your dorm room. It\u0026#39;s getting late, and you realize you still need to make a trip across campus to pick up supplies from the school bookstore and find a bite to eat.\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat if there was a way for the school supplies and food to be delivered right to your dorm \u0026ndash; not by car or foot, but by drone?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne class that is part of the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and Georgia Tech could soon turn that idea into a reality.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe class, called Experimental Flights, is developing a drone delivery network that would allow students on Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s campus in Atlanta to place orders for items such as school supplies and food through a mobile app, and have a drone deliver those items to a secure locker station close to their dorm. The app would have a similar look and feel to the app used for popular ridesharing services and students could use it to view wait times for the next available drone, track their package, and receive a unique code to access their purchase.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichael Mayo, a GTRI senior research engineer who is the lead instructor for the class, said his initial goal is to roll out the drone delivery network to students at Georgia Tech and then to consider other locations later on.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;We\u0026rsquo;ve been working on this kind of network for a couple of years now and have leveraged knowledge from a lot of different disciplines at Tech \u0026ndash; including aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science,\u0026quot; Mayo said. \u0026quot;Success for this project would be for us to develop a fully-functional drone delivery network on Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s campus that would serve as a model for future drone delivery networks across the country and world.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EVIP is an education program supported by Tech and GTRI that allows undergraduate and graduate students to earn academic credit for working with faculty on projects they don\u0026#39;t typically encounter in a classroom setting.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudent teams work closely with faculty advisors and graduate student mentors. Classes are held once a week, though team members usually hold additional meetings outside of class. Prospective students who are interested in joining the program can apply to a team that interests them on \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vip.gatech.edu\/vip-vertically-integrated-projects-program\u0022\u003ETech\u0026#39;s VIP website\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EDiversity of Thought\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Experimental Flights class attracts a diverse group of class years and majors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the spring 2022 semester, the course included 33 undergraduate students ranging from first years to fourth years with the following majors: aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. Twenty-one of the 33 students took the class in a previous semester.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of those students is Catherine Heaton, a fourth-year aerospace engineering major who has participated in the Experimental Flights class since the fall 2020 semester. Heaton said working with a diverse group of students has enabled her to apply the concepts she has learned from her major to solve real-world issues, while also gaining experience developing hardware systems that supports emerging technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;I\u0026#39;m on our class\u0026#39; hardware team, so I help assemble all of the parts of the drone and also work a little bit with 3D software modeling,\u0026quot; Heaton said. \u0026quot;There\u0026#39;s a lot of new technologies coming out \u0026ndash; whether it\u0026#39;s drones, or other plane-related things \u0026ndash; and they all have so much potential.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother student, Tim Boyer, a third-year electrical engineering major who has also been a member of the class since fall 2020, said he most enjoys VIP\u0026#39;s interdisciplinary focus and getting the chance to tinker with drones.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;I really enjoy working with mechanical engineering and computer science majors to make a project come together,\u0026quot; Boyer said. \u0026quot;It\u0026#39;s also great because I have always been interested in drones, so this class is a great outlet to play around with that kind of hardware.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EVIP Programs are now active in over 40 universities, with more than 4,500 students participating per term around the globe. The entire Georgia Tech VIP program currently serves 84 VIP teams involving more than 200 faculty and over 1,500 students. GTRI has 13 VIP teams that involve roughly 40 faculty members.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EPreparing for Launch\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMayo\u0026#39;s class has assembled a few drone prototypes with the help of drone assembly kits and 3D printing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cost to create one drone is under $1,000, and each prototype can currently carry packages that weigh up to 2 pounds, according to Mayo.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;The cost of drones, batteries and other associated components continue to decrease, which makes the economics of this type of delivery system more and more favorable,\u0026quot; Mayo said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDrone delivery offers several benefits to traditional car-based services, including the potential for reduced greenhouse gas emissions as smaller and lighter packages are transported via drones instead of delivery trucks. This alternative delivery method could also reduce roadway congestion and lower the risk of car accidents. Drone delivery could also enable greater route flexibility, resulting in consumers receiving their packages sooner.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond package delivery, drones are useful in disaster relief settings when organizations need to send goods to places with restricted access, and also in military settings to help ground troops collect key intelligence and not risking helicopter crews to deliver supplies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Experimental Flights class has successfully completed initial flight testing for their drones in a controlled environment that has been approved by the Georgia Tech Police Department and demonstrated the drones\u0026#39; ability to transport small packages. The class has also constructed a prototype package locker that can securely store multiple packages and that the drone can directly drop packages into.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe class is currently designing the mobile app for end users and a flight control center to manage drone operation. The path the drone takes through campus for each delivery will be automatically generated using an algorithm designed by the class. The algorithm has been designed to optimize the drone\u0026#39;s flight path to ensure maximum safety by avoiding flight over people while also reducing delivery times when possible. Drones will fly themselves autonomously to their destination during normal operation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMayo noted a fully-operational drone would transmit real-time telemetry and live video streams to the flight control center at all times, and in the event of an emergency, a human operator would assume manual control of the drone. Packages will be secured with both an electromagnet and with the landing gear of the drone itself during transport to reduce the risk of a package becoming dislodged during flight. Rotor cowlings will be added to the drones to minimize the chance of human contact with the rotors \u0026ndash; or a fanlike component that drones rely on for propulsion and control \u0026ndash; during normal operation and in the event that a drone flies off its approved path.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore implementing a drone delivery network on campus, the class would need to gain approval from campus administrators and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Special preparation will also need to be made to get FAA approval to fly the drones beyond visual line of sight, which is a requirement for most drone operations,\u0026quot; Mayo said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce the drone delivery system becomes fully operational, the only initial cost to students would be the items that they order, Mayo said. An additional delivery cost, similar to those for food delivery services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, could be included later on.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELooking ahead, the class aims to perform flight tests where the drone would pick up a sample package and deliver the item to a locker station in one trip.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EBeyond the Classroom\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMayo\u0026#39;s class is currently seeking corporate collaborations to apply their drone delivery concept to areas such as inventory management and more widespread package delivery. His class is currently collaborating with U.S. furniture company Steelcase to study the use of drones for indoor and outdoor inventory management.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMayo said he considers a collaboration between students and companies to be a win-win for both groups. Companies are able to build relationships with students who have in-demand skills and who could be hired as entry-level employees. Students, meanwhile, are able to receive feedback from experienced engineers and network with a company that could serve as a potential employment opportunity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;There are so many advantages to VIP that extend well beyond the classroom,\u0026quot; Mayo said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWriter: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:anna.akins@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAnna Akins\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nPhotos: Christopher Moore\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGTRI Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia USA\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Imagine you\u2019re a college student cramming for a test in your dorm room. What if there was a way for the school supplies and food to be delivered right to your dorm \u2013 not by car or foot, but by drone? "}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2022-05-13 12:27:49","changed_gmt":"2022-05-13 12:27:49","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"658184":{"id":"658184","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Student Catherine Heaton","body":null,"created":"1652444518","gmt_created":"2022-05-13 12:21:58","changed":"1652444518","gmt_changed":"2022-05-13 12:21:58","alt":"","file":{"fid":"249500","name":"2022_.05_VIP-PROGRAM-AI-DRONE__PHOTO_033-crop.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022_.05_VIP-PROGRAM-AI-DRONE__PHOTO_033-crop.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022_.05_VIP-PROGRAM-AI-DRONE__PHOTO_033-crop.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":601857,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022_.05_VIP-PROGRAM-AI-DRONE__PHOTO_033-crop.jpg?itok=mHseLSOr"}},"658182":{"id":"658182","type":"image","title":"GTRI senior research engineer Michael Mayo","body":null,"created":"1652444320","gmt_created":"2022-05-13 12:18:40","changed":"1652444320","gmt_changed":"2022-05-13 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Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"132741","name":"Michael Mayo"},{"id":"30661","name":"VIP"},{"id":"167441","name":"student research"},{"id":"184573","name":"vertically integrated projects"},{"id":"1051","name":"Computer Science"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"190613","name":"campus drone"},{"id":"187353","name":"drone"},{"id":"190614","name":"Experimental Flights class"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"654400":{"#nid":"654400","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lunar Flashlight","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen thirsty residents of a permanent community on the Moon take a swig of fresh water brought in from the lunar south pole, they\u0026rsquo;ll be enjoying the benefits of a 30-pound spacecraft known as the \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/missions\/lunar-flashlight\u0022\u003ELunar Flashlight\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E that was assembled and tested at the \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2021\/07\/search-lunar-ice\u0022\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight will use powerful lasers and an onboard spectrometer to search shaded areas of craters at the south pole for evidence of surface ice. Earlier NASA missions have shown that the Moon may have frozen water in these areas, and by orbiting close to the surface, the spacecraft will be able to identify locations that may be worthy of exploration by future missions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight was developed by a team from \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\u0022\u003ENASA\u0026#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/goddard\u0022\u003ENASA\u0026#39;s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, the \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ucla.edu\u0022\u003EUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, Georgia Tech, and \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/marshall\/home\/index.html\u0022\u003ENASA\u0026#39;s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aerospace.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E worked with MSFC to develop the spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s propulsion system \u0026ndash; a new technology that uses an improved environmentally-friendly propellant \u0026ndash; and collaborated with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to assemble and test the Lunar Flashlight in a set of unique facilities in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond studying the Moon\u0026rsquo;s ice, Lunar Flashlight will demonstrate that small spacecraft can have large capabilities. It will be the first CubeSat to use a green monopropellant propulsion system for orbital insertion at the Moon \u0026ndash; and to change positions for aiming its instruments, radioing data back to Earth, and gathering sunlight to power its operations. The CubeSat, which is about the size of a desktop computer, will also be the first to use active laser spectroscopy to explore the Moon\u0026rsquo;s surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight is on track to be ready for launch as early as March 2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EDemonstrating the Capabilities of Small Spacecraft\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUntil now, CubeSats \u0026ndash; named for their use of standard-sized cubic modules \u0026ndash; have mostly taken on tasks in Earth orbit, and have not needed powerful propulsion systems. Lunar Flashlight will help demonstrate the ability of small and relatively inexpensive spacecraft to handle important space missions that had previously been reserved for larger vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Lunar Flashlight is a modern space mission with a serious science objective,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/people\/edgar-glenn-lightsey\u0022\u003EGlenn Lightsey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering and co-principal investigator for the Lunar Flashlight project. \u0026ldquo;The discovery of ice on the moon is strategic for human exploration. The ice could be measured by a larger and more expensive satellite, but using smaller spacecraft is more responsive and may be more cost effective.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight is one of several missions planned for the next few years to use small spacecraft to investigate major science challenges. Low-cost CubeSat missions with shortened development times could expand the world\u0026rsquo;s ability to explore the solar system beyond Earth orbit, but doing so will require enhanced communications systems and improvements in miniaturized systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We expect there to be hundreds of satellites beyond Earth orbit within the next decade, so we need more infrastructure to support these missions,\u0026rdquo; Lightsey said. \u0026ldquo;The technology \u0026ndash; such as miniaturized propulsion systems \u0026ndash; also must be improved.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EFiring Lasers to Look for Frozen Water\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight carries four powerful near-infrared lasers that operate at different wavelengths in the near-infrared spectrum. The lasers will be aimed at shadowed areas of craters, and will operate in sequence to illuminate locations where ice may have been deposited and protected from melting. Water in the form of ice will absorb the laser light, while dry lunar soil \u0026ndash; known as regolith \u0026ndash; will reflect the beams back to the spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s spectrometer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By studying the light returned, the system will tell us whether water ice is present in these permanently-shaded areas,\u0026rdquo; said Jud Ready, principal research engineer at GTRI and the Lunar Flashlight project\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator at Georgia Tech. The Lunar Flashlight science team will interpret the CubeSat\u0026rsquo;s measurements along with data sets collected by other spacecraft to further understand the abundance and distribution of lunar ice deposits.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lasers will be powered by a large lithium-ion battery that will be charged by the four solar panels on the spacecraft. The lasers, spectrometer, and battery take up about a third of the Lunar Flashlight\u0026rsquo;s total volume.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EData from the search for ice will be beamed to NASA\u0026rsquo;s Deep Space Network by a radio transmitter similar to those used in other NASA missions. The radio will also receive commands sent to the spacecraft from controllers on Earth; because of the time required for signals to be transmitted to the Moon, the commands will be stored and carried out at specific times.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe data will come into Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s mission operations control center, located in the School of Aerospace Engineering, and be forwarded to UCLA for analysis and archiving in the NASA Planetary Data System. Spacecraft controllers at Georgia Tech will monitor the signals to make sure Lunar Flashlight is operating as intended.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight\u0026rsquo;s goal is to address one of NASA\u0026rsquo;s Strategic Knowledge Gaps: understanding the composition, quantity, distribution, and form of water and water ions \u0026ndash; such as hydroxyl (OH) \u0026ndash; in lunar cold spots known as \u0026ldquo;cold traps.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrevious NASA lunar orbiters and other missions have detected potential water ice deposits at high latitudes on the Moon. Lunar Flashlight will map a handful of those deposits at spatial resolutions of one to two kilometers, providing significantly more detail than earlier missions. Beyond confirming the existence of the frozen water, Lunar Flashlight will provide information that might help determine where future missions might land to sample the water and evaluate its potential use by humans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing the Moon\u0026rsquo;s own water resources for supporting human life and producing fuel could cut the cost of maintaining permanent lunar communities by reducing how much material needs to be launched from Earth. In addition to water, NASA hopes to use lunar materials to make oxygen and propellant for launching return flights.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EAssembling and Testing Lunar Flashlight\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBuilt in a \u0026ldquo;6U\u0026rdquo; (six-unit) CubeSat format (one unit equals one-liter volume), Lunar Flashlight was constructed mostly from commercial off the shelf (COTS) components. These included standard lithium ion batteries, the central processing unit, solar panels, star tracker navigation system, sun sensors, and three-axis reaction wheels for controlling the spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s position. The spacecraft was sent to Georgia Tech from JPL partially assembled. Using GTRI\u0026rsquo;s clean room and specialized Atlanta-based facilities, researchers completed the assembly and tested everything. One circuit board and two of the thrusters had to be replaced during the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;GTRI was contracted to put the components of the Lunar Flashlight together, putting the upper spacecraft \u0026ndash; which is the radio and lasers \u0026ndash; to the propulsion system,\u0026rdquo; said Ready. \u0026ldquo;We also added and tested the solar arrays, and showed that they will unfurl properly when they reach space.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter assembling the full spacecraft, GTRI and the School of Aerospace Engineering subjected Lunar Flashlight to qualification testing, making sure it could withstand the strong vibrations associated with launch, operate in a vacuum through extreme temperature changes \u0026ndash; and activate its communication system and lasers as expected and without interfering with one another.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than a dozen graduate and undergraduate students worked on the project, along with several GTRI and School of Aerospace Engineering faculty and staff. Students will also be involved in controlling the spacecraft and supporting the retrieval of the mission data.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EDesigning and Building a Small Propulsion System\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight will enter orbit around the Moon and change its attitude toward the sun, Earth, and lunar surface using a green monopropellant propulsion system designed specifically for the mission. Developed by Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Space Systems Design Laboratory and MSFC, the system can deliver more than 3,000 Newton-seconds of thrust, but weighs less than six kilograms when fueled.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELunar Flashlight will be the first planetary spacecraft to use the monopropellant, which does not require a separate oxidizer to produce thrust. Known as Advanced SpaceCraft Energetic Non-Toxic (ASCENT) propellant, it provides enhanced performance at a lower level of toxicity than hydrazine, a conventional spacecraft fuel. Lunar Flashlight\u0026rsquo;s fuel tank is about the size of a small shoebox.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMost propulsion systems for small spacecraft use cold-gas or electric energy sources, which cannot provide the thrust necessary for the kinds of maneuvers that the Lunar Flashlight mission requires.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We will command the spacecraft to change its attitude to make sure the solar panels are aligned with the sun,\u0026rdquo; Ready explained. \u0026ldquo;But when they are aligned with the sun, the lasers won\u0026rsquo;t be aimed at the moon. We\u0026rsquo;ll have to make frequent adjustments to keep the solar panels, lasers and communications system pointed where they need to be.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers used metal additive manufacturing, custom electronics, and cutting-edge microfluidic components to produce the Lunar Flashlight\u0026rsquo;s unique propulsion system. With increasing interest in CubeSats for deep-space exploration, they believe the system could find future applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The technology developed here will make maneuverable satellites accessible for more organizations and missions,\u0026rdquo; said Lightsey. \u0026ldquo;The Lunar Flashlight propulsion system has the opportunity to be commercialized. It is a modular system, so it does not require specialized expertise to use. It could be incorporated into the design of a small satellite system from the beginning of mission planning.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EHow Will Lunar Flashlight Get to the Moon?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter final assembly is completed at Georgia Tech, Lunar Flashlight will be shipped to MSFC in Huntsville, Alabama, to have the propulsion system fueled. It will then be shipped to the launch provider to be placed aboard a rocket headed to the Moon along with other small spacecraft that will hitch a ride.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the Moon, on average, is approximately 250,000 miles from Earth, Lunar Flashlight will travel much farther before it begins its science mission. That\u0026rsquo;s because the spacecraft will make several high-altitude orbits around the Moon to attain the orbital geometry needed to study the lunar south pole. In all, Lunar Flashlight could travel millions of miles over a period of up to four months \u0026ndash; depending on the launch vehicle used and position of the Moon and Earth \u0026ndash; before its hunt for lunar ice can begin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce in its desired polar orbit around the Moon, Lunar Flashlight is designed to complete at least ten science orbits, though the researchers hope it will operate much longer. Having a propulsion system will enable controllers to adjust the spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s distance from the lunar surface, allowing it to eventually get within 12 kilometers of the surface. Because the Moon has no atmosphere, such close flights are possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter its work is completed, Lunar Flashlight will be crashed into the Moon\u0026rsquo;s surface to remove it from orbit. That will create a new crater about six feet in diameter, an impact that will take place far from the water to avoid potential contamination.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EProviding a New Capability for Small Spacecraft\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Lunar Flashlight project provides a strong demonstration of the space capabilities at Georgia Tech. By bringing together aerospace engineering and system engineering \u0026ndash; including extensive cleanroom capabilities and test facilities \u0026ndash; Georgia Tech showed it could meet the needs of a complex space mission.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile Lunar Flashlight will be Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s first lunar mission, it has designed and built small satellites for Earth orbit and collaborated on other missions as far back as the Long Duration Exposure Facility launched in 1984 to study the effects of space on various materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is a great opportunity to show how GTRI and the academic units of Georgia Tech can work together to accomplish more than a single lab could,\u0026rdquo; said Lightsey. \u0026ldquo;Most space projects require expertise and capabilities from multiple technical disciplines. Georgia Tech has a strong tradition in interdisciplinary research, so by bringing experts with different backgrounds and capabilities together, we can provide a complete end-to-end solution.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWriter: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto: john.toon@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGTRI Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia USA\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E****\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Small Spacecraft Will Scout Ice Formations on the Moon"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"When thirsty residents of a permanent community on the Moon take a swig of fresh water brought in from the lunar south pole, they\u2019ll be enjoying the benefits of a 30-pound spacecraft known as the Lunar Flashlight."}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2022-01-12 20:59:07","changed_gmt":"2022-01-12 20:59:07","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-01-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-01-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"654375":{"id":"654375","type":"image","title":"Lunar Flashlight","body":null,"created":"1642013806","gmt_created":"2022-01-12 18:56:46","changed":"1642013806","gmt_changed":"2022-01-12 18:56:46","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248174","name":"lunar-flashlight-SolarArrayDeployment.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar-flashlight-SolarArrayDeployment.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar-flashlight-SolarArrayDeployment.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":412318,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lunar-flashlight-SolarArrayDeployment.jpg?itok=YuJGsldr"}},"654374":{"id":"654374","type":"image","title":"Lunar Flashlight Evaluated in a GTRI Anechoic Chamber ","body":null,"created":"1642013719","gmt_created":"2022-01-12 18:55:19","changed":"1642013719","gmt_changed":"2022-01-12 18:55:19","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248173","name":"lunar-flashlight-DSC01463.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar-flashlight-DSC01463.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar-flashlight-DSC01463.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":996823,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lunar-flashlight-DSC01463.jpg?itok=RIzxyNFq"}},"654386":{"id":"654386","type":"image","title":"Researchers in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Aerospace Engineering Assemble the Lunar Flashlight\u2019s Propulsion System","body":null,"created":"1642020293","gmt_created":"2022-01-12 20:44:53","changed":"1642020293","gmt_changed":"2022-01-12 20:44:53","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248178","name":"lunar-flashlight-4Y4A6988.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar-flashlight-4Y4A6988.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar-flashlight-4Y4A6988.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":537278,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lunar-flashlight-4Y4A6988.jpg?itok=m6wQRLEV"}},"648943":{"id":"648943","type":"image","title":"The propulsion system developed by Glenn Lightsey\u2019s lab at Georgia Tech for the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat. (Credit: Candler Hobbs)","body":null,"created":"1626810695","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 19:51:35","changed":"1626810695","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 19:51:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246363","name":"lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":82762,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg?itok=q5iO7Ojj"}},"654387":{"id":"654387","type":"image","title":"Laser Alignment Testing","body":null,"created":"1642020422","gmt_created":"2022-01-12 20:47:02","changed":"1642020422","gmt_changed":"2022-01-12 20:47:02","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248179","name":"Lunar-flashlight-2021-12-13-13.46.36.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lunar-flashlight-2021-12-13-13.46.36.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Lunar-flashlight-2021-12-13-13.46.36.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":631125,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Lunar-flashlight-2021-12-13-13.46.36.jpg?itok=CWKq2mve"}}},"media_ids":["654375","654374","654386","648943","654387"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"188307","name":"Lunar Flashlight"},{"id":"4191","name":"moon"},{"id":"171312","name":"spacecraft"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"189682","name":"ice formations"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"80041","name":"CubeSat"},{"id":"174812","name":"infrared lasers"},{"id":"167441","name":"student research"},{"id":"189683","name":"propulsion system"},{"id":"189684","name":"MSFC"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"653798":{"#nid":"653798","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Wavelet Technology Allows Measurement of Long-Distance Infrasound","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhenomena that generate a type of low-frequency sound known as infrasound could become easier to detect and measure thanks to a new technique under development at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Infrasound, which cannot be heard by humans, is produced by tornados, earthquakes, explosions, wind turbines, the motion of large vehicles, aircraft and many other natural and human-created sources.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInfrasound waves can travel long distances \u0026ndash; hundreds of miles \u0026ndash; and are largely unaffected by obstacles in their way. Generally defined as frequencies below 20 Hertz, infrasound has until now been detected and measured using arrays up to an acre in size that use hollow pipes or elements similar to garden soaker hoses to separate the sounds of interest from noise created by the wind.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers have developed a novel infrasound analysis technique based on wavelet technology, a mathematical approach that represents a signal at different scales, using unique features at each scale. This technique, when applied to infrasound recordings, separates the wind noise from other signals of interest. That allows infrasound sensors to become small enough to be easily portable, permitting new types of measurements \u0026ndash; including tracking small and large aircraft and studying effects on humans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have been able to implement wavelet technology to get data more accurate than what has been possible using other methods of removing wind noise,\u0026rdquo; said Krishan Ahuja, Regents Professor and Researcher and head of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Aerospace and Acoustics Technologies Division. \u0026ldquo;We have come up with a way to completely eliminate the hoses and reduce the size of the windscreen. This can all be done with signal processing.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHydrodynamic noise produced by wind has frequencies comparable to those of infrasound, so wind noise must be suppressed to obtain useful measurements. The most common way to achieve this has been to use long pipe arrays or large arrays of soaker hoses to gather the sound. The arrays allow pressure variations to be averaged over the length of the structure, thereby reducing the impact of the turbulent wind field. Other approaches to reduce wind noise use large tents covering the infrasound sensors, which also limits where they can be used.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique developed at GTRI uses smaller windscreens \u0026ndash; or no windscreens at all \u0026ndash; along with a wavelet denoising technique that breaks down the signal mathematically and then partitions out what is wind noise before reconstructing the remaining infrasound for analysis, explained Alessio Medda, a GTRI senior research engineer. The resulting reconstruction produces an infrasound signal in which the noise is greatly reduced.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers compared infrasound signals gathered with a traditional 50-foot radius soaker hose array against the signals produced by the wavelet technology. Except at the very lowest frequencies, signals produced by the two techniques were in agreement, demonstrating that the wavelet denoising technique can be used on a signal measured \u0026ndash; even without the use of a windscreen.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI research team has used infrasound to plot the flight path of a small aircraft, detect a building demolition explosion 25 miles away from their instrumentation site, and even to monitor the approach of tornados during severe storms. Beyond the location of the source, analysis of infrasound signals can determine if the source under observation has rotating equipment such as fans, uses machinery that produces continuous waves or produces explosions that create impulses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By using the right number of sensors in an array, you can pinpoint the source of the infrasound,\u0026rdquo; Ahuja said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to development of the wavelet technique, GTRI researchers have also expanded their infrasound research through new techniques and testing programs. These included:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDetection of small aircraft took place at a commercial airport in North Georgia, where the research used a six-element array consisting of two concentric isosceles triangles, one 50 meters high and the other 25 meters high. One triangle used soaker hoses for wind noise suppression, while the other used tents. The array demonstrated an ability to track a single-engine Cessna 182 aircraft as it flew patterns within a five-mile radius of the airport.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EMeasurement of infrasound associated with severe storms was done as part of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Severe Storms Research Center using the GTRI Atmospheric Infrasound Array (GAIA). A standardized set of ambient, environmental infrasound measurements have been made since 2018 to provide a long-term database of low-frequency sound. GAIA uses four sensors located under wind tents atop a GTRI building. In addition to severe storms, these sensors have detected earthquakes, trains, microbaroms (believed to be from the Atlantic Ocean) and rocket launches.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDetection and measurement of infrasound around military training ranges was conducted to evaluate potential effects on trainees and training instructors exposed to high acoustic and infrasound pressures. In collaboration with Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, GTRI researchers used their wavelet-based denoising and analysis techniques to measure infrasound emitted by infantry weapons such as hand grenades, machine guns, grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDevelopment of three sources for generating controlled infrasound for use in calibration and testing of infrasound sensors and arrays. These included (1) a very low frequency unit reactivated from an existing sonic boom simulator to produce sound in the 1 to 6 Hertz range, (2) Helmholtz resonators producing sound in the 6 to 10 Hertz range, and (3) an oscillating propane burner creating sound in the 0.1 to 0.4 Hertz range.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EEvaluation of infrasound sensors and both in-house and externally-developed array processing algorithms and systems. This also included the development of a system for rapid infrasound array deployment with remote measurement capabilities with six infrasound sensors connected to a data logger, a weather station for monitoring meteorological conditions, and a solar panel to provide continuous power without the need to be connected to the power grid.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGoing forward, the researchers plan to collaborate with medical research teams to study the effects of infrasound on the human body. Cavities such as the heart, head, stomach and chest resonate at different frequencies, and can cause symptoms of illness when exposed to certain frequencies of infrasound.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Explosions that are not large enough to cause traumatic brain injury can still create symptoms, particularly during repeated exposures,\u0026rdquo; said Rob Funk, a GTRI principal research engineer. \u0026ldquo;Studying this may help improve the health of military personnel who may be exposed to infrasound.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWriter: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto: john.toon@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGTRI Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia USA\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E****\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).\u202fFounded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performs more than $600 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry.\u202fGTRI\u0026#39;s renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.\u202fLearn more at\u202f\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u003C\/a\u003E\u202fand follow us on\u202f\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/3557?trk=EML_cp-admin\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELinkedIn\u003C\/a\u003E,\u202f\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/twitter.com\/GTRI\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ETwitter\u003C\/a\u003E,\u202f\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GTRIFan\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFacebook\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u202f\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/georgiatechresearchinstitute\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInstagram\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Phenomena that generate a type of low-frequency sound known as infrasound could become easier to detect and measure thanks to a new technique under development at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). "}],"uid":"35832","created_gmt":"2021-12-16 23:17:31","changed_gmt":"2021-12-16 23:25:07","author":"Michelle Gowdy","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-12-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-12-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"653797":{"id":"653797","type":"image","title":"GTRI Infrasound field test","body":null,"created":"1639696111","gmt_created":"2021-12-16 23:08:31","changed":"1639696111","gmt_changed":"2021-12-16 23:08:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248002","name":"infrasound-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/infrasound-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/infrasound-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":875364,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/infrasound-002.jpg?itok=ZIF9pFAa"}},"653795":{"id":"653795","type":"image","title":"Alessio Medda, a GTRI senior research engineer","body":null,"created":"1639695904","gmt_created":"2021-12-16 23:05:04","changed":"1639695904","gmt_changed":"2021-12-16 23:05:04","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248000","name":"Alessio Medda.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alessio%20Medda.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alessio%20Medda.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":295183,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Alessio%20Medda.jpg?itok=_qVv5eCP"}},"653796":{"id":"653796","type":"image","title":"GTRI Research Engineer Aprameya Satish","body":null,"created":"1639696016","gmt_created":"2021-12-16 23:06:56","changed":"1639696016","gmt_changed":"2021-12-16 23:06:56","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248001","name":"Aprameya Satis.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Aprameya%20Satis.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Aprameya%20Satis.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":463387,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Aprameya%20Satis.jpg?itok=RzT08mGq"}}},"media_ids":["653797","653795","653796"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166902","name":"science and technology"},{"id":"189573","name":"wavelet technology"},{"id":"189574","name":"infrasound"},{"id":"188423","name":"improving the human condition"},{"id":"189575","name":"Aerospace and Acoustics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E(Interim) Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Gowdy\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-407-8060\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michelle.gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"653247":{"#nid":"653247","#data":{"type":"news","title":"NASA Juno Mission Paper Featured in Science","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPaul Steffes, a professor emeritus in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and his colleagues with the NASA Juno Mission published a paper that is the cover feature of the November 19, 2021 issue of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E. This paper is\u0026nbsp;entitled \u0026ldquo;Microwave observations reveal the deep extent and structure of Jupiter\u0026rsquo;s atmospheric vortices.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJupiter\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;atmosphere has a system of zones and belts punctuated by small and large vortices, the largest being the Great Red Spot. How these features change with depth is unknown, with theories of their structure ranging from shallow meteorological features to surface expressions of deep-seated convection. Steffes and his colleagues present observations of atmospheric vortices using the Juno spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s Microwave Radiometer. They found vortex roots that extend deeper than the altitude at which water is expected to condense, and they identified density inversion layers. Their results constrain the three-dimensional structure of Jupiter\u0026rsquo;s vortices and their extension below the clouds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJuno began its five-year-long journey to Jupiter when it launched from Kennedy Space Center on August 5, 2011. It has been circling Jupiter since entering its orbit on July 4, 2016. Slated to continue through September 2025 or through the end of the spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s life\u0026ndash;whichever comes first, the mission will not only continue key observations of Jupiter, but also will expand its investigations to the larger Jovian system including Jupiter\u0026#39;s rings and large moons, with targeted observations and close flybys planned of the moons Ganymede, Europa, and Io.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.abf1015\u0022\u003ETo learn more, read the paper on the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;website\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EECE Professor Emeritus\u0026nbsp;Paul Steffes and his colleagues with the NASA Juno Mission published a paper that is the cover feature of the November 19, 2021 issue of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"ECE Professor Emeritus\u00a0Paul Steffes and his colleagues with the NASA Juno Mission published a paper that is the cover feature of the November 19, 2021 issue of\u00a0Science."}],"uid":"27241","created_gmt":"2021-11-30 18:05:39","changed_gmt":"2021-12-03 02:30:10","author":"Jackie Nemeth","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"653362":{"id":"653362","type":"image","title":"Science Cover featuring Juno Mission","body":null,"created":"1638498557","gmt_created":"2021-12-03 02:29:17","changed":"1638498557","gmt_changed":"2021-12-03 02:29:17","alt":"graphic of Science Cover featuring Juno Mission","file":{"fid":"247812","name":"cropped - November 19, 2021- Print Pages.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cropped%20-%20November%2019%2C%202021-%20Print%20Pages.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cropped%20-%20November%2019%2C%202021-%20Print%20Pages.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":136833,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cropped%20-%20November%2019%2C%202021-%20Print%20Pages.jpg?itok=IlnFF7tx"}},"634669":{"id":"634669","type":"image","title":"Paul Steffes","body":null,"created":"1587599637","gmt_created":"2020-04-22 23:53:57","changed":"1587599637","gmt_changed":"2020-04-22 23:53:57","alt":"Paul Steffes in lab. ","file":{"fid":"241521","name":"paul_steffes_000.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paul_steffes_000.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paul_steffes_000.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":76239,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/paul_steffes_000.jpg?itok=L9fQdd2I"}}},"media_ids":["653362","634669"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/paul-g-steffes","title":"Paul Steffes"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu","title":"Georgia Tech"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.abf1015","title":"Science article"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/juno\/main\/index.html","title":"Juno Mission (NASA website)"}],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1260","name":"Paul Steffes"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"13866","name":"Juno Mission"},{"id":"167040","name":"science"},{"id":"11219","name":"Jupiter"},{"id":"189431","name":"Great Red Spot"},{"id":"189432","name":"microwave radiometer"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJackie Nemeth\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-894-2906\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"653111":{"#nid":"653111","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Future of Space Exploration","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMost engineers and scientists agree that this an extremely exciting and busy time to be working in the space industry. Several new things are happening above the Earth\u0026rsquo;s atmosphere. Tourists can now pay private companies for a short trip to space, private industry is developing spacecraft for NASA missions, and a robotic helicopter is currently exploring Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENASA and private companies also have their sights set on the moon. NASA\u0026rsquo;s Artemis program has a goal of landing humans on the moon in 2025 to begin building a base camp. This long-term human presence on the lunar surface will help NASA prepare for human space exploration missions of greater distance and duration, including an eventual crewed flight to Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAcademic research institutions are also playing a role in lunar exploration. Georgia Tech students and faculty are building \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2021\/07\/search-lunar-ice\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELunar Flashlight\u003C\/a\u003E, a small satellite that will orbit the moon and search for lunar ice. The joint effort in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDaniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering (AE School)\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is expected to launch in 2022.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAE School assistant professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/people\/koki-ho\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EKoki Ho \u003C\/a\u003Eworks on the development of mathematical theories and their application to space mission analysis, design, and optimization.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One of the big questions currently being investigated is how humans may be able to use resources from the moon in future missions,\u0026rdquo; said Ho. \u0026ldquo;For instance, can lunar ice be converted to drinking water or to make rocket fuel? If so, new processes such as these will play a role in the design of future space missions and spacecraft. They would allow humans to pick up resources from the moon on the way to Mars.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to utilizing lunar resources, there are other challenges to overcome if people will someday have extended stays on the moon. For more than 20 years, NASA has had a safe, continuous human presence 240 miles above Earth on the International Space Station. The moon, however, is 244,000 miles away from the planet. If an emergency occurred on the moon and astronauts needed to abort a mission, it would take them at least 3 days to return home, as compared to the few hours it currently takes to travel between the ISS and Earth.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The role of autonomy is going to be really important, and the spacecraft and life support systems will have to manage themselves at a greater level than what we have now,\u0026rdquo; said former NASA astronaut \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/people\/sandra-magnus\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESandy Magnus\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of the practice at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;Currently an army of folks in mission control on Earth track a host of system functions. But if you can build good autonomous systems, they will track themselves.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMagnus explains that these challenges and new technologies facing NASA will require multidisciplinary expertise.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not just you have an avionics problem, or a thermal problem, or a materials problem,\u0026rdquo; said Magnus, who received her Ph.D. from Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E in 1996. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s normally much more complex than that. Therefore, I think one of the strengths that Georgia Tech brings to the whole enterprise is the fact that its campus has a lot of cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary research.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHo agrees, noting that the collaborative nature on campus that brings together a multitude of expertise areas creates expanded opportunities for faculty and student collaboration.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is what makes Georgia Tech unique,\u0026rdquo; said Ho. \u0026ldquo;This is the most collaborative environment that I\u0026rsquo;ve been a part of in my research career. And with this collaboration, a team of research labs can develop something more ambitious than what one professor can achieve.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce they graduate, many aerospace students find their first jobs at\u0026nbsp;NASA, SpaceX, or companies contracted to build spacecraft, such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EProfessor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/people\/stephen-m-ruffin\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EStephen Ruffin\u003C\/a\u003E, associate chair for undergraduate programs in the AE School, says the School\u0026rsquo;s academic program prepares students well. Another key part of their success is what the students do outside of the traditional classroom in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s makerspaces.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Many of our students are involved in design-build-fly activities such as design competitions where they analyze and build various aerospace systems, then compete against teams at other universities,\u0026rdquo; said Ruffin. \u0026ldquo;Our students are graduating with an understanding of the science associated with these technologies, while also getting a real hands-on understanding of how you actually manufacture these systems and how you ensure robustness in these systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs engineers develop and test new strategies that could bring Americans back to the moon and beyond, researchers in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E are wondering about potential life elsewhere in the solar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Discovering life beyond Earth would fundamentally change humanity\u0026rsquo;s perspective on our place in the universe,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E associate professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/glass-dr-jennifer\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJennifer Glass\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Integrating astrobiology \u0026ndash; the search of life in the universe \u0026ndash; into space missions in order to know if and when we detect life on other planetary bodies, including exoplanets, is an exciting challenge currently underway.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERuffin adds that continuing to push the boundaries beyond Earth will spur new technologies and industries that will benefit society, while helping the U.S. maintain its lead in the space arena.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Going to the moon and Mars will allow for amazing science to be conducted,\u0026rdquo; said Ruffin. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;ll be able to learn more about the history of our solar system, understand what\u0026rsquo;s happening to our planets, and create a better world for us here on Earth.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech points to what\u2019s next, and how the Institute will contribute"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech points to what\u0026rsquo;s next, and how the Institute will contribute. \u0026ldquo;Discovering life beyond Earth would fundamentally change humanity\u0026rsquo;s perspective on our place in the universe,\u0026rdquo; says Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u0026#39; Jennifer Glass. \u0026ldquo;Integrating astrobiology \u0026ndash; the search of life in the universe \u0026ndash; into space missions in order to know if and when we detect life on other planetary bodies, including exoplanets, is an exciting challenge currently underway.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech points to what\u2019s next, and how the Institute will contribute. \u201cDiscovering life beyond Earth would fundamentally change humanity\u2019s perspective on our place in the universe,\u201d says Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u0027 Jennifer Glass."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2021-11-23 18:14:54","changed_gmt":"2021-11-30 21:00:19","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"653117":{"id":"653117","type":"image","title":"The Future of Space Exploration","body":null,"created":"1637695488","gmt_created":"2021-11-23 19:24:48","changed":"1637695488","gmt_changed":"2021-11-23 19:24:48","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247733","name":"header.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/header.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/header.png","mime":"image\/png","size":349681,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/header.png?itok=y0RZyPZP"}},"653118":{"id":"653118","type":"image","title":"The Space Launch System (SLS), will send people to the moon. The SLS is designed to send humans to Mars one day. (courtesy: NASA)","body":null,"created":"1637695520","gmt_created":"2021-11-23 19:25:20","changed":"1637695520","gmt_changed":"2021-11-23 19:25:20","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247734","name":"rocket_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rocket_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rocket_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":28352,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rocket_0.jpg?itok=2Ni8GUeA"}},"653120":{"id":"653120","type":"image","title":"Astronauts will live in a spaceship called Gateway that orbits the moon. (courtesy: NASA)","body":null,"created":"1637695545","gmt_created":"2021-11-23 19:25:45","changed":"1637695545","gmt_changed":"2021-11-23 19:25:45","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247735","name":"gateway_banner_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gateway_banner_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gateway_banner_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":104196,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gateway_banner_0.jpg?itok=jnUmVuXm"}},"653121":{"id":"653121","type":"image","title":"NASA plans to send humans to Mars by the end of the 2030s. (courtesy: NASA)","body":null,"created":"1637695583","gmt_created":"2021-11-23 19:26:23","changed":"1637695583","gmt_changed":"2021-11-23 19:26:23","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247736","name":"mars_7_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mars_7_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mars_7_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":40344,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mars_7_0.jpg?itok=il2qkw8u"}},"653116":{"id":"653116","type":"image","title":"Koki Ho, Stephen Ruffin, and Jennifer Glass","body":null,"created":"1637695454","gmt_created":"2021-11-23 19:24:14","changed":"1637695454","gmt_changed":"2021-11-23 19:24:14","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247732","name":"ho-ruffin-glass.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ho-ruffin-glass.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ho-ruffin-glass.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":54552,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ho-ruffin-glass.jpg?itok=fM5baYTq"}}},"media_ids":["653117","653118","653120","653121","653116"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"79441","name":"jennifer glass"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECandler Hobbs\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Engineering at Georgia Tech\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:candler.hobbs@coe.gatech.edu\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer\u0022\u003Ecandler.hobbs@coe.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["candler.hobbs@coe.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"652732":{"#nid":"652732","#data":{"type":"news","title":"U.S. Space Force Recognizes Georgia Tech as New Strategic Partner","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUnited States military agencies often look to the Georgia Institute of Technology to recruit highly skilled workers, drawing from the Institute\u0026rsquo;s expertise in fields such as aerospace engineering and cybersecurity. Today, with modern warfare increasingly fought via satellite control networks, a new branch of the U.S. military has taken notice of Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn Nov. 11, Georgia Tech and the U.S. Space Force launched a strategic partnership to develop a high-caliber aerospace workforce and collaborate on advanced aerospace research. As part of a comprehensive agreement, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding, making Georgia Tech the newest member of the U.S. Space Force\u0026rsquo;s University Partnership Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELt. General Nina M. Armagno, U.S. Space Force director of staff, joined Georgia Tech Provost Steven W. McLaughlin and Executive Vice President for Research Chaouki T. Abdallah to sign the agreement. The signing ceremony, which fell on Veterans Day, took place on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;At the heart of the Space Force\u0026rsquo;s University Partnership Program is the need to advance our science and technology to build the next generation of space capabilities, while developing the workforce of the future,\u0026rdquo; Armagno said. \u0026ldquo;With its reputation as a leader in cutting-edge aerospace research, we are confident that Georgia Tech will be an outstanding partner.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.spaceforce.mil\/\u0022\u003EU.S. Space Force\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026mdash; the sixth and newest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces \u0026mdash; established the University Partnership Program to identify, develop, and retain a diverse, STEM-capable workforce to further its mission to protect U.S. and allied interests in space. Through the partnership, the Space Force will seek to recruit new members and also create educational and leadership development programs for existing Space Force employees. Georgia Tech was selected for its outstanding aerospace engineering research, its expertise in national defense and security, the diversity of its students, and its robust ROTC program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is proud of its longstanding collaborations with NASA and the Department of Defense to help achieve strategic national objectives,\u0026rdquo; Abdallah said. \u0026ldquo;We look forward to charting bold new areas of research with the Space Force and leveraging our expertise in aerospace engineering and national security to address today\u0026rsquo;s most complex space-based military challenges\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech joins 11 universities selected for the U.S. Space Force University Partnership Program in fiscal year 2021. They include Howard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Purdue University, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of North Dakota, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Texas at El Paso.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe institutions were selected based on four criteria: the quality of STEM degree offerings and space-related research laboratories and initiatives; ROTC program strength; diversity of student population; and degrees and programming designed to support military, veterans, and their families in pursuing higher education.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe signing ceremony was the culmination of a daylong campus visit for Lt. General Armagno and the Space Force delegation. In the morning, she met with Air Force ROTC students and gave a public talk at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inta.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/a\u003E about the Space Force\u0026rsquo;s integration into the U.S. military. In the afternoon, she held a discussion with aerospace engineering students, toured the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ssdl.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESpace Systems Design Lab\u003C\/a\u003E, and received an overview of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gasgc.org\/wp\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Space Grant Consortium\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/ae-school-k-12-outreach\u0022\u003EAerospace Engineering Outreach\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is honored to be selected as a Space Force University Partnership School, and we look forward to collaborating in educating leaders for the aerospace workforce of the future,\u0026rdquo; McLaughlin said. \u0026ldquo;I am confident that we will continue to drive technological advancements for the U.S. Space Force, just as we have done for NASA and the Department of Defense.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a next step, Georgia Tech and the Space Force will outline specific implementation milestones to meet the program\u0026rsquo;s objectives. This initial work will include establishing educational programs such as scholarships, internships, and mentorship opportunities, and identifying specific research areas of mutual benefit to the Space Force and Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"On Nov. 11, Georgia Tech and the U.S. Space Force launched a strategic partnership to develop a high-caliber aerospace workforce and collaborate on advanced aerospace research. "}],"uid":"34602","created_gmt":"2021-11-12 13:48:40","changed_gmt":"2021-11-12 20:48:49","author":"Georgia Parmelee","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"652733":{"id":"652733","type":"image","title":"USSF UPP signing","body":null,"created":"1636725336","gmt_created":"2021-11-12 13:55:36","changed":"1636725336","gmt_changed":"2021-11-12 13:55:36","alt":"Lt. General Nina M. Armagno, U.S. Space Force director of staff, with Georgia Tech Executive Vice President for Research Chaouki T. Abdallah and Provost Steven W. McLaughlin","file":{"fid":"247635","name":"Space Force General Visit-006.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Space%20Force%20General%20Visit-006.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Space%20Force%20General%20Visit-006.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":399921,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Space%20Force%20General%20Visit-006.JPG?itok=VJs6PHMX"}},"652738":{"id":"652738","type":"image","title":" Lt. General Nina Armagno holds cubesat designed by the Space Systems Design Lab\u2019s lab, led by professor Glenn Lightsey.","body":null,"created":"1636729281","gmt_created":"2021-11-12 15:01:21","changed":"1636729547","gmt_changed":"2021-11-12 15:05:47","alt":"Lt. General Nina Armagno holds cubesat designed by the Space Systems Design Lab\u2019s lab, led by professor Glenn Lightsey.","file":{"fid":"247640","name":"2[46].JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2%5B46%5D.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2%5B46%5D.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":277678,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2%5B46%5D.JPG?itok=YlEjAQct"}},"652736":{"id":"652736","type":"image","title":"Lt. General Nina Armagno met with aerospace engineering students to discuss their current research projects and talk about the future Space Force","body":null,"created":"1636729183","gmt_created":"2021-11-12 14:59:43","changed":"1636729183","gmt_changed":"2021-11-12 14:59:43","alt":"Lt. General Nina Armagno met with aerospace engineering students to discuss their current research projects and talk about the future Space Force","file":{"fid":"247636","name":"4[15].JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/4%5B15%5D.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/4%5B15%5D.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":489299,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/4%5B15%5D.JPG?itok=dgTqKIyl"}},"652740":{"id":"652740","type":"image","title":"Professor Brian Gunter\u2019s lab","body":null,"created":"1636729472","gmt_created":"2021-11-12 15:04:32","changed":"1636729472","gmt_changed":"2021-11-12 15:04:32","alt":"Lt. General Nina Armagno visits Professor Brian Gunter\u2019s lab. ","file":{"fid":"247639","name":"3[98].JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3%5B98%5D_0.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3%5B98%5D_0.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":393957,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/3%5B98%5D_0.JPG?itok=M1LL-ojE"}},"652739":{"id":"652739","type":"image","title":"Lt. General Nina Armagno met with aerospace engineering students to discuss their current research projects and talk about the future Space Force","body":null,"created":"1636729349","gmt_created":"2021-11-12 15:02:29","changed":"1636729349","gmt_changed":"2021-11-12 15:02:29","alt":"Lt. General Nina Armagno met with aerospace engineering students to discuss their current research projects and talk about the future Space Force","file":{"fid":"247638","name":"1[91].JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1%5B91%5D.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1%5B91%5D.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":281873,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1%5B91%5D.JPG?itok=1BXfIHYF"}}},"media_ids":["652733","652738","652736","652740","652739"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Parmelee\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"649344":{"#nid":"649344","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez Wins NASA Grant to Aid Current Mars Rover Missions \u2014 and Find \u2018Martian Lakes\u2019 for Future Rovers and Crews","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThere\u0026rsquo;s a good reason why the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/mars2020\/\u0022\u003EMars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and its mini-copter counterpart\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/technology\/helicopter\/\u0022\u003EIngenuity\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;are currently busy exploring the edges of the Jezero Crater on the Red Planet. Water once flowed freely there, as it did eons ago at similar sites on Earth \u0026mdash; and perhaps with it, water-deposited evidence of life deep beneath Jezero\u0026rsquo;s rust-colored boulders and sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose so-called terrestrial analog sites on Earth helped NASA choose Jezero for the mission. \u0026ldquo;Ancient lake beds are a major target for Mars exploration, as they provide evidence for sustained liquid water in Mars\u0026rsquo; past \u0026mdash; and lake muds commonly preserve biosignatures on Earth\u003Cem\u003E,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Esays\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/rivera-hernandez-dr-frances\u0022\u003EFrances Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Thus, if life ever persisted on early Mars, their past presence may be preserved in ancient lake beds.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez, who joined Georgia Tech in January, will soon get a chance to study another analog site in the Antarctic, thanks to a four-year $700,000 NASA grant awarded to her research proposal, \u0026ldquo;Paleolake deposits in Miers Valley, Antarctica: An analog depositional record for Martian lakes through late Noachian to early Hesperian climatic transitions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJust like the drilling and sampling now going on at Jezero Crater on Mars, Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez\u0026rsquo;s work may help NASA choose future Mars destinations for both robotic rover and crewed missions. That\u0026rsquo;s because Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez is also a collaborating scientist on NASA\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/msl\/home\/\u0022\u003ECuriosity Rover\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;mission. \u0026ldquo;Lessons learned through the Antarctic project will help inform my work on the mission, as we have been characterizing lake bed deposits with the Rover,\u0026rdquo; she says. Since landing on Mars in 2012, Curiosity has traveled nearly 26 km (16\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E14 miles) around the rim of Gale Crater, another probable dry lake.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I was ecstatic to hear that my grant was funded, and excited to be heading to Antarctica for field work,\u0026rdquo; says Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez, who will serve as the study\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator. Her co-investigator is Tyler Mackey, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico. The grant will also provide funding for two graduate students, one from each institution. Field work is planned to start in January 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Before the field season, we will be performing remote sensing observations of our field site and performing lab-based analyses on modern lake samples to plan for the field work studying ancient lake beds,\u0026rdquo; Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planetas.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EHer lab team\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;will study the deposits of a large Antarctic lake that persisted through climate changes 10,000 to 20,000 years ago to better recognize those similar changes in ancient lake beds on Mars, like those being explored by Curiosity and Perseverance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Currently, liquid water is not stable on the surface of Mars, but we have abundant geologic evidence for the presence of lakes on early Mars, suggesting that Mars\u0026rsquo; climate was different in the past and that it changed through time,\u0026rdquo; Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez says. \u0026ldquo;But we still do not have a good understanding on whether this climatic transition was abrupt or gradual, or if Mars was significantly warmer when the lakes were present.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s an unknown because lakes can form in a variety of climates, she adds. Examples are found in polar regions on Earth, where liquid water exists in lakes with permanent ice covers. \u0026ldquo;However, when ice is present in a lake, there are processes that are unique, and sometimes these produce deposits that may be recorded in lake beds. Thus, past climate may be inferred from lake beds if these unique deposits are recognized and distinguished from other deposit types.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERivera-Hernadez\u0026rsquo;s project will also help scientists recognize these unique deposits in ancient lake beds on Mars \u0026mdash; by studying the deposits of that ancient Antarctic lake which experienced periods with and without an ice cover, due to those climatic changes on Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez and her team will soon head to Antarctica to study an ancient lake bed that may aid in search for past life on Mars, plus clues to climatic changes"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences assistant professor Frances Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez will receive $700,000 over the next four years to study an ancient lake bed in Antarctica \u0026mdash; with the hope\u0026nbsp;of using samples and data to\u0026nbsp;help NASA determine future landing sites for Mars missions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez and her team will soon head to Antarctica to study an ancient lake bed that may aid in search for past life on Mars, plus clues to climatic changes"}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2021-08-09 15:16:08","changed_gmt":"2021-08-12 18:55:46","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"649339":{"id":"649339","type":"image","title":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez taking field samples in Antarctica in 2015 (Photo Frances Rivera-Hernandez)","body":null,"created":"1628518718","gmt_created":"2021-08-09 14:18:38","changed":"1628793789","gmt_changed":"2021-08-12 18:43:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246533","name":"Rivera-Hernandez in Antarctica 2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rivera-Hernandez%20in%20Antarctica%202.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rivera-Hernandez%20in%20Antarctica%202.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":426633,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Rivera-Hernandez%20in%20Antarctica%202.jpg?itok=14LSPdhn"}},"649340":{"id":"649340","type":"image","title":"Miers Valley in Antarctica (Photo Pierre Roudier\/Wikimedia)","body":null,"created":"1628518865","gmt_created":"2021-08-09 14:21:05","changed":"1628518865","gmt_changed":"2021-08-09 14:21:05","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246534","name":"Miers Valley Antarctica Photo Pierre Roudier Wikimedia.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Miers%20Valley%20Antarctica%20Photo%20Pierre%20Roudier%20Wikimedia.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Miers%20Valley%20Antarctica%20Photo%20Pierre%20Roudier%20Wikimedia.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1084662,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Miers%20Valley%20Antarctica%20Photo%20Pierre%20Roudier%20Wikimedia.jpg?itok=9UHyCLVA"}},"649341":{"id":"649341","type":"image","title":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez","body":null,"created":"1628519088","gmt_created":"2021-08-09 14:24:48","changed":"1628793993","gmt_changed":"2021-08-12 18:46:33","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246535","name":"Frances Rivera-Hernandez.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Frances%20Rivera-Hernandez.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Frances%20Rivera-Hernandez.png","mime":"image\/png","size":486680,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Frances%20Rivera-Hernandez.png?itok=SQ2Yb_pq"}},"649342":{"id":"649342","type":"image","title":"Curiosity Rover \u0022selfie\u0022 at Mont Mercou, Mars (Photo NASA)","body":null,"created":"1628519690","gmt_created":"2021-08-09 14:34:50","changed":"1628519690","gmt_changed":"2021-08-09 14:34:50","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246536","name":"Curiosity Rover %22selfie%22 at Mont Mercou, Mars (Photo NASA).png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Curiosity%20Rover%20%2522selfie%2522%20at%20Mont%20Mercou%2C%20Mars%20%28Photo%20NASA%29.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Curiosity%20Rover%20%2522selfie%2522%20at%20Mont%20Mercou%2C%20Mars%20%28Photo%20NASA%29.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1900246,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Curiosity%20Rover%20%2522selfie%2522%20at%20Mont%20Mercou%2C%20Mars%20%28Photo%20NASA%29.png?itok=gszyxJEB"}}},"media_ids":["649339","649340","649341","649342"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/planetas.eas.gatech.edu","title":"Georgia Tech Planetary Laboratory Analyzing Environments, Terrains, and Analogs"},{"url":"https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2021\/02\/space-science-week-tech-progress-and-perseverance","title":"Space Science Week at Tech: Progress and Perseverance"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/summer-on-mars-nasas-perseverance-rover-is-one-of-three-missions-ready-to-launch\/","title":"Summer on Mars: NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover Is One of Three Missions Ready to Launch"},{"url":"https:\/\/scitechdaily.com\/clues-to-chilly-ancient-mars-buried-in-rocks-discovered-by-nasas-curiosity-rover\/","title":"Clues to Chilly Ancient Mars Buried in Rocks Discovered by NASA\u2019s Curiosity Rover"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.space.com\/curiosity-rover-nine-years-on-mars","title":"9 years on Mars! Curiosity rover marks another anniversary"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"187439","name":"Frances Rivera-Hernandez"},{"id":"82391","name":"Antarctica"},{"id":"182496","name":"analog sites"},{"id":"188445","name":"Mars missions"},{"id":"80341","name":"curiosity rover"},{"id":"188444","name":"Miers Valley"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"648939":{"#nid":"648939","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Search for Lunar Ice ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor years, NASA has\u0026nbsp;been studying ice on the Moon. Now, they want to determine where it is exactly and just how much, and a spacecraft at Georgia Tech could provide definitive answers. Georgia Tech engineers and researchers will work with NASA\u0026#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California\u0026nbsp;to assemble, integrate and test\u0026nbsp;a small satellite mission known as Lunar Flashlight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Nobody knows where or how much lunar ice is on the Moon, and this could be hugely important for human space exploration,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/people\/edgar-glenn-lightsey\u0022\u003EGlenn Lightsey\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EDaniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and co-principal investigator for the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/missions\/lunar-flashlight\u0022\u003ELunar Flashlight project\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Lunar Flashlight will be launched and fly a trajectory into lunar orbit and circle over the south pole of the Moon looking for ice in shadowed craters using infrared lasers. Mission control will be run out of Tech, so we will be the first on-the-ground team to receive the measurement data that will indicate where the lunar ice is.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENot only would ice on the Moon tell scientists more about lunar chemistry, but knowing what is in the ice will help scientists understand planetary origins, potentially uncovering pre-biotic molecules. Additionally, the ice could amount to millions of gallons of water that could sustain human life during planetary travel. The water could also be used to make rocket fuel or fuel for combustion engines on site, rather than loading a rocket with those supplies, which is costly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The presence of water on the Moon is of tremendous importance from both a fundamental science point of view and a practical perspective. It is a topic that links lunar science and exploration,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/orlando\/\u0022\u003EThom Orlando\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and principal investigator for the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/reveals.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ERadiation Effects on Volatiles and Exploration of Asteroids and Lunar Surfaces\u003C\/a\u003E (REVEALS) team that is dedicated to researching topics for future human space exploration. It\u0026rsquo;s also NASA-funded as a Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, focusing on lunar and asteroid science and exploration. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs scientists, Orlando\u0026rsquo;s group studies how the ice was formed, delivered, how to get it and how to use it. And it\u0026rsquo;s the Lunar Flashlight spacecraft that will perform reconnaissance mapping of surface ice, carrying out critical measurements before any extraction efforts can begin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The combined Georgia Tech REVEALS\u0026nbsp;work and Lunar Flashlight efforts\u0026nbsp;place Georgia Tech in a unique position where we can contribute significantly to both the science and engineering necessary for NASA\u0026rsquo;s Artemis missions,\u0026rdquo; said Orlando.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech signed an agreement with\u0026nbsp;JPL\u0026nbsp;in early July to complete the final integration, environmental testing and spacecraft operation for Lunar Flashlight. The integrated spacecraft will be delivered to Kennedy Space Center for launch. Lightsey and his team had already built the Lunar Flashlight propulsion system for NASA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Running this mission and building this spacecraft is a tremendous opportunity for Georgia Tech,\u0026rdquo; said Lightsey. \u0026ldquo;It really puts us in the space arena as a world-class enterprise that can carry out missions for NASA. There are very few places that can do this kind of work.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EIntegration and Testing\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJPL will ship all spacecraft parts to Tech this summer, where they will be assembled and tested. The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) will provide the clean room for assembly, and a team of researchers, led by principal investigator \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/people\/jud-ready\u0022\u003EJud Ready\u003C\/a\u003E, will manage all the integration and testing of Lunar Flashlight before it is shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our new Center for Space Hardware Assembly, Fabrication and Testing will provide the cleanroom space to assemble Lunar Flashlight and put it through a rigorous series of tests,\u0026rdquo; said Ready, principal investigator of the Lunar Flashlight project at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;Once we receive all the spacecraft components from JPL, our team of researchers and students will put it all together. There\u0026rsquo;s no instruction manual right now\u0026nbsp;\u0026ndash; it\u0026rsquo;s our role to collaborate with the scientists and engineers at\u0026nbsp;JPL and the other partners to\u0026nbsp;write the\u0026nbsp;test and integration\u0026nbsp;procedures, do them,\u0026nbsp;and at the same time to conclusively\u0026nbsp;verify our work.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile Lunar Flashlight is a small CubeSat spacecraft \u0026ndash; about the size of a briefcase and weighing 30 pounds \u0026ndash; it is a high-profile mission. Its mission is to demonstrate and prove a number of new technologies for NASA including being the first to use lasers to survey the Moon\u0026rsquo;s surface for surface ice and the first spacecraft to use the propulsion system developed at Tech. Upon mission completion, Lunar Flashlight is expected to become the first CubeSat to achieve orbit around a planetary body other than Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ssdl.gatech.edu\/students\/lacey-littleton\u0022\u003ELacey Littleton\u003C\/a\u003E, a graduate student working in Lightsey\u0026rsquo;s lab on the project, served as the lead mechanical engineer on the propulsion system. This summer, she will be a liaison between JPL and GTRI, facilitating the hardware handover and integration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Lunar Flashlight is a technology demonstration mission, where you have an actual scientific purpose in addition to the technology objectives,\u0026rdquo; said Littleton. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s exciting to do this work as a student with NASA and help build a spacecraft that will attempt to find ice on the Moon. I\u0026rsquo;ll be able to say, \u0026lsquo;I\u0026rsquo;ve touched stuff that will go to the Moon one day.\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EMission Control\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter Lunar Flashlight is assembled, tested and shipped to Kennedy Space Center, it will be integrated into a dispenser and made ready for launch. Launch may occur as soon as Spring 2022.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s work won\u0026rsquo;t end there. Mission control for Lunar Flashlight will be run out of Lightsey\u0026rsquo;s lab on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s campus. Tech will use NASA\u0026rsquo;s Deep Space Network and send out signals from Georgia Tech through NASA\u0026rsquo;s radio antennas.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our students will be in the mission control room, monitoring the flight of Lunar Flashlight,\u0026rdquo; said Lightsey. \u0026ldquo;The spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s data will come through Georgia Tech before it goes to NASA. We don\u0026#39;t officially interpret the science data, but we\u0026#39;ll know if everything is working properly. Operating a mission like this will create new opportunities for future space missions at Georgia Tech.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELikewise, for GTRI, Ready sees it as being the go-to service center for both space researchers and industry that want to put together a CubeSat or work with NASA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Part of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s mission is to benefit the state and help the region become a technology leader with our world-class facilities and personnel expertise,\u0026rdquo; said Ready. \u0026ldquo;By 2023, GTRI will be a billion-dollar enterprise. That has a major impact on Georgia\u0026rsquo;s economy, and our NASA partners are helping make it happen.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELightsey and his students started on the project over two years ago when they designed and built the propulsion system with NASA\u0026rsquo;s help. Today, that work has led to an even stronger partnership between Georgia Tech and GTRI. It will take researchers from across the Institute to bring the project to fruition, from Ready\u0026rsquo;s cleanroom at GTRI to Lightsey\u0026rsquo;s lab in the School of Aerospace Engineering. Once Lunar Flashlight is in orbit, mission control will operate out of an aerospace engineering building, with GTRI as a backup mission operations center.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If we are successful with this mission, it will lead to many future opportunities for us to collaborate with NASA,\u0026rdquo; said Lightsey. \u0026ldquo;Plus, it\u0026rsquo;s just really cool. We are part of the human quest to return to the Moon.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"A new agreement with NASA puts Georgia Tech on a mission to find water on the Moon"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor years, NASA has been studying ice on the Moon. Now, they want to determine where it is exactly and just how much, and a spacecraft at Georgia Tech could provide definitive answers. Georgia Tech engineers and researchers will work with NASA\u0026#39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California to assemble, integrate and test a small satellite mission known as Lunar Flashlight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new agreement with NASA puts Georgia Tech on a mission to find water on the Moon"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2021-07-20 19:47:07","changed_gmt":"2021-07-20 19:53:20","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648940":{"id":"648940","type":"image","title":"Lunar Flashlight project (Credit: NASA JPL)","body":null,"created":"1626810498","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 19:48:18","changed":"1626810498","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 19:48:18","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246360","name":"pia23131-1440x900.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pia23131-1440x900.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pia23131-1440x900.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":97603,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/pia23131-1440x900.jpg?itok=pwIdQ1-U"}},"648943":{"id":"648943","type":"image","title":"The propulsion system developed by Glenn Lightsey\u2019s lab at Georgia Tech for the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat. (Credit: Candler Hobbs)","body":null,"created":"1626810695","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 19:51:35","changed":"1626810695","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 19:51:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246363","name":"lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":82762,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lunar_flashlight_candidates-20.jpg?itok=q5iO7Ojj"}},"648941":{"id":"648941","type":"image","title":"Aerospace Engineering Professor Glenn Lightsey and graduate students Brandon Col\u00f3n and Lacey Littleton assemble the propulsion system developed at Georgia Tech for the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat. (Credit: Candler Hobbs)","body":null,"created":"1626810612","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 19:50:12","changed":"1626810612","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 19:50:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246361","name":"4y4a6988_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/4y4a6988_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/4y4a6988_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":103254,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/4y4a6988_0.jpg?itok=DjbnFJp4"}},"589191":{"id":"589191","type":"image","title":"Thomas Orlando","body":null,"created":"1490292143","gmt_created":"2017-03-23 18:02:23","changed":"1490292143","gmt_changed":"2017-03-23 18:02:23","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224490","name":"Thomas Orlando 2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Thomas%20Orlando%202.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Thomas%20Orlando%202.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":61716,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Thomas%20Orlando%202.jpg?itok=ziVr8dJT"}},"648942":{"id":"648942","type":"image","title":"Mission Control for Lunar Flashlight operations at Georgia Tech. From left to right: Ulises N\u00fa\u00f1ez, Kathleen Hartwell, Sterling Peet, Jud Ready, and Glenn Lightsey (Credit: Candler Hobbs)","body":null,"created":"1626810661","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 19:51:01","changed":"1626810661","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 19:51:01","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246362","name":"lunar_flashlight_photoshopped_4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar_flashlight_photoshopped_4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lunar_flashlight_photoshopped_4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":105320,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lunar_flashlight_photoshopped_4.jpg?itok=CHew8MA5"}}},"media_ids":["648940","648943","648941","589191","648942"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"607235","name":"Radiation Effects on Volitiles and Exploration of Asteroids and Lunar Surfaces (REVEALS)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"188307","name":"Lunar Flashlight"},{"id":"181881","name":"Thom Orlando"},{"id":"14209","name":"Jud Ready"},{"id":"136281","name":"Glenn Lightsey"},{"id":"188308","name":"Lacey Littleton"},{"id":"166928","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"167589","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"},{"id":"174965","name":"School of Material Science and Engineering"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"80041","name":"CubeSat"},{"id":"169078","name":"cubesats"},{"id":"6316","name":"JPL"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Parmelee\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Research Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"645616":{"#nid":"645616","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Control System Helps Several Drones Team Up to Deliver Heavy Packages ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMany parcel delivery drones of the future are expected to handle packages weighing five pounds or less, a restriction that would allow small, standardized UAVs to handle a large percentage of the deliveries now done by ground vehicles. But will that relegate heavier packages to slower delivery by conventional trucks and vans?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a modular solution for handling larger packages without the need for a complex fleet of drones of varying sizes. By allowing teams of small drones to collaboratively lift objects using an adaptive control algorithm, the strategy could allow a wide range of packages to be delivered using a combination of several standard-sized vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond simplifying the drone fleet, the work could provide more robust drone operations and reduce the noise and safety concerns involved in operating large autonomous UAVs in populated areas. In addition to commercial package delivery, the system might also be used by the military to resupply small groups of soldiers in the field.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A delivery truck could carry a dozen drones in the back, and depending on how heavy a particular package is, it might use as many as six drones to carry the package,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aerospace.gatech.edu\/people\/jonathan-rogers\u0022\u003EJonathan Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E, the Lockheed Martin Associate Professor of Avionics Integration in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aerospace.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;That would allow flexibility in the weight of the packages that could be delivered and eliminate the need to build and maintain several different sizes of delivery drones.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported, in part, by a National Science Foundation graduate student fellowship and by the Hives independent research and development program of the Georgia Tech Research Institute. A paper on the research has been submitted to the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Aircraft\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA centralized computer system developed by graduate student Kevin Webb would monitor each of the drones lifting a package, sharing information about their location and the thrust being provided by their motors. The control system would coordinate the issuance of commands for navigation and delivery of the package.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea is to make multi-UAV cooperative flight easy from the user perspective,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;We take care of the difficult issues using the onboard intelligence, rather than expecting a human to precisely measure the package weight, center of gravity, and drone relative positions. We want to make this easy enough so that a package delivery driver could operate the system consistently.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe challenges of controlling a group of robots connected together to lift a package is more complex in many ways than controlling a swarm of robots that fly independently.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Most swarm work involves vehicles that are not connected, but flying in formations,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;In that case, the individual dynamics of a specific vehicle are not constrained by what the other vehicles are doing. For us, the challenge is that the vehicles are being pulled in different directions by what the other vehicles connected to the package are doing.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team of drones would autonomously connect to a docking structure attached to a package, using an infrared guidance system that eliminates the need for humans to attach the vehicles. That could come in handy for drones sent to retrieve packages that a customer is returning. By knowing how much thrust they are producing and the altitude they are maintaining, the drone teams could even estimate the weight of the package they\u0026rsquo;re picking up.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWebb and Rogers have built a demonstration in which four small quadrotor drones work together to lift a box that\u0026rsquo;s 2 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet and weighs 12 pounds. The control algorithm isn\u0026rsquo;t limited to four vehicles and could manage \u0026ldquo;as many vehicles as you could put around the package,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the military, the modular cargo system could allow squads of soldiers at remote locations to be resupplied without the cost or risk of operating a large autonomous helicopter. A military UAV package retrieval team could be made up of individual vehicles carried by each soldier.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;That would distribute a big lifting capability in smaller packages, which equates to small drones that could be used to team up,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;Putting small drones together would allow them to do bigger things than they could do individually.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBringing multiple vehicles together creates a more difficult control challenge, but Rogers argues the benefits are worth the complexity. \u0026ldquo;The idea of having multiple machines working together provides better scalability than building a larger device every time you have a larger task,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We think this is the right way to fill that gap.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing multiple drones to carry a heavy package could also allow more redundancy in the delivery system. Should one of the drones fail, the others should be able to pick up the load \u0026ndash; an issue managed by the central control system. That part of the control strategy hasn\u0026rsquo;t yet been tested, but it is part of Rogers\u0026rsquo; plan for future development of the system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore research is also needed on the docking system that connects the drones to packages. The structures will have to be made strong and rigid enough to connect to and lift the packages, while being inexpensive enough to be disposable.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I think the major technologies are already here, and given an adequate investment, a system could be fielded within five years to deliver packages with multiple drones,\u0026rdquo; Rogers said. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not a technical challenge as much as it is a regulatory issue and a question of societal acceptance.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Anne Wainscott-Sargent (404-435-5784) (asargent7@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a modular solution for drone delivery of larger packages without the need for a complex fleet of drones of varying sizes. By allowing teams of small drones to collaboratively lift objects using an adaptive control algorithm, the strategy could allow a wide range of packages to be delivered using a combination of several standard-sized vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a control system that will enable teams of drones to carry heavy packages."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2021-03-22 17:40:42","changed_gmt":"2021-03-22 17:42:02","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-03-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-03-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"645610":{"id":"645610","type":"image","title":"Four drones team up to lift a package","body":null,"created":"1616433879","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:24:39","changed":"1616433879","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:24:39","alt":"Four drones attached to a package","file":{"fid":"245089","name":"drones3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":916866,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drones3.jpg?itok=GTyi5kdz"}},"645611":{"id":"645611","type":"image","title":"Drones collaborate to lift package","body":null,"created":"1616433982","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:26:22","changed":"1616433982","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:26:22","alt":"Four drones lift a 12-pound package","file":{"fid":"245090","name":"drone-flying.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drone-flying.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drone-flying.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":857824,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drone-flying.jpg?itok=yeuSQ_KU"}},"645612":{"id":"645612","type":"image","title":"Adjusting drone control system","body":null,"created":"1616434064","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:27:44","changed":"1616434064","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:27:44","alt":"Researcher adjusting control system","file":{"fid":"245091","name":"drones2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1037051,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drones2.jpg?itok=cvNvGM4i"}},"645613":{"id":"645613","type":"image","title":"Monitoring the algorithm controlling the drones","body":null,"created":"1616434165","gmt_created":"2021-03-22 17:29:25","changed":"1616434165","gmt_changed":"2021-03-22 17:29:25","alt":"Monitoring the control system","file":{"fid":"245092","name":"drones4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drones4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1471074,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drones4.jpg?itok=lzciq_Zh"}}},"media_ids":["645610","645611","645612","645613"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"187353","name":"drone"},{"id":"172051","name":"control system"},{"id":"187354","name":"parcel delivery"},{"id":"187355","name":"package delivery"},{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"644903":{"#nid":"644903","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Indoor Air Quality Study Shows Aircraft in Flight May Have Lowest Particulate Levels","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf you\u0026rsquo;re looking for an indoor space with a low level of particulate air pollution, a commercial airliner flying at cruising altitude may be your best option. A newly reported study of air quality in indoor spaces such as stores, restaurants, offices, public transportation \u0026mdash; and commercial jets \u0026mdash; shows aircraft cabins with the lowest levels of tiny aerosol particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConducted in July 2020, the study included monitoring both the number of particles and their total mass across a broad range of indoor locations, including 19 commercial flights in which measurements took place throughout departure and arrival terminals, the boarding process, taxiing, climbing, cruising, descent, and deplaning. The monitoring could not identify the types of the particles and therefore does not provide a direct measure of coronavirus exposure risk.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We wanted to highlight how important it is to have a high ventilation rate and clean air supply to lower the concentration of particles in indoor spaces,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/people\/nga-lee-sally-ng\u0022\u003ENga Lee (Sally) Ng\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor and Tanner Faculty Fellow in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;The in-flight cabin had the lowest particle mass and particle number concentration.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study, believed to be the first to measure both size-resolved particle mass and number in commercial flights from terminal to terminal and a broad range of indoor spaces, has been accepted for publication in the journal \u003Cem\u003EIndoor Air\u003C\/em\u003E and posted online at the journal\u0026rsquo;s website. Supported by Delta Air Lines, the research may be the first to comprehensively measure particle concentrations likely to be encountered by passengers from terminal to terminal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs scientists learn more about transmission of the coronavirus, the focus has turned to aerosol particles as an important source of viral spread indoors. Infected people can spread the virus as they breathe, talk, or cough, creating particles ranging in size from less than a micron \u0026mdash; one millionth of a meter \u0026mdash; to 1,000 microns. The larger particles quickly fall out of the air, but the smaller ones remain suspended.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Especially in poorly ventilated spaces, these particles can be suspended in the air for a long period of time, and can travel to every corner of a room,\u0026rdquo; Ng said. \u0026ldquo;If they are viral particles, they can infect people who may be at a considerable distance from a person emitting the particles.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo better understand the circulation of airborne particles, Delta approached Ng to conduct a study of multiple indoor environments, with a strong focus on air travel conditions. Using handheld instruments able to measure the total number of particles and their mass, Georgia Tech researchers examined air quality in a series of Atlanta area restaurants, stores, offices, homes, and vehicles \u0026mdash; including buses, trains, and private automobiles.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey trained Delta staff to conduct the same type of measurements in terminals, boarding areas, and a variety of aircraft through all phases of flight. The Delta staff recorded their locations as they moved through the terminals, and the instruments produced measurements consistent with the restaurants and stores they passed on their way to and from boarding and departure gates.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The measurements started as soon as they stepped into the departure terminal,\u0026rdquo; Ng said. \u0026ldquo;We were thinking about the whole trip, what a person would encounter from terminal to terminal.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn flight, aircraft air is exchanged between 10 and 30 times per hour. Some aircraft bring in exclusively outside air, which at cruising altitude is largely free of pollutant particles found in air near the ground. Other aircraft mix outdoor air with recirculated air that goes through HEPA filters, which remove more than 99% of particles.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn all, the researchers evaluated measurements from 19 commercial flights with passenger loads of approximately 50%. The flights included a mix of short- and medium-length flights, and aircraft ranging from the CRJ-200 and A220 to the 757, A321, and 737.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong all the spaces measured, restaurants had the highest particle levels because of cooking being done there. Stores were next, followed by vehicles, homes, and offices. The average sub-micron particle number concentration measured in restaurants, for instance, was 29,400 particles per cubic centimeter, and in offices it was 2,473 per cubic centimeter.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have quite a comprehensive data set to look at the size distribution of particles across these different spaces,\u0026rdquo; Ng said. \u0026ldquo;We can now compare indoor air quality in a variety of different spaces.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of the portable instruments used, the researchers were unable to determine the source of the particles, which could have included both biological and non-biological sources. \u0026ldquo;Further studies can include direct measurements of viral loads and tracing particle movements in indoor spaces,\u0026rdquo; she added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJonathan Litzenberger, Delta\u0026rsquo;s managing director of Global Cleanliness Strategy, said the research helps advance the company\u0026rsquo;s goals of protecting its customers and employees.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Keeping the air clean and safe during flight is one of the most foundational layers of protection Delta aims to provide to our customers and employees,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We are always working to better understand the travel environment and confirm that the measures we are implementing are working.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOverall, the study highlights the importance of improving indoor air quality as a means of reducing coronavirus transmission.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Regardless of whether you are in an office or an aircraft, having a higher ventilation rate and good particle filtration are the keys to reducing the total particle concentration,\u0026rdquo; said Ng. \u0026ldquo;That should also reduce the concentration of any viral particles that may be present.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Ng, the researchers included Jean C. Rivera-Rios, Taekyu Joo, Masayuki Takeuchi, and Thomas M. Orlando from Georgia Tech; and Tracy Bevington, John W. Mathis, Clifton D. Pert, Brandon A. Tyson, Tyler M. Anderson-Lennert, and Joshua A. Smith from Delta Air Lines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jean C. Rivera-Rios, et al, \u0026ldquo;In-flight particulate matter concentrations in commercial flights are likely lower than other indoor environments.\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EIndoor Air\u003C\/em\u003E, 2021)\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/ina.12812\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/ina.12812\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Anne Wainscott-Sargent (404-435-5784) (asargent7@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIf you\u0026rsquo;re looking for an indoor space with a low level of particulate air pollution, a commercial airliner flying at cruising altitude may be your best option. A newly reported study of air quality in indoor spaces such as stores, restaurants, offices, public transportation \u0026mdash; and commercial jets \u0026mdash; shows aircraft cabins with the lowest levels of tiny aerosol particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study compares the level of particles in various indoor spaces, including aircraft cabins."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2021-03-02 21:38:43","changed_gmt":"2021-03-03 18:43:10","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"644899":{"id":"644899","type":"image","title":"Study Reveals Particle Count in Aircraft Cabins","body":null,"created":"1614720297","gmt_created":"2021-03-02 21:24:57","changed":"1614720297","gmt_changed":"2021-03-02 21:24:57","alt":"Looking out to sky from aircraft cabin","file":{"fid":"244861","name":"aircraft2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/aircraft2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/aircraft2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":425159,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/aircraft2.jpg?itok=mD5xZWEI"}},"644900":{"id":"644900","type":"image","title":"Measuring Particles in Office Spaces","body":null,"created":"1614720417","gmt_created":"2021-03-02 21:26:57","changed":"1614720417","gmt_changed":"2021-03-02 21:26:57","alt":"Researcher measuring particles in office air","file":{"fid":"244862","name":"particles1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/particles1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/particles1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2039217,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/particles1.jpg?itok=6nBErDun"}},"644901":{"id":"644901","type":"image","title":"Analyzing Data from Study of Air Quality","body":null,"created":"1614720496","gmt_created":"2021-03-02 21:28:16","changed":"1614720496","gmt_changed":"2021-03-02 21:28:16","alt":"Analyzing data on a computer screen","file":{"fid":"244863","name":"particles7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/particles7.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/particles7.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1581744,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/particles7.jpg?itok=KZIHYBQf"}}},"media_ids":["644899","644900","644901"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187168","name":"indoor air"},{"id":"745","name":"air quality"},{"id":"1963","name":"particles"},{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"167060","name":"safety"},{"id":"111881","name":"particulates"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"635326":{"#nid":"635326","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Planetary Exploration Rover Avoids Sand Traps with \u201cRear Rotator Pedaling\u201d","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe rolling hills of Mars or the moon are a long way from the nearest tow truck. That\u0026rsquo;s why the next generation of exploration rovers will need to be good at climbing hills covered with loose material and avoiding entrapment on soft granular surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBuilt with wheeled appendages that can be lifted and wheels able to wiggle,\u0026nbsp;a new robot known as the \u0026ldquo;Mini Rover\u0026rdquo; has developed and tested complex locomotion techniques robust enough to help it climb hills covered with such granular material \u0026ndash; and avoid the risk of getting ignominiously stuck on some remote planet or moon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a complex move the researchers dubbed \u0026ldquo;rear rotator pedaling,\u0026rdquo; the robot can climb a slope by using its unique design to combine paddling, walking, and wheel spinning motions. The rover\u0026rsquo;s behaviors were modeled using a branch of physics known as terradynamics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When loose materials flow, that can create problems for robots moving across it,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, the Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;This rover has enough degrees of freedom that it can get out of jams pretty effectively. By avalanching materials from the front wheels, it creates a localized fluid hill for the back wheels that is not as steep as the real slope. The rover is always self-generating and self-organizing a good hill for itself.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported on May 13 as the cover article in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the NASA National Robotics Initiative and the Army Research Office.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA robot built by NASA\u0026rsquo;s Johnson Space Center pioneered the ability to spin its wheels, sweep the surface with those wheels and lift each of its wheeled appendages where necessary, creating a broad range of potential motions. Using in-house 3D printers, the Georgia Tech researchers collaborated with the Johnson Space Center to re-create those capabilities in a scaled-down vehicle with four wheeled appendages driven by 12 different motors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The rover was developed with a modular mechatronic architecture, commercially available components, and a minimal number of parts,\u0026rdquo; said Siddharth Shrivastava, an undergraduate student in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;This enabled our team to use our robot as a robust laboratory tool and focus our efforts on exploring creative and interesting experiments without worrying about damaging the rover, service downtime, or hitting performance limitations.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe rover\u0026rsquo;s broad range of movements gave the research team an opportunity to test many variations that were studied using granular drag force measurements and modified Resistive Force Theory. Shrivastava and School of Physics Ph.D. candidate Andras Karsai began with the gaits explored by the NASA RP15 robot, and were able to experiment with locomotion schemes that could not have been tested on a full-size rover.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also tested their experimental gaits on slopes designed to simulate planetary and lunar hills using a fluidized bed system known as SCATTER (Systematic Creation of Arbitrary Terrain and Testing of Exploratory Robots) that could be tilted to evaluate the role of controlling the granular substrate. Karsai and Shrivastava collaborated with Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, a postdoctoral research fellow in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab, to study the rover motion in the SCATTER test facility.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By creating a small robot with capabilities similar to the RP15 rover, we could test the principles of locomoting with various gaits in a controlled laboratory environment,\u0026rdquo; Karsai said. \u0026ldquo;In our tests, we primarily varied the gait, the locomotion medium, and the slope the robot had to climb. We quickly iterated over many gait strategies and terrain conditions to examine the phenomena that emerged.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, the authors describe a gait that allowed the rover to climb a steep slope with the front wheels stirring up the granular material \u0026ndash; poppy seeds for the lab testing \u0026ndash; and pushing them back toward the rear wheels. The rear wheels wiggled from side-to-side, lifting and spinning to create a motion that resembles paddling in water. The material pushed to the back wheels effectively changed the slope the rear wheels had to climb, allowing the rover to make steady progress up a hill that might have stopped a simple wheeled robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experiments provided a variation on earlier robophysics work in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s group that involved moving with legs or flippers, which had emphasized disturbing the granular surfaces as little as possible to avoid getting the robot stuck.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In our previous studies of pure legged robots, modeled on animals, we had kind of figured out that the secret was to not make a mess,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;If you end up making too much of a mess with most robots, you end up just paddling and digging into the granular material. If you want fast locomotion, we found that you should try to keep the material as solid as possible by tweaking the parameters of motion.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut simple motions had proved problematic for Mars rovers, which got stuck in granular materials. Goldman says the gait discovered by Shrivastava, Karsai and Ozkan-Aydin might be able to help future rovers avoid that fate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This combination of lifting and wheeling and paddling, if used properly, provides the ability to maintain some forward progress even if it is slow,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;Through our laboratory experiments, we have shown principles that could lead to improved robustness in planetary exploration \u0026ndash; and even in challenging surfaces on our own planet.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope next to scale up the unusual gaits to larger robots, and to explore the idea of studying robots and their localized environments together. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;d like to think about the locomotor and its environment as a single entity,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;There are certainly some interesting granular and soft matter physics issues to explore.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the Mini Rover was designed to study lunar and planetary exploration, the lessons learned could also be applicable to terrestrial locomotion \u0026ndash; an area of interest to the Army Research Laboratory, one of the project\u0026rsquo;s sponsors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;This basic research is revealing exciting new approaches for locomotion in complex terrain,\u0026quot; said Dr. Samuel Stanton, program manager, Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command\u0026#39;s Army Research Laboratory. \u0026quot;This could lead to platforms capable of intelligently transitioning between wheeled and legged modes of movement to maintain high operational tempo.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond those already mentioned, the researchers worked with Robert Ambrose and William Bluethmann at NASA, and traveled to NASA JSC to study the full-size NASA RP15 rover.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the Army Research Office (W911NF-18-1-0120) and the NASA National Robotics Initiative (NNX15AR21G). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Siddharth Shrivastava, Andras Karsai, Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, Ross Pettinger, William Bluethmann, Robert O. Ambrose, Daniel I. Goldman, \u0026ldquo;Material remodeling on granular terrain yields robustness benefits for a robophysical rover.\u0026rdquo; (Science Robotics, May 2020)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBuilt with wheeled appendages that can be lifted and wheels able to wiggle, a new robot known as the \u0026ldquo;Mini Rover\u0026rdquo; has developed and tested complex locomotion techniques robust enough to help it climb hills covered with granular material \u0026ndash; and avoid the risk of getting ignominiously stuck on some remote planet or moon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using the Mini Rover, researchers have studied locomotion techniques that could help future rovers work on granular lunar and planetary surfaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-05-13 14:22:47","changed_gmt":"2020-05-13 17:50:59","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635320":{"id":"635320","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover moving on sand","body":null,"created":"1589378228","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 13:57:08","changed":"1589378228","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 13:57:08","alt":"Mini Rover in sand","file":{"fid":"241746","name":"mini-rover-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":502031,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg?itok=B4UJ2OGx"}},"635321":{"id":"635321","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover moving on sand - 2","body":null,"created":"1589378378","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 13:59:38","changed":"1589378378","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 13:59:38","alt":"Mini Rover in sand","file":{"fid":"241747","name":"mini-rover-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":775928,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg?itok=cLOCRqkS"}},"635322":{"id":"635322","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover in laboratory track bed","body":null,"created":"1589378574","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:02:54","changed":"1589378574","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:02:54","alt":"Mini Rover in track bed","file":{"fid":"241748","name":"mini-rover-5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":737962,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg?itok=u4b4X_Ed"}},"635323":{"id":"635323","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover tested on simulated hill","body":null,"created":"1589378747","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:05:47","changed":"1589378747","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:05:47","alt":"Mini Rover in fluidized bed","file":{"fid":"241749","name":"mini-rover-4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":721288,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg?itok=PtdL_eIo"}},"635324":{"id":"635324","type":"image","title":"Close up of Mini Rover appendage","body":null,"created":"1589378900","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:08:20","changed":"1589378900","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:08:20","alt":"Appendage for Mini Rover","file":{"fid":"241750","name":"mini-rover-3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":542065,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg?itok=KERqtw06"}}},"media_ids":["635320","635321","635322","635323","635324"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"184799","name":"Mini Rover"},{"id":"7057","name":"Mars"},{"id":"184802","name":"planetary exploration"},{"id":"184805","name":"lunar exploration"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"184807","name":"granular material"},{"id":"62221","name":"terradynamics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"540461":{"#nid":"540461","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Additive Manufacturing Startup Receives International Recognition","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA 3D printer based on technology developed at Georgia Tech was recently lauded by international industrial technology leaders for the device\u0026rsquo;s faster and less costly method of making ceramic cores and molds used in making aircraft parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDDM Systems, a company formed by a Georgia Tech team led by Suman Das, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, was one of five finalists and the only one from the United States nominated for a prestigious industrial award presented annually at the international industrial fair Hannover Messe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDas\u0026rsquo; team developed a machine that uses advanced 3D printing technology specifically designed to make ceramic cores and molds used by foundries to cast highly demanding and complex parts such as aircraft turbine engine components.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe machine, called the LAMP\u0026trade; System CPT6060, makes the ceramic pieces directly from a computer-aided design file, drastically reducing the production time when compared with the traditional method of making castings.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ceramic cores and molds are in great demand by manufacturers making precision components for a diverse group of applications, including aerospace, energy, biomedical and automotive industries. Traditionally, the process of making the molds involves numerous steps including injection molding a ceramic core, creating a wax model around the core, and using a ceramic slurry to slowly build a shell mold around the wax.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe LAMP machine circumvents that process by fabricating the mold directly from a digital design. In addition to the faster turnaround time, the new technique can reduce the cost of making the molds by as much as 65 percent for new component designs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe development of LAMP technology began in 2007 with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In 2012, Das and John Halloran, a professor at the University of Michigan and Das\u0026rsquo; co-principal investigator for the $6.3 million project, formed DDM Systems Inc. to help bring the technology to market.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe LAMP system works by converting a digital design into thousands of high-resolution images that the machine uses to build parts a single 100-micron layer at a time using a slurry mixture of photosensitive binder resin and ceramic particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 3D printer is large enough to simultaneously build numerous parts during one session. Once the resin is removed from the molds, they are ready for use in casting.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAside from its use in fabricating ceramic cores and molds for investment casting, the LAMP system is also capable of 3D printing a variety of other complex pieces from the ceramic slurry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDas, who directs the\u0026nbsp;Direct Digital Manufacturing\u0026nbsp;Laboratory at Georgia Tech, called the environment at the institute crucial to supporting the development of the technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute provided tremendous support,\u0026rdquo; Das said. \u0026ldquo;That allowed me to have the environment, the facilities, and the infrastructure to be able to do this kind of work \u0026ndash; to be able to design and build these pieces of equipment and to really start to put all of these things together to a point where it wasn\u0026rsquo;t just a science project.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe GTMI\u0026rsquo;s reputation for working closely with industrial firms to find innovations also leads to advancements such as LAMP being developed on campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Every single day, someone from some industry is here on campus,\u0026rdquo; Das said. \u0026ldquo;Being able to interact with these kinds of people and getting to know what industry needs was extremely important. That doesn\u0026rsquo;t happen simply by people visiting. It happens when you\u0026rsquo;re embedded in an environment that encourages that, and is known for that.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDas also relied on the Georgia Tech Integrated Programs for Startups (GT:IPS), which provides guidance for students and faculty aiming to launch start-up firms to translate discoveries made in labs on campus, as well as VentureLab, which helps create startup companies based on Georgia Tech research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom its beginnings, the project exemplified Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s mission of using research and innovation to educate a host of students during their academic pursuits, Das said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The project played a critical role in the training of Master\u0026rsquo;s and Ph.D. students who participated in the incubation of a groundbreaking technology, a rare opportunity,\u0026rdquo; Das said. \u0026ldquo;And ultimately they all graduated and they\u0026rsquo;re having successful careers elsewhere. So it was a success story from that point as well.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to LAMP technology, DDM Systems is also commercializing a technology called Scanning Laser Epitaxy, which can be used to repair existing aircraft engine parts and build entirely new parts in the most demanding high-temperature alloys through additive manufacturing techniques. The company has licensed both technologies from Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile Hannover Messe\u0026rsquo;s 2016 HERMES Award was given to another finalist, Das said the opportunity to showcase DDM\u0026rsquo;s technologies before an international audience represented an important milestone in the evolution of the company.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Becoming the first US company to have received a top 5 nomination in the history of the award led to tremendous recognition, including a meeting with President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as other U.S. and German trade officials,\u0026rdquo; Das said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA 3D printer based on technology developed at Georgia Tech was recently lauded by international industrial technology leaders for the device\u0026rsquo;s faster and less costly method of making ceramic cores and molds used in making aircraft parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A 3D printer based on technology developed at Georgia Tech was recently lauded by international industrial technology leaders for the device\u2019s faster and less costly method of making ceramic cores and molds used in making aircraft parts."}],"uid":"31758","created_gmt":"2016-05-26 12:56:13","changed_gmt":"2020-01-07 15:34:10","author":"Josh Brown","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-05-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-05-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"540451":{"id":"540451","type":"image","title":"Suman Das","body":null,"created":"1464706800","gmt_created":"2016-05-31 15:00:00","changed":"1475895329","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:29","alt":"Suman Das","file":{"fid":"89592","name":"dsc_4520.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_4520.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_4520.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":167078,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_4520.jpg?itok=JNjFk-MJ"}},"540441":{"id":"540441","type":"image","title":"Suman Das","body":null,"created":"1464706800","gmt_created":"2016-05-31 15:00:00","changed":"1475895329","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:29","alt":"Suman Das","file":{"fid":"89591","name":"dsc_4474.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_4474.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_4474.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":381460,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_4474.jpg?itok=mbe1OWRu"}},"540801":{"id":"540801","type":"image","title":"Suman Das","body":null,"created":"1464710400","gmt_created":"2016-05-31 16:00:00","changed":"1475895331","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:31","alt":"Suman Das","file":{"fid":"89620","name":"p042516ps-0125.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/p042516ps-0125.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/p042516ps-0125.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1561387,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/p042516ps-0125.jpg?itok=bagcbmIg"}}},"media_ids":["540451","540441","540801"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13351","name":"3d printing"},{"id":"57171","name":"additive manufacturing"},{"id":"168939","name":"suman das"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.toon@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["john.toon@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"622803":{"#nid":"622803","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Names Director for Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has named James J. Hudgens to be the new director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI), Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s applied research division. Currently director of the Threat Intelligence Center (TIC) at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hudgens will become a Georgia Tech senior vice president and GTRI\u0026rsquo;s director effective September 2, 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHudgens holds a Ph.D. in ceramic engineering from Iowa State University. He has led research and development programs in national security, cybersecurity, quantum information science, and photonic microsystems. He also led programs in data analytics, synthetic aperture radar, and airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems before becoming director of the $265 million-per-year TIC, which has a staff of 550 professionals working in six states and 136 different laboratories.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA senior technology executive with 23 years of experience in national security research, Hudgens has also held positions at optical networking firm Mahi Networks, defense contractor Raytheon Electronic Systems, and semiconductor company Texas Instruments. In 2013, he won the Department of Energy Secretary\u0026rsquo;s Honor Award for Achievement for leading the Copperhead counter-IED program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Jim Hudgens has extensive experience building and leading federally sponsored programs that are at the center of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s core research areas,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.research.gatech.edu\/meet-dr-chaouki-t-abdallah\u0022\u003EChaouki Abdallah\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Executive Vice President for Research. \u0026ldquo;His experience developing and managing programs at Sandia National Laboratories and major private-sector defense contractors will support GTRI\u0026rsquo;s continued growth in service to our nation\u0026rsquo;s defense agencies and other important state and federal sponsors.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI has more than 2,300 employees conducting nearly $500 million worth of research across a broad range of technology areas that focus on solving critical challenges for government and industry sponsors. GTRI is one of the world\u0026rsquo;s leading applied research and development organizations, and is an integral part of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s research program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech, through GTRI, is entrusted with a vital role in our national security,\u0026rdquo; Hudgens said. \u0026ldquo;I know firsthand that GTRI and other Georgia Tech researchers are known for the exceptional quality of their work in delivering innovative solutions to the most complex national security challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is a great privilege for me to join the combined University System of Georgia and Georgia Tech family to develop a shared vision for how we will build on this reputation to advance one of the nation\u0026rsquo;s leading technological research universities,\u0026rdquo; he added. \u0026ldquo;I thank Georgia Tech President G.P. \u0026ldquo;Bud\u0026rdquo; Peterson, Provost Rafael Bras, and Executive Vice President Abdallah for the honor of becoming part of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s 85-year legacy of service to the state of Georgia and our nation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn congratulating Hudgens, Peterson emphasized GTRI\u0026rsquo;s important role in the nation, region, state \u0026ndash; and Georgia Tech itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For decades, the U.S. government and industry have looked to Georgia Tech \u0026ndash; in particular GTRI \u0026ndash; as they seek to find and develop effective, creative solutions in national security and other mission-critical areas,\u0026rdquo; Peterson said. \u0026ldquo;We are pleased to welcome Jim Hudgens to lead one of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s most important missions in support of our nation, region, and state.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHudgens\u0026rsquo; selection came after a five-month national search during which he was one of four finalists to make presentations to Georgia Tech faculty and staff.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sandia.gov\u0022\u003ESandia National Laboratories\u003C\/a\u003E is a multi-mission laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy\u0026rsquo;s National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies, and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California. Sandia is the largest of the country\u0026rsquo;s 17 national laboratories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI conducts research through eight laboratories located on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s midtown Atlanta campus, in a research facility near Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Smyrna, Georgia, and in Huntsville, Alabama. GTRI also has more than a dozen locations around the nation where it serves the needs of its research sponsors. GTRI\u0026rsquo;s research spans a variety of disciplines, including autonomous systems, cybersecurity, electromagnetics, electronic warfare, modeling and simulation, sensors, systems engineering, test and evaluation, and threat systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has named James J. Hudgens to be the new director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s applied research division. Currently director of the Threat Intelligence Center (TIC) at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hudgens will become a Georgia Tech senior vice president and GTRI\u0026rsquo;s director effective September 2, 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology has named James J. Hudgens to be the new director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Georgia Tech\u2019s applied research division. "}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-06-27 10:58:59","changed_gmt":"2019-06-27 12:50:51","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"622802":{"id":"622802","type":"image","title":"James J. Hudgens","body":null,"created":"1561632650","gmt_created":"2019-06-27 10:50:50","changed":"1561632650","gmt_changed":"2019-06-27 10:50:50","alt":"James J. Hudgens photo","file":{"fid":"237192","name":"james-hudgens-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/james-hudgens-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/james-hudgens-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":198333,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/james-hudgens-2.jpg?itok=rcLbppQh"}}},"media_ids":["622802","622802"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"1366","name":"defense"},{"id":"181593","name":"James Hudgens"},{"id":"181594","name":"Jim Hudgens"},{"id":"525","name":"military"},{"id":"167571","name":"Sandia"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"617496":{"#nid":"617496","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Will Moving to the Commercial Cloud Leave Some Data Users Behind?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs part of their missions, federal agencies generate or collect massive volumes of data from such sources as earth-observing satellites, sensor networks and genomics research. Much of that information is useful to commercial and academic institutions, which now can usually access this publicly generated data from agency servers at no charge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the volume of data continues to expand, however, many agencies are considering the use of commercial cloud services to help store and make it available to users. While agencies may have different strategies, these new partnerships could result in user fees levied on downloads and analyses performed on the data while it remains in the cloud.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWriting in a policy forum article published February 8 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, a Georgia Institute of Technology space policy researcher who studies such data use urges caution about the design of these commercial cloud partnerships and possible imposition of user fees.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Under the current system, free and open government data is used by scientists to conduct research, by entrepreneurs to create new businesses, and by citizens and other organizations to promote government transparency,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inta.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/mariel-borowitz\u0022\u003EMariel Borowitz\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inta.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;If users must pay fees to download or analyze the data, this will decrease the ability of these users to access and work with data. Past experience suggest that the impacts of this decrease in data use could be large \u0026ndash; both for individual users and for society as a whole.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMoving data to commercial cloud systems would likely provide broader access and more efficient analysis options, but she cautions those advantages could be offset by the cost, particularly for organizations with small budgets.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Agencies risk losing some of the benefits of this transition by not budgeting for the costs associated with data downloads and analysis, up to a reasonable level,\u0026rdquo; Borowitz said. \u0026ldquo;Many who would be interested in using the data may not be able to pay the associated fees. Researchers, nonprofit organizations and others who do not directly profit from the use of this data are most likely to be affected.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBorowitz recently spent two years at NASA and witnessed both the development of systems that will dramatically increase data collection and debates about future data storage. She recently authored a book, \u003Cem\u003EOpen Space: The Global Effort for Open Access to Environmental Satellite Data\u003C\/em\u003E, published by MIT Press.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe would like to see the agencies that provide data continue to shoulder the costs, up to some \u0026ldquo;reasonable level,\u0026rdquo; to ensure that the data continues to be readily available to all users. As an alternative to commercial services, some agencies are considering development of their own, custom-built cloud solutions, and will have to weigh the cost of benefits of the different options. There will also be technical, organizational and policy issues to consider.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Agencies are taking seriously issues of security and long-term preservation of data,\u0026rdquo; Borowitz added. \u0026ldquo;When working with commercial providers, some are concerned about the possibility of getting \u0026lsquo;locked in\u0026rsquo; to one provider, due to the large costs of migrating data from one system to another. It is possible that costs and capabilities could change over time. On the other hand, commercial cloud providers have large workforces and extensive infrastructure that allow them to provide services and capabilities well beyond what any one agency would be able to maintain.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBorowitz notes that most agencies have not made final decisions about their cloud-based programs, so there should be adequate time to work through these issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Most agencies that make data publicly available, particularly science agencies, are already discussing and\/or beginning to make the transition to cloud systems,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;However, these programs \u0026ndash; at agencies like NSF, NIH, NASA and NOAA \u0026ndash; are still in their early phases, and there is still opportunity for feedback to be provided and adjustments to the programs to be made.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe existence of fees for access to government data is not without precedent, but Borowitz argues that past experience suggests that user fees result in significantly less use. Before Landsat data \u0026ndash; satellite imagery of Earth \u0026ndash; was made freely available in 2008, no more than 25,000 images a year were purchased from the collection. \u0026ldquo;Within a few years of implementing the free and open data policy, the government was distributing 250,000 images a month,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat number provides a suggestion of what the often cash-strapped agencies are dealing with. According to the paper, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) houses more than 100 petabytes (PB) of data and generates more than 30 PB per year from satellites, radars, computer models and other sources. NASA projects that its archive will grow to 250 PB by 2025. And the amount of genomic data at the National Institutes of Health is growing exponentially.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA petabyte is 1,024 terabytes, or a million gigabytes. A gigabyte is 1,024 megabtyes. For scale, an average photograph taken by a high-end cell phone camera can be in the neighborhood of 10 megabytes. Laptop computers may be able to store as much as a few terabytes of data.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBorowitz sees the transition to cloud computing as both an opportunity and a challenge for the future availability of government data. \u0026ldquo;The decisions being made right now about the structure of these programs have the potential to significantly impact researchers and society as a whole, so it is important to raise awareness and increase engagement on these issues.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Mariel Borowitz, \u0026ldquo;Government data, commercial cloud: Will public access suffer?\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, 2019)\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/363\/6427\/588\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/363\/6427\/588\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA growing volume of information from satellites and other sources is leading many federal agencies to consider commercial cloud services to store and distribute the data. A policy paper published February 7 in the journal Science urges caution about the design of these commercial cloud partnerships and possible imposition of user fees.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A space policy researcher urges caution on the design of commercial cloud contracts for hosting federal agency data."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-02-07 18:51:07","changed_gmt":"2019-02-08 18:00:11","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-02-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-02-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"617491":{"id":"617491","type":"image","title":"Mariel Borowitz with satellite communications equipment","body":null,"created":"1549564607","gmt_created":"2019-02-07 18:36:47","changed":"1549564607","gmt_changed":"2019-02-07 18:36:47","alt":"Mariel Borowitz with satellite communications equipment","file":{"fid":"235037","name":"commercial-cloud-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commercial-cloud-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commercial-cloud-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":268166,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/commercial-cloud-003.jpg?itok=zw0Oc08T"}},"617492":{"id":"617492","type":"image","title":"Mariel Borowitz with satellite communications equipment (2)","body":null,"created":"1549564727","gmt_created":"2019-02-07 18:38:47","changed":"1549564727","gmt_changed":"2019-02-07 18:38:47","alt":"Mariel Borowitz with satellite communications equipment","file":{"fid":"235038","name":"commercial-cloud-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commercial-cloud-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commercial-cloud-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":370818,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/commercial-cloud-004.jpg?itok=MmbmjATQ"}},"617494":{"id":"617494","type":"image","title":"Mariel Borowitz with satellite communications equipment (vertical)","body":null,"created":"1549564837","gmt_created":"2019-02-07 18:40:37","changed":"1549564837","gmt_changed":"2019-02-07 18:40:37","alt":"Mariel Borowitz with satellite communications equipment","file":{"fid":"235039","name":"commercial-cloud-005.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commercial-cloud-005.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/commercial-cloud-005.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":572206,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/commercial-cloud-005.jpg?itok=RBZ4jQ97"}}},"media_ids":["617491","617492","617494"],"groups":[{"id":"545781","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"180450","name":"commercial space"},{"id":"10807","name":"cloud computing"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"438","name":"data"},{"id":"180448","name":"data use"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"55511","name":"Mariel Borowitz"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"616736":{"#nid":"616736","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Birth of Massive Black Holes in the Early Universe Revealed","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe light released from around the first massive black holes in the universe is so intense that it is able to reach telescopes across the entire expanse of the universe. Incredibly, the light from the most distant black holes (or quasars) has been traveling to us for more than 13 billion light years. However, we do not know how these monster black holes formed.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENew research led by researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dcu.ie\/\u0022\u003EDublin City University\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/msu.edu\/\u0022\u003EMichigan State University\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ucsd.edu\/\u0022\u003EUniversity of California at San Diego\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sdsc.edu\/\u0022\u003ESan Diego Supercomputer Center\u003C\/a\u003E and IBM provides a new and extremely promising avenue for solving this cosmic riddle. The team showed that when galaxies assemble extremely rapidly \u0026ndash; and sometimes violently \u0026ndash; that can lead to the formation of very massive black holes. In these rare galaxies, normal star formation is disrupted and black hole formation takes over.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new study finds that massive black holes form in dense starless regions that are growing rapidly, turning upside down the long-accepted belief that massive black hole formation was limited to regions bombarded by the powerful radiation of nearby galaxies. Conclusions of the simulation-based study, reported January 23\u0026nbsp;in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E and supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, the European Union and NASA, also finds that massive black holes are much more common in the universe than previously thought.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe key criteria for determining where massive black holes formed during the universe\u0026rsquo;s infancy relates to the rapid growth of pre-galactic gas clouds that are the forerunners of all present-day galaxies, meaning that most supermassive black holes have a common origin forming in this newly discovered scenario, said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/john-wise\u0022\u003EJohn Wise\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Relativistic Astrophysics\u003C\/a\u003E in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and the paper\u0026rsquo;s corresponding author. Dark matter collapses into halos that are the gravitational glue for all galaxies. Early rapid growth of these halos prevented the formation of stars that would have competed with black holes for gaseous matter flowing into the area.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In this study, we have uncovered a totally new mechanism that sparks the formation of massive black holes in particular dark matter halos,\u0026rdquo; Wise said. \u0026ldquo;Instead of just considering radiation, we need to look at how quickly the halos grow. We don\u0026rsquo;t need that much physics to understand it \u0026ndash; just how the dark matter is distributed and how gravity will affect that. Forming a massive black hole requires being in a rare region with an intense convergence of matter.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the research team found these black hole formation sites in the simulation they were at first stumped, said John Regan, research fellow in the Centre for Astrophysics and Relativity in Dublin City University. The previously accepted paradigm was that massive black holes could only form when exposed to high levels of nearby radiation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Previous theories suggested this should only happen when the sites were exposed to high levels of star-formation killing radiation,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;As we delved deeper, we saw that these sites were undergoing a period of extremely rapid growth. That was the key. The violent and turbulent nature of the rapid assembly, the violent crashing together of the galaxy\u0026rsquo;s foundations during the galaxy\u0026rsquo;s birth prevented normal star formation and led to perfect conditions for black hole formation instead. This research shifts the previous paradigm and opens up a whole new area of research.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe earlier theory relied on intense ultraviolet radiation from a nearby galaxy to inhibit the formation of stars in the black hole-forming halo, said Michael Norman, director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and one of the work\u0026rsquo;s authors. \u0026ldquo;While UV radiation is still a factor, our work has shown that it is not the dominant factor, at least in our simulations,\u0026rdquo; he explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was based on the Renaissance Simulation suite, a 70-terabyte data set created on the Blue Waters supercomputer between 2011 and 2014 to help scientists understand how the universe evolved during its early years. To learn more about specific regions where massive black holes were likely to develop, the researchers examined the simulation data and found ten specific dark matter halos that should have formed stars given their masses but only contained a dense gas cloud. Using the Stampede2 supercomputer, they then re-simulated two of those halos \u0026ndash; each about 2,400 light-years across \u0026ndash; at much higher resolution to understand details of what was happening in them 270 million years after the Big Bang.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was only in these overly-dense regions of the universe that we saw these black holes forming,\u0026rdquo; Wise said. \u0026ldquo;The dark matter creates most of the gravity, and then the gas falls into that gravitational potential, where it can form stars or a massive black hole.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Renaissance Simulations are the most comprehensive simulations of the earliest stages of the gravitational assembly of the pristine gas composed of hydrogen and helium and cold dark matter leading to the formation of the first stars and galaxies. They use a technique known as adaptive mesh refinement to zoom in on dense clumps forming stars or black holes. In addition, they cover a large enough region of the early universe to form thousands of objects\u0026mdash;a requirement if one is interested in rare objects, as is the case here. \u0026ldquo;The high resolution, rich physics and large sample of collapsing halos were all needed to achieve this result,\u0026rdquo; said Norman.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe improved resolution of the simulation done for two candidate regions allowed the scientists to see turbulence and the inflow of gas and clumps of matter forming as the black hole precursors began to condense and spin. Their growth rate was dramatic.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Astronomers observe supermassive black holes that have grown to a billion solar masses in 800 million years,\u0026rdquo; Wise said. \u0026ldquo;Doing that required an intense convergence of mass in that region. You would expect that in regions where galaxies were forming at very early times.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother aspect of the research is that the halos that give birth to black holes may be more common than previously believed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;An exciting component of this work is the discovery that these types of halos, though rare, may be common enough,\u0026rdquo; said Brian O\u0026rsquo;Shea, a professor at Michigan State University.\u0026nbsp; \u0026ldquo;We predict that this scenario would happen enough to be the origin of the most massive black holes that are observed, both early in the universe and in galaxies at the present day.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFuture work with these simulations will look at the lifecycle of these massive black hole formation galaxies, studying the formation, growth and evolution of the first massive black holes across time. \u0026ldquo;Our next goal is to probe the further evolution of these exotic objects. Where are these black holes today? Can we detect evidence of them in the local Universe or with gravitational waves?\u0026rdquo; Regan asked.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor these new answers, the research team \u0026ndash; and others \u0026ndash; may return to the simulations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The Renaissance Simulations are sufficiently rich that other discoveries can be made using data already computed,\u0026rdquo; said Norman. \u0026ldquo;For this reason we have created a public archive at SDSC containing called the Renaissance Simulations Laboratory where others can pursue questions of their own.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation through grants PHY-1430152, AST-1514700, AST-161433 and OAC-1835213, by NASA grants NNX12AC98G, 147 NNX15AP39G, and NNX17AG23G, and by Hubble theory grants HST-AR-13261.01, HST-AR-14315.001, and HST-AR-14326. This project has received funding from the European Union\u0026#39;s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 699941 (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions \u0026ndash; \u0026ldquo;SmartStars). The simulation was performed on the Blue Waters supercomputer operated by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) with PRAC allocation support by the NSF (awards ACI-0832662, ACI-1238993 and ACI-1514580). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: John H. Wise, et al., \u0026ldquo;Formation of massive black holes in rapidly growing pre-galactic gas clouds,\u0026rdquo; (Nature 2019). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-019-0873-4\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-019-0873-4\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERenaissance Simulations Laboratory:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rensimlab.github.io\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/rensimlab.github.io\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe light released from around the first massive black holes in the universe is so intense that it is able to reach telescopes across the entire expanse of the universe. Incredibly, the light from the most distant black holes (or quasars) has been traveling to us for more than 13 billion light years. However, we do not know how these monster black holes formed.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New research shows that when galaxies assemble extremely rapidly \u2013 and sometimes violently \u2013 that can lead to the formation of very massive black holes."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-01-23 13:59:30","changed_gmt":"2019-01-24 17:48:39","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"616732":{"id":"616732","type":"image","title":"30 Years of Dark Matter Halo","body":null,"created":"1548250695","gmt_created":"2019-01-23 13:38:15","changed":"1548250695","gmt_changed":"2019-01-23 13:38:15","alt":"Closeup of dark matter halo","file":{"fid":"234730","name":"massive-black-hole-formation2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":722586,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation2.png?itok=rjWvMESF"}},"616733":{"id":"616733","type":"image","title":"30,000 Light-year Region of Simulation","body":null,"created":"1548250858","gmt_created":"2019-01-23 13:40:58","changed":"1548250858","gmt_changed":"2019-01-23 13:40:58","alt":"30,000 light-year region of simulation","file":{"fid":"234731","name":"massive-black-hole-formation1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1644714,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation1.png?itok=WYU4eZm3"}}},"media_ids":["616732","616733"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"60491","name":"Black hole"},{"id":"180268","name":"dark matter halo"},{"id":"8312","name":"galaxy"},{"id":"180271","name":"Renaissance Simulation"},{"id":"12044","name":"John Wise"},{"id":"91741","name":"Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"615048":{"#nid":"615048","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Catalog of Cosmic Cataclysms Helps Establish Gravitational Wave Astronomy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn February 2016, astronomers shook the scientific world with the announcement that they had observed gravitational waves from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe \u0026mdash; the collision of two massive black holes, celestial objects so dense that not even light can escape from them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGravitational waves, hard-to-see ripples in the fabric of space-time, had been predicted by Albert Einstein\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/General_relativity\u0022\u003EGeneral Theory of Relativity\u003C\/a\u003E in 1915. These gravitational waves carry information about their origins, potentially offering a new way to observe the cosmos. Three years ago, however, researchers didn\u0026rsquo;t know if this first observation was merely an anomaly or part of a widespread phenomenon that could teach us about the population of black holes in the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA dozen Georgia Tech faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and students participated with hundreds of other researchers in the National Science Foundation-sponsored \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ligo.caltech.edu\/\u0022\u003ELIGO\u003C\/a\u003E (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) Scientific Collaboration that reported the first gravitational waves. After the announcement, the work continued, and scientists from around the world have now observed 10 black hole collisions and a merger of two binary neutron stars using LIGO and the European-based Virgo gravitational wave detector.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECatalog of Coalescing Cosmic Objects\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe records of these cataclysmic cosmic events, including four black hole observations disclosed for the first time, have been collected into a catalog released December 1 at the Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop held in College Park, Maryland. Production of the catalog suggests that gravitational wave astronomy will indeed offer astronomers a new way to view the secrets of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The individual black hole detections previously announced allow us to confirm, after many years of searching, that gravitational wave astronomy is a feasible endeavor,\u0026rdquo; said James Alexander Clark, a research scientist in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Relativistic Astrophysics\u003C\/a\u003E (CRA) in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and a member of the LIGO collaboration. \u0026ldquo;We now know that pairs of massive black holes exist and collide frequently enough for us to detect gravitational waves within a human lifetime. We also know that the instruments and analysis procedures we use are capable of detecting and characterizing gravitational wave sources and we have been able to start probing some basic features of the theory of general relativity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAstronomers do not have the luxury of repeating laboratory experiments to build confidence in their findings, Clark pointed out. \u0026ldquo;Instead, we rely on observing large samples of objects and phenomena spread throughout the universe. By building a \u0026lsquo;census\u0026rsquo; of this population, we are rapidly learning more about how common these objects are, what their general properties are like, and about the diversity of black holes in the universe.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExpanding the Observations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat census should expand more rapidly starting in April 2019 when LIGO begins its next observing run. The two instruments, one in Livingston, Louisiana, and the other in Hanford, Washington, are shut down periodically for upgrades to improve sensitivity. \u0026ldquo;By observing a larger sample of binary black hole sources, we are more likely to find systems with more extreme configurations that allow more stringent tests of our models \u0026mdash; and of general relativity,\u0026rdquo; Clark added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new Gravitational Wave Catalog shows that gravitational waves from powerful cosmic phenomena arrive at the Earth almost once every 15 days of observation, noted Karan Jani, a postdoctoral fellow in the CRA and also a member of the LIGO collaboration. \u0026ldquo;Future releases will provide much stronger tests of Einstein\u0026rsquo;s theory of gravity, and help provide a better understanding of how black holes are formed in the universe.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EData collected on the 10 black hole mergers describe objects that are as much as 100 times more massive than our own sun. Among the reports is a July 29, 2017, signal that represents the most distant, most energetic, and most massive black hole collision detected so far. That collision happened about five billion years ago \u0026mdash; even before the birth of our sun \u0026mdash; and released an amount of energy equivalent to converting almost five solar masses to gravitational radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat We Learn from Black Hole Observations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBlack holes are among the few objects in the universe massive and dense enough to produce gravitational waves that can be measured, said Sudarshan Ghonge, a CRA graduate student and also a member of the collaboration. But those measurements can be quite worthwhile.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These waves have signatures that depend on the properties of the black holes from which they originated,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;By measuring these waves, we can infer the masses, spin, sky location, and distance from us. It\u0026rsquo;s similar to how you can listen to a sound and roughly figure out where it\u0026rsquo;s coming from, how far away it is, and what\u0026rsquo;s causing it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELIGO works by observing infinitesimally small changes caused by gravitational waves passing through the Earth. The changes affect laser beams traveling through twin four-kilometer arms of the L-shaped observatories. The Hanford and Livingston facilities, separated by 1,865 miles, confirm the observations, as both facilities should detect the waves. Additional information comes from the Virgo facility in Italy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EObserving Runs Produce New Records\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom September 12, 2015, to January 19, 2016, during the first LIGO observing run since undergoing upgrades in a program called Advanced LIGO, gravitational waves from three binary black hole mergers were detected. The second observing run, which lasted from November 30, 2016, to August 25, 2017, yielded one binary neutron star merger and seven additional binary black hole mergers, including the four new gravitational wave events reported December 1. The new events are known as GW170729, GW170809, GW170818 and GW170823, in reference to the dates they were detected.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGW170814 was the first binary black hole merger measured by the three-detector network made possible by collaboration between LIGO and Virgo, and allowed for the first tests of gravitational wave polarization, which is analogous to light polarization.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the new events, GW170818, detected by the global network formed by the LIGO and Virgo observatories, was very precisely pinpointed in the sky. The position of the binary black holes, located 2.5 billion light-years from Earth, was identified in the sky with a precision of 39 square degrees. That makes it the next-best localized gravitational wave source after the GW170817 neutron star merger.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe event GW170817, detected three days after GW170814, represented the first time that gravitational waves were observed from the merger of a binary neutron star system. What\u0026#39;s more, this collision was seen in gravitational waves and light, marking an exciting new chapter in multi-messenger astronomy, in which cosmic objects are observed simultaneously in different forms of radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvancing Gravitational Wave Observation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The release of four additional binary black hole mergers further informs us of the nature of the population of these binary systems in the universe and better constrains the event rate for these types of events,\u0026rdquo; said Caltech\u0026rsquo;s Albert Lazzarini, deputy director of the LIGO Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;In just one year, LIGO and Virgo working together have dramatically advanced gravitational wave science, and the rate of discovery suggests the most spectacular findings are yet to come,\u0026rdquo; said Denise Caldwell, director of NSF\u0026#39;s Division of Physics. \u0026quot;The accomplishments of NSF\u0026#39;s LIGO and its international partners are a source of pride for the agency, and we expect even greater advances as LIGO\u0026#39;s sensitivity becomes better and better in the coming year.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;The next observing run, starting in Spring 2019, should yield many more gravitational wave candidates, and the science the community can accomplish will grow accordingly,\u0026rdquo; said David Shoemaker, spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and senior research scientist in MIT\u0026rsquo;s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s an incredibly exciting time.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is gratifying to see the new capabilities that become available through the addition of Advanced Virgo to the global network,\u0026rdquo; said Jo van den Brand of Nikhef (the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics) and VU University Amsterdam, who is the spokesperson for the Virgo Collaboration. \u0026ldquo;Our greatly improved pointing precision will allow astronomers to rapidly find any other cosmic messengers emitted by the gravitational wave sources.\u0026rdquo; The enhanced pointing capability of the LIGO-Virgo network is made possible by exploiting the time delays of the signal arrival at the different sites and the so-called antenna patterns of the interferometers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe scientific papers describing these new findings, which are being initially published on the arXiv repository of electronic preprints, present detailed information in the form of a catalog of all the gravitational wave detections and candidate events of the two observing runs as well as describing the characteristics of the merging black hole population. Most notably, we find that almost all black holes formed from stars are lighter than 45 times the mass of the sun. Thanks to more advanced data processing and better calibration of the instruments, the accuracy of the astrophysical parameters of the previously announced events increased considerably.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdded Georgia Tech professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cadonati.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ELaura Cadonati\u003C\/a\u003E, deputy spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, \u0026ldquo;These new discoveries were only made possible through the tireless and carefully coordinated work of the detector commissioners at all three observatories, and the scientists around the world responsible for data quality and cleaning, searching for buried signals, and parameter estimation for each candidate \u0026mdash; each a scientific specialty requiring enormous expertise and experience.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout LIGO and Virgo\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELIGO is funded by NSF and operated by Caltech and MIT, which conceived and built the project. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by the NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the United Kingdom (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Australia (Australian Research Council-OzGrav) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. More than 1,200 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. A list of additional partners is available at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ligo.org\/partners.php\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/ligo.org\/partners.php\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Virgo Collaboration consists of more than 300 physicists and engineers belonging to 28 different European research groups: six from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France; 11 from the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy; two in the Netherlands with Nikhef; the MTA Wigner RCP in Hungary; the POLGRAW group in Poland; Spain with IFAE and the Universities of Valencia and Barcelona; two in Belgium with the Universities of Liege and Louvain; Jena University in Germany; and the European Gravitational Observatory, the laboratory hosting the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, funded by CNRS, INFN and Nikhef. A list of the Virgo Collaboration can be found at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/public.virgo-gw.eu\/the-virgo-collaboration\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/public.virgo-gw.eu\/the-virgo-collaboration\/\u003C\/a\u003E. More information is available on the Virgo website at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.virgo-gw.eu\u0022\u003Ewww.virgo-gw.eu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: LIGO Scientific Collaboration \/ John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists from around the world have now observed 10 black hole collisions and a merger of two binary neutron stars using LIGO and the European-based Virgo gravitational wave detector. A new catalog inventories those events.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new catalog of cataclysmic events supports the development of gravitational wave astronomy."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-12-06 01:06:28","changed_gmt":"2018-12-06 17:51:37","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-12-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-12-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"615044":{"id":"615044","type":"image","title":"Merger of black holes","body":null,"created":"1544057097","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:44:57","changed":"1544057097","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:44:57","alt":"Simulation of binary black hole merger","file":{"fid":"234198","name":"bbh-merger.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bbh-merger.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bbh-merger.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2840753,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bbh-merger.png?itok=y3O2GpDL"}},"615045":{"id":"615045","type":"image","title":"LIGO collaborators","body":null,"created":"1544057278","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:47:58","changed":"1544057278","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:47:58","alt":"LIGO, black hole, gravitational wave, astronomy, universe","file":{"fid":"234199","name":"ligo-2018-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":659976,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ligo-2018-002.jpg?itok=zGI-jYbq"}},"615047":{"id":"615047","type":"image","title":"Gravitational wave signals","body":null,"created":"1544057773","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:56:13","changed":"1544057773","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:56:13","alt":"Signals from gravitational waves","file":{"fid":"234201","name":"GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2113474,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png?itok=-AO9yGUm"}},"615046":{"id":"615046","type":"image","title":"LIGO collaborators-2","body":null,"created":"1544057422","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:50:22","changed":"1544057422","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:50:22","alt":"LIGO collaborators at Georgia Tech","file":{"fid":"234200","name":"ligo-2018-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":629096,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ligo-2018-004.jpg?itok=TB625OZr"}}},"media_ids":["615044","615045","615047","615046"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"120161","name":"LIGO"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"179942","name":"binary black holes"},{"id":"25211","name":"universe"},{"id":"99091","name":"Gravitational waves"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"613665":{"#nid":"613665","#data":{"type":"news","title":"NASA Pushes Exploration of Oceans in Our Solar System in Georgia Tech-Led Alliance","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENASA Astrobiology Program awards $7 million to Georgia Tech-led Oceans Across Space and Time alliance to intensify the search for life in our solar system\u0026rsquo;s present and past oceans\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENASA has navigated our solar system with spacecraft and landers, but still, our celestial neighbors remain vast frontiers, particularly in the search for life. Now, an alliance of researchers will accelerate the quest to find it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/astrobiology.nasa.gov\/news\/nasas-astrobiology-program-evolving-to-meet-the-future\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENASA Astrobiology Program has announced\u003C\/a\u003E the establishment of the Network for Life Detection,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nfold.org\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENFoLD\u003C\/a\u003E, which connects researchers to pursue the detection of life and clues thereof on our neighboring planets and their moons. NFoLD includes an oceanic research alliance led by the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt is called \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/oast.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EOceans Across Space and Time,\u0026nbsp;OAST\u003C\/a\u003E, and has received a $7 million NASA Astrobiology grant with the long-range goal of extracting secrets from present and past oceans on Mars, Jupiter\u0026rsquo;s icy moon Europa, and Saturn\u0026rsquo;s moon Enceladus. But OAST will also ramp up the study of the conditions that spawned first life in Earth\u0026rsquo;s oceans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With OAST,\u0026nbsp;we finally hit the perfect mix of people, science questions, and supporting activities to really go after some of the most important unknowns in astrobiology,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;said Britney Schmidt,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/schmidt.eas.gatech.edu\/current-project-oast\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EOAST\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/people\/schmidt-dr-britney\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENFoLD is one of five new Research Coordination Networks that the NASA Astrobiology Program has announced. The other RCNs pull together research communities that include the study of early Earth and its chemistry, evolution, distant habitable worlds, and exoplanet systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYellow submarine on Europa\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOceans Across Space and Time could one day help NASA put a submarine on a rocket to Europa to look for life in the ocean beneath its ice crust. Or OAST could join NFoLD colleagues to help NASA explore parched Martian landscapes that once were oceans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut the path to our space neighbors leads through studying Earth. Field and lab experiments on our planet will divulge more knowledge about chemical and biological evolutionary strategies so that researchers can develop instruments and methodology that reliably detect signs of life on other planets and moons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;We don\u0026#39;t yet have a slam-dunk measurement that we could make on another planet to definitively say \u0026lsquo;this is life,\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; said Schmidt, who coordinates OAST and led the application efforts to establish it.\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;OAST\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;main goal is to take a suite of technologies into the field on Earth to make measurements side-by-side while returning samples to the lab to understand.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThen, when that is very finely honed, send it aloft.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECrucial target practice\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of NFoLD\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;goals is to participate in future astrobiology space missions from the start so that they can successfully identify target spots on other planets or moons where signs of life could actually be detected if present.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;A major challenge for life detection is where on a given planet or moon to look for life,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scripps.ucsd.edu\/research\/centers-labs-programs\/bowman-lab\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJeff Bowman, deputy principal investigator of OAST and an assistant professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;at UC San Diego. \u0026ldquo;The density of life on our own planet extends across several orders of magnitude. Look for life in the wrong place and Earth could appear lifeless.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOAST\u0026rsquo;s team has the expertise to bridge earthly data and celestial goals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany of its\u0026nbsp;18\u0026nbsp;co-investigators and their teams have already explored biogeochemistry in our own planet\u0026rsquo;s eons-old rock record, in the atmosphere, the oceans, and the icecaps with an eye to extrapolating the data to other worlds.\u0026nbsp;Other OAST researchers have helped design Mars probes or build robotic submarines intended to one day dive into Europa\u0026rsquo;s subsurface ocean to detect life or at least a hint of it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;OAST researchers have expertise in detecting and characterizing life in a variety of harsh environments like the Antarctic, the deepest ocean trenches, and lakes with extreme chemistry and salinity,\u0026rdquo; Bowman said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;We will leverage this expertise to understand how life may be distributed in different ocean environmental extremes around the solar system.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDiverse member institutions\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOAST includes investigators from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego; the University of Kansas;\u0026nbsp;Louisiana State University; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science; the University of Texas; Colgate University; the University of California, the University of Central Florida;\u0026nbsp;the University of Auckland; York University; the University of Otago, and the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026#39;m particularly proud of the high number of women and pre-tenure scientists we\u0026#39;ve engaged through our project,\u0026rdquo; said Schmidt. Five leaders in OAST are women, and 12 researchers are early career or pre-tenure. The project will also support graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers through the NASA Postdoctoral Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELike this article?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESubscribe to our email newsletter\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso READ:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/610192\/laughing-gas-may-have-helped-warm-early-earth-and-given-breath-life\u0022\u003ELaughing Gas May Have Helped Warm Early Earth and Given Breath to Life\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia relations assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404) 660-1408, ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEnvision a yellow submarine on a rocket to Europa as a future highpoint of a research project led by Georgia Tech to search for life in our solar system\u0026#39;s oceans.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Envision a yellow submarine on a rocket to Europa as a future highpoint of a research project led by Georgia Tech to search for life in our solar system\u0027s oceans."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-11-01 18:50:28","changed_gmt":"2018-11-19 14:49:20","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"613647":{"id":"613647","type":"image","title":"Saturn\u0027s moon Enceladus","body":null,"created":"1541096627","gmt_created":"2018-11-01 18:23:47","changed":"1541096627","gmt_changed":"2018-11-01 18:23:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"233594","name":"1534_50_Enceladus_768.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1534_50_Enceladus_768.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1534_50_Enceladus_768.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":313819,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1534_50_Enceladus_768.jpg?itok=wQmaZTl7"}},"613645":{"id":"613645","type":"image","title":"Europa cross-section ice 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Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"607671":{"#nid":"607671","#data":{"type":"news","title":"IceCube Neutrinos Point to Long-Sought Cosmic Ray Accelerator","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn international team of scientists, including two researchers from Georgia Tech, has found the first evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, ghostly subatomic particles that can travel unhindered for billions of light years from the most extreme environments in the universe to Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe observations, made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the Amundsen\u0026ndash;Scott South Pole Station and in coordination with telescopes around the globe and in Earth\u0026rsquo;s orbit, help resolve a more than a century-old riddle about what sends subatomic particles such as neutrinos and cosmic rays speeding through the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince they were first detected over one hundred years ago, cosmic rays\u0026mdash;highly energetic particles that continuously rain down on Earth from space\u0026mdash;have posed an enduring mystery: What creates and launches these particles across such vast distances? Where do they come from?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause cosmic rays are charged particles, their paths cannot be traced directly back to their sources due to the magnetic fields that fill space and warp their trajectories. But the powerful cosmic accelerators that produce them will also produce neutrinos. Neutrinos are uncharged particles, unaffected by even the most powerful magnetic field. Because they rarely interact with matter and have almost no mass\u0026mdash;hence their sobriquet \u0026ldquo;ghost particle\u0026rdquo;\u0026mdash;neutrinos travel nearly undisturbed from their accelerators, giving scientists an almost direct pointer to their source.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo papers published July 13 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E have for the first time provided evidence for a known blazar as a source of high-energy neutrinos detected by the National Science Foundation-supported IceCube observatory. This blazar, designated by astronomers as TXS 0506+056, was first singled out following a neutrino alert sent by IceCube on September 22, 2017.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The evidence for the observation of the first known source of high-energy neutrinos and cosmic rays is compelling,\u0026rdquo; said Francis Halzen, a University of Wisconsin\u0026ndash;Madison professor of physics and principal investigator for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The era of multi-messenger astrophysics is here. Each messenger gives us a more complete understanding of the universe and important new insights into the most powerful objects and events in the sky,\u0026rdquo; said NSF Director France C\u0026oacute;rdova. \u0026ldquo;Such breakthroughs are only possible through a long-term commitment to fundamental research and investment in superb research facilities.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA blazar is a galaxy with a super-massive, rapidly spinning black hole at its core. A signature feature of blazars is that twin jets of light and elementary particles, one of which is pointing to Earth, are emitted from the poles along the axis of the black hole\u0026rsquo;s rotation. This blazar is situated in the night sky just off the left shoulder of the constellation Orion and is about four billion light years from Earth.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Scientifically, this is very good news,\u0026rdquo; said Ignacio Taboada, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and member of the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics also at Georgia Tech. As leader of the \u0026ldquo;Transients Science Working Group\u0026rdquo; within IceCube, he oversaw all the studies that inquired on the correlation TXS 0506+056\u0026rsquo;s gamma ray flare and the neutrino alert of September 22, 2017. \u0026ldquo;For years, we\u0026rsquo;ve had a long list of potential sources for high-energy neutrinos. Now we have a specific source \u0026ndash; blazars \u0026ndash; that we can look at very carefully.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESee the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/ghostly-visitors\u0022\u003Efull feature article and video\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn international team of scientists, including two researchers from Georgia Tech, has found the first evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, ghostly subatomic particles that can travel unhindered for billions of light years from the most extreme environments in the universe to Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An international team of scientists has found the first evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-07-11 23:34:15","changed_gmt":"2018-07-12 20:48:27","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-07-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-07-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"607668":{"id":"607668","type":"image","title":"IceCube digital optical module","body":null,"created":"1531351488","gmt_created":"2018-07-11 23:24:48","changed":"1531351488","gmt_changed":"2018-07-11 23:24:48","alt":"Ignacio Taboada and digital optical module","file":{"fid":"231800","name":"taboada-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/taboada-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/taboada-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1154639,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/taboada-003.jpg?itok=Y8nKUQCY"}},"607688":{"id":"607688","type":"image","title":"IceCube Observatory at night","body":null,"created":"1531411027","gmt_created":"2018-07-12 15:57:07","changed":"1531411027","gmt_changed":"2018-07-12 15:57:07","alt":"IceCube observatory","file":{"fid":"231810","name":"MartinW6-cropped.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MartinW6-cropped.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MartinW6-cropped.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2102990,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MartinW6-cropped.jpg?itok=I-ddqwGN"}}},"media_ids":["607668","607688"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"30741","name":"IceCube"},{"id":"178529","name":"IceCube Neutrino Observatory"},{"id":"30751","name":"neutrino"},{"id":"30801","name":"cosmic ray"},{"id":"60491","name":"Black hole"},{"id":"178528","name":"blazar"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"607280":{"#nid":"607280","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Laser-Based System Could Expand Space-to-Ground Communication","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new research project announced recently as a collaboration between the Georgia Institute of Technology and satellite communications provider Xenesis could help open the bottleneck that now limits the flow of data from Earth-orbiting satellites to ground stations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project will miniaturize, space qualify and test a laser communications transceiver that could dramatically expand the bandwidth available for downlinking information from the growing number of satellites \u0026ndash; and future constellations of space vehicles \u0026ndash; in low Earth orbit. Xenesis has licensed the technology from NASA\u0026rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and will work with Georgia Tech and JPL to mature it for use as a primary communication system for satellites as small as CubeSats.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We expect to significantly add to the total bandwidth of information that we can get down from space, and the more bandwidth we have, the more information we can exchange and the more value we can get from satellite networks,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aerospace.gatech.edu\/people\/brian-c-gunter\u0022\u003EBrian Gunter\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aerospace.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EDaniel\u0026nbsp;Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E who will be leading the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGunter\u0026rsquo;s lab has experience with small satellites, and will apply that expertise to the project with Xenesis \u0026ndash; which signed a $1.2 million contract on June 14 to support the work. Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s contribution will be to miniaturize the original JPL technology, update the control software, space qualify all the hardware and test the improved system from space \u0026ndash; likely from the International Space Station.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With all of the satellites that are going into space, everything from CubeSats to major satellites, there is more information being generated than can ever be downloaded,\u0026rdquo; said Dennis Poulos, chief technology officer at Xenesis. \u0026ldquo;Most of today\u0026rsquo;s systems depend on radio frequency downlinks, and there is just a limited amount of bandwidth available for use.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELaser-based systems can expand that bandwidth to beyond 10 gigabits per second, Poulos said. In addition to boosting bandwidth, optical systems can use smaller antennas, use power more efficiently, and provide better data security.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMark LaPenna, CEO of Xenesis, compared the benefits of the planned space-based network to the jump in performance from terrestrial dial-up connections of the 1990s to today\u0026rsquo;s high-speed broadband services.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Xenesis recognizes the need for a global communications revolution, and we plan to empower space with an optical product called XenHub,\u0026rdquo; LaPenna said. \u0026ldquo;Through this architecture, any company, mission or global operator on the ground or in space, will be able to compete on a level playing field for the first time since Sputnik.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe laser communications transceiver developed by JPL consists of two components: (1) an optics module that includes a five-centimeter telescope, two-axis gimbal, monitoring sensors and thermal control system, and (2) an electronics module with a transmitter, processor, controllers and power conditioning systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough it is subject to interference from clouds, the laser system will benefit from producing a narrow beam that can travel farther than comparable radio-frequency transmissions at the same power level.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe initial focus will be space-to-ground communication, though the system could also be used for cross-linking communication between satellites. The small antenna size is also more suitable to the small-form satellites envisioned for future constellations that may include thousands of spacecraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Once we can show that this works from space to ground, that will demonstrate that the technology can survive the harsh environment of space, and allow us continue the development of the transceiver for commercial use,\u0026rdquo; Gunter added. \u0026ldquo;This has the potential to open up a range of new capabilities, including the ability to provide high-volume data services to anywhere in the world.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Aerospace Engineering, the contract will support three or four graduate students, a postdoctoral researcher, and a group of undergraduate students, Gunter said. \u0026ldquo;This will be a major satellite project for our lab, and we look forward to advancing the technology with our 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CubeSat","file":{"fid":"231639","name":"xenesis-35015.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/xenesis-35015.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/xenesis-35015.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1789283,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/xenesis-35015.jpg?itok=wCMC1CJV"}},"607277":{"id":"607277","type":"image","title":"Inspecting small satellite testing","body":null,"created":"1529931307","gmt_created":"2018-06-25 12:55:07","changed":"1529931307","gmt_changed":"2018-06-25 12:55:07","alt":"Inspecting small satellite testing facilities","file":{"fid":"231641","name":"xenesis-35009.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/xenesis-35009.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/xenesis-35009.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1619705,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/xenesis-35009.jpg?itok=_oFaGHHU"}},"607275":{"id":"607275","type":"image","title":"Xenesis visit to Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1529931193","gmt_created":"2018-06-25 12:53:13","changed":"1529931193","gmt_changed":"2018-06-25 12:53:13","alt":"Xenesis officials visit Brian Gunter\u0027s lab","file":{"fid":"231640","name":"xenesis-35022.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/xenesis-35022.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/xenesis-35022.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1631999,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/xenesis-35022.jpg?itok=O6_D-Qsm"}},"607279":{"id":"607279","type":"image","title":"Visiting Aerospace Engineering machine shop","body":null,"created":"1529931401","gmt_created":"2018-06-25 12:56:41","changed":"1529931401","gmt_changed":"2018-06-25 12:56:41","alt":"Visiting Aerospace Engineering machine shop","file":{"fid":"231642","name":"Xenesis-35006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Xenesis-35006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Xenesis-35006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1831571,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Xenesis-35006.jpg?itok=yv3WZad5"}}},"media_ids":["607273","607277","607275","607279"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"178401","name":"satellite communication"},{"id":"178400","name":"Xenesis"},{"id":"178402","name":"laser communication"},{"id":"80041","name":"CubeSat"},{"id":"133281","name":"Brian Gunter"},{"id":"167589","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"606805":{"#nid":"606805","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Aircraft Microbiome Much Like That of Homes and Offices, Study Finds","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat does flying in a commercial airliner have in common with working at the office or relaxing at home?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to a new study, the answer is the microbiome \u0026ndash; the community of bacteria found in homes, offices and aircraft cabins. Believed to be the first to comprehensively assess the microbiome of aircraft, the study found that the bacterial communities accompanying airline passengers at 30,000 feet have much in common with the bacterial communities surrounding people in their homes and offices.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing advanced sequencing technology, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University studied the bacteria found on three components of an airliner cabin that are commonly touched by passengers: tray tables, seat belt buckles and the handles of lavatory doors. They swabbed those items before and after ten transcontinental flights and also sampled air in the rear of the cabin during flight.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat they found was surprisingly unexciting.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Airline passengers should not be frightened by sensational stories about germs on a plane,\u0026rdquo; said Vicki Stover Hertzberg, a professor in Emory University\u0026rsquo;s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and a co-author of the study. \u0026ldquo;They should recognize that microbes are everywhere and that an airplane is no better and no worse than an office building, a subway car, home or a classroom. These environments all have microbiomes that look like places occupied by people.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results of the FlyHealthy\u0026trade; study were reported June 6, 2018, in the journal \u003Cem\u003EMicrobial Ecology\u003C\/em\u003E. In March, the researchers reported on a separate part of the study that examined potential routes for transmitting certain respiratory viruses \u0026ndash; such as the flu \u0026ndash; on commercial flights.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGiven the unusual nature of an aircraft cabin, the researchers hadn\u0026rsquo;t known what to expect from their microbiome study. On transcontinental flights, passengers spend four or five hours in close proximity breathing a very dry mix of outdoor air and recycled cabin air that has been passed through special filters, similar to those found in operating rooms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There were reasons to believe that the communities of bacteria in an aircraft cabin might be different from those in other parts of the built environment, so it surprised me that what we found was very similar to what other researchers have found in homes and offices,\u0026rdquo; said Howard Weiss, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Mathematics\u003C\/a\u003E and the study\u0026rsquo;s corresponding author. \u0026ldquo;What we found was bacterial communities that were mostly derived from human skin, the human mouth \u0026ndash; and some environmental bacteria.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sampling found significant variations from flight to flight, which is consistent with the differences other researchers have found among the cars of passenger trains, Weiss noted. Each aircraft seemed to have its own microbiome, but the researchers did not detect statistically significant differences between preflight and post-flight conditions on the flights studied.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We identified a core airplane microbiome \u0026ndash; the genera that were present in every sample we studied,\u0026rdquo; Weiss added. The core microbiome included genera \u003Cem\u003EPropionibacterium, Burkholderia, Staphylococcus, and Strepococcus (oralis)\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the study revealed bacteria common to other parts of the built environment, Weiss still suggests travelers exercise reasonable caution. \u0026ldquo;I carry a bottle of hand sanitizer in my computer bag whenever I travel,\u0026rdquo; said Weiss. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a good practice to wash or sanitize your hands, avoid touching your face, and get a flu shot ever year.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis new information on the aircraft microbiome provides a baseline for further study, and could lead to improved techniques for maintaining healthy aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The finding that airplanes have their own unique microbiome should not be totally surprising since we have been exploring the unique microbiome of everything from humans to spacecraft to salt ponds in Australia. The study does have important implications for industrial cleaning and sterilization standards for airplanes,\u0026rdquo; said Christopher Dupont, another co-author and an associate professor in the Microbial and Environmental Genomics Department at the J. Craig Venter Institute, which provided bioinformatics analysis of the study\u0026rsquo;s data.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 229 samples obtained from the aircraft cabin testing were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing, which was done at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama. The small amount of genetic material captured on the swabs and air sampling limited the level of detail the testing could provide to identifying genera of bacteria, Weiss said. The extensive bioinformatics, or sequence analysis, was carried out at the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, Calif.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the March 19 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, the researchers reported on the results of another component of the FlyHealthy\u0026trade; study that looked at potential transmission of respiratory viruses on aircraft. They found that an infectious passenger with influenza or other droplet-transmitted respiratory infection will most likely not transmit infection to passengers seated farther away than two seats laterally and one row in front or back on an aircraft.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat portion of the study was designed to assess rates and routes of possible infectious disease transmission during flights, using a model that combines estimated infectivity and patterns of contact among aircraft passengers and crew members to determine likelihood of infection. FlyHealthy\u0026trade; team members were assigned to monitor specific areas of the passenger cabin, developing information about contacts between passengers as they moved around.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong next steps, the researchers would like to study the microbiome of airport areas, especially the departure lounges where passengers congregate before boarding. They would also like to study long-haul international flights in which passengers spend more time together \u0026ndash; and are more likely to move about the cabin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the paper\u0026rsquo;s authors include Josh L. Espinoza and Karen Nelson of the J. Craig Venter Institute, Shawn Levy of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and Sharon Norris of The Boeing Company.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by contract 2001-041-1 between the Georgia Institute of Technology and The Boeing Company.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Howard Weiss, et al., \u0026ldquo;The Airplane Cabin Microbiome,\u0026rdquo; (Microbial Ecology, 2018).\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00248-018-1191-3\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00248-018-1191-3\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat does flying in a commercial airliner have in common with working at the office or relaxing at home? According to a new study, the answer is the microbiome \u0026ndash; the community of bacteria found in homes, offices and aircraft cabins.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have conducted what may be the first study of the aircraft microbiome."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-06-07 01:20:43","changed_gmt":"2018-06-08 14:34:18","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-06-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-06-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"606802":{"id":"606802","type":"image","title":"Reviewing data on bacteria","body":null,"created":"1528333454","gmt_created":"2018-06-07 01:04:14","changed":"1528333454","gmt_changed":"2018-06-07 01:04:14","alt":"Studying bacterial samples from aircraft","file":{"fid":"231437","name":"microbiome8797.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microbiome8797.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microbiome8797.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":397181,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microbiome8797.jpg?itok=Z-C6Sc5V"}},"606803":{"id":"606803","type":"image","title":"Swabbing tray table","body":null,"created":"1528333588","gmt_created":"2018-06-07 01:06:28","changed":"1528333588","gmt_changed":"2018-06-07 01:06:28","alt":"Taking samples from a tray table","file":{"fid":"231438","name":"microbiome_8854.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microbiome_8854.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microbiome_8854.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":765687,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microbiome_8854.jpg?itok=Ab_pgpti"}}},"media_ids":["606802","606803"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/603990","title":"Researchers Determine Routes of Respiratory Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"56501","name":"microbiome"},{"id":"7077","name":"bacteria"},{"id":"171594","name":"sampling"},{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"35421","name":"Howard Weiss"},{"id":"2030","name":"Flight"},{"id":"173647","name":"_for_math_site_"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"604623":{"#nid":"604623","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Human Factors Research Helps Accelerate Mission Planning","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe key to a successful flight mission is planning \u0026ndash; sometimes several hours of it. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) specialists in human factors and human computer interfaces are working with NAVAIR PMA-281, Strike Planning and Execution Systems in Patuxent River, Maryland, to streamline the current mission planning process and identify user interface requirements supporting multi-domain mission management in next-generation naval planning capabilities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith guidance from the GTRI researchers, the project will improve usability of the mission planning software tools, creating a more consistent and intuitive screen design that\u0026rsquo;s easier to learn and more logical to follow. This effort could benefit all Department of Defense (DoD) agencies for collaborative mission planning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are working with Navy and Marine Corps aviators to identify areas in mission planning where work-flow can be streamlined, reducing the time required to mission plan,\u0026rdquo; said Marcia Crosland, project director for GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) User Interface Design and Usability efforts. \u0026ldquo;Our task has been to define the user interface concepts and decision-making tools to help reduce the time required for mission planning. We\u0026rsquo;ve created detailed designs and specifications to direct current and future development of mission planning systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMission planning needs to support the ability to collaboratively plan missions involving multiple aircraft but currently does not have that capability. The planning challenge can be quite complex, involving multiple targets, ground-based threats, different aircraft types and a variety of weapons systems. The most complex part of the process is often done by multiple pilots using whiteboards, paper, and spreadsheets to combine relevant information, consider alternatives, and reveal complicated issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInformation from the whiteboarding process is then entered into the software system, which produces the mission plans that go on board the aircraft. The GTRI human factors team realized that supporting these whiteboarding activities in the mission planning system could accelerate the mission planning process, and they created new designs to support this functionality.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are making recommendations for how the Navy can streamline the process and move it all into the digital world to eliminate the paper and whiteboard processes,\u0026rdquo; said Crosland. \u0026ldquo;That will allow aircrews to plan a mission more efficiently, reducing the time required and potentially highlighting places where automated decision-making tools could be brought into the process.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe added: \u0026ldquo;We tried to understand the tasks of the user and therefore how the workflow could be streamlined. From that, we designed user interfaces that better implement the tasks, and we developed a style guide to help the DoD software programmers who were implementing it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt each iteration of the process, prototype interface designs were evaluated with experts. In some cases, those experts visited the GTRI team in Atlanta to review and discuss the designs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We took them through each of the screens to find out what is intuitive to them and what is not,\u0026rdquo; Crosland said. \u0026ldquo;We did this multiple times with different user groups to make sure we had a good set of interface concepts. In this work, it\u0026rsquo;s critical to involve the intended users of the system.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI team has applied lessons learned from a variety of domains \u0026ndash; desktop and web design, and commercial and military applications. For instance, shortening the distance between buttons on a screen, reducing the number of clicks necessary for a task, consolidating screens, and providing a consistent workflow direction make a digital system easier and faster to use \u0026ndash; whether it\u0026rsquo;s a website or mission planning system.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to make the system a companion for the aircrews so they consider it a partner in these critical processes,\u0026rdquo; she added. In one case, the researchers were able to consolidate nine separate screens, each with different tabs, into a single screen.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;At the root of all user interface design, whether it\u0026rsquo;s web or something else, is creating a time-efficient task that is intuitive so using it takes less time and less training and creates fewer errors,\u0026rdquo; Crosland said. \u0026ldquo;If you can cut down on errors because users understand the system, it will make the system more efficient.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u0026rsquo;s Human Systems Engineering Branch (HSEB) has been in operation for more than 30 years to help improve the interaction between warfighters and the technologies they use.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have significant experience in understanding the domains of mission planning and mission execution, and the components that make technology easier to use,\u0026rdquo; Crosland said. \u0026ldquo;We use established design standards customized for a particular format, whether it\u0026rsquo;s a mobile tablet or standard computer.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Crosland, the GTRI team includes more than 20 people. The leadership component includes Tommer Ender, director of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Electronic Systems Laboratory (ELSYS); Adam McCorkle and J.D. Fassett, both associate directors in ELSYS; Debra Jones, head of ELSYS\u0026rsquo;s HSEB, and C.J. Hutto, associate branch head for HSEB.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project\u0026rsquo;s analysis and design team has included Buddy Ray, Stuart Michelson, Andrew Baranak, Vlad Pop, Liz Weldon, Chandler Price, Courtney Crooks, Chris Hale, Mike Fitzpatrick, Robert Kempf; technical advisor John Huggins; HCI graduate students Catherine Johnson, Sarah Brooks and Rachel Chen, undergraduate students Megan Eberle and Spencer Frum; and other GTRI subject matter experts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe key to a successful flight mission is planning \u0026ndash; sometimes several hours of it. Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) specialists in human factors and human computer interfaces are working with PMA-281, Strike Planning and Execution Systems in Patuxent River, Maryland, to streamline the current mission planning process and identify user interface requirements supporting multi-domain mission management in next-generation naval planning capabilities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GTRI researchers are helping streamline the mission planning process for aircrews."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-04-03 13:40:35","changed_gmt":"2018-04-09 14:27:28","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"604613":{"id":"604613","type":"image","title":"Interface issues for mission 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task","file":{"fid":"230502","name":"mission-planning12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mission-planning12.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mission-planning12.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":438607,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mission-planning12.jpg?itok=X8AXrxUa"}},"604617":{"id":"604617","type":"image","title":"Screen capture of interface project","body":null,"created":"1522761998","gmt_created":"2018-04-03 13:26:38","changed":"1522761998","gmt_changed":"2018-04-03 13:26:38","alt":"Interface concept under devleopment","file":{"fid":"230503","name":"GTRI Imagine 1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTRI%20Imagine%201.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTRI%20Imagine%201.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1164756,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GTRI%20Imagine%201.png?itok=BjyKrURZ"}},"604619":{"id":"604619","type":"image","title":"Translating mission requirements to interface design","body":null,"created":"1522762137","gmt_created":"2018-04-03 13:28:57","changed":"1522762137","gmt_changed":"2018-04-03 13:28:57","alt":"Translating mission requirements to interface design","file":{"fid":"230504","name":"mission-planning1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mission-planning1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mission-planning1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":699108,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mission-planning1.jpg?itok=q-D4TtOl"}},"604622":{"id":"604622","type":"image","title":"Identifying design requirements","body":null,"created":"1522762244","gmt_created":"2018-04-03 13:30:44","changed":"1522762244","gmt_changed":"2018-04-03 13:30:44","alt":"Identifying design requirements for mission planning interface","file":{"fid":"230505","name":"mission-planning7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mission-planning7.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mission-planning7.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":541639,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mission-planning7.jpg?itok=vY-1ybBK"}}},"media_ids":["604613","604615","604617","604619","604622"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"177615","name":"mission planning"},{"id":"2815","name":"interface"},{"id":"177616","name":"human computer interface"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"7142","name":"human factors"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"603990":{"#nid":"603990","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Determine Routes of Respiratory Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA recent study conducted by researchers from Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology found that an infectious passenger with influenza or other droplet-transmitted respiratory infection will most likely not transmit infection to passengers seated farther away than two seats laterally and one row in front or back on an aircraft. The study was designed to assess rates and routes of possible infectious disease transmission during flights.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCo-researchers Vicki Hertzberg, Ph.D., professor at Emory University\u0026#39;s\u0026nbsp;Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Howard Weiss, Ph.D., professor in the School of Mathematics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, led tracking efforts in their FlyHealthy(TM)\u0026nbsp;study, developing a model that combines estimated infectivity and patterns of contact among aircraft passengers and crew members to determine likelihood of infection.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nFlyHealthyTM team members were assigned to monitor specific areas of the passenger cabin, and made five round trips from the East to West Coast recording movements of passengers and crew. In addition, they collected air samples and obtained surface samples from areas most likely to harbor microbes. They leveraged the movement data to create thousands of simulated flight scenarios and possibilities for direct exposure to droplet-transmitted respiratory diseases.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;Respiratory diseases are often spread within populations through close contact,\u0026rdquo; explained\u0026nbsp;Hertzberg. \u0026ldquo;We wanted to determine the number and duration of social contacts between passengers and crew, but we could not use our regular tracking technology on an aircraft. With our trained observers, we were able to observe where and when contacts occurred on flights. This allows us to model how direct transmission might occur.\u0026rdquo;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;We now know a lot about how passengers move around on flights. For instance, around 40 percent of passengers never leave their seats, another 40 percent get up once during the flight, and 20 percent get up two or more times. Proximity to the aisle was also associated with movement. About 80 percent of passengers in aisle seats got up during flights, in comparison to 60 percent of passengers in middle seats and 40 percent in window seats. Passengers who leave their seats are up for an average of five minutes.\u0026rdquo;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nResearchers also noted fomite transmission \u0026ndash; exposure to viruses that remain on certain surfaces such as tray tables, seat belts and lavatory handles \u0026ndash; as additional likely contributors to disease transmission. They provide public health recommendations to help prevent the spread of infectious disease.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;We found that direct disease transmission outside of the one-meter area of an infected passenger is unlikely,\u0026rdquo; explained\u0026nbsp;Weiss. Respiratory infections can also be transmitted indirectly through contact with an infected surface. This could happen if a sick passenger coughs into their hand, and later touches a lavatory surface or overhead bin handle. \u0026ldquo;Passengers and flight crews can eliminate this risk of indirect transmission by exercising hand hygiene and keeping their hands away from their nose and eyes.\u0026rdquo;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThe study, which was funded in partnership with aerospace leader Boeing, evaluated only the potential spread of infectious agents on an aircraft. Transmission could also occur at other points in a passenger\u0026rsquo;s journey, underscoring the need to maintain healthy habits, he added.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nComplete findings of the study are available in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Vicki Stover Hertzberg and Howard Weiss (co-first authors), Lisa Elon, Wenpei Si, Sharon L. Norris, and The FlyHealthy Research Team, \u0026ldquo;Behaviors, movements, and transmission of droplet-mediated respiratory diseases during transcontinental airline flights,\u0026rdquo; (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018).\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2018\/03\/13\/1711611115\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2018\/03\/13\/1711611115\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Georgia Tech: John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu) (404-894-6986) or Emory University:\u0026nbsp;Melva Robertson: (melva.robertson@emory.edu) (404-416-0822) or Allison Caughey (allison.caughey@emory.edu) (404-727-1225).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA recent study conducted by researchers from Emory University and Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;found that an infectious passenger with influenza or other droplet-transmitted respiratory infection will most likely not transmit infection to passengers seated farther away than two seats laterally and one row in front or back on an aircraft. The study was designed to assess rates and routes of possible infectious disease transmission during flights.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have studied how passengers move about on aircraft to evaluate potential transmission of respiratory infections."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-03-19 18:08:51","changed_gmt":"2018-03-19 19:34:50","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"603984":{"id":"603984","type":"image","title":"Documenting passenger movement on aircraft","body":null,"created":"1521482182","gmt_created":"2018-03-19 17:56:22","changed":"1521482182","gmt_changed":"2018-03-19 17:56:22","alt":"iPad app for recording passenger movement on aircraft","file":{"fid":"230207","name":"Hertzberg iPad example.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Hertzberg%20iPad%20example.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Hertzberg%20iPad%20example.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":369579,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Hertzberg%20iPad%20example.jpg?itok=QUkJqNmZ"}},"603986":{"id":"603986","type":"image","title":"Chart of passenger contacts","body":null,"created":"1521482314","gmt_created":"2018-03-19 17:58:34","changed":"1521482314","gmt_changed":"2018-03-19 17:58:34","alt":"Chart showing passenger contacts on aircraft","file":{"fid":"230208","name":"observation chart.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/observation%20chart.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/observation%20chart.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2958633,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/observation%20chart.jpg?itok=hHRqCiPi"}},"603988":{"id":"603988","type":"image","title":"Window seat","body":null,"created":"1521482429","gmt_created":"2018-03-19 18:00:29","changed":"1521482429","gmt_changed":"2018-03-19 18:00:29","alt":"Window seat on an aircraft","file":{"fid":"230209","name":"window seat.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/window%20seat.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/window%20seat.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":366435,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/window%20seat.jpg?itok=9V9_-LMY"}}},"media_ids":["603984","603986","603988"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"177487","name":"respiratory"},{"id":"1146","name":"transmission"},{"id":"10660","name":"infection"},{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"77831","name":"passenger"},{"id":"35421","name":"Howard Weiss"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"602025":{"#nid":"602025","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Successful SpaceX Launch Clears Way for Historic Georgia Tech Spacecraft","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThey clapped when it cleared the launch pad. They oohed in awe as the booster rockets separated, then roared when the pair landed in synchronicity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd they howled with laughter when they saw a car in space.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was awesome! It was unbelievable to see something so historic,\u0026rdquo; said Swapnil Pujari.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe was one of 30 or so Georgia Tech aerospace engineering students who crowded into a lab in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Building Tuesday afternoon to watch a livestream of SpaceX\u0026rsquo;s first test flight of the world\u0026rsquo;s most powerful rocket \u0026mdash; the Falcon Heavy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom the sound in the room, the launch was an unquestionable success.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I got goosebumps when I saw the two boosters land at the same time,\u0026rdquo; said William Jun, a fourth-year undergraduate in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. \u0026ldquo;I feel like I\u0026rsquo;ve witnessed the beginning of a new era.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s hard to imagine what he\u0026rsquo;ll feel the next time the Falcon Heavy launches.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETuesday\u0026rsquo;s launch only carried one piece of cargo, a red Tesla Roadster that is expected to orbit the sun for the next billion years. The next Heavy rocket will be stuffed with satellites. One of them is scheduled to be Prox-1, a 154-pound, rectangular-shaped metal box that was built and tested by Jun, Pujari and other Georgia Tech students. It\u0026rsquo;s the first spacecraft built on campus that will fly in space.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is the part of the space industry that we live for,\u0026rdquo; said Professor Glenn Lightsey, who watched the launch with the students. \u0026ldquo;Ultimately, there is a day when you find out if the thing you\u0026rsquo;ve thought about and planned for actually works or not. Today (Tuesday) it happened for SpaceX. Six months from now, it will happen for us at Georgia Tech.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EProx-1 is a 24\u0026rdquo; by 22\u0026rdquo; by 12\u0026rdquo; satellite that will deploy a smaller spacecraft, LightSail 2, which will attempt the first controlled solar sail flight in Earth orbit.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs that sail unfurls, Prox-1 will move and observe LightSail from a short distance and acquire images of the glimmering structure in action.\u0026nbsp;Georgia Tech will serve as mission control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our students are going to have their hardware in space, making measurements and sending their data back to Earth,\u0026rdquo; said Lightsey. \u0026ldquo;This is a really unique experience that wasn\u0026rsquo;t even possible before this century. It\u0026rsquo;s a new way of doing things in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EProx-1 is currently at the Air Force Research Lab in New Mexico, undergoing a series of tests to make sure the satellite can withstand the rugged, violent ride inside the Falcon Heavy. It\u0026rsquo;s one of the final pre-flight steps for a six-year project that has included more than 400 Georgia Tech students. From there it will be shipped to Florida and await an official launch date from SpaceX.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAlthough they enjoyed the experience together for Tuesday\u0026rsquo;s launch, don\u0026rsquo;t expect many of the same students to gather on campus to watch Prox-1 blast into space. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Oh, I will be in Florida for sure!\u0026rdquo; said Pujari.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Next Falcon Heavy mission expected to include satellite built on campus"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech students gathered to watch SpaceX launch its Falcon Heavy rocket on Tuesday. The next liftoff will include a small satellite built by aerospace engineering students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The first spacecraft built at Georgia Tech is expected to fly this summer."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2018-02-07 13:35:23","changed_gmt":"2018-02-23 21:31:47","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-02-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-02-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"602023":{"id":"602023","type":"image","title":"Falcon Heavy Launch 3","body":null,"created":"1518009637","gmt_created":"2018-02-07 13:20:37","changed":"1518009637","gmt_changed":"2018-02-07 13:20:37","alt":"Falcon Heavy liftoff","file":{"fid":"229451","name":"Image-4.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image-4.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image-4.png","mime":"image\/png","size":235660,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Image-4.png?itok=kcAkp97E"}},"482281":{"id":"482281","type":"image","title":"Prox-1","body":null,"created":"1452092400","gmt_created":"2016-01-06 15:00:00","changed":"1475895234","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:54","alt":"Prox-1","file":{"fid":"204229","name":"prox1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/prox1_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/prox1_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":95855,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/prox1_0.png?itok=vGpBUZnX"}},"602021":{"id":"602021","type":"image","title":"Falcon Heavy Launch 1","body":null,"created":"1518009415","gmt_created":"2018-02-07 13:16:55","changed":"1518009415","gmt_changed":"2018-02-07 13:16:55","alt":"Students Watching SpaceX","file":{"fid":"229449","name":"Image-2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image-2_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image-2_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":570467,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Image-2_0.png?itok=A0Cadgzf"}},"602022":{"id":"602022","type":"image","title":"Falcon Heavy Launch 2","body":null,"created":"1518009541","gmt_created":"2018-02-07 13:19:01","changed":"1518009541","gmt_changed":"2018-02-07 13:19:01","alt":"Falcon Heavy and students","file":{"fid":"229450","name":"Image-3.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image-3.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image-3.png","mime":"image\/png","size":548895,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Image-3.png?itok=iXicRNQI"}},"602024":{"id":"602024","type":"image","title":"Prox-1","body":null,"created":"1518009928","gmt_created":"2018-02-07 13:25:28","changed":"1518009928","gmt_changed":"2018-02-07 13:25:28","alt":"Prox-1","file":{"fid":"229452","name":"Prox-1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Prox-1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Prox-1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1252217,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Prox-1.png?itok=RIibKB7C"}}},"media_ids":["602023","482281","602021","602022","602024"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/news\/2017\/05\/prox-1-launch-has-launched","title":"Prox-1 Leaves Campus"},{"url":"http:\/\/prox-1.gatech.edu\/","title":"Prox-1 Mission Website"},{"url":"https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/?_ga=2.13358071.1991519543.1517939297-975162888.1358303541","title":"Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"},{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"},{"id":"282661","name":"Center for Space Technology and Research (CSTAR)"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"89371","name":"CSTAR"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"167880","name":"SpaceX"},{"id":"177037","name":"Falcon Heavy"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"136281","name":"Glenn Lightsey"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmaderer@gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"599853":{"#nid":"599853","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Graduate Profile: Taking Flight after Georgia Tech ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EZachary Freels\u0026rsquo; time at Georgia Tech has been driven by his desire to serve and to fly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe aerospace engineering graduate will now attend flight school in Pensacola, Florida.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a lifelong dream come true,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m excited to serve my country as a naval aviator. And to me it\u0026rsquo;s just the best of both worlds because I get to serve my country, but I\u0026rsquo;m going to be serving my country doing something pretty awesome.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFreels said his education at Georgia Tech was possible because of the ROTC (Reserve Officers\u0026rsquo; Training Corps) scholarship. As a midshipman, he was in charge of the Navy ROTC battalion for a semester.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe joined the Ramblin\u0026rsquo; Reck Club sophomore year and served as the group\u0026rsquo;s president this year. The club maintains many of the campus\u0026rsquo; most beloved traditions, including the Freshman Cake Race, the Mini 500 and the upkeep and display of the Reck, a 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;My favorite thing about Georgia Tech is how close we are to our traditions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Zachary Freels graduated with a degree in aerospace engineering and will attend flight school to become a naval aviator. "}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2017-12-13 19:31:18","changed_gmt":"2017-12-19 21:29:26","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"600097":{"id":"600097","type":"image","title":"Zach Freels ","body":null,"created":"1513703022","gmt_created":"2017-12-19 17:03:42","changed":"1513703022","gmt_changed":"2017-12-19 17:03:42","alt":"Zach Freels ","file":{"fid":"228773","name":"Screen Shot 2017-12-19 at 12.00.16 PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-12-19%20at%2012.00.16%20PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-12-19%20at%2012.00.16%20PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1278859,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-12-19%20at%2012.00.16%20PM.png?itok=nvpw9n62"}}},"media_ids":["600097"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"627","name":"commencement"},{"id":"915","name":"ROTC"},{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"14136","name":"ramblin reck club"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"599760":{"#nid":"599760","#data":{"type":"news","title":" Cold Suns, Warm Exoplanets and Methane Blankets","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESomewhere in our galaxy, an exoplanet is probably orbiting a star that\u0026rsquo;s colder than our sun, but instead of freezing solid, the planet might be cozy warm thanks to a greenhouse effect caused by methane in its atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENASA astrobiologists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a comprehensive new model that shows how planetary chemistry could make that happen. The model, published in a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41561-017-0031-2\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enew study in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Geoscience\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, was based on a likely scenario on Earth three billion years ago\u0026nbsp;and was actually built around its possible geological and biological chemistry.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sun produced a quarter less light and heat then, but Earth remained temperate, and methane may have saved our planet from an eon-long deep-freeze, scientists hypothesize. Had it not, we and most other complex life probably wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be here today.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new model combined multiple microbial metabolic processes with volcanic, oceanic and atmospheric activities, which may make it the most comprehensive of its kind to date. But while studying Earth\u0026rsquo;s distant past, the Georgia Tech researchers aimed their model light-years away, wanting it to someday help interpret conditions on recently discovered exoplanets.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers set the model\u0026rsquo;s parameters broadly so that they could apply not only to our own planet but potentially also to its siblings with their varying sizes, geologies, and lifeforms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEarth and its siblings\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We really had an eye to future use with exoplanets for a reason,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/reinhard.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EChris Reinhard, the study\u0026rsquo;s principal investigator\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s possible that the atmospheric methane models that we are exploring for the early Earth represent conditions common to biospheres throughout our galaxy because they don\u0026rsquo;t require such an advanced stage of evolution like we have here on Earth now.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EReinhard and first author Kazumi Ozaki\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41561-017-0031-2\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished their\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Geoscience\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;paper on December 11, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E. The research was supported by the NASA Postdoctoral Program, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrevious models have examined the mix of atmospheric gases needed to keep Earth warm in spite of the sun\u0026rsquo;s former faintness, or studied isolated microbial metabolisms that could have made the needed methane. \u0026ldquo;In isolation, each metabolism hasn\u0026rsquo;t made for productive models that accounted well for that much methane,\u0026rdquo; Reinhard said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech researchers synergized those isolated microbial metabolisms, including ancient photosynthesis, with geological chemistry to create a model reflective of the complexity of an entire living planet. And the model\u0026rsquo;s methane production ballooned.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s important to think about the mechanisms controlling the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases in the framework of all biogeochemical cycles in the ocean and atmosphere,\u0026rdquo; said first author Ozaki, a postdoctoral assistant.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/555171\/animals-evolution-waited-eons-inhale\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAlso READ: The Earth is not a lab beaker; it\u0026rsquo;s a shifty, humongous lab\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECarl Sagan and the faint Sun\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech model strengthens a leading hypothesis that attempts to explain a mystery called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/418310\/a-solution-to-the-faint-young-sun-paradox\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe \u0026ldquo;faint young Sun paradox\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;pointed out by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/people\/saganc\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eiconic late astronomer Carl Sagan\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and his Cornell University colleague George Mullen in 1972.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAstronomers noticed long ago that stars burned\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu\/~infocom\/The%20Website\/evolution.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebrighter as they matured and weaker in their youths\u003C\/a\u003E. They calculated that about two billion years ago, our sun must have shone about 25 percent fainter than it does today.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat would have been too cold for any liquid water to exist on Earth, but paradoxically, strong evidence says that liquid water did exist. \u0026ldquo;Based on the observation of the geological record, we know that there must have been liquid water,\u0026rdquo; Reinhard said, \u0026ldquo;and in some cases, we know that temperatures were similar to how they are today, if not a little warmer.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESagan and Mullen postulated that Earth\u0026rsquo;s atmosphere must have\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/phenomena.nationalgeographic.com\/2013\/01\/03\/life-under-a-faint-sun\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecreated a greenhouse effect\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that saved it. Back then, they suspected ammonia was at work, but chemically, that idea proved less feasible.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Methane\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1029\/1999JE001134\/abstract;jsessionid=7AFBDB9A699016C22D162AB519D5A6FC.f04t04\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehas taken a lead role\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in this hypothesis,\u0026rdquo; Reinhard said. \u0026ldquo;When oxygen and methane enter the atmosphere, they chemically cancel each other out over time in a complex chain of chemical reactions. Because there was extremely little oxygen in the air back then, it would have allowed for methane to build up much higher levels than today.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIron, and rust photosynthesis\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the core of the model are two different types of photosynthesis. But three billion years ago, the dominant type of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/51720-photosynthesis.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ephotosynthesis we know today\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that pumps out oxygen may not have even existed yet.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstead, two other very primitive bacterial photosynthetic processes likely were essential to Earth\u0026rsquo;s ancient biosphere. One transformed iron in the ocean into rust, and the other photosynthesized hydrogen into formaldehyde.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The model relied on lots of volcanic activity spewing out hydrogen,\u0026rdquo; Ozaki said. Other bacteria fermented the formaldehyde, and other bacteria, still, turned the fermented product into methane.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe two photosynthetic processes served as the watch spring of the model\u0026rsquo;s clockwork, which pulled in 359 previously established biogeochemical reactions spanning land, sea and air.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E3,000,000 runs and raging methane\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe model was not the type of simulation that produces a video animation of Earth\u0026rsquo;s ancient biogeochemistry. Instead, the model mathematically analyzed the processes, and the output was numbers and graphs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOzaki ran the model more than 3 million times, varying parameters, and found that if the model contained both forms of photosynthesis operating in tandem, that 24 percent of the runs produced enough methane to create the balance needed in the atmosphere to maintain the greenhouse effect and keep ancient Earth, or possibly an exoplanet, temperate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;That translates into about a 24 percent probability that this model would produce a stable, warm climate on the ancient Earth with a faint sun or on an Earth-like exoplanet around a dimmer star,\u0026rdquo; Reinhard said. \u0026ldquo;Other models that looked at these photosynthetic metabolisms in isolation have much lower probabilities of producing enough methane to keep the climate warm.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re confident that this rather unique statistical approach means that you can take the basic insights of this new model to the bank,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOther explanations for the \u0026ldquo;faint young Sun paradox\u0026rdquo; have been more cataclysmic and perhaps less regular in their dynamics. They include ideas about routine asteroid strikes stirring up seismic activity thus resulting in more methane production, or about\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/418310\/a-solution-to-the-faint-young-sun-paradox\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe sun consistently firing coronal mass ejections\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003Eat Earth, heating it up.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/584985\/climate-change-potentially-good-news-methane-and-peat-carbon\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAlso READ: Some good news on climate change and methane\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was co-authored by Eiichi Tajika, Peng K. Hong and Yusuke Nakagawa of the University of Tokyo. The research was supported by the NASA Postdoctoral Program, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant 25120006), the NASA Astrobiology Institute (grant NNA 15BB03A) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (grant FR-2015-65744). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of those sponsors\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Visionary model builds on the legacy of Carl Sagan\u2019s \u2018faint young Sun paradox\u2019 hypothesis"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThree billion years ago, the sun shone weaker, but Earth stayed surprisingly warm. Carl Sagan thought a greenhouse effect must have been to thank for what was called the \u0026quot;faint young Sun paradox.\u0026quot; A model built on 359 chemical processes has finally arrived at scenarios with a reasonable chance of producing enough methane to do the trick of warming a planet threatened by deep-freeze.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Early Earth probably would have frozen solid, if not for greenhouse gasses, and a new model shows how they could have feasibly arisen."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2017-12-11 16:22:33","changed_gmt":"2017-12-12 20:08:37","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"599747":{"id":"599747","type":"image","title":"Carl Sagan portrait NASA","body":null,"created":"1513007692","gmt_created":"2017-12-11 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NASA.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kepler%20artwork%20NASA.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kepler%20artwork%20NASA.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":440446,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Kepler%20artwork%20NASA.jpg?itok=5JNO30Xb"}},"599765":{"id":"599765","type":"image","title":"Chris Reinhard in lab at Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences","body":null,"created":"1513011988","gmt_created":"2017-12-11 17:06:28","changed":"1513011988","gmt_changed":"2017-12-11 17:06:28","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228651","name":"Reinhard.lab_.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Reinhard.lab_.small_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Reinhard.lab_.small_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3200364,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Reinhard.lab_.small_.jpg?itok=7eN1ASqu"}},"585308":{"id":"585308","type":"image","title":"Chris Reinhard with Yale\u0027s Noah Planavsky in the field","body":null,"created":"1482336916","gmt_created":"2016-12-21 16:15:16","changed":"1513008398","gmt_changed":"2017-12-11 16:06:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223157","name":"Photo 3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Photo%203.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Photo%203.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1703442,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Photo%203.jpg?itok=Ir-3uK7X"}},"599751":{"id":"599751","type":"image","title":"Kazumi Ozaki doing geological field work","body":null,"created":"1513008279","gmt_created":"2017-12-11 16:04:39","changed":"1513008279","gmt_changed":"2017-12-11 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effect"},{"id":"791","name":"Global Warming"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"18531","name":"photosynthesis"},{"id":"176471","name":"microbe metabolism"},{"id":"176472","name":"iron photosynthesis"},{"id":"84401","name":"biogeochemistry"},{"id":"176473","name":"exobiology"},{"id":"2868","name":"atmosphere"},{"id":"11544","name":"atmospheric chemistry"},{"id":"7507","name":"formaldehyde"},{"id":"176474","name":"Pliocene"},{"id":"176466","name":"Carl Sagan"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"176475","name":"methanogens"},{"id":"174596","name":"NASA Astrobiology Institute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter and Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"599635":{"#nid":"599635","#data":{"type":"news","title":"IMPAX Program Accelerates Technology Transition into the Navy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat if you had to wait eight years to get the great new cellphone technology your friends and neighbors were using today? That\u0026rsquo;s essentially the situation facing today\u0026rsquo;s warfighters, who must wait for long procurement cycles to bring them the latest technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) are working to address that challenge through a new effort \u0026ndash; dubbed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/impax.tech\/about-us\u0022\u003EIMPAX\u003C\/a\u003E (Innovation and Modernization Patuxent River) \u0026ndash; that aims to accelerate the transfer of new technology to meet U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps needs. IMPAX staff members are empowered to work outside the standard acquisition process to find, develop, and prototype new technology more quickly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIMPAX was launched in 2017 as an initiative of Rear Admiral Mark Darrah, program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons at NAVAIR, by working closely with the Technology Transfer Office at NAWCAD. The first initiative with the Navy is to identify technology that will help integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into air control systems by providing miniaturized identification friend or foe (IFF) systems. IFF systems are already used in piloted aircraft, but the much smaller unmanned aircraft lack the space or power for conventional systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Traditionally the Department of Defense (DoD) has been limited in the means and speed at which it could bring new technologies to the warfighter,\u0026rdquo; said Rob \u0026ldquo;Radar\u0026rdquo; Winston, a GTRI principal research engineer who directs the IMPAX program near Pax River Naval Air Station in Maryland. \u0026ldquo;Our adversaries aren\u0026rsquo;t constrained by cumbersome procurement rules and regulations. Through this effort, we want to ensure that our nation\u0026rsquo;s warfighters get the best technology in the shortest time.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIMPAX is empowered to seek out technology from sources the government doesn\u0026rsquo;t usually work with. These can include small- and medium-sized businesses, companies that don\u0026rsquo;t traditionally work with the military or bid on billion-dollar DoD procurements. Winston and his team work on the Navy\u0026rsquo;s behalf, matching warfighter needs with technology that may already exist \u0026ndash; or that can be developed to meet the needs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe relationship between GTRI and NAVAIR\u0026rsquo;s Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) is known as a partnership intermediary agreement (PIA). Such agreements allow non-federal government intermediaries to coordinate and solicit non-traditional science and technology sources and to bring forth ideas from parties not usually able to contribute directly to military solutions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is the first PIA specifically designed for the Navy to spin technology into naval aviation,\u0026rdquo; Winston explained. \u0026ldquo;We are looking for technology in industry, academia, and other government agencies that can be brought into the DoD very rapidly. If somebody is already working on something that the Navy needs, we can bring them together quickly. We are not just working for the government, but as a team member on the government\u0026rsquo;s behalf as a trusted partner.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn one aspect, IMPAX team members will serve as technology scouts, scouring many sources of information to locate technologies of interest. They\u0026rsquo;ll be readily approachable, and won\u0026rsquo;t require extensive paperwork from companies and others wanting to pitch their technology for potential military applications. The overall activities will be directed by a joint GTRI\/NAWCAD\/NAVAIR team.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If an individual or company has a great idea but they have never worked with the government before, that barrier to entry is very tall now,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;They don\u0026rsquo;t know who to talk with, how to get involved in a program, or even how to get through the front gate of a military facility. We are going to be able to talk with these people to assess what they can contribute to the warfighter and do it all outside the gate and without the customary barriers.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDoD agencies have their own research laboratories to help develop new technology, of course, but Winston\u0026rsquo;s group will tap other sources of innovation. For technology that\u0026rsquo;s promising but not quite ready for DoD use, IMPAX will fund brief research and development (R\u0026amp;D) initiatives \u0026ndash; as short as three or four months \u0026ndash; to determine whether a technology is worth pursuing. Pathways from there could include the traditional agency R\u0026amp;D laboratories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The purpose is to run these programs very quickly, and also to fail things fast with a minimum of investment in resources or time if they aren\u0026rsquo;t working out,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We can start a technology development program at any time, and it can be any technology of interest to the fleet.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach technology development program will be monitored by a subject matter expert and a director from GTRI. They will keep a close eye on program progress, help faltering ones, shut down ones that aren\u0026rsquo;t making progress or add team members and expertise to promising ones.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe IMPAX team will also be able to assemble packages of different technologies to meet specific needs, efforts known as mash-ups.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Traditional programs do little to encourage the collision of ideas between different organizations, people, and technologies,\u0026rdquo; Winston said. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re here to help companies and organization work together to address the need with minimal barriers to innovation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe IMPAX initiative won\u0026rsquo;t change how major weapons systems are acquired, but could affect how those systems are updated over time to retain their effectiveness as new technologies rapidly enter the marketplace.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;IMPAX is going to enable technology that will keep these big platforms operationally relevant over a longer period of time,\u0026rdquo; Winston explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe IFF capability for unmanned systems is just one example of an ongoing IMPAX project. Another initiative is looking at the use of augmented reality to support maintenance and training programs. By combining 3-D computer-aided design files with mixed reality glasses, the technology could help maintainers identify a problem, locate components hidden within an aircraft, and train new personnel more quickly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Technology already exists for these projects, but it would take a long time to actually get them to the fleet using traditional acquisition timelines,\u0026rdquo; said Winston. \u0026ldquo;We can help develop the capability, get it to the Navy who can then get it out to the warfighter quickly. We\u0026rsquo;ll run as fast as we can with a project and give our warfighters the edge by getting the latest technology to them \u0026ndash; today.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat if you had to wait eight years to get the great new cellphone technology your friends and neighbors were using today? That\u0026rsquo;s essentially the situation facing today\u0026rsquo;s warfighters, who must wait for long procurement cycles to bring them the latest technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new initiative known as IMPAX is transferring technology into the Navy."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-12-06 18:42:08","changed_gmt":"2017-12-06 18:43:31","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-12-06T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-12-06T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"599633":{"id":"599633","type":"image","title":"GTRI supports IMPAX initiative","body":null,"created":"1512585120","gmt_created":"2017-12-06 18:32:00","changed":"1512585120","gmt_changed":"2017-12-06 18:32:00","alt":"Rob Winston, director of IMPAX","file":{"fid":"228594","name":"RADAR_IMPAX_AR-102.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RADAR_IMPAX_AR-102.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RADAR_IMPAX_AR-102.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1096101,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/RADAR_IMPAX_AR-102.jpg?itok=pPMx7duc"}},"599634":{"id":"599634","type":"image","title":"GTRI supports IMPAX initiative2","body":null,"created":"1512585209","gmt_created":"2017-12-06 18:33:29","changed":"1512585209","gmt_changed":"2017-12-06 18:33:29","alt":"Rob Winston, director of IMPAX","file":{"fid":"228595","name":"RADAR_IMPAX_AR-103.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RADAR_IMPAX_AR-103.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RADAR_IMPAX_AR-103.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":883339,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/RADAR_IMPAX_AR-103.jpg?itok=qwsnJaVD"}}},"media_ids":["599633","599634"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"176425","name":"IMPAX"},{"id":"176427","name":"GTRI. Navy"},{"id":"176426","name":"Rob Winston"},{"id":"176428","name":"NAVAIR"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"598456":{"#nid":"598456","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Student Teams Compete in Service Academies Swarm Challenge \u2013 with GTRI Assistance","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat does the future of air-to-air combat sound like? At this point, it could sound very much like a swarm of angry bees.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026#39;s how researcher Michael Day described the recent DARPA Service Academies Swarm Challenge, which pitted mixed groups of up to 25 highly autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on a side against one another in a next-generation version of the traditional \u0026quot;capture the flag\u0026quot; game. The friendly live-fly competition involved student teams from the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, and the U.S. Naval Academy, with each team developing and testing their own innovative offensive and defensive tactics to conduct mock swarm-on-swarm battles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDay, a research scientist at the\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E Georgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI), co-led the support efforts required to stage the competition, working with the teams to help them operate the swarms, which included fixed-wing, propeller-driven Marcus UAV Zephyr aircraft and DJI Flame Wheel quadcopters. GTRI coached the teams and shared its simulation software to help the competitors develop tactics for both protecting their own space and invading another team\u0026rsquo;s base. Warren Lee, branch head for GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Unmanned Flight Operations, co-led the project with Day.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe competition was sponsored by the\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\u0022\u003E Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency \u003C\/a\u003E(DARPA), which has a history of fostering competition to help advance cutting-edge technology. In addition to GTRI, the event was supported by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). It was held in April 2017 at Camp Roberts, a California Army National Guard facility.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe vehicles were adapted from foam-wing radio-control hobbyist aircraft and rotorcraft designed to carry cameras. But these aerial vehicles were modified with computers that contained sophisticated autopilots, as well as separate computers that helped them coordinate with swarm teammates, locate opponents, and conduct offensive and defensive maneuvers \u0026mdash; including aerial dogfights.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut the tactics weren\u0026rsquo;t the only thing tested at the competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A big challenge for us was logistical,\u0026rdquo; said Day. \u0026ldquo;Getting this many aircraft ready to fly and launched safely in the brief window of time we had required a lot of preparation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe competition was built on lessons learned from an earlier event that pitted GTRI researchers against colleagues from the Naval Postgraduate School. That competition involved swarms composed of ten highly autonomous unmanned aircraft \u0026mdash; all of them the same type \u0026mdash; on each team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding the Aircraft\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStarting in August 2016, GTRI researchers began building and testing the aircraft slated for use in the competition. They built them in batches, assembling the basic vehicles, installing the electronics and then testing them. Each of the fixed-wing aircraft had an autopilot, flight computer, two radios, a GPS receiver, and avionics to operate the flight controls.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI has years of experience incorporating autonomy into unmanned air vehicles, having conducted swarm research projects for agencies that include DARPA and the Office of Naval Research.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our operators and integrators are experienced, and we\u0026rsquo;ve gone through the highs and lows in terms of successes and failures,\u0026rdquo; said Lee. \u0026ldquo;We felt extra pressure in this program to make sure that each and every aircraft was ready to fly so the teams could fully trust them and focus their efforts on the competition.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn all, Lee\u0026rsquo;s group, which included senior research engineer Gary Gray and research engineer Evan Hammac, built 144 aircraft, a mix of the foam-wing and quadcopter models. They were delivered to the service academies in time for students to become familiar with the aircraft operation. Members of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s UAV team visited each of the academies twice to work with the cadets and midshipmen.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was exciting and very rewarding to be able to work with the students on this project,\u0026rdquo; said Day. \u0026ldquo;They have a lot of demands on their time from their studies, so it was really hands-on and ambitious.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to building and testing the aircraft and working with the students, GTRI also built seven NPS-designed launchers for the Zephyrs, which have a 54-inch wingspan. The launchers get the aircraft up to flight speed, accelerating the launch process \u0026mdash; which was part of the overall competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;To get them all into the air, you can\u0026rsquo;t spend more than about 30 seconds with each aircraft,\u0026rdquo; noted Day, who was part of the GTRI group that supported the competition on the ground at Camp Roberts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When you have 30 aircraft in the sky, it\u0026rsquo;s very different from when you only have five or 10,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s a higher level of stress because there are a lot more tasks to manage. We had a lot of lessons from our flight operations that we were able to share with the students.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEarlier, Lee\u0026rsquo;s team built 65 Skywalker aircraft for the Low-Cost UAV Swarming Technology (LOCUST) program supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFlying in Simulation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn developing swarm tactics, GTRI relies heavily on simulation to prepare for actual flight tests. Computer time to run simulations is much less expensive than flying time, and allows for hundreds or thousands of test runs in the time that would be required for a single flight test.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We can do testing in our laboratory using a variety of simulation tools and have the ability to run thousands of different scenarios, look at the results of different types of engagements, and then use machine learning techniques to hone in on new swarm-versus-swarm tactics,\u0026rdquo; said Don Davis, division chief of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Division. \u0026ldquo;In many cases, the simulation leads us to ideas we wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have thought of if we had been bound by human experience in this area.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the tools used by the service academy teams was SCRIMMAGE (Simulating Collaborative Robots in a Massive Multi-Agent Game Environment), developed by GTRI researchers led by senior research engineer Kevin DeMarco. SCRIMMAGE allows the interactions of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of air vehicles to be studied simultaneously. The system\u0026rsquo;s interface was designed to be familiar to anyone who has played video games.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We can run the simulations faster than real time, so we can apply modern techniques that require much more data,\u0026rdquo; said DeMarco. \u0026ldquo;We developed SCRIMMAGE to allow users to see exactly how a new algorithm is affecting an aircraft\u0026rsquo;s flight maneuvers. We can run it on high-performance computing clusters to conduct millions of simulations and then have our machine-learning algorithms process that data to improve the algorithms.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe simulator doesn\u0026rsquo;t run on the real aircraft, but does use the aircraft control software as part of its testing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the combat tactics developed on SCRIMMAGE and used by the Service Academies Swarm Challenge aircraft is called \u0026ldquo;Greedy Shooter.\u0026rdquo; Each UAV equipped with the software can locate the nearest enemy and go after it. The algorithm doesn\u0026rsquo;t rely on collaboration among air vehicles, so multiple aircraft might attack the same enemy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In SCRIMMAGE, we have shown that you get a 50 percent success rate with this,\u0026rdquo; said DeMarco.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut another algorithm developed by senior research scientist Charles Pippin allows the air vehicles to allocate tasks, much as a human team may divide up the work that needs to be done on a project. \u0026ldquo;The vehicles can negotiate among themselves and decide who will be assigned to each target. There is no specific leader, but in a decentralized way, the aircraft make those decisions,\u0026rdquo; DeMarco explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the Swarm Challenge, each of the vehicles had information about all of the other vehicles, but in real combat situations, that wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be the case. SCRIMMAGE is helping GTRI researchers determine how much information is needed to gain improvements from the task allocation model.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers are also comparing the swarm strategies against a legacy system \u0026mdash; the old-fashioned \u0026ldquo;wingman\u0026rdquo; approach in which two aircraft work as a team. That simple approach has advantages over more complicated algorithms even when computers are tracking all the air vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Lots of agents running simple algorithms can make swarms look more intelligent than they actually are,\u0026rdquo; DeMarco said. \u0026ldquo;Our hypothesis is that by being able to solve the two-versus-two challenge, we may be able to extend what we learn to a swarm.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Competition and Outcome\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the three-day competition, service academy teams faced off against each other inside a \u0026ldquo;Battle Cube,\u0026rdquo; a three-dimensional airspace 500 meters on a side and 78 meters above the ground. Each team was given 20 fixed-wing UAVs and 20 quadcopters and, under the Challenge rules, could select a mix of 25 vehicles (with five in reserve, for a total of 30) for each of two 30-minute battle rounds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach team had to defend its flag \u0026mdash; a large, inflatable ground target \u0026mdash; while trying to score the most points. Points could be awarded in three ways: physically landing a UAV on the opponent\u0026rsquo;s flag, simulated firing on an opponent\u0026rsquo;s UAV, and launching as many aircraft as possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Naval Academy was declared the winner of the competition. (Full information about the event is available at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/news-events\/2017-05-11\u0022\u003Ewww.darpa.mil\/news-events\/2017-05-11\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to helping advance swarm tactics, the competition also helped the next generation of Air Force, Army, and Navy leaders get a head start on future swarm technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This competition wasn\u0026rsquo;t as much about who won and who lost as it was about offering hands-on insights about this quickly evolving and increasingly important technology,\u0026rdquo; said Davis. \u0026ldquo;GTRI is pleased to help train and equip the next generation of warfighters. Together, we showed that it is possible to get swarms of vehicles in the air and into mock combat against each other.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the lessons learned was the importance of rapidly launching the aircraft. Davis said the team able to get into the air first had an advantage over others. The competition also stretched the wireless networks used to communicate among the aircraft, and that will need improvement in the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biggest surprise to me was how well everything worked and how well the swarms operated,\u0026rdquo; Davis said. \u0026ldquo;This is another step in developing the knowledge and experience required to use UAV swarms in the field. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot more that needs to be done, but we\u0026rsquo;re making progress.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, highly autonomous vehicles could ultimately find uses throughout the military.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;UAVs will be extending the capabilities of the warfighter,\u0026rdquo; Davis said. \u0026ldquo;I don\u0026rsquo;t think we should expect swarms of UAVs to primarily just replace people. I think it\u0026rsquo;s appropriate to think of UAVs as tools that warfighters can use to address a threat.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat does the future of air-to-air combat sound like? At this point, it could sound very much like a swarm of angry bees.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute supported the DARPA Service Academies Swarm Challenge."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-11-06 22:57:50","changed_gmt":"2017-11-06 23:02:13","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-11-06T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-11-06T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"598446":{"id":"598446","type":"image","title":"Connecting UAV electronics","body":null,"created":"1510007721","gmt_created":"2017-11-06 22:35:21","changed":"1510007721","gmt_changed":"2017-11-06 22:35:21","alt":"Connecting UAV 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flight","file":{"fid":"228138","name":"competition_0480a.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/competition_0480a.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/competition_0480a.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":120245,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/competition_0480a.jpg?itok=3Tm1eHzY"}},"598453":{"id":"598453","type":"image","title":"Swarm aircraft takeoff","body":null,"created":"1510008410","gmt_created":"2017-11-06 22:46:50","changed":"1510008410","gmt_changed":"2017-11-06 22:46:50","alt":"Swarm aicraft takes off","file":{"fid":"228141","name":"launch2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/launch2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/launch2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":417452,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/launch2.jpg?itok=8ZnDaOE0"}},"598452":{"id":"598452","type":"image","title":"Swarm aircraft electronics","body":null,"created":"1510008309","gmt_created":"2017-11-06 22:45:09","changed":"1510008309","gmt_changed":"2017-11-06 22:45:09","alt":"Electronics bay of swarm aircraft","file":{"fid":"228140","name":"uav-repair_6283.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/uav-repair_6283.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/uav-repair_6283.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":453903,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/uav-repair_6283.jpg?itok=Jsr-ZR5o"}}},"media_ids":["598446","598447","598448","598451","598449","598453","598452"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"169771","name":"Swarm"},{"id":"176158","name":"swarm challenge"},{"id":"176165","name":"Service Academies Swarm Challenge"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"593594":{"#nid":"593594","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Delta Officially Opens New Advanced Manufacturing Facility at Georgia Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENearly three months after opening its Global Innovation Center in Tech Square, Delta Air Lines cut the ribbon on its new Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility on 14\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E Street in a special ceremony July 19.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re really excited about the partnership with Delta,\u0026rdquo; said Georgia Tech President G.P. \u0026ldquo;Bud\u0026rdquo; Peterson. \u0026ldquo;This facility is a little different. Our students, faculty, staff and researchers will be able to develop products, and it provides Delta an opportunity to collaborate with its partners.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMade possible by a $3 million gift from the Delta Air Lines Foundation, the facility was designed to be an integrated physical and cyber manufacturing technology testbed as well as a demonstration and teaching facility. The Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF) will be a flagship component of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute as a location where early-stage concepts can go from idea to reality.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Over the last two years, inspired by insights gained from our close collaboration in manufacturing research with industry partners, faculty members from the schools of Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Interactive Computing came together to define the requirements for a learning and research facility that will provide the foundation for future innovations in digital manufacturing,\u0026rdquo; said Don McConnell, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s vice president of Industry Collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPeterson said the building had been part of the Atlantic Steel plant and before it was converted to house Delta\u0026rsquo;s AMPF and Boeing\u0026rsquo;s Manufacturing Development Center, the building had served as a warehouse for Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Housing department to store and repair furniture for residence halls and on-campus apartments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Georgia Tech is a world-class institute, and we\u0026rsquo;re really blessed to have you in our hometown,\u0026rdquo; said Gil West, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer for Delta.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBack on May 2, Delta and Georgia Tech held a ribbon cutting for an innovation center called \u0026ldquo;The Hangar\u0026rdquo; in Tech Square, which is now home to 20 such innovation centers. The AMPF establishes Georgia Tech as a national leader in advanced manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDelta Air Lines cut the ribbon on its new Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility on the Georgia Tech campus July 19.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New advanced manufacturing facility to allow collaboration between Delta and Georgia Tech."}],"uid":"28797","created_gmt":"2017-07-19 18:05:08","changed_gmt":"2017-07-19 18:07:37","author":"Lance Wallace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"593585":{"id":"593585","type":"image","title":"President Peterson Speaks at Delta Manufacturing Facility Ribbon Cutting","body":null,"created":"1500478134","gmt_created":"2017-07-19 15:28:54","changed":"1500478134","gmt_changed":"2017-07-19 15:28:54","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226274","name":"DeltaAdMan-011.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DeltaAdMan-011.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DeltaAdMan-011.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":286491,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DeltaAdMan-011.jpg?itok=W22-x3zt"}},"593587":{"id":"593587","type":"image","title":"Delta, Georgia Tech Leaders Cut Ribbon on New Advanced Manufacturing Facility","body":null,"created":"1500478258","gmt_created":"2017-07-19 15:30:58","changed":"1500487190","gmt_changed":"2017-07-19 17:59:50","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226275","name":"DeltaAdMan-016.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DeltaAdMan-016.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DeltaAdMan-016.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":466388,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DeltaAdMan-016.jpg?itok=NjgUmp3e"}}},"media_ids":["593585","593587"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2017\/05\/02\/innovation-soars-hangar-tech-square","title":"Innovation Soars at The Hangar in Tech Square"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2017\/06\/22\/boeing-georgia-tech-unveil-new-research-center","title":"Boeing, Georgia Tech Unveil New Research Center"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"147861","name":"delta air lines"},{"id":"174948","name":"AMPF"},{"id":"174947","name":"Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility"},{"id":"174953","name":"Gil West"},{"id":"94431","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003Elance.wallace@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lance.wallace@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"585154":{"#nid":"585154","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Developing New Techniques for Repairing Composite Aircraft Components ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. announced plans to purchase scores of new airplanes from Airbus and Bombardier, the carrier made clear its focus was on remaking its fleet with lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAerospace manufacturers relied heavily on composite materials for this latest generation of passenger jets. While composite parts have been used for decades, today as much as half of all airplane components can be made of composites, including major structures such as wings and the fuselage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor airlines, the shift to composites creates an opportunity to rethink the repair and maintenance operations needed to keep jets in top form. Although the first of Delta\u0026rsquo;s new jets won\u0026rsquo;t enter service until fall 2017, the airline is already searching for better ways to maintain and repair composite aircraft parts \u0026mdash; which are very different from the metal parts it has been maintaining for years\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe airline is partnering with Georgia Tech to take a close look at current methods used to repair composite parts and identify ways to increase efficiency and bring down costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Airlines want to create their own know-how on how to fix these structures because it\u0026rsquo;s cheaper and probably faster,\u0026rdquo; said Chuck Zhang, a professor in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. \u0026ldquo;But improved technologies are needed to help in the repair of composite parts. Much of it today is done by hand.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/composite-repairs-revisited\u0022\u003ERead the complete article \u003C\/a\u003Ein Research Horizons magazine\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. announced plans to purchase scores of new airplanes from Airbus and Bombardier, the carrier made clear its focus was on remaking its fleet with lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft -- with more composite components.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech is working with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines on procedures for repairing composite parts."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-12-15 21:04:29","changed_gmt":"2016-12-15 21:07:39","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"585151":{"id":"585151","type":"image","title":"Sanding of composite parts","body":null,"created":"1481835460","gmt_created":"2016-12-15 20:57:40","changed":"1481835460","gmt_changed":"2016-12-15 20:57:40","alt":"Honeycomb pattern in composites","file":{"fid":"223089","name":"delta-composites-repair3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":968786,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/delta-composites-repair3.jpg?itok=kgmP_Ivx"}},"585149":{"id":"585149","type":"image","title":"Maintaining aircraft composites","body":null,"created":"1481835259","gmt_created":"2016-12-15 20:54:19","changed":"1481835259","gmt_changed":"2016-12-15 20:54:19","alt":"Maintaining composites in aircraft","file":{"fid":"223088","name":"delta-composites-repair.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1335950,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/delta-composites-repair.jpg?itok=cQpWRB9z"}}},"media_ids":["585151","585149"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12178","name":"composite"},{"id":"173031","name":"aircraft composite"},{"id":"147861","name":"delta air lines"},{"id":"9323","name":"Repair"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJosh\u0026nbsp;Brown\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-385-0500\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["josh.brown@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"555041":{"#nid":"555041","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Helicopter Display Emulator Facilitates System Testing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen the U.S. Army updates the defensive and offensive software on its UH60M Black Hawk and AH64D Apache helicopters, the improved systems must be fully tested to make sure they\u2019re working properly. That includes evaluating how information is represented on the multi-function display (MFD) and multi-purpose display (MPD), which use symbology to display threats to aviation platforms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil recently, that testing required the use of a real helicopter or costly display components that must be configured to operate in a laboratory environment. Thanks to an MFD\/MPD emulator developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in collaboration with the Army Reprogramming Analysis Team (ARAT), the testing can now be done on ordinary laboratory computers anytime it is needed. The new emulator saves a significant amount of money and can help get software updates to deployed Army aviation forces faster.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is an exact replica of what\u2019s on the helicopter, so when they\u2019re testing the software upgrades in the laboratory, they see exactly what the pilot is going to see in the helicopter cockpit,\u201d said William Miller, a GTRI principal research scientists who helped lead the project. \u201cWhen the final software for the electronic warfare system is deployed to the field, it is already tested with the display. That saves money and time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project began with two days of observation into the operation of a multi-function display in operational helicopters at Dobbins Air Reserve Base north of Atlanta and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. GTRI engineers watched as the pilots put the Aviation Survivability Equipment (ASE) through all its operations and recorded what happened on video.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, a development team led by GTRI Research Scientist Heyward Adams began developing the emulator in a standard military Windows-based computer, using cards to simulate the sensors that would normally be providing data to the MFD. The emulator plugs into the aircraft\u2019s 1553 bus, and can simulate inputs from two radar warning receivers: the AN\/APR 39A(V)1\/4 and AN\/APR 48A .\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough the lab-based computer isn\u2019t flight-worthy, it provides the exact look-and-feel of the Apache and Black Hawk EW systems so Army mission software developers can make sure the graphical elements are clear and correct.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe ingest the data that\u2019s coming out of the cards just like the real hardware would in the helicopter and represent it accurately,\u201d Adams said. \u201cThe graphics we generate provide the exact look and feel, which we showed to pilots of the helicopter to make sure we were accurate.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe emulator is already in use by Army mission software developers in the ARAT laboratories in Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. The GTRI researchers say the system could be easily adapted to other aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe framework we used to develop the emulator is scalable, so it\u2019s not tied to just one specific multi-function display,\u201d Adams said. \u201cOur system is set up in such a way that we could quickly and cost-effectively emulate other systems, or even an entire cockpit.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ASE tracks threats such as surface-to-air missiles. Because the helicopters fly at low altitudes, there\u2019s little time to react, and no time for errors. Most threats are handled automatically, but the crew needs to know what is happening at all times.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor pilots flying these helicopters, this is a primary display for all the threat information they are encountering,\u201d said Miller. \u201cThis is their lifeline, and pilots have to be confident that the system will work right every time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn emulator program developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is helping the U.S. Army test software updates to get them fielded faster.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An emulator program is helping the U.S. Army test software updates to get them fielded faster."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-07-25 11:00:57","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-07-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-07-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"555011":{"id":"555011","type":"image","title":"Apache Helicopter","body":null,"created":"1469458356","gmt_created":"2016-07-25 14:52:36","changed":"1475895353","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:53","alt":"Apache Helicopter","file":{"fid":"206585","name":"apache.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/apache.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/apache.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1601346,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/apache.jpg?itok=7nbgF91W"}},"555021":{"id":"555021","type":"image","title":"Helicopter Emulator","body":null,"created":"1469458439","gmt_created":"2016-07-25 14:53:59","changed":"1475895353","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:53","alt":"Helicopter Emulator","file":{"fid":"206586","name":"emulator-4564.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emulator-4564.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emulator-4564.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1596980,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/emulator-4564.jpg?itok=2YbwSjbD"}}},"media_ids":["555011","555021"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"6373","name":"apache"},{"id":"170498","name":"Black Hawk"},{"id":"7407","name":"emulator"},{"id":"6370","name":"helicopter"},{"id":"172207","name":"software update"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"468081":{"#nid":"468081","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Collaboration with CNN Investigates Use of UAVs for Newsgathering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn June 2014, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and CNN launched a joint research initiative to study the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for newsgathering. In January 2015, CNN signed an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to share the results of the research. The project is now gaining momentum as researchers shift their focus from evaluating UAV equipment to developing potential protocols for safe operations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe issue: Hobbyists can fly drones without FAA oversight as long as the aircraft weighs 55 pounds or less, flies in unpopulated areas, and remains within line of sight of the operator. Yet flying drones for commercial purposes requires review and approval by the FAA. The only way to get a thumbs-up from the FAA is to pursue airworthiness certification (an expensive and complicated process that can take up to a year), or secure a \u201cSection 333 exemption.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA Section 333 exemption allows the FAA to waive the airworthiness requirement as long as the commercial UAV flights are conducted under a number of restrictions. Among these restrictions: Drone operators must notify local aviation authorities two or three days prior to flight \u2014 and operations over people or near airports are off-limits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSecuring a 333 exemption is doable for the movie industry since obtaining aerial footage can be planned far in advance,\u201d observed Mike Heiges, a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGTRI\u003C\/a\u003E principal research engineer who leads the CNN project. \u201cYet journalists can\u2019t operate under these rules for breaking news and chaotic situations where there may be emergency responders, police helicopters, or the National Guard.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGranted, drones aren\u2019t needed for every news story, but they provide a unique perspective in many situations, said Greg Agvent, senior director of news operations for CNN\/US.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBeing able to fly over an area after an earthquake or tornado hits would provide a deeper understanding of how widespread the devastation is,\u201d Agvent explained and pointed to the May 12 Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. \u201cPart of the issue with the accident was the speed going into the curve. The ability to get footage from 200 feet in the air would have presented a better sense of the curve \u2014 context that you simply couldn\u2019t get from the ground.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESafety of news personnel is another benefit of drone journalism, Agvent added. \u201cIn many cases, such as a flood, safety would trump context. We could capture footage of an event without putting our people in harm\u2019s way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome of the research that comes out of the project will be helpful beyond newsgathering, observed Dave Price, a GTRI senior research technologist working on the project. \u201cCommercial drones are of interest for crop monitoring and inspection of bridges and railroad tracks,\u201d he explained. \u201cRailroads and agriculture agencies will be able see the results of CNN\u2019s camera selection and stabilization systems and take advantage of this for their own applications.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Right Stuff\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the past year, the researchers, including GTRI and CNN staff, have been investigating different UAVs that could carry the type of camera systems journalists need to shoot and transmit aerial footage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s easier said than done. For one thing, the commercial drone industry is in its infancy. Manufacturers come and go, and there aren\u2019t a great number with a long track record. Another challenge is finding the right equipment \u2014 airframes and payloads that match up. \u201cIt\u2019s a trade-off,\u201d Heiges explained. \u201cYou have to factor in size, weight, and power of what you want to put on the aircraft with what the aircraft can carry.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFlight times for many commercial drones aren\u2019t long enough for CNN\u2019s purposes, nor is video quality high enough. \u201cTo install a better camera, you need a bigger vehicle for endurance,\u201d Heiges said. \u201cAnd that means stepping up to UAVs that were developed for the military, which dramatically increases price.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI has been testing drones since 2006 through the FAA\u2019s certificate of authorization process, which enables public institutions to operate drones in national airspace for research purposes. Currently, GTRI holds 28 certificates of authorization for specific locations in five states. For the project with CNN, GTRI provides pilots to fly the drones in approved areas, plans the flight tests with CNN\u2019s participation, collects data, and prepares reports with recommendations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of CNN\u2019s takeaways from the flight tests: Drone journalism is no one-person show. \u201cIn most cases, especially for live video, you need three people,\u201d Agvent said. This includes a pilot to guide the actions of the UAV and an operator for the camera, which is usually suspended under the drone and sits on gimbals for stabilization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe third person, a spotter, is particularly important in urban areas,\u201d Agvent continued. \u201cThe spotter focuses solely on situational awareness and communicates to the pilot about people and other aircraft that may be in the area. In some cases, you could get by with a two- person team \u2014 a pilot\/cameraman and a spotter \u2014 but a trio is best to ensure both high quality and safety.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvancing to Operational Protocols\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve hit a lot of milestones in the past year,\u201d Agvent said. \u201cNow, we begin to work on the finer points of flight operations and coordinating with air traffic control.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the FAA\u2019s chief concerns with drones is getting the word out to manned aircraft about a UAV\u2019s presence in the area. The current practice is to file a \u201cnotice to airmen\u201d two or three days in advance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new technology known as automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) could provide a just-in-time alternative to the notice to airmen. Developed by the FAA, this technology enables aircraft to broadcast their GPS coordinates to anyone in the local air space that has ADS-B, and vice-versa, so the drone operator would be able to see other aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s like having an air traffic radar map inside your cockpit,\u201d Heiges said. \u201cEven better, unlike conventional radar, ADS-B works all the way to the ground.\u201d That\u2019s important, because, in some situations, journalists may need to cooperate with police helicopters or medical aircraft flying at low altitudes to pick up patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeo-fencing technologies, which prevent UAVs from entering airport and other restricted areas, could add another layer of safety, Heiges added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause FAA rules prohibit drones from flying over people, crowd-control issues must also be resolved. For example, are journalists responsible for blocking off the area where they wish to fly drones \u2014 or do they communicate with on-scene commanders to find out where they can operate?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the next few months, GTRI and CNN will meet with regional emergency responders and other stakeholders to address these questions and develop an operational framework. Then GTRI will work with law enforcement agencies to test the procedures at remote locations. \u201cWe\u2019ll hold mock trials and simulate circumstances that would happen in a breaking news situation,\u201d Heiges explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECreating appropriate regulations for various types of UAV flights is important, as the flight landscape has changed dramatically in recent years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen people built radio-controlled airplanes out of balsa wood, they learned the rules for flying and flew aircraft at sanctioned sites,\u201d Heiges said. \u201cYet in the past few years, we now have multi-rotors and quad-rotors with automatic stabilization that don\u2019t require the same skills. People are flying them out of the box without knowing the rules. That can be dangerous if flown beyond visual range. Any significant accident will set back the industry, punishing those who do follow the rules.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven small drones could cause a helicopter or aircraft to go down if it gets caught in a propeller or pulled into an engine. Indeed, drones have been in the news this past summer for interfering with firefighting efforts in California, including a San Bernadino wildfire where drones operated by curious hobbyists caused fire pilots to pull out of the fray for 30 minutes, allowing the fire to spread.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe one thing that doesn\u2019t get talked about enough is the differentiation between hobbyists and commercial drone users \u2014 and that most of the problems are caused by laymen,\u201d said Agvent. \u201cOur goal is to create a framework that allows for safe integration of commercial drones for newsgathering. It\u2019s about having trusted vendors, trusted aircraft, and trusted procedures in place to act in a safe manner.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: T.J. Becker\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn June 2014, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and CNN launched a joint research initiative to study the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for newsgathering. In January 2015, CNN signed an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to share the results of the research. The project is now gaining momentum as researchers shift their focus from evaluating UAV equipment to developing potential protocols for safe operations.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute have been working with CNN to investigate the use of UAVs in newsgathering."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-11-10 10:15:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:58","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"468031":{"id":"468031","type":"image","title":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","body":null,"created":"1449257147","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:25:47","changed":"1475895216","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:36","alt":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","file":{"fid":"203811","name":"cnn-gtri-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-003_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-003_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1937943,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cnn-gtri-003_0.jpg?itok=PwG6LWuv"}},"468041":{"id":"468041","type":"image","title":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","body":null,"created":"1449257147","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:25:47","changed":"1475895216","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:36","alt":"UAV in CNN World Headquarters","file":{"fid":"203812","name":"cnn-gtri-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-002_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnn-gtri-002_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1919563,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cnn-gtri-002_0.jpg?itok=p_GI70ZN"}}},"media_ids":["468031","468041"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"496","name":"CNN"},{"id":"4341","name":"FAA"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"3245","name":"News"},{"id":"147341","name":"newsgathering"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"3249","name":"unmanned aerial vehicle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"453061":{"#nid":"453061","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Humans on Mars","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s researchers are working to make sure humans on Mars aren\u2019t something reserved only for Hollywood. Faculty members are creating the next technologies for future missions, landing locations, and instruments to find life. Their expertise and insight will help guide us all to the next frontier.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s researchers are working to make sure humans on Mars aren\u2019t something reserved only for Hollywood. Faculty members are creating the next technologies for future missions, landing locations, and instruments to find life.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Faculty members are creating the next technologies for future missions, landing locations, and instruments to find life."}],"uid":"27828","created_gmt":"2015-09-28 14:41:41","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:40","author":"Melanie Goux","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"453071":{"id":"453071","type":"image","title":"Humans on Mars","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895197","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:17","alt":"Humans on Mars","file":{"fid":"203402","name":"mars_icon.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mars_icon_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mars_icon_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":27013,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mars_icon_0.jpg?itok=fGeDEKWL"}}},"media_ids":["453071"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/humans-mars","title":"Read the full story here:"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"143001","name":"Amanda Stockton"},{"id":"30211","name":"Bobby Braun"},{"id":"142991","name":"Dave Spencer"},{"id":"52181","name":"James Wray"},{"id":"11021","name":"Lisa Yaszek"},{"id":"55511","name":"Mariel Borowitz"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"427761":{"#nid":"427761","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Innovative Method Improves Strength and Modulus in Carbon Fibers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECarbon fibers are stronger and lighter than steel, and composite materials based on carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers are being used in an expanding range of aerospace, automotive, and other applications \u2013 including major sections of the Boeing 787 aircraft. It\u2019s widely believed, moreover, that carbon-fiber technology has the potential to produce composites at least 10 times stronger than those in use today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a novel technique that sets a new milestone for the strength and modulus of carbon fibers. This alternative approach is based on an innovative technique for spinning polyacrylonitrile (PAN), an organic polymer resin used to make carbon fibers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work is part of a four-year, $9.8 million project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to improve the strength of carbon-fiber materials. The research was reported recently in the journal \u003Cem\u003ECarbon\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By using a gel-spinning technique to process polyacrylonitrile copolymer into carbon fibers, we have developed next-generation carbon fibers that exhibit a combination of strength and modulus not seen previously with the conventional solution-spun method,\u0022 said Satish Kumar, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering who leads the project. \u201cIn addition, our work shows that the gel-spinning approach provides a pathway for even greater improvements.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKumar explained that tensile modulus \u2013 a measure of stiffness -- refers to the force needed to stretch a material by a given amount. Tensile strength expresses how much force is required to actually break the material.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn gel spinning, the solution is first converted to a gel; this technique binds polymer chains together and produces robust inter-chain forces that increase tensile strength. Gel spinning also increases directional orientation of fibers, which also augments strength. By contrast, in conventional solution spinning, a process developed more than 60 years ago, PAN co-polymer solution is directly converted to a solid fiber without the intermediate gel state and produces less-robust material.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe gel-spun carbon fiber produced by Kumar\u2019s team was tested at 5.5 to 5.8 gigapascals (GPa) \u2013 a measure of ultimate tensile strength \u2013 and had a tensile modulus in the 354-375 GPa range. The material was produced on a continuous carbonization line at Georgia Tech that was constructed for this DARPA project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is the highest combination of strength and modulus for any continuous fiber reported to-date,\u201d Kumar said. \u201cAnd at short gauge length, fiber tensile strength was measured as high as 12.1 GPa, which is the highest tensile-strength value ever reported for a PAN-based carbon fiber.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMoreover, Kumar noted, the internal structure of these gel-spun carbon fibers measured at the nanoscale showed fewer imperfections than state-of-the-art commercial carbon fibers, such as IM7. Specifically, the gel-spun fibers display a lower degree of polymer-chain entanglements than those produced by solution spinning. This smaller number of entanglements results from the fact that gel spinning uses lower concentrations of polymer than solution-spinning methods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKumar and his team convert the gel-spun polymer mix into carbon fibers via a selective treatment process called pyrolysis, in which the spun polymer is gradually subjected to both heat and stretching. This technique eliminates large quantities of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen from the polymer, leaving mostly strength-increasing carbon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that the current performance of solution-spun PAN-based carbon fibers has been achieved after many years of material and process optimization \u2013 yet very limited material and process optimization studies have been carried out to date on the gel-spun PAN fiber,\u201d Kumar said. \u201cIn the future, we believe that materials and process optimization, enhanced fiber circularity, and increased solution homogeneity will further increase the strength and modulus of the gel-spinning method.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Satish Kumar et al, \u201cHigh strength and high modulus carbon fibers,\u201d (Carbon, 2015). Carbon, 93, 81-87 (2015). \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECarbon fibers are stronger and lighter than steel, and composite materials based on carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers are being used in an expanding range of aerospace, automotive, and other applications \u2013 including major sections of the Boeing 787 aircraft. \u0026nbsp;It\u2019s widely believed, moreover, that carbon-fiber technology has the potential to produce composites at least 10 times stronger than those in use today.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are improving the strength and modulus of carbon fibers."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-07-22 15:34:05","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-07-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-07-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"427801":{"id":"427801","type":"image","title":"Improved carbon fiber","body":null,"created":"1449254342","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:02","changed":"1475895167","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:47","alt":"Improved carbon fiber","file":{"fid":"202802","name":"carbon-fibers83a_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-fibers83a_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-fibers83a_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1192929,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/carbon-fibers83a_0_0.jpg?itok=oEsfWHRe"}},"427751":{"id":"427751","type":"image","title":"Improving carbon fiber","body":null,"created":"1449254342","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:02","changed":"1475895167","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:47","alt":"Improving carbon fiber","file":{"fid":"202801","name":"carbon-fibers47.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-fibers47_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/carbon-fibers47_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1115869,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/carbon-fibers47_0.jpg?itok=0Pz2DCCk"}}},"media_ids":["427801","427751"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"610","name":"carbon"},{"id":"136521","name":"carbon fiber"},{"id":"12178","name":"composite"},{"id":"1492","name":"Polymer"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"412371":{"#nid":"412371","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u201cReal Research\u201d Summer Program for High School Students Returns to Georgia Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast summer, Georgia Tech launched a program that brought nearly 40 high-school students face-to-face with real, goal-oriented university research. Known as the Science, Technology and Engineering Pipeline (STEP), the ambitious program is returning for a second year, having won praise from both participating students and their teachers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll STEP projects directly contribute to ongoing undergraduate- or graduate-level research work. This year, the program is conducted under the auspices of the Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL) and the NASA Georgia Space Grant Consortium (GSGC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe two-month program is free to those who are accepted. The Atlanta-area students work in teams, advised by Georgia Tech research scientists and graduate students who serve as mentors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cInterest in the program has been strong all spring, and applications have come in at a pretty high rate,\u201d said Kelly Griendling, a Georgia Tech research engineer who designed and directed the STEP program. \u201cI\u0027ve gotten a lot of emails that basically say, \u2018I heard from my friend that this was a great program, and I\u0027d like to do it.\u2019 \u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast summer\u2019s two-month program, she explained, dropped a wide range of knotty aerospace and vehicle related problems into the laps of student teams. The teams worked on portions of these real-world projects, and what the students achieved went to advance those projects. The students could ask for help from their mentors when necessary, but most of the time they worked on their own.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKelly Ingle, a teacher at Kennesaw Mountain High School who is familiar with STEP, believes that the students who participated in last summer\u2019s program experienced \u201creal life,\u201d gaining independence, improving problem-solving abilities, and learning to be team players in actual research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI have two students in my current classes who attended STEP last summer,\u201d Ingle said. \u201cWatching their approach to research this semester, it\u2019s evident to me that the STEP experience was beneficial.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe atmosphere in the STEP research laboratories last summer seemed both highly enthusiastic and very serious. On one late-July afternoon, a visitor to STEP found a 10th grade student working at a computer developing robotic-vision capability software for a U.S. Navy autonomous boat concept. A few feet away, two 10th grade students were using a CAD workstation to explore a NASA project that aims to move an asteroid millions of miles through space to a moon orbit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearby, an 11th grader was trouble-shooting a hybrid-electric aircraft engine. At the next desk his colleagues were working on the hybrid engine itself, which had been designed to power an innovative unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was being developed by yet another STEP team.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast summer\u2019s youthful researchers seemed to like STEP\u2019s throw-them-in-the-deep-end approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENick Tysver, a 10th grader from Lithia Springs High School who was on the autonomous boat\/robotics vision team, told a visitor last summer: \u0022It was really interesting \u2013 on the first day the mentors were like, \u0027This is your project, get going.\u2019 That isn\u0027t at all like high school, where they inch you along \u2013 here they get you going in the right direction, and you know you\u0027re going to end up doing fine.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProjects for the 2015 STEP session haven\u2019t been finalized. They will likely include both established and new research topics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth new students and some returning students will participate in this summer\u2019s program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGSGC is thrilled to be working with ASDL to expand the highly effective program to multiple labs in Aerospace Engineering,\u201d said Professor Stephen Ruffin, director of the GSGC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough summer 2015 applications have recently closed, interested parties can contact Kelly Griendling (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kelly.griendling@asdl.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekelly.griendling@asdl.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) to inquire about applications for future semesters.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EDuring the 2014 session, most students participated on one of six teams:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe Hybrid Electric team worked on an airborne hybrid-electric propulsion system designed by a Georgia Tech graduate student.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe UAV Design team was tasked with designing an unmanned aircraft that would be powered by the hybrid electric engine.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe Asteroid Capture team worked on a NASA plan to redirect an asteroid to a stable orbit around the moon, where astronauts can later visit it for research purposes.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe Quadrotor team was required to assemble and test several kits for quadrotors \u2013 small helicopters propelled by four propellers \u2013 and then design, build and test a custom quadrotor.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe Rotor\/Propeller Testing team performed a series of wind-tunnel tests on various motor-propeller combinations, to gather data and make performance predictions that can be used to support vehicle design efforts.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe Autonomous Boat team focused on developing software code for an autonomous boat design, as part of a Naval Engineering Education Center (NEEC) project.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast summer, Georgia Tech launched a program that brought nearly 40 high-school students face-to-face with real, goal-oriented university research. Known as the Science, Technology and Engineering Pipeline (STEP), the ambitious program is returning for a second year, having won praise from both participating students and their teachers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A program that brings high-school students face-to-face with real, goal-oriented university research will be returning this summer."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-06-09 09:46:32","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-06-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-06-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"412191":{"id":"412191","type":"image","title":"Hybrid-electric","body":null,"created":"1449254211","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:51","changed":"1475895142","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 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boat","file":{"fid":"202336","name":"step14a.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/step14a_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/step14a_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2047814,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/step14a_0.jpg?itok=20P3PB2U"}},"412261":{"id":"412261","type":"image","title":"Motor-propellor","body":null,"created":"1449254211","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:51","changed":"1475895142","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 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02:52:22","alt":"STEP-program","file":{"fid":"202340","name":"step30a.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/step30a_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/step30a_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1906005,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/step30a_0.jpg?itok=LmXkUWpp"}}},"media_ids":["412191","412211","412311","412221","412241","412261","412281","412291"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"100921","name":"ASDL"},{"id":"327","name":"high school"},{"id":"167505","name":"STEP"},{"id":"167441","name":"student research"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"351591":{"#nid":"351591","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Smaller lidars could allow UAVs to conduct underwater scans","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBathymetric lidars \u2013 devices that employ powerful lasers to scan beneath the water\u0027s surface \u2013 are used today primarily to map coastal waters. At nearly 600 pounds, the systems are large and heavy, and they require costly, piloted aircraft to carry them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has designed a new approach that could lead to bathymetric lidars that are much smaller and more efficient than the current full-size systems. The new technology, developed under the Active Electro-Optical Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AEO-ISR) project, would let modest-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) carry bathymetric lidars, lowering costs substantially.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd, unlike currently available systems, AEO-ISR technology is designed to gather and transmit data in real time, allowing it to produce high-resolution 3-D undersea imagery with greater speed, accuracy, and usability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese advanced capabilities could support a range of military uses such as anti-mine and anti-submarine intelligence and nautical charting, as well as civilian mapping tasks. In addition, GTRI\u2019s new lidar could probe forested areas to detect objects under thick canopies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Lidar has completely revolutionized the way that ISR is done in the military \u2013 and also the way that precision mapping is done in the commercial world,\u0022 said Grady Tuell, a principal research scientist who is leading the work. \u0022GTRI has extensive experience in atmospheric lidar going back 30 years, and we\u0027re now bringing that knowledge to bear on a growing need for small, real-time bathymetric lidar systems.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETuell and his team have developed a new GTRI lightweight lidar, a prototype that has successfully demonstrated AEO-ISR techniques in the laboratory. The team has also completed a design for a deployable mid-size bathymetric device that is less than half the size and weight of current systems and needs half the electric power.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMeasuring Laser Light\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo simulate the movement of an actual aircraft, the prototype must be \u0022flown\u0022 over a laboratory pool. To do this, the researchers install the lidar onto a gantry above a large water tank in Georgia Tech\u2019s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and then operate it in a manner that simulates flight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe lidar utilizes a high-power green laser that can penetrate water to considerable depths. Firing a laser beam every 10,000th of a second, the proxy aircraft allows the team to study the best methods for producing accurate images of objects on the floor of the pool.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ultimate goal is to obtain accurate reflectance from the sea floor, but the presence of water makes that difficult. To capture good images, the GTRI lightweight lidar must make a series of adjustments that let it measure reflected laser beams as if there were no water present.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne challenge is that when a tightly focused light beam such as a laser hits water, it loses speed and bends, a familiar underwater effect called refraction. Due to changes in the water\u0027s surface, the angle of refraction varies constantly, and these changes in the refracted angle must be accounted for when computing the path of the light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother challenge is that the photons in the laser beam scatter in the water, like light from a car headlight hitting fog. The amount of this scattering depends on the water\u2019s turbidity, which refers to the number of particles suspended in it. In addition, the water absorbs some of the light.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of these two effects, a lidar system receives back only a tiny signal when its laser beam bounces off an underwater surface such as the sea floor. The signal-conditioning and sensor-processing capabilities of the lightweight lidar must be sophisticated enough to detect that small returning signal in an overall sea and air environment that is very noisy \u2013 meaning that it\u0027s filled with extraneous signals that interfere with the desired data.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EImproving Critical Techniques\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ultimate product of a bathymetric lidar is a three-dimensional point cloud that describes the seafloor at high spatial resolution. Users of these data need to know the accuracy of each point.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u2019s researchers have devised a new approach for accuracy assessment called total propagated uncertainty (TPU). Using statistics, calculus, and linear algebra, the TPU technique propagates errors from the individual measurements \u2013 navigation, distance, and refraction angle \u2013 to estimate the accuracy of sea-floor measurements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a major milestone, the GTRI team was the first to demonstrate bathymetric lidar coordinate computation and TPU estimates in real time. To achieve the necessary processing speed, the team employs a mixed-mode computing environment composed of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), along with central-processing and graphics-processing units.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach time a laser is fired, Tuell explained, it takes only a few nanoseconds for the beam to reach the bottom of the pool and bounce back. Once the beam returns, the lidar\u0027s high-speed computer digitizes the returned beam and computes ranges, coordinates, and TPU before the next shot of the laser.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In our laboratory tests, we\u0027re computing about 37 million points per second \u2013 which is exceptionally fast for a lidar system and gives us a great deal of information about the sea floor in a very short period of time,\u0022 Tuell said. \u0022The key is we\u0027re using FPGAs to do the necessary signal conditioning and signal processing, and we\u0027re doing it at exactly the time that we convert from an analog signal to a digital signal.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Deployable Design\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to developing the proof-of-concept lidar prototype, the GTRI team has produced a CAD design for a deployable bathymetric device that is half the size and weight of current devices and has lower power needs. The immediate goal is to field such a mid-size device on a larger UAV such as an autonomous helicopter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe longer-term aim is to use AEO-ISR technology to develop bathymetric lidars that could fly on small UAVs with payloads of 30 pounds or less. To help these lidars deliver maritime surveillance and mapping data in real time, most of the necessary signal processing would be done on the aircraft and only essential data would be transmitted to ground stations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve provided a prototype that demonstrates the key technology, and we\u0027ve completed a design for a mid-size design,\u0022 Tuell said. \u0022In the future, we believe small bathymetric lidars will perform military tasks, and also civilian tasks such as county-level mapping, with increased convenience and at greatly reduced cost.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (404-407-7280) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has designed a new approach that could lead to underwater imaging lidars that are much smaller and more efficient than the current full-size systems. The new technology, developed under the Active Electro-Optical Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AEO-ISR) project, would let modest-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) carry bathymetric lidars, lowering costs substantially.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have designed a new approach that could lead to underwater imaging lidars that are much smaller and more efficient than the current full-size systems."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-12-03 14:45:51","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:37","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-12-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-12-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"351541":{"id":"351541","type":"image","title":"Green laser of lightweight lidar system","body":null,"created":"1449245714","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:15:14","changed":"1475895078","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:18","alt":"Green laser of lightweight lidar system","file":{"fid":"201121","name":"lidar5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar5_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar5_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":716328,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lidar5_0.jpg?itok=S-RAzcFH"}},"351531":{"id":"351531","type":"image","title":"GTRI lightweight lidar prototype","body":null,"created":"1449245714","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:15:14","changed":"1475895078","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:18","alt":"GTRI lightweight lidar prototype","file":{"fid":"201120","name":"lidar3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1242194,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lidar3_0.jpg?itok=_UaYSfwD"}},"351571":{"id":"351571","type":"image","title":"Grady Tuell, GTRI researcher","body":null,"created":"1449245714","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:15:14","changed":"1475895078","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:18","alt":"Grady Tuell, GTRI researcher","file":{"fid":"201123","name":"lidar6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar6_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar6_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":888372,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lidar6_0.jpg?itok=uJSR5voz"}},"351551":{"id":"351551","type":"image","title":"Green laser of lightweight lidar system2","body":null,"created":"1449245714","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:15:14","changed":"1475895078","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:18","alt":"Green laser of lightweight lidar system2","file":{"fid":"201122","name":"lidar4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":959549,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lidar4_0.jpg?itok=yw69gVfj"}},"351581":{"id":"351581","type":"image","title":"GTRI lidar research team","body":null,"created":"1449245714","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:15:14","changed":"1475895078","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:18","alt":"GTRI lidar research team","file":{"fid":"201124","name":"lidar1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lidar1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1320549,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lidar1_0.jpg?itok=d2uLklqX"}}},"media_ids":["351541","351531","351571","351551","351581"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"111451","name":"bathymetric"},{"id":"111481","name":"Grady Tuell"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"111431","name":"lidar"},{"id":"111441","name":"lightweight lidar"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"327191":{"#nid":"327191","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars set speed record","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWritten by SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new study of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars reveals that, on very rare occasions, shells can be expelled at relativistic speeds - up to 30 percent of the speed of light. These velocities are the highest ever measured for a cosmic thermonuclear event, including novae and thermonuclear supernovae. This phenomenon, discovered in only 0.1 second worth of data in 40 years of space-based X-ray astronomy, sheds new light on how nuclear flames spread over surfaces of neutron stars. The study was published by authors at the Georgia Institute of Technnology, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and Anton Pannekoek Institute of the University of Amsterdam.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn our galaxy, there are about 100 neutron stars that regularly burst in X-rays. When another star happens to be in the neighborhood of the neutron star, it may lose some of its hydrogen\/helium\u0026nbsp; atmosphere to it. This material on the surface of the neutron star subsequently ignites a thermonuclear runaway reaction resulting in a minutes-long X-ray burst. The bursts are so luminous that they are easily visible from anywhere in the galaxy, provided an X-ray detector is used in space because X-rays cannot penetrate the Earth\u2019s atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EX-ray bursts do not usually result in explosions. Gravity is so strong on the neutron star that any debris is firmly held tight to the surface. Only when a burst is powerful enough (in 20 percent of all cases), the pressure exerted by the radiation may be able to compensate for gravity. In such a case, the atmosphere is briefly lifted off the star and then pulled back again. The new study has now identified two bursts, out of more than 10,000 thus far detected, that are so powerful that a shell, visible for only a few tens of milliseconds, is flung loose from the star at 10 percent to 30 percent the speed of light..\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech physics postdoctoral researcher Laurens Keek is a secondary author on the paper. He says the two explosions were powered by helium fusion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHelium burning produces a tiny amount of hydrogen,\u201d he added. \u201cThis acts as a catalyst, and our computer simulations show that nuclear burning speeds up more than 100 thousand times. It takes detailed knowledge of nuclear reactions to explain how these X-ray bursts could set the speed record.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERecord\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u0022The found bulk velocities are a record for nuclear-powered phenomena,\u0022 says SRON researcher, a primary author, Jean in \u0027t Zand. \u0022They are faster than the maxima measured in other stellar nuclear explosions (novae and type Ia supernovae). Presumably X-ray bursts provide us a window to the initial phase of thermonuclear runaways which is not available for (super)novae, since those are always discovered after that phase is over.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe exceptional outflows seen in these two bursts go hand in hand with very fast ignitions of the complete neutron star surface \u2013 within less than 1 millisecond. In \u0027t Zand:\u0026nbsp; \u201cThis is very quick. It means that the nuclear flame spreads across the neutron star at velocities close to 0.1 times the speed of light. This puts interesting constraints on the theory of ignition and how the nuclear reaction chain works. Normal flame propagation mechanisms may not be viable in this regime. Instead, the neutron star atmosphere may be ignited in a so-called auto-ignition regime. In any case, this observational result is expected to stimulate new theoretical work.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENeutron stars\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003C\/em\u003EOne can imagine a neutron star as a failed black hole. Both are remnants of stars at least a few times heavier than the sun, collapsed during a supernova after exhaustion of the nuclear fuel that kept them shining. Neutron stars are lighter than black holes, which makes them capable of making a full stop of the collapse just short of vanishing behind the event horizon, at a diameter of merely a few tens of kilometers. This implies that they have visible surfaces with unparalleled strong gravity, some 10,000 billion times stronger than on Earth. Throwing matter at it has a dramatic effect. That matter quickly piles up in a 1 m thick layer with such high pressures that a stellar sized H-bomb, powered by thermonuclear fusion, is ignited. The fusion lasts a fraction of a second and heats up the atmosphere to tens of millions of degrees. The subsequent cooling is visible as a minutes-long X-ray burst. The X-ray burst phenomenon was first discovered at SRON in 1975, with the first satellite built in the Netherlands (ANS). The measurements for the present study were carried out with NASA\u0027s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPublication\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E The research was performed by Jean in \u2019t Zand (SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research), Laurens Keek (Center for Relativistic Astrophysics of the Georgia Institute for Technology, Atlanta) and Yuri Cavecchi (Anton Pannekoek Institute of the University of Amsterdam). The research results have been published in \u003Cem\u003EAstronomy \u0026amp; Astrophysics\u003C\/em\u003E (volume 568, article A69, August 2014), see URL \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1051\/0004-6361\/201424044\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1051\/0004-6361\/201424044\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars reveals that, on very rare occasions, shells can be expelled at relativistic speeds - up to 30 percent of the speed of light. These velocities are the highest ever measured for a cosmic thermonuclear event, including novae and thermonuclear supernovae. This phenomenon, discovered in only 0.1 second worth of data in 40 years of space-based X-ray astronomy, sheds new light on how nuclear flames spread over surfaces of neutron stars.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars reveals that shells can be expelled at speeds up to 30% of the speed of light."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-09-19 14:17:58","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:07","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"327171":{"id":"327171","type":"image","title":"Bursts on neutron stars 1","body":null,"created":"1449245064","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:04:24","changed":"1475895039","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:39","alt":"Bursts on neutron stars 1","file":{"fid":"200248","name":"explosion2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/explosion2_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/explosion2_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":431302,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/explosion2_0.png?itok=sxLBROHj"}}},"media_ids":["327171"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1051\/0004-6361\/201424044.","title":"Research Paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cra.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4079","name":"astrophysics"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"103921","name":"Laurens Keek"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003ENational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"318571":{"#nid":"318571","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Getting a rare glimpse with a black hole telescope","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor David Ballantyne is on the science team for NuSTAR, a telescope that NASA launched in June 2012. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2012\/06\/11\/nustar-provides-new-look-black-holes\u0022\u003EBallantyne helped plan the mission\u003C\/a\u003E, which looks at black holes in ways never seen before. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/press\/2014\/august\/nasas-nustar-sees-rare-blurring-of-black-hole-light\/index.html\u0022\u003ENASA has now released\u003C\/a\u003E some of the instrument\u0027s newest findings. NuSTAR has watched a black hole\u0027s gravity pull X-ray light, stretching and blurring that light. Black hole experts like Ballantyne have observed this phenomenon before, but never in so much detail.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For more than three decades, we have known that growing supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies produce X-rays. Yet, how these X-rays are actually produced is still a mystery, said Ballantyne. \u0022It seems the X-rays are generated in a \u0027corona\u0027 (analogous to the solar corona that can be seen during a solar eclipse), but figuring out even the basic details of these black hole coronae, such as its size, has been a major challenge. Now, NuSTAR, NASA\u0027s newest X-ray telescope, with its high sensitivity to a wide range of X-ray energies, is finally able to measure the details of black hole coronae. These measurements will allow astrophysicists to understand the engines that power some of the most energetic regions in the entire Universe.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhoto caption: The regions around supermassive black holes shine brightly in X-rays. Some of this radiation comes from a surrounding disk, and most comes from the corona, pictured here in this artist\u0027s concept as the white light at the base of a jet. This is one of a few possible shapes predicted for coronas. Image credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"NASA has released new findings about a black hole telescope."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-08-22 16:37:13","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:59","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"318551":{"id":"318551","type":"image","title":"NuSTAR new findings","body":null,"created":"1449244974","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:02:54","changed":"1475895027","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:27","alt":"NuSTAR new findings","file":{"fid":"200009","name":"nustar140812_tn2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nustar140812_tn2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nustar140812_tn2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":69567,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nustar140812_tn2_0.jpg?itok=4wTeiFAH"}}},"media_ids":["318551"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer \u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"309511":{"#nid":"309511","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Prof. David Spencer\u0027s Prox-1 project is getting ready to launch","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch conducted by AE professor David Spencer is getting ready to blast off.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELiterally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the principal investigator for the Prox-1 mission, Spencer anticipates the launch of a Georgia Tech-designed spacecraft (and an attached CubeSat) sometime within the next 18 months. Both components will be part of the multi-satellite payload launched by SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProx-1 will be the first spacecraft built by Georgia Tech to be launched into space,\u201d said Spencer, who served as a mission designer for the Mars Pathfinder during nearly 2 decades with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve built components before, but this is a Georgia Tech vehicle.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearched and tested by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/spencer.ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESpencer\u003C\/a\u003E and his students in AE\u2019s Space Systems Design Laboratory (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ssdl.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESSDL\u003C\/a\u003E),\u0026nbsp; the Prox-1 spacecraft was chosen for the launch by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research\u2019s University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) during a system integration competition last year. The SSDL design trumped a field of 11 competitors.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E Spencer will join Air\u0026nbsp;Force officials at Kennedy Space Center when Prox-1 hitches a ride on the Falcon Heavy rocket sometime in 2016. And his team at Georgia Tech will be overseeing mission operations when Prox-1 is deployed and the LightSail is launched. But right now, everyone\u2019s attention is focused on fine-tuning the satellites\u2019 components while they are on the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProx-1 is being built here on campus. We have everything except the propulsion units and the power distribution systems, so we\u2019re testing other things, like structure, torque rods this summer. In the fall, it\u2019ll look more like a spacecraft.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat spacecraft will be small -- approximately 50cm x 50cm x 30cm \u2013 and will carry an even smaller micro-satellite (\u201cCubeSat\u201d) called the LightSail which will be launched from, and followed by, Prox-1. Once launched, the tiny nano-satellite will itself deploy a 32-square-meter solar energy-absorbing \u201csail\u201d designed to power the vehicle during its flight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProx-1 will re-locate LightSail and determine its orbit using infrared imaging. It will then follow the satellite from a relatively short distance --100 to 150 meters. Spencer says successful demonstration of concept on this mission will greatly benefit future space travel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf we can accurately control one spacecraft\u2019s trajectory relative to another, we can do on-orbit inspections of other spacecraft. This would be great when we launch Orion. We\u2019ll be able to use CubeSats to inspect it for micro-meteor impacts,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAnd the use of passive imaging is of great interest to the Air Force Research Lab. In the past, they\u2019ve use LIDAR and RADAR, but this will really lower the cost if we can successfully demonstrate it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFind out more about Prox-1 in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/youtu.be\/eGa2ROpUKE8\u0022\u003Ethis video\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EProf. David Spencer\u0027s work on the $1.2 million Prox-1 project has been supported, in part, by a $220,000 grant from the Air Force\u0026nbsp;Office of Scientific Research through the University Nanosat Program. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the principal investigator for the Prox-1 mission, David Spencer anticipates the launch of a Georgia Tech-designed spacecraft (and an attached CubeSat) sometime within the next 18 months\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"avid Spencer anticipates the launch of a Georgia Tech-designed spacecraft (and an attached CubeSat) sometime within the next 18 months"}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-07-18 12:38:48","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:48","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"89371","name":"CSTAR"},{"id":"98181","name":"David Spencer"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKathleen MooreDaniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E 404.894.3003\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kathleen.moore@aerospace.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekathleen.moore@aerospace.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["kathleen.moore@aerospace.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"307431":{"#nid":"307431","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna Tested on Aircraft to Survey Ground Emitters, Maintain Satellite Connection","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u2019s\u003C\/a\u003E software-defined, electronically-reconfigurable Agile Aperture Antenna (A3) has now been tested on the land, sea and air.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDepartment of Defense representatives were in attendance during a recent event where two of the low-power devices, which can change beam directions in a thousandth of a second, were demonstrated in an aircraft during flight tests held in Virginia during February 2014. One device, looking up, maintained a satellite data connection as the aircraft changed headings, banked and rolled, while the other antenna looked down to track electromagnetic emitters on the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were able to sustain communication with the commercial satellite in flight as the aircraft changed headings dramatically,\u201d explained Matthew Habib, a GTRI research engineer. \u201cThe antenna was changing beam directions to compensate for the aircraft headings. At the same time, we were maintaining communication with a device on the ground.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to rapidly altering its beam direction, the antenna\u2019s frequency and polarization can also be changed by switching active components. The prototype used in this test operates from 500 to 3000 MHz with a plus or minus 60-degree hemispherical view. The latest prototypes have been able to provide gain to 6 GHz, opening more communication options to the end user. For the flight test, GTRI collaborated with SR Technologies, Inc. (SRT), a Florida company specializing in wireless engineering products.\u0026nbsp; SRT provides mobile communications hardware including L-Band mobile satellite, 802.11 (WiFi), and cellular solutions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor this effort, the A3 was matched with an SRT software defined radio focused on the L-Band mobile satellite frequency range. GTRI also collaborated with Aurora Flight Sciences to fly the antennas on their Centaur optionally piloted aircraft.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond its ability to be easily reconfigured, the low power consumption and flat form make the Agile Aperture Antenna ideal for aircraft such as UAVs that have small power supplies and limited surface area for integrating antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you have a large ship or aircraft with lots of power, you can afford to use a phased-array or other type of steerable antenna,\u201d noted Habib. \u201cBut when you are using small vehicles, especially robotic aircraft and self-sustaining vehicles that don\u2019t include an operator, our antenna is a great solution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EComposed of printed circuit boards, the antenna components weigh just two or three pounds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s not just about the low power and weight,\u201d said James Strates, also a GTRI research engineer. \u201cThe simplicity of the system, the low fabrication cost and the ability to retrofit the A3 to an existing system also make it attractive to operators.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond use on aircraft, ships and ground vehicles, the antenna concept could also find application in mobile devices, where the dynamic tunability could help cut through congestion on cellular networks, noted Ryan Westafer, a GTRI research engineer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA small electronically tunable antenna could provide a lot of new opportunities for mobile devices,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs configured for the flight tests, the upward-looking A3 antenna had a beam 30 degrees wide that could be shifted up to 60 degrees in either direction to maintain contact with the satellite. For the downward-looking antenna, the beam was automatically adjusted to \u201cstare\u201d at a point on the ground, reducing the interference from nearby emitters, Westafer explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause it doesn\u2019t require mechanically moving a metal dish, the A3 can change beam direction 120 degrees in a thousandth of a second, which gives it a significant response time advantage over gimbaled antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe A3\u2019s weight and complexity are also much less than for a phased-array antenna with similar capabilities. The A3 antenna uses just one static feed point, while a phased-array must feed and control each element separately. Because of its low power consumption, the A3 requires no cooling system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Agile Aperture Antenna has also been tested on a Wave Glider autonomous ocean vehicle. Together with previous testing on a moving ground vehicle, the new evaluations demonstrate the operational flexibility of the antenna, Habib said. So far, the A3 has operated successfully at temperatures as low as 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo track the satellite, the antenna uses an inertial measurement unit to provide information about the aircraft\u2019s pitch, roll and yaw \u2013 as well as its longitude, latitude and altitude. That information is sent to a controller that turns elements off and on to the change the beam direction to maintain communication. Before takeoff, the researchers had programmed into the device the location of the commercial satellite with which it was communicating.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe challenge ahead is to take advantage of the antenna\u2019s unique capabilities \u2013 and to affect the way operators place antennas onto ground, air and sea vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is changing the way that we think about integrating antennas onto systems to provide new solutions,\u201d Habib said. \u201cUsers have not had these capabilities before, and we are excited to see how our partners will be able to take full advantage of this antenna.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (404-407-7280) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute\u2019s software-defined, electronically-reconfigurable Agile Aperture Antenna (A3) has now been tested on the land, sea and air.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute\u2019s software-defined, electronically-reconfigurable Agile Aperture Antenna (A3) has now been tested on the land, sea and air."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-07-09 09:46:14","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:45","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"307381":{"id":"307381","type":"image","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna Tested","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Agile Aperture Antenna Tested","file":{"fid":"199771","name":"agile-aperture17.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture17_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture17_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":961681,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/agile-aperture17_0.jpg?itok=eWwpAvwB"}},"307391":{"id":"307391","type":"image","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna in Window","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Agile Aperture Antenna in Window","file":{"fid":"199772","name":"agile-aperture0618.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture0618_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture0618_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":642274,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/agile-aperture0618_0.jpg?itok=H5BjsHq1"}},"307401":{"id":"307401","type":"image","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna Aircraft","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Agile Aperture Antenna Aircraft","file":{"fid":"199773","name":"agile-aperture03.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture03_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture03_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1220425,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/agile-aperture03_0.jpg?itok=8yJFGj6x"}}},"media_ids":["307381","307391","307401"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"68051","name":"Agile Aperture Antenna"},{"id":"2616","name":"antenna"},{"id":"97461","name":"electronically-reconfigurable"},{"id":"97431","name":"flight test"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"97441","name":"Matthew Habib"},{"id":"171342","name":"software-defined"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"307031":{"#nid":"307031","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Small, but plentiful: how the faintest galaxies illuminated the early universe","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELight from tiny galaxies over 13 billion years ago played a larger role than previously thought in creating the conditions in the universe as we know it today, a new study has found. Ultraviolet (UV) light from stars in these faint dwarf galaxies helped strip interstellar hydrogen of electrons in a process called reionization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe epoch of reionization began about 200 million years after the Big Bang and astrophysicists agree that it took about 800 million more for the entire universe to become reionized. It marked the last major phase transition of gas in the universe, and it remains ionized today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAstrophysicists aren\u2019t in agreement when it comes to determining which type of galaxies played major roles in this epoch. Most have focused on large galaxies. However, a new theory by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the San Diego Supercomputer Center indicates scientists should also focus on the smallest.\u0026nbsp; The findings are reported in a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ras.org.uk\/news-and-press\/2482\u0022\u003Epaper published today\u003C\/a\u003E in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers used computer simulations to demonstrate the faintest and smallest galaxies in the early universe were essential. These tiny galaxies \u2013 despite being 1000 times smaller in mass and 30 times smaller in size than the Milky Way \u2013 contributed nearly 30 percent of the UV light during this process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReionization experts often ignored these dwarf galaxies because they didn\u2019t think they formed stars. It is assumed that UV light from nearby galaxies was too strong and suppressed these tiny neighbors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt turns out they did form stars, usually in one burst, around 500 million years after the Big Bang,\u201d said John Wise, a Georgia Tech assistant professor in the School of Physics who led the study. \u201cThe galaxies were small, but so plentiful that they contributed a significant fraction of UV light in the reionization process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u2019s simulations modeled the flow of UV stellar light through the gas within galaxies as they formed. They found that the fraction of ionizing photons escaping into intergalactic space was 50 percent in small (more than 10 million solar masses) halos. It was only 5 percent in larger halos (300 million solar masses). \u0026nbsp;This elevated fraction, combined with their high abundance, is exactly the reason why the faintest galaxies play an integral role during reionization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s very hard for UV light to escape galaxies because of the dense gas that fills them,\u201d said Wise. \u201cIn small galaxies, there\u2019s less gas between stars, making it easier for UV light to escape because it isn\u2019t absorbed as quickly. Plus, supernova explosions can open up channels more easily in these tiny galaxies in which UV light can escape.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u2019s simulation results provide a gradual timeline that tracks the progress of reionization over hundreds of millions of years. About 300 million years after the Big Bang, the universe was 20 percent ionized. It was 50 percent at 550 million years. The universe was fully ionized at 860 million years after its creation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat such small galaxies could contribute so much to reionization is a real surprise,\u201d said Michael Norman, distinguished professor of physics at UC San Diego and one of the co-authors of the paper. \u201cOnce again, the supercomputer is teaching us something new and unexpected; something that will need to be factored into future studies of reionization.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe term reionized is used because the universe was ionized immediately after the fiery Big Bang. During that time, ordinary matter consisted of hydrogen atoms with positively charged protons stripped of their negatively charged electrons. Eventually, the universe cooled enough for electrons and protons to combine and form neutral hydrogen. They didn\u2019t give off any optical or UV light. Without the light, astrophysicists aren\u2019t able to see traces of how the cosmos evolved during these Dark Ages using conventional telescopes. The light returned when reionization began, allowing experts like Wise to pinpoint the youngest galaxies and study their features.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team expects to learn more about these faint galaxies when the next generation of telescopes is operational. For example, NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2018, will be able to see them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (AST 1211626, AST 1333360 and AST 1109243). Any conclusions expressed are those of the principal investigator and may not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELight from tiny galaxies over 13 billion years ago played a larger role than previously thought in creating the conditions in the universe as we know it today, a new study has found\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The researchers used computer simulations to demonstrate the faintest and smallest galaxies in the early universe were essential."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-07-07 09:20:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:41","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"306971":{"id":"306971","type":"image","title":"Galaxy 1","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895015","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:15","alt":"Galaxy 1","file":{"fid":"199762","name":"galaxypr.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxypr_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxypr_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":742969,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/galaxypr_0.jpg?itok=4vux7ubf"}},"306991":{"id":"306991","type":"image","title":"Galaxy zoomed in","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895015","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:15","alt":"Galaxy zoomed in","file":{"fid":"199763","name":"galaxy_zoom.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxy_zoom_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxy_zoom_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":540110,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/galaxy_zoom_0.jpg?itok=Z6BOtjR0"}}},"media_ids":["306971","306991"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ras.org.uk\/news-and-press\/2482","title":"Published Paper"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"97321","name":"Big Bang"},{"id":"97331","name":"Galaxies"},{"id":"12044","name":"John Wise"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"25211","name":"universe"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"302691":{"#nid":"302691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Huntsville Works to Shorten Modeling and Simulation Testing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) researchers are working with a Huntsville, Ala., company and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to test high-altitude missiles without ever firing a shot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAEgis Technologies, specialists in modeling and simulation, contracted GTRI\u2019s Applied Systems Laboratory to collaborate with MDA on testing high-altitude air defense missiles. ASL is in its second phase of a multi-year project utilizing \u201chardware-in-the-loop\u201d testing to enable more accurate modeling and simulation for its customer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTesting a missile can be very expensive,\u201d said GTRI Senior Research Engineer and principal investigator Glenn Parker. \u201cAdditionally, because of the large number of control variables in a real exercise, it isn\u2019t technically feasible to get complete testing coverage. High-fidelity simulation addresses many of these concerns, but even with modern processors it can take days to compute the trajectory and heat signature of a complex ballistic target.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHardware-in-the-loop simulations use portions of the real missile hardware, such as the seeker, with any missing pieces made up by simulated components.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe use the missile\u2019s actual guidance system and manipulate simulated inputs to make the hardware think it is flying,\u201d Parker said. \u201cBy using real hardware in tests, confidence in the results is much higher than in fully simulated models. For non-reusable portions of the missile like the motor and warhead, the use of simulation models makes it possible to run thousands of test cycles without leaving the laboratory, and for less than the cost of one live test.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith current testing models, thermal signature databases must be computed offline prior to the test, and can take up to three days for a mere fifteen minutes of simulation time. Any alteration to the parameters\u2014altitude, weather, terrain, or even the position of the sun\u2014requires a total re-coding of the database. Testing a missile launch from Hawaii, for example, to intercept a target at a certain distance, altitude and speed takes a long time to calculate all of the missile hardware inputs that are used in the test.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat GTRI is working on, according to Parker, will enable the simulated components to be \u201clooped in\u201d for real-time calculation, eliminating the need for database computation ahead of time. Using off-the-shelf NVIDIA graphics cards, the group will work to provide the seeker with simulated thermally emissive ballistic targets heated by atmospheric effects in real time. The team will be using CUDA, NVIDIA\u2019s parallel computing architecture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to calculate and provide inputs at up to 200 Hz, which means simulated measurements are sent to the seeker unit 200 times each second,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThis will allow us to run dozens of tests in the amount of time we used to spend calculating data for a single run. Test parameters can be changed on the fly\u2014MDA will be able to run many more \u2018what if\u2019 scenarios before fielding a defense system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAEgis Technologies in Huntsville is the prime contractor of the project. They will operate the Army-owned, hardware-in-the-loop test bed and generate scenarios for use in simulations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI provides the expertise in real-time computing. Prior to this, AEgis had worked indirectly with GTRI\u2019s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL) on the same program, which supported ultraviolet sensor testing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe selected GTRI based on what I knew of EOSL\u2019s capabilities, and their expertise in GPU technology,\u201d said AEgis Program Manager Dennis Bunfield. \u201cGTRI\u2019s CUDA expertise is a great value, and their expertise in verification and validation is invaluable.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system will be scalable, and the plan is to take what they learn from this project and use it elsewhere in the defense industry. The thermal solver aspect of the project, for example, will be useful for any simulation requiring a real-time solution for thermal image simulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think with some enhancements to the code framework, the capabilities can be extended to generate signatures in other regions, such as UV, the visible spectrum and for LADAR,\u201d Bunfield said. \u201cAside from military applications, it could be possible to use the thermal solver to commercial and manufacturing applications, such as thermal analysis simulation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re working with AEgis Technologies to best model and simulate firing and the performance of these missiles by providing scenario inputs at the true hardware rate,\u201d Parker said. \u201cOur main goal\u2014writing a massively parallel NVIDIA CUDA thermal differential equation solver\u2014will enable faster and more effective testing of high-cost components at hardware-in-the-loop testing centers.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-407-7280) or John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Robert Nesmith\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) researchers are working with a Huntsville, Ala., company and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to test high-altitude missiles without ever firing a shot.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are working with a Huntsville company to test high-altitude missiles."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-06-11 15:23:47","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"302681":{"id":"302681","type":"image","title":"Modeling and Simulation Testing","body":null,"created":"1449244592","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:32","changed":"1475895007","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:07","alt":"Modeling and Simulation Testing","file":{"fid":"199590","name":"hwilcarco.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hwilcarco_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hwilcarco_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":731941,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hwilcarco_0.jpg?itok=kPh0mmYX"}}},"media_ids":["302681"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"1834","name":"missile"},{"id":"95151","name":"Missile Defense Agency"},{"id":"95141","name":"missile technology"},{"id":"579","name":"modeling and simulation"},{"id":"167045","name":"simulation"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"303411":{"#nid":"303411","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Solar photons drive water off the moon","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWater is thought to be embedded in the moon\u2019s rocks or, if cold enough, \u201cstuck\u201d on their surfaces. It\u2019s predominantly found at the poles. But scientists probably won\u2019t find it intact while sunlight is hitting the lunar surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENew research at the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates that ultraviolet photons emitted by the sun likely cause H\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003EO molecules to either quickly desorb or break apart. The fragments of water may remain on the lunar surface, but the presence of useful amounts of water on the sunward side is not likely.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOverall, the Moon will lose water efficiently when the solar photons are hitting it,\u201d said Thomas Orlando, the Georgia Tech professor who led the study. \u201cThe water also desorbs thermally.\u0026nbsp;When they photodesorb or thermally desorb, the velocities are too low for the water to escape so it will bounce around until it gets trapped in the permanently shadowed regions and the poles or break apart in transit.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team built an ultra-high vacuum system that simulates conditions in space, then performed the first-ever reported measurement of the water photodesorption cross section from an actual lunar sample. The machine zapped a small piece of the moon with ultraviolet (157 nm) photons to create excited states and watched what happened to the water molecules. They either came off with a cross section of ~ 6 x 10\u003Csup\u003E\u221219\u003C\/sup\u003E\u0026thinsp;cm\u003Csup\u003E2 \u003C\/sup\u003E\u0026nbsp;or broke apart with a cross section of \u0026nbsp;~ 5 \u0026nbsp;x 10\u003Csup\u003E\u221219\u003C\/sup\u003E\u0026thinsp;cm\u003Csup\u003E2.\u003C\/sup\u003E. According to the team\u2019s measurements, approximately one in every 1,000 molecules leave the lunar surface simply due to absorption of UV light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s cross section values can now be used by scientists attempting to find water throughout the solar system and beyond.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe cross section is an important number planetary scientists, astrochemists and the astrophysics community need for models regarding the fate of water on comets, moons, asteroids, other airless bodies and interstellar grains,\u201d said Orlando, professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe number is relatively large, which establishes that solar UV photons are likely removing water from the moon\u2019s surface. This research, which was carried out primarily by former Georgia Tech Ph.D. student Alice DeSimone, indicates the cross sections increase even more with decreasing water coverage. That\u2019s why it\u2019s not likely that water remains intact as H\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003EO on the sunny side of the moon. Orlando compares it to sitting outside on a summer day.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf a lot of sunlight is hitting me, the probability of me getting sunburned is pretty high,\u201d said Orlando, a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and School of Physics. \u201cIt\u2019s similar on the moon. There\u2019s a fixed solar flux of energetic photons that hit the sunlit surface, and there\u2019s a pretty good probability they remove water or damage the molecules.\u201c\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe result, according to Orlando, is the release of molecules such as H\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003EO, H\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E and OH as well as the atomic fragments H and O. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;The research is published in two companion articles in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. The first discusses the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/2013JE004599\/abstract\u0022\u003Ewater photodesorption\u003C\/a\u003E. The second paper details the photodissociation of water and the\u0026nbsp; O(\u003Csup\u003E3\u003C\/sup\u003EP\u003Csub\u003EJ\u003C\/sub\u003E) formation on a lunar impact melt breccia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOrlando is the associate director of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cstar.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Space Technology and Research \u003C\/a\u003E(C-STAR). C-STAR is an interdisciplinary research center that serves to organize, integrate and facilitate the impact of Georgia Tech\u0027s space science and space technology research activities. The center brings together a wide range of Georgia Tech faculty, active in space science and space technology research, and functions as the Institute\u2019s focal point for growth of the space industry in the state of Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by NASA under award number NNX11AP13G. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NASA. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research provides measurements for scientists searching for water in solar system"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research at the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates that ultraviolet photons emitted by the sun likely cause H\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003EO molecules to either quickly desorb or break apart. The fragments of water may remain on the lunar surface, but the presence of useful amounts of water on the sunward side is not likely.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study indicates that ultraviolet photons emitted by the sun likely cause water molecules on the moon to either quickly desorb or break apart."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-06-16 22:56:32","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:33","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"303401":{"id":"303401","type":"image","title":"Lunar sample in vacuum","body":null,"created":"1449244609","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:49","changed":"1475895007","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:07","alt":"Lunar sample in vacuum","file":{"fid":"199612","name":"14c10202-p28-012.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c10202-p28-012_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c10202-p28-012_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2285571,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/14c10202-p28-012_0.jpg?itok=dIQtWM5Y"}},"303391":{"id":"303391","type":"image","title":"Thomas Orlando","body":null,"created":"1449244609","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:49","changed":"1475894986","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:46","alt":"Thomas Orlando","file":{"fid":"199611","name":"14c10202-p28-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c10202-p28-003_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c10202-p28-003_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2641190,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/14c10202-p28-003_0.jpg?itok=x645cwGK"}},"303381":{"id":"303381","type":"image","title":"Lunar sample","body":null,"created":"1449244609","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:49","changed":"1475894986","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:46","alt":"Lunar sample","file":{"fid":"199610","name":"14c10202-p28-009.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c10202-p28-009_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c10202-p28-009_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2433848,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/14c10202-p28-009_0.jpg?itok=e44Xt1a3"}}},"media_ids":["303401","303391","303381"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Sciences"},{"url":"http:\/\/cstar.gatech.edu\/","title":"CSTAR Website"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"91821","name":"C-STAR"},{"id":"95531","name":"Lunar Sample"},{"id":"4191","name":"moon"},{"id":"95521","name":"Thomas Orlando"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"291461":{"#nid":"291461","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cosmic Slurp: Researchers Predict Signs of Black Holes Swallowing Stars","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESomewhere out in the cosmos an ordinary galaxy spins, seemingly at slumber. Then all of a sudden, WHAM! A flash of light explodes from the galaxy\u0027s center. A star orbiting too close to the event horizon of the galaxy\u0027s central supermassive black hole has been torn apart by the force of gravity, heating up its gas and sending out a beacon to the far reaches of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a universe with tens of billions of galaxies, how would we see it? What would such a beacon look like? And how would we distinguish it from other bright, monumental intergalactic events, such as supernovas?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Black holes by themselves do not emit light,\u0022 said Tamara Bogdanovic, an assistant professor of physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0022Our best chance to discover them in distant galaxies is if they interact with the stars and gas that are around them.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn recent decades, with improved telescopes and observational techniques designed to repeatedly survey the vast numbers of galaxies in the sky, scientists noticed that some galaxies that previously looked inactive would suddenly light up at their very center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This flare of light was found to have a characteristic behavior as a function of time. It starts very bright and its luminosity then decreases in time in a particular way,\u0022 she explained. \u0022Astronomers have identified those as galaxies where a central black hole just disrupted and \u0027ate\u0027 a star. It\u0027s like a black hole putting up a sign that says \u0027Here I am.\u0027\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing a mix of theoretical and computer-based approaches, Bogdanovic tries to predict the dynamics of events such as the black-hole-devouring-star scenario described above, also known as a \u0022tidal disruption.\u0022 Such events would have a distinct signature to someone analyzing data from a ground-based or space-based observatory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing National Science Foundation-funded supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (Stampede) and the National Institute for Computational Sciences (Kraken), Bogdanovic and her collaborators recently simulated the dynamics of these super powerful forces and charted their behavior using numerical models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETidal disruptions are relatively rare cosmic occurrences. Astrophysicists have calculated that a Milky Way-like galaxy stages the disruption of a star only once in about 10,000 years. The luminous flare of light, on the other hand, can fade away in only a few years. Because it is such a challenge to pinpoint tidal disruptions in the sky, astronomical surveys that monitor vast numbers of galaxies simultaneously are crucial.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHuge difference\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, only a few dozen of these characteristic flare signatures have been observed and deemed \u0022candidates\u0022 for tidal disruptions. But with data from PanSTARRS, Galex, the Palomar Transient Factory and other upcoming astronomical surveys becoming available to scientists, Bogdanovic believes this situation will change dramatically.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As opposed to a few dozen that have been found over the past 10 years, now imagine hundreds per year--that\u0027s a huge difference!\u0022 she said. \u0022It means that we will be able to build a varied sample of stars of different types being disrupted by supermassive black holes.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith hundreds of such events to explore, astrophysicists\u0027 understanding of black holes and the stars around them would advance by leaps and bounds, helping determine some key aspects of galactic physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A diversity in the type of disrupted stars tells us something about the makeup of the star clusters in the centers of galaxies,\u0022 Bodganovic said. \u0022It may give us an idea about how many main sequence stars, how many red giants, or white dwarf stars are there on average.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETidal disruptions also tell us something about the population and properties of supermassive black holes that are doing the disrupting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We use these observations as a window of opportunity to learn important things about the black holes and their host galaxies,\u0022 she continued. \u0022Once the tidal disruption flare dims below some threshold luminosity that can be seen in observations, the window closes for that particular galaxy.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERole of supercomputer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a recent paper submitted to the \u003Cem\u003EAstrophysical Journal\u003C\/em\u003E, Bogdanovic, working with Roseanne Cheng (Center for Relativistic Astrophysics at Georgia Tech) and Pau Amaro-Seoane (Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam, Germany), considered the tidal disruption of a red giant star by a supermassive black hole using computer modeling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe paper comes on the heels of the discovery of a tidal disruption event in which a black hole disrupted a helium-rich stellar core, thought to be a remnant of a red giant star, named PS1-10jh, 2.7 billion light years from Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe sequence of events they described aims to explain some unusual aspects of the observational signatures associated with this event, such as the absence of the hydrogen emission lines from the spectrum of PS1-10jh.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a follow-up to this theoretical study, the team has been running simulations on Kraken and Stampede, as well as the Georgia Tech\u0027s high performance computing clusters. The simulations reconstruct the chain of events by which a stellar core, similar to the remnant of a tidally disrupted red giant star, might evolve under the gravitational tides of a massive black hole.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Calculating the messy interplay between hydrodynamics and gravity is feasible on a human timescale only with a supercomputer,\u0022 Cheng said. \u0022Because we have control over this virtual experiment and can repeat it, fast forward, or rewind as needed, we can examine the tidal disruption process from many perspectives. This in turn allows us to determine and quantify the most important physical processes at play.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research shows how supercomputer simulations complement and constrain theory and observation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There are many situations in astrophysics where we cannot get insight into a sequence of events that played out without simulations. We cannot stand next to the black hole and look at how it accretes gas. So we use simulations to learn about these distant and extreme environments,\u0022 Bogdanovic said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of Bogdanovic\u0027s goals is to use the knowledge gained from simulations to decode the signatures of observed tidal disruption events.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The most recent data on tidal disruption events is already outpacing theoretical understanding and calling for the development of a new generation of models,\u0022 she explained. \u0022The new, better quality data indicates that there is a great diversity among the tidal disruption candidates. This is contrary to our perception, based on earlier epochs of observation, that they are a relatively uniform class of events. We have yet to understand what causes these differences in observational appearance, and computer simulations are guaranteed to be an important part of this journey.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E-- Written by Aaron Dubrow of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESomewhere out in the cosmos an ordinary galaxy spins, seemingly at slumber. Then all of a sudden, WHAM! A flash of light explodes from the galaxy\u0027s center. A star orbiting too close to the event horizon of the galaxy\u0027s central supermassive black hole has been torn apart by the force of gravity, heating up its gas and sending out a beacon to the far reaches of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using theoretical and computer-based approaches, researchers are trying to predict the dynamics of how black holes devour stars."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-04-17 10:39:05","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"291411":{"id":"291411","type":"image","title":"Star Falling into a Black Hole","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"Star Falling into a Black Hole","file":{"fid":"199245","name":"ps1_lg.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ps1_lg_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ps1_lg_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":137513,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ps1_lg_0.jpg?itok=sK6PavJ4"}},"291421":{"id":"291421","type":"image","title":"White Dwarf Star","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"White Dwarf Star","file":{"fid":"199246","name":"white-dwarf.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/white-dwarf_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/white-dwarf_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1031045,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/white-dwarf_0.jpg?itok=UsrsQAt1"}},"291441":{"id":"291441","type":"image","title":"Bogdanovic Research Group","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"Bogdanovic Research Group","file":{"fid":"199247","name":"bogdanovic_group.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bogdanovic_group_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bogdanovic_group_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":342131,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bogdanovic_group_0.jpg?itok=ePleFJ9P"}},"291451":{"id":"291451","type":"image","title":"Tamara Bogdanovic","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"Tamara Bogdanovic","file":{"fid":"199248","name":"tamarabogdanovic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tamarabogdanovic_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tamarabogdanovic_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":154951,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tamarabogdanovic_0.jpg?itok=yDSeBXo8"}}},"media_ids":["291411","291421","291441","291451"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4188","name":"astronomy"},{"id":"60491","name":"Black hole"},{"id":"91741","name":"Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"166909","name":"STAR"},{"id":"91731","name":"Tamara Bogdanovic"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"291641":{"#nid":"291641","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Faculty Members Selected for Summer Program at JPL","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Tech faculty members will spend part of their summer working alongside researchers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, collaborating on projects that include icy moon science and deep-space systems. This is the first summer program since Georgia Tech was recognized by JPL as one of its strategic university research partners. The Institute\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cstar.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Space Technology and Research\u003C\/a\u003E (C-STAR) selected the participants and is sponsoring the program to build collaborative research opportunities between JPL and Georgia Tech personnel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese competitively awarded research grants build on the strengths of both JPL and Georgia Tech,\u201d said Georgia Tech Professor and C-STAR Director Robert Braun. \u201cThey are designed to foster future research collaborations between these two institutions, and are well aligned with our nation\u2019s future needs in space science and space technology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe four faculty members and their projects are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrian Gunter (Assistant Professor, Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering) \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUtilizing nano-satellite technology for improved monitoring of Earth\u2019s time-variable gravity\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDavid Spencer (Professor of the Practice, Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeveloping Mars technology demonstration missions in lower Earth orbit and deep space micro-spacecraft\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPanagiotis Tsiotras (Professor, Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering) \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAutonomous energy-projecting systems for robotic exploration of extreme environments\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJames Wray (Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003EIcy satellite surface compositions from infrared spectroscopy\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach faculty member will partner with relevant JPL researchers during the summer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The C-STAR summer faculty program provides an excellent opportunity to connect leading Georgia Tech faculty with researchers at JPL,\u201d said JPL Chief Scientist Daniel McCleese. \u201cThe exciting projects chosen this year will open up new collaborations, and enhance both JPL and Georgia Tech\u0027s space science efforts.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJPL will also fund a summer experience for Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering graduate student Peter Ngo to study low-cost, higher-risk flight projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EC-STAR is an interdisciplinary research center that serves to organize, integrate and facilitate the impact of Georgia Tech\u0027s space science and space technology research activities. C-STAR brings together a wide range of Georgia Tech faculty, active in space science and space technology research, and functions as the Georgia Tech focal point for growth of the space industry in the state of Georgia. Braun serves as the director. \u0026nbsp;Professor Thomas Orlando is the associate director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2012, Georgia Tech and JPL, a division of Caltech, formally entered into a strategic partnership designed to promote and encourage collaboration between the institutions, with a focus on research collaborations and personnel exchanges in science and engineering fields of mutual interest. C-STAR serves as the Georgia Tech focal point for this newly established partnership with JPL.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWritten by Meghan Feeney, Institute Communications Student Assistant\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Tech faculty members will spend part of their summer working alongside researchers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, collaborating on projects that include icy moon science and deep-space systems.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Four faculty members are chosen to work with JPL researchers this summer."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-04-17 14:18:44","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:15","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/cstar.gatech.edu\/","title":"CSTAR Website"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/hg\/item\/150451","title":"Georgia Tech-JPL Partnership"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"91821","name":"C-STAR"},{"id":"6316","name":"JPL"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"258651":{"#nid":"258651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Search for More Life in the Solar System","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a finding of relevance to the search for life in our solar system, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin\u2019s Institute for Geophysics and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research have shown that the subsurface ocean on Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa may have deep currents and circulation patterns with heat and energy transfers capable of sustaining biological life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists believe Europa is one of the planetary bodies in our solar system most likely to have conditions that could sustain life, an idea reinforced by magnetometer readings from the Galileo spacecraft detecting signs of a salty, global ocean below the moon\u2019s icy shell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWithout direct measurements of the ocean, scientists have to rely on magnetometer data and observations of the moon\u2019s icy surface to account for oceanic conditions below the ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERegions of disrupted ice on the surface, known as chaos terrains, are one of Europa\u2019s most prominent features. As lead author Krista Soderlund and colleagues explain in this week\u2019s online edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Geosciences\u003C\/em\u003E, the chaos terrains, which are concentrated in Europa\u2019s equatorial region, could result from convection in Europa\u0027s ice shell, accelerated by heat from the ocean. The heat transfer and possible marine ice formation may be helping form diapirs, or warm compositionally buoyant plumes of ice that rise through the shell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a numerical model of Europa\u2019s ocean circulation, the researchers found that warm rising ocean currents near the equator and subsiding currents in latitudes closer to the poles could account for the location of chaos terrains and other features of Europa\u2019s surface. Such a pattern coupled with regionally more vigorous turbulence intensifies heat transfer near the equator, which could help initiate upwelling ice pulses that create features such as the chaos terrains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe processes we are modeling on Europa remind us of processes on Earth,\u201d says Soderlund. A similar process has been observed in the patterns creating marine ice in parts of Antarctica.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe current patterns modeled for Europa contrast with the patterns observed on Jupiter and Saturn, where bands of storms form because of the way their atmospheres rotate. The physics of Europa\u2019s ocean appear to have more in common with the oceans of the \u201cice giants\u201d Uranus and Neptune, which show signs of three-dimensional convection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis tells us foundational aspects of ocean physics,\u201d notes co-author Britney Schmidt, assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. More importantly, adds Schmidt, if the study\u2019s hypothesis is correct, it shows that Europa\u2019s oceans are very important as a controlling influence on the surface ice shell, offering proof of the concept that ice-ocean interactions are important to Europa.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat means more evidence that the ocean is there, that it\u2019s active, and there are interesting interactions between the ocean and ice shell,\u201d says Schmidt, \u201call of which makes us think about the possibility of life on Europa.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESoderlund, who has studied icy satellites throughout her science career, looks forward to the chance to test her hypothesis through future missions to the Jovian system. The European Space Agency\u2019s JUICE mission (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) will give a tantalizing glimpse into the characteristics of the ocean and ice shell through two flyby observations. NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper mission concept, under study, would complement the view with global measurements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESoderlund says she appreciates the chance \u201cto make a prediction about Europa\u2019s subsurface currents that we might know the answer to in our lifetimes \u2014 that\u2019s pretty exciting.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch funding was provided by the Institute for Geophysics, part of the University of Texas at Austin\u2019s Jackson School of Geosciences.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWritten by J.B. Bird, Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin\u003C\/em\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Model suggests ocean currents shape Europa\u0027s icy shell in ways critical for potential habitats"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study shows that the subsurface of Jupiter\u0027s moon Europa may have deep currents and energy transfers capable of sustaining life."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2013-12-04 12:32:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:29","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"258371":{"id":"258371","type":"image","title":"Britney Schmidt","body":null,"created":"1449243972","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:12","changed":"1475894938","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:58","alt":"Britney Schmidt","file":{"fid":"198281","name":"img_2752_britney_schmidt.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_2752_britney_schmidt_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_2752_britney_schmidt_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3575732,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_2752_britney_schmidt_0.jpg?itok=vCyI3m3q"}},"258381":{"id":"258381","type":"image","title":"Europa","body":null,"created":"1449243972","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:12","changed":"1475894938","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:58","alt":"Europa","file":{"fid":"198282","name":"europa.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6943,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/europa_0.jpeg?itok=bBpKnjfG"}},"258391":{"id":"258391","type":"image","title":"Europa Surface","body":null,"created":"1449243972","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:12","changed":"1475894938","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:58","alt":"Europa Surface","file":{"fid":"198283","name":"europa_lines.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_lines_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_lines_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":81921,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/europa_lines_0.jpeg?itok=-_013iEG"}}},"media_ids":["258371","258381","258391"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/people\/Britney_Schmidt","title":"Britney Schmidt"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"81291","name":"Britney Schmidt"},{"id":"81281","name":"Europa"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"254471":{"#nid":"254471","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Carbon Nanotube Field Electron Emitters Will Get Space Testing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA pair of carbon nanotube arrays will be flying in space by the end of the year to test technology that could provide more efficient micro-propulsion for future generations of spacecraft. Part of a Cube Satellite (CubeSat) developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), the arrays will support what is expected to be the first-ever space-based testing of carbon nanotubes as electron emitters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) produced the arrays using unique technology that grows bundles of vertically-aligned nanotubes embedded in silicon chips. In future versions of electrically-powered ion thrusters, electrons emitted from the carbon nanotube tips may be used to ionize a gaseous propellant such as xenon. The ionized gas would then be ejected through a nozzle to provide thrust for moving a satellite in space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe mission will characterize how well these field emission electron sources operate in the space environment relative to how well they work on the ground in vacuum chamber,\u201d said Jud Ready, a GTRI principal research engineer. \u201cLaunch vibrations and exposure to a space environment that includes atomic oxygen and micrometeorites could have some unusual effects on the arrays. This mission will help us evaluate whether these carbon nanotube electron emitters could be used in ion thrusters.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExisting ion thrusters rely on thermionic cathodes, which use high temperatures generated by electrical current to produce electrons. These devices require significant amounts of electricity to generate the heat, and must consume a portion of the propellant for their operation. \u003Cbr \/\u003EIf the carbon nanotube arrays can be used as electron emitters, they would operate at lower temperatures with less power \u2013 and without using the limited on-board propellant. That could allow longer mission times for satellites, or reduce the weight of the micro-propulsion systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe carbon nanotube arrays are part of ALICE, a CubeSat micro-satellite developed and built by the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. On a mission scheduled for Dec. 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, ALICE will ride into space on an Atlas V rocket being used to launch a separate and much larger payload. Just 10 by 10 by 30 centimeters in size, ALICE will be part of an array of eight CubeSats \u2013 so named because they fit into small modular launchers attached to the main satellite.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work could lead to improved micro-propulsion systems useful to small spacecraft, said Jonathan Black, director of the Center for Space Research and Assurance at AFIT.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTechnology like the devices being tested on ALICE is essential to our future ability to maneuver micro satellites or change their orbits,\u201d he explained. \u201cBeing able to incorporate propulsion into microsatellites like CubeSats increases mission longevity and the types of missions they can perform. Successful demonstrations of advanced technologies like those being flown on ALICE will ultimately lead to smaller, lighter and more energy-efficient propulsion, resulting in decreased launch costs while increasing the performance of all satellites using electric propulsion.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUtilizing a multi-departmental team, AFIT engineers in the Electrical Engineering Department developed a payload to directly expose the carbon nanotube arrays to the space environment while protecting an identical control array within the satellite. The arrays, which are approximately one centimeter square, will be switched on and off and their behavior studied. The payload experiment utilizes a sensor device known as the Integrated Miniaturized Electromagnetic Analyzer (iMESA), designed by engineers at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA). The data collected from the satellite will be downloaded and processed at AFIT by students and technicians in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe carbon nanotube arrays are excellent conductors and their geometry makes them ideal electron emitters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe use carbon nanotubes because they have a high aspect ratio and provide a nanoscale point that emits the electrons,\u201d said Graham Sanborn, who worked on the project as part of his Ph.D. thesis in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Materials Science and Engineering. \u201cThe electric field focuses on the tip so we are able to get electron emission at lower voltages than might be required for other materials.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI uses a series of deposition and etching steps to fabricate the arrays in clean rooms at Georgia Tech. Each one-centimeter square array contains as many as 50,000 nanotube bundles, and each bundle is grown from a five-micron pit etched into the silicon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe design has specific geometry to prevent electrical shorting between electrodes that are very close together,\u201d explained Sanborn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpacecraft are launched using chemical rockets that provide large amounts of thrust. Once in orbit, however, the vehicles can use electrically-powered thrusters to change orbits or make other maneuvers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIon thrusters provide very low amounts of thrust,\u201d Sanborn said. \u201cThey are just pushing out gas molecules, but they operate very efficiently. Ion thrusters can operate for thousands of hours at a time. Cumulatively, you can achieve a significant velocity change.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ALICE acronym is composed of several other acronyms. The \u201cA\u201d represents AFIT, while the \u201cL\u201d is for LEO \u2013 the low Earth orbit where the satellite will operate. The \u201cI\u201d represents the iMESA system; the \u201cC\u201d is for the carbon nanotubes, while the \u201cE\u201d represents \u201cExperiment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe satellite, the first for AFIT, was designed, tested and integrated by a multi-departmental team of professors, students and technicians. The partnership with GTRI and USAFA provided students in each institution an opportunity to participate in ground-breaking research with the potential to impact numerous future satellites employing electric propulsion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther potential applications for Georgia Tech\u2019s CNT-based electron emitters include displays, electrodynamic tethers, vacuum electronics and traveling wave tubes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Lance Wallace (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA pair of carbon nanotube arrays will be flying in space by the end of the year to test technology that could provide more efficient micro-propulsion for future spacecraft. The arrays will support what is expected to be the first-ever space-based testing of carbon nanotubes as electron emitters.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A pair of carbon nanotube arrays will be flying in space by the end of the year to test technology that could provide more efficient micro-propulsion for future spacecraft."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-11-13 22:04:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:22","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"254421":{"id":"254421","type":"image","title":"Growing Carbon Nanotubes for Space","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894934","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:54","alt":"Growing Carbon Nanotubes for Space","file":{"fid":"198176","name":"cnt-in-space2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnt-in-space2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnt-in-space2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1644319,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cnt-in-space2_0.jpg?itok=4JKcJpIG"}},"254431":{"id":"254431","type":"image","title":"Growing Carbon Nanotubes for Space2","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894934","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:54","alt":"Growing Carbon Nanotubes for Space2","file":{"fid":"198177","name":"cnt-in-space3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnt-in-space3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnt-in-space3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1014444,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cnt-in-space3_0.jpg?itok=4zu5kcli"}},"254441":{"id":"254441","type":"image","title":"ALICE CubeSat","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894934","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:54","alt":"ALICE CubeSat","file":{"fid":"198178","name":"alice_cubesat.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alice_cubesat_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alice_cubesat_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":173415,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/alice_cubesat_0.jpg?itok=QIaLvqzP"}},"254451":{"id":"254451","type":"image","title":"ALICE CubeSat Payload","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894934","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:54","alt":"ALICE CubeSat Payload","file":{"fid":"198179","name":"alice_payload.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alice_payload_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alice_payload_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":179321,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/alice_payload_0.jpg?itok=WxEE9ikR"}},"254461":{"id":"254461","type":"image","title":"ALICE CubeSat Emitter","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894934","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:54","alt":"ALICE CubeSat Emitter","file":{"fid":"198180","name":"cnts-for-alice.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnts-for-alice_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cnts-for-alice_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":166414,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cnts-for-alice_0.jpg?itok=DlSy7IDb"}}},"media_ids":["254421","254431","254441","254451","254461"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5209","name":"carbon nanotubes"},{"id":"80051","name":"electron emitter"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"80031","name":"micro-propulsion"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"171312","name":"spacecraft"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"231301":{"#nid":"231301","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Team Supports Open Architecture Software Standards for Military Avionics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are helping the U.S. military make key changes in how aircraft electronic systems, called avionics, are produced. The effort focuses on modifying the design of avionics software, especially the ways in which it interfaces with an aircraft\u0027s hardware and other software.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work is part of the U.S. Navy\u0027s Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE\u2122) project. The Navy\u2019s FACE team is working with the FACE consortium, a government, industry and academia consortium managed by The Open Group\u00ae, to develop a new technical standard that governs how avionics software communicates with other avionics software and hardware components \u2013 to control aircraft sensors, effectors and other mission critical systems to deliver warfighting capability.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s support of the FACE project is funded by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Air Combat Electronics Program Office (PMA-209) and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). Georgia Tech\u0027s work principally involves validating and maturing the FACE Technical Standard by producing reference software built according to the new FACE standards.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The FACE standard lets us streamline software production and software upgrades, which are vital for keeping U.S. pilots safe and delivering our military capabilities,\u0022 said Douglas Woods, a research scientist leading the work at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI), Georgia Tech\u2019s applied research arm. \u0022In tackling this important work, we created a one-Georgia Tech team, uniting expertise from both GTRI and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBasically, the FACE standard dictates how everything should fit together,\u201d Woods said. \u201cThe FACE Technical Standard lets developers connect software and hardware in a uniform way, so that one software application can work with a variety of different hardware.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe digital control portion of an avionics system is similar in some ways to the familiar personal computer, explained Woods, who is working on the FACE project with professor George Riley of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. That\u0027s because both computers and avionics use application software that runs on processing hardware; the application software communicates with the hardware via intermediary software known as an operating system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnlike a PC, however, the application software and operating system of an avionics system are very compact and robust for safety, security and performance reasons.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor decades, these embedded applications have been uniquely designed to work with the specific operating system and hardware components contained in a given avionics system. Thus, the application software embedded in an avionics device worked with that device only, requiring significant rework or redundant development when similar capability is needed on new hardware or different hardware from another source.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis specialized software has also resulted in software modification having to be performed by the company or companies that created the software\/hardware combination in the first place, reducing the opportunity for future competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0027s where the FACE concept comes in. The FACE architecture specifies that designers use application programming interfaces (APIs) that are essentially a standardized software layer that translates between the application on one level and the other software applications, the operating system and hardware at other levels. The result is that designers can readily modify application software, integrate it back into the system, and expect it to work.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As long as you adhere to the standard software interfaces specified in the FACE Technical Standard, then changing the embedded application software to add capability to the system becomes straightforward,\u0022 Woods said. \u0022Any competent software engineer should be able to write an application that can talk to those interfaces, and that makes it possible to add in new capabilities quickly and easily.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech expects to be involved in tests that will demonstrate to the Navy the portability of capabilities using the FACE Technical Standard, he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FACE Technical Standard takes advantage of the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), a group of open software standards aimed at making applications compatible with various operating systems. POSIX uses a uniform application programming interface (API), command line shells and utility interfaces that promote software compatibility among Unix, Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has been working with the Navy FACE team for more than two years on the development of software code that provides an interface built to the FACE standard. Vanderbilt University, which is also involved in the effort, is creating a software developers\u0027 toolkit and conformance tools to be used with the FACE Technical Standard.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our Georgia Tech\/GTRI team has been successful in producing a FACE infrastructure prototype that is POSIX conformant and adheres fully to the standards developed by the FACE consortium,\u0022 Riley said. \u0022From a technical standpoint, this software can do the job that was assigned, which is to allow applications that conform to the FACE APIs to be interchangeable.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA contract that requires use of the FACE Technical Standard, Edition 1.0, in the Navy\u0027s C-130T aircraft has already been awarded, Woods said. The FACE Technical Standard, Edition 2.0, was recently released, and the FACE consortium is currently developing Edition 3.0 of the standard.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Navy\u0027s FACE team has been recognized with several awards, including two Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Commander\u2019s Awards, a NAWCAD Innovation Award, and the Defense Standardization Program Achievement Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The FACE initiative represents a major step forward in rapidly integrating new capabilities for a variety of airborne defense systems,\u0022 said Capt. Tracy Barkhimer, program manager for PMA-209. \u0022The FACE initiative has benefited greatly from NAVAIR\u0027s partnership with Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. They have brought a wealth of knowledge and experience that has been vital to the validation and rapid maturation of the FACE Technical Standard.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-407-7280) or John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-894-6986).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are helping the U.S. military make key changes in how aircraft electronic systems, called avionics, are produced. The effort focuses on modifying the design of avionics software, especially the ways in which it interfaces with an aircraft\u0027s hardware and other software.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are helping the U.S. military change the way aircraft avionics are produced."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-08-22 20:43:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:46","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"231281":{"id":"231281","type":"image","title":"Open Source Software for Avionics","body":null,"created":"1449243602","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:40:02","changed":"1475894903","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:23","alt":"Open Source Software for Avionics","file":{"fid":"197549","name":"face1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/face1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/face1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1459600,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/face1_0.jpg?itok=Q7mzhIQr"}},"231291":{"id":"231291","type":"image","title":"Open Source Software for Avionics2","body":null,"created":"1449243602","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:40:02","changed":"1475894903","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:23","alt":"Open Source Software for Avionics2","file":{"fid":"197550","name":"face2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/face2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/face2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1535664,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/face2_0.jpg?itok=O8VsdcT9"}}},"media_ids":["231281","231291"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"72211","name":"avionics"},{"id":"72241","name":"Douglas Woods"},{"id":"72221","name":"FACE"},{"id":"5430","name":"George Riley"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"72231","name":"military electronics"},{"id":"5155","name":"open source"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"167449","name":"software"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"184241":{"#nid":"184241","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Aerial Platform Supports Development of Lightweight Sensors for UAVs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) is developing an airborne testing capability for sensors, communications devices and other airborne payloads. This aerial test bed, called the GTRI Airborne Unmanned Sensor System (GAUSS), is based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by Griffon Aerospace and modified by GTRI.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Developing new sensor technologies that can be effectively employed from the air is a priority today given the rapidly increasing use of unmanned aircraft,\u0022 said Michael Brinkmann, a GTRI principal research engineer who is leading the work. \u0022Given suitable technology, small UAVs can perform complex, low-altitude missions effectively and at lower cost. The GAUSS system gives GTRI and its customers the ability to develop and test new airborne payloads in a rapid, cost effective way.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe current project includes development, installation and testing of a sensor suite relevant to many of GTRI\u2019s customers. This suite consists of a camera package, a signals intelligence package for detecting and locating ground-based emitters, and a multi-channel ground-mapping radar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe radar is being designed using phased-array antenna technology that enables electronic scanning. This approach is more flexible and agile than traditional mechanically steered antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe combined sensor package is lightweight enough to be carried by the GAUSS UAV, which is a variant of the Griffon Outlaw ER aircraft and has a 13.6-foot wingspan and a payload capacity of approximately 40 pounds. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe aircraft navigates using a high precision global positioning system (GPS) combined with an inertial navigation system. These help guide the UAV, which can be programmed for autonomous flight or piloted manually from the ground. The airborne mission package also includes multi-terabyte onboard data recording and a stabilized gimbal that isolates the camera from aircraft movement.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHeavier sensor designs have several disadvantages, observed Mike Heiges, a principal research engineer who leads the GTRI team that is responsible for flying and maintaining the UAV platform. Larger sensors require larger unmanned aircraft to carry them, and those aircraft use bigger engines and must fly higher to avoid detection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Rather than have your design spiral upwards until you\u0027re using very large and expensive aircraft, smaller sensors allow the use of smaller aircraft,\u0022 Heiges said.\u0026nbsp; \u0022A smaller UAV saves money and is logistically easier to support. But most important, it can gather information closer to the tactical level on the ground, where it\u0027s arguably most valuable.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI team has developed a modular design that allows the GAUSS platform to be reconfigured for a number of sensor types. Among the possibilities for evaluation are devices that utilize light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology and chemical-biological sensing technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The overall concept for the GAUSS program is that the airplane itself will be simply a conveyance, and we can mount on it whatever sensor\/communication package is required,\u0022 said Brinkmann.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe radar package that GTRI is currently installing and testing is complex, he explained.\u0026nbsp; In addition to phased-array scanning capability, the radar operates in the X-band, is capable of five acquisition modes and can be programmed to transmit arbitrary waveforms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This radar is a very flexible system that will be able to do ground mapping, as well as detecting and tracking objects moving around on the ground,\u0022 Brinkmann said. \u0022These multiple sensing capabilities offer many possibilities for defense operations, along with search-and-rescue and disaster-recovery operations.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPossible applications include using the signals intelligence package to locate people buried in rubble by searching for cell phone signals, he said. In another scenario, a group of self-guided UAVs could be used to create an ad hoc cell phone network. That application could be potentially valuable in a post-disaster scenario where existing cell phone towers have been disabled, as happened after Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake and other events.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The GAUSS platform is extremely helpful for proof-of-principle development and testing new concepts for airborne sensors,\u0022 Brinkmann said. \u0022It gives GTRI a convenient and flexible base from which to pursue significant research in a variety of disciplines.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Lance Wallace (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing an airborne testing capability for sensors, communications devices and other airborne payloads. This aerial test bed, called the GTRI Airborne Unmanned Sensor System (GAUSS), is based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by Griffon Aerospace and modified by GTRI.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A modified unmanned aerial vehicle will help GTRI researchers test airborne instrumentation."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-01-16 11:05:29","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-01-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-01-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"184191":{"id":"184191","type":"image","title":"Flying Test Bed","body":null,"created":"1449179062","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:44:22","changed":"1475894830","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:10","alt":"Flying Test Bed","file":{"fid":"196098","name":"gauss2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gauss2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gauss2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1179326,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gauss2_0.jpg?itok=MuKIBKwK"}},"184201":{"id":"184201","type":"image","title":"Flying Test Bed2","body":null,"created":"1449179062","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:44:22","changed":"1475894830","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:10","alt":"Flying Test Bed2","file":{"fid":"196099","name":"gauss3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gauss3_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gauss3_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1527467,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gauss3_1.jpg?itok=bx0aYUkd"}}},"media_ids":["184191","184201"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"55361","name":"airborne testing"},{"id":"415","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"167066","name":"sensors"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"3249","name":"unmanned aerial vehicle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"177121":{"#nid":"177121","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Contribute to Instrument for Remotely Measuring Hurricane Intensity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA device designed by engineers at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) is part of the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD), an experimental airborne system developed by the Earth Science Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKnown as an analog beam-former, the GTRI device is part of the radiometer, which is being tested by NASA on a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle. The radiometer measures microwave radiation emitted by the sea foam that is produced when high winds blow across ocean waves. By measuring the electromagnetic radiation, scientists can remotely assess surface wind speeds at multiple locations within the hurricanes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHIRAD could provide detailed information about the wind speeds and rain intensity inside hurricanes without the need to fly manned aircraft through the storms. In addition to the beam-former design, GTRI researchers also provided assistance to NASA with improvements aimed at a potential future, more advanced version of the radiometer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cImproved knowledge of the wind speed field will enable the National Hurricane Center to better characterize the storm\u2019s intensity,\u201d explained Timothy Miller, Research and Analysis Team Lead for the Earth Science Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. \u201cBetter forecasts of storm intensity and structure will enable better warnings of such important factors as wind strength and storm surge. That would allow businesses and residents to prepare with more confidence in their knowledge of what is coming.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHIRAD was flown above two hurricanes in 2010 and a Pacific frontal system in 2012. Data it gathered on wind and rain will be provided to the scientific community for use in numerical modeling, and could also guide development of a next-generation system that would provide information on wind direction in addition to measuring wind speed and rain intensity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have verified the instrument concept in terms of sensitivity to wind speed and rain rate,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe have also learned a lot about the factors that need to be considered in developing calibrated images from the flight data. That work is still ongoing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers supported development of the radiometer with design of the beam-formers, which are part of the radiometer\u2019s array antenna. The array antenna gathers microwave signals from the ocean and the GTRI-designed devices \u2013 several of which are required \u2013 form \u201cfan\u201d beams of electromagnetic energy across the ground path of the aircraft\u2019s travel. The resulting signals are then fed into sensitive receivers developed by researchers at the University of Michigan and ProSensing, Inc., a Massachusetts company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are different ways to build antennas to solve this problem, but array antennas provide multi-channel capability and greater sensitivity,\u201d said Glenn Hopkins, a research engineer who headed up the GTRI design work. \u201cBecause this system is passive \u2013 it doesn\u2019t send out radiation \u2013 we need to have maximum sensitivity and a focus on minimizing noise in the system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe HIRAD system, also known technically as a microwave synthetic aperture radiometer, is designed to operate in the microwave spectrum, from about 4 gigahertz to 7 gigahertz. Discrete parts of that range are used to enable discrimination between ocean surface emission and that from the rain located between the instrument and the surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOn the aircraft, the instrument would be flying a track over the storm, with a multitude of simultaneous beams,\u201d explained Hopkins. \u201cWe would be pixelating the surface and could determine what radiation is coming from each area to generate a map of the intensity of the wind speeds as we fly over the storm.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond supporting the radiometer\u2019s need for high sensitivity and low noise, the component also had to be as small and light as possible to be part of the Global Hawk payload. The GTRI design was manufactured by an outside company, and integrated directly onto the back of the instrument\u2019s antenna. The circuitry is just 20 one-thousandths of an inch thick, printed on flexible circuit materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis project is an example of the kinds of work we have been doing for the Department of Defense, and we\u2019re pleased that this technology can be transitioned to assist with weather prediction and research,\u201d Hopkins said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of a small business innovation research (SBIR) project with Spectral Research, Inc., GTRI researchers also participated in an effort to increase the capability of the HIRAD array by designing a dual polarized array to replace the single polarized array that is part of the existing test system. The dual polarized array operates at the same 4 to 7 gigahertz range as the single polarized array, but provides both polarization channels in the same area.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe dual polarized design exploited fragmented antenna technology developed at GTRI to support this broad range of frequencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne key challenge in the array study was to use the same footprint as the single polarization array,\u201d said Jim Maloney, a GTRI principal research engineer. \u201cPrototype dual polarization arrays were built and measured to confirm the ability of GTRI\u2019s fragmented antenna technology to meet the bandwidth and form factor requirements.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Global Hawk can fly at altitudes of more than 60,000 feet, and can stay in the air for as long as 31 hours, allowing it to remain in the hurricane area as much as four times longer than piloted aircraft now used for monitoring hurricanes. It provides data that is more detailed than what satellites could provide.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA UAV is able to stay over the storm for much longer,\u201d Miller noted. \u201cCompared to a satellite, the UAV observations are of much higher spatial resolution, and depending on the satellite\u2019s orbit, generally of a much longer time period. A satellite instrument would be able to observe storms continually, over a much larger area, but would provide much coarser spatial resolution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDevelopment of HIRAD was supported by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The project involved partnerships among NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, NOAA\u2019s Unmanned Aerial Systems Program, the University of Michigan, the University of Central Florida and NOAA\u2019s Hurricane Research Division.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Lance Wallace (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA device designed by engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is part of the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD), an experimental airborne system developed by the Earth Science Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A device designed at Georgia Tech is part of the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer being tested by NASA."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-12-12 14:54:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:22","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"177101":{"id":"177101","type":"image","title":"Hurricane Radiometer14","body":null,"created":"1449179031","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:51","changed":"1475894822","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:02","alt":"Hurricane Radiometer14","file":{"fid":"195906","name":"hurricane-radiometer14.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hurricane-radiometer14_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hurricane-radiometer14_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1886241,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hurricane-radiometer14_1.jpg?itok=g5ReeQ_J"}},"177081":{"id":"177081","type":"image","title":"Hurricane Radiometer2","body":null,"created":"1449179031","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:51","changed":"1475894822","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:02","alt":"Hurricane Radiometer2","file":{"fid":"195904","name":"hurricane-radiometer-av1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hurricane-radiometer-av1_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hurricane-radiometer-av1_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":449928,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hurricane-radiometer-av1_1.jpg?itok=veLSnsaP"}},"177071":{"id":"177071","type":"image","title":"Hurricane Radiometer","body":null,"created":"1449179031","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:51","changed":"1475894822","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:02","alt":"Hurricane Radiometer","file":{"fid":"195903","name":"hurricane-radiometer-global-hawk.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hurricane-radiometer-global-hawk_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hurricane-radiometer-global-hawk_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":265914,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hurricane-radiometer-global-hawk_0.jpg?itok=9c_EVsRr"}}},"media_ids":["177101","177081","177071"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"52981","name":"beam-former"},{"id":"52991","name":"Global Hawk"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"1860","name":"hurricane"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"52961","name":"radiometer"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"131491":{"#nid":"131491","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Novel Casting Process Could Transform How Complex Metal Parts Are Made","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech research team has developed a novel technology that could change how industry designs and casts complex, costly metal parts. This new casting method makes possible faster prototype development times, as well as more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing procedures after a part moves to mass production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/das.shtml\u0022\u003ESuman Das\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, has developed an all-digital approach that allows a part to be made directly from its computer-aided design (CAD). The project, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has received $4.65 million in funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have developed a proof-of-concept system which is already turning out complex metal parts, and which fundamentally transforms the way that very high-value castings are made,\u201d said Das, who directs the Direct Digital Manufacturing Laboratory in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.marc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EManufacturing Research Center\u003C\/a\u003E (MaRC). \u201cWe\u0027re confident that our approach can lower costs by at least 25 percent and reduce the number of unusable waste parts by more than 90 percent, while eliminating 100 percent of the tooling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe approach being utilized by Das and his team focuses on a technique called investment casting, also known as lost-wax casting. In this process, which dates back thousands of years, molten metal is poured into an expendable ceramic mold to form a part.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe mold is made by creating a wax replica of the part to be cast, surrounding or \u0022investing\u0022 the replica with a ceramic slurry, and then drying the slurry and hardening it to form the mold. The wax is then melted out \u2013 or lost \u2013 to form a mold cavity into which metal can be poured and solidified to produce the casting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInvestment casting is used to create precision parts across diverse industries including aerospace,\u0026nbsp;energy, biomedical and electronics. Das\u2019s current efforts are focused on parts used in aircraft engines. He is working with turbine-engine airfoils \u2013 complex parts used in jet engines \u2013 in collaboration with the University of Michigan and PCC Airfoils.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, Das explained, most precision metal castings are designed on computers, using computer-aided design software. But the next step \u2013 creating the ceramic mold with which the part is cast \u2013 currently involves a sequence of six major operations requiring expensive precision-machined dies and hundreds of tooling pieces.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The result is a costly process that typically produces many defective molds and waste parts before a useable prototype is achieved,\u0022 Das said. \u0022This trial-and-error development phase often requires many months to cast a part that is accurate enough to enter the next stage, which involves testing and evaluation.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy contrast, Das\u2019s approach involves a device that builds ceramic molds directly from a CAD design, completing the task much faster and producing far fewer unusable parts.\u0026nbsp; Called Large Area Maskless Photopolymerization (LAMP), this high-resolution digital process accretes the mold layer by layer by projecting bitmaps of ultraviolet light onto a mixture of photosensitive resin and ceramic particles, and then selectively curing the mixture to a solid.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique places one 100-micron layer on top of another until the structure is complete. After the mold is formed, the cured resin is removed through binder burnout and the remaining ceramic is sintered in a furnace. The result is a fully ceramic structure into which molten metal \u2013 such as nickel-based superalloys or titanium-based alloys \u2013 are poured, producing a highly accurate casting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe LAMP process lowers the time required to turn a CAD design into a test-worthy part from a year to about a week,\u201d Das said. \u201cWe eliminate the scrap and the tooling, and each digitally manufactured mold is identical to the others.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA prototype LAMP alpha machine is currently building six typical turbine-engine airfoil molds in six hours. Das predicts that a larger beta machine \u2013 currently being built at Georgia Tech and scheduled for installation at a PCC Airfoils facility in Ohio in 2012 \u2013 will produce 100 molds at a time in about 24 hours.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the current work focuses on turbine-engine airfoils, Das believes the LAMP technique will be effective in the production of many types of intricate metal parts. He envisions a scenario in which companies could send out part designs to digital foundries and receive test castings within a short time, much as integrated-circuit designers send CAD plans to chip foundries today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMoreover, he said, direct digital manufacturing enabled by LAMP should allow designers to create increasingly sophisticated pieces capable of achieving greater efficiency in jet engines and other systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis process can produce parts of a complexity that designers could only dream of before,\u201d he said. \u201cThe digital technique takes advantage of high-resolution optics and precision motion systems to achieve extremely sharp, small features \u2013 on the order of 100 microns.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDas also noted that the new process not only creates testable prototypes but could also be used in the actual manufacturing process. That would allow more rapid production of complex metal parts, in both low and high volumes, at lower costs in a variety of industries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you can produce desired volumes in a short period without tooling,\u201d he said, \u201cyou have gone beyond rapid prototyping to true rapid manufacturing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe project depicted in this article is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; the content of this article does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the government, and no official endorsement should be inferred.\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Process allows production directly from digital files"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have developed a novel technology that could change how industry designs and casts complex, costly metal parts. This new casting method makes possible faster prototype development times, as well as more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing procedures.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a novel technology that could change how industry designs and casts complex metal parts."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-05-18 10:40:07","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:18","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-05-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-05-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"131471":{"id":"131471","type":"image","title":"LAMP Process","body":null,"created":"1449178647","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:27","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"LAMP Process","file":{"fid":"194689","name":"lamp-technique150.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lamp-technique150_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lamp-technique150_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1008210,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lamp-technique150_0.jpg?itok=ivZuBQKj"}},"131481":{"id":"131481","type":"image","title":"LAMP Process Molds","body":null,"created":"1449178647","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:27","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"LAMP Process Molds","file":{"fid":"194690","name":"lamp-technique181.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lamp-technique181_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lamp-technique181_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":738841,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lamp-technique181_0.jpg?itok=IcjKE7OC"}}},"media_ids":["131471","131481"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"34051","name":"casting"},{"id":"34061","name":"investment casting"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"167377","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"168939","name":"suman das"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"120151":{"#nid":"120151","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Innovations Help Expand U.S. Industrial Capabilities and Enhance Competitiveness","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a bustling laboratory at the Fuller E. Callaway Jr. Manufacturing Research Center, a researcher from the Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering is using novel digital technology to cast complex metal parts directly from computer designs, dramatically reducing both development and manufacturing time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearby, at the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, researchers are working with a large U.S. avionics maker to speed new product production using specialized software that automatically generates simulations of the manufacturing process. And across campus in the College of Architecture, a team is working with an international corporation on digital techniques that allow entire concrete walls to be custom-manufactured to architectural specifications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology was founded in 1885 with a mandate to develop manufacturing capabilities in the state of Georgia. Today, researchers whose work directly supports manufacturers can be found throughout Georgia Tech\u2019s academic colleges; in the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which focuses on applied research; and in the Enterprise Innovation Institute, which assists business and industry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s role in supporting industry was highlighted in June 2011 when President Barack Obama named Georgia Tech President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson to the steering committee of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP). Georgia Tech joined five other leading universities \u2013 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, the University of California Berkeley and the University of Michigan \u2013 in the AMP\u2019s $500 million push to guide investment in emerging technologies, increase overall U.S. global competitiveness and boost the supply of high-quality manufacturing jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe applaud this initiative, and Georgia Tech is honored to collaborate to identify ways to strengthen the manufacturing sector to help create jobs in Georgia and across the United States,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cMany of our challenges can be solved through innovation and fostering an entrepreneurial environment, as well as collaboration between industry, education and government to create a healthy economic environment and an educated workforce.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdvanced manufacturing involves not only new ways to manufacture existing products, but also the development of new products emerging from advanced technologies, observed Stephen E. Cross, Georgia Tech\u2019s executive vice president for research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech\u2019s mandate has always been to support manufacturing and technology development in the state and in the nation \u2013 to conduct research with relevance \u2013 so supporting industry comes very naturally to us,\u201d Cross said. \u201cThe leading-edge research across the Institute combines thought leadership with a focus on real-world problems and opportunities. Through this we will help lead a renaissance in advanced manufacturing in the United States.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe university\u2019s research initiatives on behalf of manufacturers are many and varied. These efforts include multiple areas of manufacturing-related research and involve collaboration across a variety of disciplines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDeveloping Novel Manufacturing Technologies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAdvancing Digital Manufacturing\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Suman Das, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has developed a technology that could transform how industry creates and produces complex metal parts through \u201clost wax\u201d investment casting. In an ambitious project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), he has created an all-digital approach that automates how part designs are turned into the real thing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, such metal parts are devised on computers using computer-aided design (CAD) software. But the next step \u2013 creating the ceramic mold with which the part is cast \u2013 involves a complex 12-step process that uses hundreds of tooling pieces and extensive manual labor. The result is a lengthy, costly and low-yield process that typically produces many scrap parts along with a few usable ones, said Das, who directs the Direct Digital Manufacturing Laboratory in Georgia Tech\u2019s Manufacturing Research Center (MaRC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy contrast, the approach used by Das involves building ceramic molds directly from a CAD design. Called large area maskless photopolymerization (LAMP), this high-resolution, direct digital manufacturing technology builds the molds, layer by layer, by projecting patterns of ultraviolet light onto a mixture of photosensitive resins and ceramic particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter a mold is formed, it is thermally post-processed at high temperatures to burn away the polymer and sinter the ceramic particles. That process forms a structure into which molten metal can be poured for casting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe LAMP process can reduce the time required to turn a CAD design into a test-worthy part from several months to about a week, and it can produce parts of a complexity that designers could only dream of before,\u201d Das said. \u201cIt also can reduce costs by 25 percent and the number of unusable waste parts by more than 90 percent, while eliminating 100 percent of the tooling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDas is currently working with turbine-engine airfoils \u2013 complex parts used in aircraft jet engines \u2013 in collaboration with the University of Michigan, PCC Airfoils and Honeywell International Inc. He believes LAMP technology will become pervasive and will be effective in the production of many other types of metal parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDas said that LAMP can create not only testable prototypes, but could also be used in the actual manufacturing process, facilitating the mass production of complex metal parts at lower costs in a variety of industries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA prototype LAMP alpha machine is currently building six typical airfoil molds in six hours. Das predicts that a larger beta machine \u2013 currently being built at Georgia Tech and scheduled for installation at a PCC Airfoils facility in Ohio in 2012 \u2013 will produce 100 molds in about 24 hours.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you can achieve those volumes, you have gone beyond rapid prototyping to true rapid manufacturing,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECustomizing Building Components\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Researchers at the College of Architecture are also helping to automate the process of turning CAD designs into manufactured products. A team in the Digital Building Laboratory is collaborating with Lafarge North America to develop ways to manufacture customized wall structures directly from parametric digital models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new process involves custom-molding entire curtain walls from rubber negatives to produce a unitized system called the \u201cLiquid Wall,\u201d constructed with Ductal\u00ae, Lafarge\u2019s ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), and stainless steel. The Liquid Wall, created by Peter Arbour of RFR Consulting Engineers and collaborator Coreslab Structures Inc., won the 2010 AIANY Open Call for Innovative Curtain-Wall Design.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe don\u2019t want to just pick standardized products out of catalogs anymore,\u201d said Tristan Al-Haddad, an assistant professor in the College of Architecture who is involved in the collaboration with Lafarge, along with assistant professor Minjung Maing and others. \u201cWe\u2019re developing the protocols and research to manufacture high-end customized architectural products economically, safely and with environmental responsibility.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Liquid Wall approach is challenging, explained professor Charles Eastman, who is director of the Digital Building Laboratory and has a joint appointment in the College of Computing. The process involves creating rubber negatives using wall-form designs created with parametric modeling software, then planning production procedures and mapping out ways to install the completed, full-size walls on actual buildings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you\u2019re creating a completely new process like the Liquid Wall, you\u2019re faced with developing a whole new manufacturing process for this kind of material,\u201d Eastman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIndividualizing Mass Production\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Industrial designer Kevin Shankwiler, an associate professor in the College of Architecture, creates objects that can be both customized and mass-produced. By utilizing advances in flexible manufacturing technology, Shankwiler and his students develop furniture designs that can be changed to meet individual needs \u2013 such as those of persons with disabilities \u2013 while being built cost-effectively using mass production methods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday\u2019s designers can build responsiveness to individual needs into the computer models used in production, Shankwiler said. Current manufacturing methods \u2013 such as computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) and 3-D printing techniques \u2013 are capable of creating furniture and other goods that can meet users\u2019 specific requirements without resorting to an institutional look.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn one research effort, we took a dining room chair in the Craftsman style, and we designed and built a model that could accommodate both wheelchair users of differing abilities and fully ambulatory people,\u201d Shankwiler said. \u201cWe have to ask \u2013 how should the human need affect the manufactured output and what are the best methods for achieving that?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPursuing Micro-scale Machining\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;J. Rhett Mayor, an associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, is investigating techniques that allow effective machining of metal surfaces at 50 microns \u2013 one 2,000ths of an inch \u2013 or less. He is also developing unique applications based on advanced micro-machining, such as tiny channels in metal that enhance heat transfer between surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt present, Mayor explained, the ability to cut micro-features into surfaces is limited to metal sections about 1 centimeter square, a size that offers little cooling capability. Research being conducted by Mayor and his group focuses on scaling up micro-machining capabilities so that micro features can be cut in larger metal sheets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can currently make hundreds of features on a square centimeter,\u201d Mayor said. \u201cWhat we need are millions of features on a square foot.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne type of micro-scale feature \u2013 micro-channel heat exchangers \u2013 could play an important role in cooling factory-floor devices, as well as in the development of closed-loop systems that could generate power using recycled heat. For example, today\u2019s factories typically use large electrical motors that vent their heat inside the plant, wasting energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn related work, Mayor and his team are developing optimization routines and thermal models that could enhance electrical machine design through the application of micro-machining and other technologies. The aim is to create machines that are smaller, yet offer high energy outputs thanks to more efficient cooling and to energy recycling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother application of large scale micro-machining could involve the development of lightweight electric actuators that would take the place of hydraulics in aircraft. Such electric actuators would need plenty of power to replicate the high torque provided by hydraulics; those power requirements would demand effective cooling strategies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETackling Issues on the Factory Floor\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPromoting Factory Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Henrik Christensen, a professor in the College of Computing, is working with the Boeing Company to advance robotic manufacturing in the aircraft maker\u2019s facilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one project, Christensen and his team are working on an initiative that makes fundamental changes to how pieces are handled on the factory floor. In this approach, robots reverse the standard procedure by moving processing machines to a given part, rather than moving the part through an assembly line.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThink of a large airplane structure,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cHaving a machine move along the body of the aircraft, rather than moving the body itself, could result in much more efficient use of the machine.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is employing a movable platform in the MaRC building that supports a robotic processing machine. Tests have already been performed using mobile painting and drilling capabilities that could lead to similar implementations at Boeing facilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChristensen has also developed automation technology that helps Boeing inspect parts and sub-assemblies that arrive from suppliers. The mobile robotic system scans each arriving piece to confirm that it is the correct item and conforms to the stipulated dimensions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology allows Boeing to identify shipping errors almost immediately, before the mistake can delay production. It also saves on labor costs and allows workers to be assigned to less routine tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Boeing projects are part of the Aerospace Manufacturing Initiative (AMI), which was established in 2008 when Boeing identified Georgia Tech as a strategic university partner and agreed to collaborate on innovative manufacturing technologies for aerospace products. The AMI, which involves multiple research projects across Georgia Tech, is led by Steven Danyluk, who is the Morris M. Bryan Jr. Chair in Mechanical Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing Systems. Since 2008, Siemens USA and CAMotion Inc. have also become AMI participants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another project just getting launched with a major French manufacturing company, Christensen is pursuing novel technology that would allow a factory-floor robot to learn tasks via direct human demonstration. Rather than having each robotic operation mapped out laboriously on a control computer, a worker would demonstrate the optimal way to perform a job and the robot would then mimic the human.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis human-model approach to robotic learning could have applications across a number of industries, he added; both Boeing and General Motors have expressed interest in the technology. Other application areas for this technique include health care and biotechnology, where it could help automate both manufacturing procedures and laboratory testing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EImproving Online Production\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Jianjun (Jan) Shi, a professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE), conducts research that addresses system informatics and control. He uses his training in mechanical and electrical engineering to integrate system data \u2013 comprising design, manufacturing, automation and performance information \u2013 into models that seek to reduce process variability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one effort, Shi is working with nGimat Co., a Norcross, Ga.- based company that is currently evaluating ways to mass produce a type of nanopowder used in high-energy, high-density batteries for electric cars. With sponsorship from the Department of Energy (DOE), Shi is supporting nGimat as it works to increase nanopowder output by several orders of magnitude.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis product has very good characteristics, and the task here is to scale up production while maintaining the quality,\u201d said Shi, who holds the Carolyn J. Stewart Chair in ISyE. \u201cWe must identify the parameters \u2013 what to monitor, what to control \u2013 to reduce any variability, and do so in an environmentally friendly way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn work focusing on the steel industry, Shi is pursuing multiple projects including the investigation of sensing technologies used to monitor very high temperature environments in steel manufacturing. With DOE support, he is working with OG Technologies Inc. to develop methods that use optical sensors to provide continuous high-speed images of very hot surfaces \u2013 between 1,000 and 1,450 degrees Celsius.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to catch defect formation in the very early stages of manufacturing,\u201d Shi said. \u201cBy using imaging data of the product effectively with other process data to eliminate defects, we can help optimize the casting process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another project, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Shi is investigating ways to use process measurements and online adjustments to improve quality control in the manufacturing of the silicon wafers used in semiconductors. He is working with several manufacturers to examine the root causes of undesirable geometric defects in wafer surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAnticipating System Failure\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Nagi Gebraeel, an associate professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, conducts research in detecting and preventing failure in engineering systems as they degrade over time. The goal is to avoid both expensive downtime and unnecessary maintenance costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe could be talking about a fleet of aircraft, trucks, trains, ships \u2013 or a manufacturing system,\u201d Gebraeel said. \u201cIn any of these cases, it\u2019s extremely useful for numerous reasons to be able to accurately estimate the remaining useful lifetime of a system or its components.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, Gebraeel has examined some of the key challenges in accurately predicting failures of complex engineering systems. Specific challenges include the ability to account for the uncertainty associated with degradation processes of these systems and their components, the effects of future environmental\/operational conditions, and the dependencies and interactions that exist in multi-component systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one project, Gebraeel and his team worked with Rockwell Collins, a maker of avionics and electronics, to monitor and diagnose the performance of circuit boards that control vital aircraft communications systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith equipment funding provided by Georgia Tech, Gebraeel has developed an adaptive prognostics system (APS), a custom research tool that allows him to investigate how quickly components degrade under stresses, using sensor-detected signals such as vibration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a real need for information about the remaining life of components, so that users can find the economical middle ground between the cost of scheduled replacements and the cost of failure,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMaximizing Throughput with Software\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Three faculty members in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering \u2013 Shabbir Ahmed, George Nemhauser and Joel Sokol \u2013 recently completed a project supporting a major maker of float glass. The manufacturer was automating a process in which finished glass plates are packed for shipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe company was concerned that new machines \u2013 which pick up and remove glass from the production line \u2013 might fall behind, allowing valuable plates to be damaged. They wanted the capability to carefully schedule production sequences so the machines could function at maximum capacity without wasting plates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team tackled development of new software that could minimize production problems. They devised algorithms that allowed the machines to work at their maximum efficiency and enabled them to handle input data with more than 99 percent efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe algorithms we delivered can also be used strategically, to determine how many machines of each type should be installed on a production line,\u201d Sokol said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESokol, Nemhauser and Ahmed are also collaborating on a project with a large international corporation to support production throughput at a semiconductor manufacturing facility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe challenge involves the physical movement of semiconductors from one processing station to another throughout the factory. Because the routing of semiconductors between processing machines can differ from item to item, there\u2019s no linear assembly line procedure; instead, hundreds of automated vehicles pick up items from one processing point and move them to the next step.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDue to the facility\u2019s layout, these automated vehicles often encounter congestion that can delay the production schedule, said Nemhauser, who is the A. Russell Chandler lll Chair and Institute professor. The team is developing methods to best route and schedule the vehicles to minimize congestion and to move items between machines in ways that don\u2019t delay production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIncreasing Manufacturing Precision\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Shreyes Melkote, who is the Morris M. Bryan Jr. professor in mechanical engineering, directs the Precision Machining Research Center, one of numerous centers based in MaRC. Melkote researches precision manufacturing issues in several areas, including the production of precision metal parts and photovoltaic substrates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a project sponsored by The Timken Company, Melkote is investigating methods for faster and more efficient machining of hardened steel materials using a hybrid process called \u201cLaser Assisted Hard Machining.\u201d Results from successful machining trials have demonstrated that this hybrid process has the potential to reduce machining time as well as cutting tool cost by prolonging tool life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a Boeing-sponsored project, Melkote is developing thin-film sensors capable of monitoring high-speed machining operations. The goal is to give operators in-depth feedback for more effective control of high-speed rotating machines used to produce aerospace parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional piezoelectric sensors are costly and unreliable, Melkote said, and installing them on a given machine can alter its dynamic characteristics. By contrast, sensors made from low-cost piezoelectric polymer film can be attached to a rotating device without affecting its operation. A patent application is being filed on this sensor technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThin-film sensors allow us to accurately measure what\u2019s happening between the tool and the work-piece, in terms of forces, vibrations, deflections and other process responses,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have demonstrated that the quality of information we are getting from a $200 sensor is as good as from one that costs $30,000.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInnovations in Manufacturing Systems and Processes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAutomating Manufacturing Simulations\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Professor Leon McGinnis of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering focuses on model-based systems engineering, an approach that uses computational methods to enable capture and reuse of systems knowledge. McGinnis is pursuing several sponsored projects in this area.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one effort, McGinnis and his team have been working with Rockwell Collins, a maker of avionics and electronics, to help speed the introduction of new products by automating a process that simulates the requirements of production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo optimize the resources needed to make products at the required rate, McGinnis explained, Rockwell Collins creates a computerized simulation of the manufacturing processes. Development of these models has traditionally been the province of experts skilled in taking initial system designs and painstakingly translating them into simulations of actual production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is not a trivial task \u2013 producing a simulation model requires some 100 to 200 hours per product,\u201d said McGinnis, who is associate director of MaRC. \u201cThe company was only able to generate a few production models at a time, which created something of a bottleneck.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo understand the process of developing simulation models, a team interviewed the Rockwell Collins experts on the methods they used to develop such models. Then the Georgia Tech researchers turned to SysML, a programming language that enables the computerized modeling of complex systems, including multiple related factors such as people, machinery and product flows.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy using SysML to describe the evolution of a given product, the researchers were able to automate its movement from design to simulation. Even more important, the team created a domain-specific version of SysML that was customized to the Rockwell Collins environment. That achievement allowed any of the company\u2019s new products and systems to be plugged into a SysML-based automation process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis new way of doing things appears to reduce the time required to build simulation models by an order of magnitude, said McGinnis, who leads the Model-Based Systems Engineering Center in MaRC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another project, McGinnis and his team are collaborating with the School of Mechanical Engineering and MaRC to develop semantics for manufacturing processes under a DARPA contract. In other work, McGinnis is collaborating with the Tennenbaum Institute \u2013 a Georgia Tech organization that supports research for enterprise transformation \u2013 to address the challenges of identifying and mitigating risks in global manufacturing enterprise networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDeveloping Future Factories\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;A research team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is working with the General Motors Co. to develop novel sensor and computer technologies for manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project, known as the Factory of the Future, seeks to establish a manufacturing model based on approaches and technologies that are largely new to factory design and processes. Among other things, the researchers are investigating the use of biologically inspired software algorithms to help maximize plant floor efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe future factory is one with an extremely agile environment, allowing the manufacturing plant to be reconfigured in real time to meet the objectives for production,\u201d said Gisele Bennett, director of the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory at GTRI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the heart of this process improvement approach is a robust combination of sensor and intelligent algorithm technologies, said Bennett, who is leading the project. The resulting optimization algorithms would utilize asset visibility of supplies, machines and vehicle-assembly status to optimize the manufacturing process, based on current requirements that could include energy savings, throughput or cost.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe goal is a broad, centralized view of all aspects of the manufacturing process, available in real time. This big-picture capability could lead to greater efficiency and productivity due to improved routing, inventory control and visibility into the health of the manufacturing equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAmong other things, these techniques could support a capability for just-in-time car building,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cA consumer could go into a dealership, choose the car they wanted \u2013 and as soon as the car is specified, its assembly would begin remotely.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAdvancing the Adaptive Process\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;A multidisciplinary team of Georgia Tech researchers is taking part in the Adaptive Vehicle Make (AVM) program. The four-year DARPA program, announced in the first half of 2011, fosters novel approaches to the design, verification and manufacturing of complex defense systems and vehicles. Funding for Georgia Tech\u2019s share of the work is expected to exceed $10 million.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe AVM effort consists of three primary programs: META, Instant Foundry Adaptive through Bits (iFAB) and Fast Adaptable Next-Generation Ground Vehicle (FANG). FANG includes the vehicleforge.mil project and the Manufacturing Experimentation and Outreach (MENTOR) effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is collaborating with Vanderbilt University on the META program and the related Component, Context, and Manufacturing Model Library (C2M2L) program. Led by professor Dimitri Mavris, director of the Aerospace Systems Design Lab, and research engineer Johanna Ceisel, Georgia Tech\u2019s META effort focuses on dramatically improving the existing systems engineering, integration and testing processes for defense systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERather than utilizing one particular alternative technique, metric or tool, META aims to develop model-based design methods for cyber-physical systems that are far more complex and heterogeneous than those in use today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShreyes Melkote, a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, leads an iFAB team that is developing manufacturing-process capabilities and model libraries to enable automated planning for the design and manufacture of military ground vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA GTRI team led by Vince Camp is also supporting iFAB, providing process guidance for development of the libraries. In addition, researchers from four Georgia Tech units, along with companies InterCAX LLC and Third Wave Systems Inc., are supporting this iFAB effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe vehicleforge.mil project, led by GTRI researchers Jack Zentner and Nick Bollweg, is creating a secure central website and other web-based tools capable of supporting collaborative vehicle development. The core website \u2013 vehicleforge.mil \u2013 would allow individuals and teams to share data, models, tools and ideas to speed and improve the design process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe aim here is to fundamentally change the way in which complex systems are taken from concept to reality,\u201d said Zentner, a senior research engineer. \u201cBy enabling many designers in varied locations to work together in a distributed manner, we\u2019re confident that vehicles \u2013 and eventually other systems \u2013 can be developed with greater speed and better results.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe C2M2L model library is part of the overall effort. C2M2L seeks to develop domain-specific models to enable the design, verification and fabrication of the FANG infantry fighting vehicle using the META, iFAB and vehicleforge.mil infrastructure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe MENTOR effort will engage high school-age students in a series of collaborative design and distributed manufacturing prize-challenge experiments, with the goal of inspiring America\u2019s manufacturing and technology workforce of tomorrow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDARPA envisions that the prize challenges will include up to 1,000 high schools in teams distributed across the nation and around the world, using computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) additive manufacturing machines \u2013 also known as 3D printers. The goal is help students collaboratively design and build systems of moderate complexity, such as mobile ground and aerial robots and energy systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMENTOR is led by professor Daniel Schrage of the School of Aerospace Engineering and director of the Integrated Product Lifecycle Engineering Laboratory, and by professor David Rosen of the School of Mechanical Engineering, who is also director of the Rapid Prototyping \u0026amp; Manufacturing Institute in MaRC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EStrengthening Supply Chains\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Vinod Singhal, who is the Brady Family Professor of Operations Management in the College of Management, investigates supply chain disruptions and their relation to corporate performance. In one project, he is evaluating recent disruptions at manufacturing companies and other businesses, where he documents the magnitude of drop in stock prices, loss of revenue and increase in costs due to supply chain disruptions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTraditional approaches to supply chain management have focused only on efficiency,\u201d Singhal said. \u201cNewer approaches involve avoiding value destruction by instituting a reliable, responsive and robust supply chain.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESinghal has developed a detailed framework that helps enterprises manage their supply chain risks. His research instructs companies on how to prioritize risks, making supply chain vulnerabilities more visible and ensuring that top management learns to recognize the issue as critical to corporate success.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EModeling Flexibility\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;In the College of Management, Regents\u2019 professor Cheryl Gaimon studies technology management in manufacturing and service enterprises. In one study, Gaimon and former Ph.D. student Alysse Morton analyzed the value of flexibility in high-volume manufacturing of products with short life cycles, such as computer components.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers developed a model showing how companies could link internal manufacturing capabilities with swiftly changing external market forces. They demonstrated how these businesses could exploit manufacturing efficiencies, early market entry and quick shifts between product generations, combined with optimal pricing policies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur results demonstrated that firms need to work closely with their equipment suppliers to achieve more flexible technology, and that even a less-efficient facility can realize a long-term competitive advantage through an earlier market-entry strategy,\u201d Gaimon said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELowering Quality-Failure Impact\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Assistant Professor Manpreet Hora of the College of Management conducts research in several areas of business and manufacturing, including the recall of products such as automobiles. In a recent study, he looked at the risks that can sometimes be created by today\u2019s lean manufacturing methods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn studying automotive recalls, Hora discovered that because companies often share components across multiple vehicle lines to maintain lean practices, a potential defect in such components can greatly increase the cost and the magnitude of a recall. He concluded that increased quality checks of shared and critical parts are essential in lowering the impact of quality failures from recalls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHelping Manufacturers Improve Products\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EReducing Engine Noise\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;In a project sponsored by EADS North America, a large aerospace and defense company, GTRI researcher Jason Nadler tackled the problem of helping the manufacturer reduce noise produced by commercial and military jet aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENadler and his team used innovative materials that make possible a new approach to the physics of noise reduction. They found that honeycomb-like structures composed of many tiny tubes or channels can reduce sound more effectively than conventional methods.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis approach dissipates acoustic waves by essentially wearing them out,\u201d Nadler said. \u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenological shift, fundamentally different from traditional techniques that absorb sound using a more frequency-dependent resonance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENadler\u2019s research involves broadband acoustic absorption, a method of reducing sound that doesn\u2019t depend on frequencies or resonance. Instead of resonating, sound waves plunge into the channels and dissipate through a process called viscous shear.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe has developed what could be the world\u2019s first superalloy micro honeycomb using a nickel-based superalloy. He estimates that this new approach could provide better sound attenuation than any acoustic liner currently available.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EImproving Poultry Production\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;The Food Processing Technology Division of GTRI performs a broad spectrum of research for the food industry, including numerous projects that support the state\u2019s nearly $20 billion poultry industry. Research areas include advanced imaging and sensor technologies; robotics and automation systems; environmental and biological systems; food and product safety research; and worker safety research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one project, GTRI researchers are employing image processing, statistical modeling, modeling of biomaterials and high-speed force control to bring automated chicken deboning to poultry processors. The Intelligent Deboning System aims to match or exceed the efficiency of the manual process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitial tests of the deboning prototype system, including cutting experiments, have shown the system\u2019s ability to recognize bone during a cut and thus avoid bone chips. The work has demonstrated the validity of GTRI\u2019s approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are some very major factors in play in this project,\u201d said Gary McMurray, chief of the Food Processing Technology Division and project director. \u201cThese include food safety \u2013 because bone chips are a major hazard for boneless breast fillets \u2013 and yield, because every 1 percent loss of breast meat represents about $2.5 million to each of Georgia\u2019s 20 processing plants.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EControlling Baking Systems\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;GTRI has developed a production line system that automatically inspects the quality of sandwich buns exiting the oven and adjusts oven temperatures if it detects unacceptable products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with baking company Flowers Foods and AMF\/BakeTech, a baking equipment manufacturer, GTRI researchers Douglas Britton and Colin Usher have tested their industrial-quality prototype system. Made of stainless steel, the system is dust-and-water-resistant, and mounts on existing conveyor belts as wide as 50 inches.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested the system in a Flowers Foods bakery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have closed the loop between the quality inspection of buns and the oven controls to meet the specifications required by food service and fast-food customers,\u201d said Britton. \u201cBy creating a more accurate, uniform and faster assessment process, we are able to minimize waste and lost product.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETesting Manufacturing Materials\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;The GTRI Materials Analysis Center (MAC), led by Lisa Detter-Hoskin, supports manufacturers and other groups using advanced analytical tools and methodologies that address materials characterization, failure analysis and corrosion issues for manufacturers and other companies. MAC annually manages research projects and evaluates samples for hundreds of corporations and agencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the center supports CE-Tech LLC of Alpharetta, Ga., in numerous areas, including conducting analyses of competitive products and resins. The objective is to lower raw-material costs for CE-Tech clients through the substitution of lower-cost resins.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another instance, GTRI works with Fairfield, Conn.-based Acme United Corp., a maker of cutting, measuring and safety products, to evaluate the chemistry and structure of new surface coatings. In one project, GTRI personnel tested a proprietary Acme United physical vapor deposition technology used to impart a hard outer shell onto steel blades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe frequently need to test,\u201d said Larry Buchtmann, vice president for technology for Acme United. \u201cGTRI has the specialized equipment and trained engineering staff to meet our ongoing needs for these services.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAssessing Advanced Electronics\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;GTRI\u2019s Electromagnetic Test and Evaluation Facilities (EMTEF) and Electromagnetic Phenomenology Laboratory test facilities provide ongoing research and support for manufacturers. Both commercial customers and the U.S. government use these assets to aid design and manufacture of antennas and antenna-related sensors for wireless systems, cell and base station antennas, aircraft antennas and related applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese multi-purpose ranges allow antenna manufacturers or design engineers to confirm modeling designs, diagnose performance problems, and to confirm performance against advertised specifications,\u201d said GTRI researcher Barry Mitchell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one past instance, Mitchell recalls, a maker of aircraft weather radar was encountering problems with false alarms coming from wind-shear detection systems in flight. A GTRI team tested a waveguide antenna array on a planar near-field range belonging to the research institute, and the resulting aperture holograms revealed leakage points from brazed joints on the array. Eventually the problem was traced to a defect in the dip-brazing process during manufacturing, enabling corrective measures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaking Manufacturing More Sustainable\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESupporting Sustainable Manufacturing\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;School of Mechanical Engineering professor Bert Bras, who leads the Sustainable Design and Manufacturing (SDM) Program in the MaRC, focuses on reducing the environmental impact of materials, products and manufacturing processes, while increasing their competitiveness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe SDM group gets a large share of its research funding from industry. Together with MaRC research engineer Tina Guldberg, Bras and his group are currently working with Ford, GM and Boeing on projects related to sustainable manufacturing. Much of their work centers on a better understanding of the overall effect of manufacturing operations, as well as potential unintended consequences of product, process and business decisions over their life cycle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne technique developed by Bras and his students involves the inclusion of environmental impact measures such as energy and water consumption in activity-based cost models. In this way, a single assessment model can quantify financial and environmental consequences of manufacturing process choices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith Marc Weissburg, a professor in the School of Biology and co-director of the Center for Bio-Inspired Design, Bras and his team are working on an NSF-funded project focused on the role of biologically inspired design in industrial manufacturing networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBras is also collaborating with professor Nancey Green Leigh of the School of City and Regional Planning and professor Steven French of the College of Architecture on an NSF-funded project that studies methods of boosting product and material recovery in urban areas for use in local manufacturing. Leigh and French are also focusing in this grant on quantifying the amount of carpet and electronic waste generated in a metropolitan area and the economic benefits of diverting it from landfills, thereby creating business and job opportunities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERecovering and Reusing Waste\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;Jane Ammons, who is the H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, collaborates on reverse production systems with Matthew Realff, a professor in the School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering. For more than 10 years, the team has focused on two important areas: the recovery and reuse of carpet wastes and ways to reduce electronic waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmmons, Realff and their teams have developed a mathematical framework to support the growth of used-carpet collection networks. Such networks could help to recycle much of the 3.4 billion pounds of carpet waste currently produced in the United States annually. Research indicates that successful reuse of that carpet has a potential value of at least $850 million, versus a disposal cost of at least $60 million for simply sending it to landfills.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn other work, the team is studying the problem of e-waste \u2013 unwanted electronic components such as televisions, monitors and computer boards and chips. The e-waste stream includes hazardous materials such as lead and other toxins, yet effective management and reuse of e-components can be profitable. Ammons and Realff have devised mathematical models that address the complexities of e-waste processing, with the goal of helping recycling companies stay economically viable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPromoting Manufacturing Sustainability\u003C\/em\u003E --\u0026nbsp;In a recent project, associate professor Chen Zhou in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, working with professor Leon McGinnis, tackled sustainability issues for a major U.S. manufacturer. The issue involved shipping gearbox components from China to the United States in ways that would minimize not only cost but also greenhouse gas emissions and waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt turned out that packaging was at the heart of the issue. The researchers had to configure component packaging so that the maximum number of components could be placed in a cargo container, yet also allow for optimal recycling of the packing materials to avoid waste and unnecessary cost.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis was definitely a complex problem,\u201d Zhou said. \u201cYou must track every piece of packaging from its source to its final resting place, when it either goes into another product or into a landfill.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team created a model \u2013 a globally sourced auto parts packaging system \u2013 that optimized cargo container space. The model also enabled the use of packing materials that were fully reusable; some materials went back to China for use in future shipments, while the rest was recycled into plastics for new vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClearly, Georgia Tech\u2019s broad-based involvement in advanced manufacturing research reflects both the talents of its faculty and the determination of U.S. industry to reinvent itself with the help of university-based research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe United States generates more inventions than the rest of the world combined, and Georgia Tech will continue to work with business and government to help turn the nation\u2019s vast innovative capabilities into an American industrial renaissance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article originally appeared in the Winter 2012 issue of Research Horizons magazine. Abby Robinson also contributed to this article.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch projects mentioned in this article are supported by sponsors that include the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the principal investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF or DARPA.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30308 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Advanced manufacturing is a top priority for research programs campuswide"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAdvanced manufacturing is a major area of research at Georgia Tech, involving faculty members from academic colleges, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2). Activities focus on a broad range of areas, including new manufacturing technologies, factory-floor issues, manufacturing systems, product improvements and sustainability.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Innovations being developed at Georgia Tech are improving U.S. manufacturing capabilities."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-03-28 13:21:29","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:56","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"120101":{"id":"120101","type":"image","title":"Custom Wall Structures","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Custom Wall Structures","file":{"fid":"194349","name":"al-haddad141.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/al-haddad141_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/al-haddad141_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1066183,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/al-haddad141_1.jpg?itok=Ok-4EjiA"}},"120111":{"id":"120111","type":"image","title":"Testing Polymer Materials","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Testing Polymer Materials","file":{"fid":"194350","name":"detter-hoskin50.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/detter-hoskin50_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/detter-hoskin50_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1386604,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/detter-hoskin50_0.jpg?itok=BJL96INM"}},"120121":{"id":"120121","type":"image","title":"Maskless Photopolymerization","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Maskless Photopolymerization","file":{"fid":"194351","name":"suman-das152.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/suman-das152_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/suman-das152_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":905669,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/suman-das152_0.jpg?itok=7fzrvfN-"}},"120131":{"id":"120131","type":"image","title":"Movable Platform","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Movable Platform","file":{"fid":"194352","name":"christensen-robotics147.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christensen-robotics147_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christensen-robotics147_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1564029,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/christensen-robotics147_0.jpg?itok=4lVLymRG"}},"120141":{"id":"120141","type":"image","title":"Model-based Systems Engineering","body":null,"created":"1449178268","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:31:08","changed":"1475894741","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:41","alt":"Model-based Systems Engineering","file":{"fid":"194353","name":"mcginnis2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mcginnis2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mcginnis2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":951682,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mcginnis2_0.jpg?itok=7tzIOnCs"}}},"media_ids":["120101","120111","120121","120131","120141"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"69813":{"#nid":"69813","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Air Force Grant Funds Fundamental Study of Plasma-Wall Interactions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Alabama have received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to conduct fundamental research into the ways in which plasmas interact with the walls of the structures containing them.  The research will also examine potential improvements to materials used for the walls.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe five-year research program could lead to improvements in a broad range of areas, including higher performance satellite thrusters, improved tubes for Department of Defense radar and communications systems, more efficient high-intensity lamps, and new plasma deposition and spray-coating processes. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers will utilize new analysis techniques, including a terahertz-frequency laser for non-intrusively studying the plasma sheath, which is the portion of the plasmas that interacts with the wall.  The researchers will use atomic probe technology to study how the plasmas -- a state of matter that contains ionized particles -- interact with and are affected by the walls.  Modeling and simulation techniques will also help predict how plasmas may interact with improved wall materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In these systems, the plasma is dumping energy into the wall, and the wall may be giving back some particles or energy that affect the plasma,\u0022 explained Mitchell Walker, associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering. \u0022There is a dance between the plasma and the wall that needs to be understood so we can improve the materials across a range of applications.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPlasmas are created when electrons are added to or removed from atoms, giving them a charge.  The interaction between the resulting ionized gas and wall can be complex, involving the transfer of mass, charge and energy from the plasma to the wall -- and sometimes from the wall back to the plasma.  This energetic interaction may damage the wall, eroding the surfaces and leading to device failure.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EExisting plasma wall materials have been developed largely by trial-and-error. Developing a fundamental understanding of the plasma-wall interaction will give researchers the information they need to develop better wall materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We need to get at the fundamental issues, then use that knowledge to make the materials better,\u0022 said Jud Ready, a principal research engineer in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).  \u0022Before we can produce better materials to make better applications, we need to understand the environment in which the materials have to operate.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA major part of the research will involve the use of a terahertz-frequency laser to study the sheath, a narrow portion of the plasma where the wall interaction takes place.  Within that small region, usually just a fraction of millimeter or so wide, plasma particles collide with the wall, transfer electrical charge, and apply energy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The sheath has a strong electric field which is either pulling or pushing electrons from it,\u0022 explained Walker, who is director of Georgia Tech\u0027s High-Power Electric Propulsion Laboratory. \u0022By adjusting what the wall material contains, we can change the sheath and watch how the plasma adjusts to the wall.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETraditional probe techniques used for studying such phenomena alter the sheath activity when they penetrate it, so the researchers must develop a technique that does not physically enter the plasma sheath.  Their solution will use a very fast terahertz laser that won\u0027t affect the plasma as it measures the sheath.  To give the laser a larger target for study, Walker will produce plasma sheaths as much as a centimeter wide.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This will allow us to make measurements that nobody has ever done before,\u0022 he explained.  \u0022Using the data we obtain, we will be able to look at all of the analytical models that people have generated and compare them to real experimental data.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EImproving the wall materials will also depend on detailed knowledge of how the plasma affects them.  For that information, the researchers will use unique tools available at the University of Alabama that are able to identify individual plasma atoms that may be embedded in the walls.  Researchers will also use modeling and simulation techniques to predict, based on the experimental data, how a broad range of materials would interact with the plasmas.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A plasma places a material under extreme environmental conditions, including high temperature erosion, exposure to ion implantation and field emission from the surface,\u0022 said Gregory Thompson, associate professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. \u0022These conditions will affect the structural integrity of materials, but an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that control the response of the materials\u0027 structure is lacking.  Working with Georgia Tech, we will systematically characterize how plasmas interact and contribute to the underlying phase and mechanical stability characteristics in the materials.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFinally, Ready and GTRI colleagues will apply their experience with thin film deposition and phosphors to create an additional analytical tool.  By embedding certain phosphors in the walls, the research team will be able to tell how much energy is being transferred -- and where that is occurring.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The more robust the material, the better it will be for military or commercial applications,\u0022 Ready noted.  \u0022We expect that there will be dramatically improved performance.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work conducted under contract FA9550-11-1-0160.  Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: Georgia Tech: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); University of Alabama: Mary Wymer (205-348-6444)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mwymer@eng.ua.edu\u0022\u003Emwymer@eng.ua.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and University of Alabama researchers have received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to conduct fundamental research into plasma interactions with the walls of the structures containing them.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study will improve understanding of plasma-wall interactions."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-09-05 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"69814":{"id":"69814","type":"image","title":"Examining plasma applications","body":null,"created":"1449177264","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:24","changed":"1475894611","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:31"},"69815":{"id":"69815","type":"image","title":"Examining plasma applications","body":null,"created":"1449177264","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:24","changed":"1475894611","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:31"},"69816":{"id":"69816","type":"image","title":"Examining plasma applications","body":null,"created":"1449177264","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:24","changed":"1475894611","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:31"}},"media_ids":["69814","69815","69816"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ua.edu\/","title":"University of Alabama"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7019","name":"ion"},{"id":"14209","name":"Jud Ready"},{"id":"2474","name":"Mitchell Walker"},{"id":"14207","name":"plasma"},{"id":"14208","name":"thrusters"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"69138":{"#nid":"69138","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Atmospheric Simulations Support NASA Mission to Jupiter","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn August of 2016, when NASA\u0027s Juno Mission begins sending back information about the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter, research done by Georgia Institute of Technology engineers using a 2,400-pound pressure vessel will help scientists understand what the data means. The Juno probe is scheduled to be launched August 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause Jupiter has been largely unchanged since its formation at the birth of our solar system, scientists hope Juno will resolve unanswered questions not only about the massive planet, but also about how our solar system evolved. Among the key questions are how much water exists there, and how that water evolved from the hydrogen-rich early solar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Jupiter collected much of the original solar nebula, that sheet of material that surrounded our sun when it formed,\u0022 said Paul Steffes, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Juno Mission Team. \u0022Knowing how much water is in the atmosphere of Jupiter is going to give us real insight into how the whole solar system has evolved. Understanding Jupiter really helps us understand how we got started.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo detect and measure water, Juno will carry a radiometer that can measure radio emissions produced by the planet itself at microwave frequencies. As those signals pass through Jupiter\u0027s atmosphere, they are altered by the water and other constituents. Understanding how the signals were altered can tell scientists much about the atmosphere of the giant planet. The probe will receive microwave signals at six different frequencies that scientists know are emitted at various levels of the planet\u0027s atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The intensity of the microwave radiation at specific frequencies gets weaker depending on how much water is there,\u0022 Steffes explained. \u0022We\u0027ll be able to not only say whether or not there\u0027s water there, but we\u0027ll also be able to say at what altitude it exists based on the signatures of the microwaves coming out of the planet\u0027s atmosphere.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInterpreting that data will require knowledge that Steffes and his students are developing by simulating the Jupiter atmosphere in their pressure vessel, which is located inside an oven on the roof of Georgia Tech\u0027s Van Leer Building.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough Jupiter is a long way from the sun, the planet\u0027s gravitational forces create high temperatures and tremendous pressures in the lower layers of the atmosphere where the water is believed to exist. The laboratory atmospheric simulations allow Steffes and his students to study the behavior of microwave signals passing through ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, helium, hydrogen and water vapor at pressures up to 100 times those of the Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers, including graduate student Danny Duong, have made thousands of measurements at different temperatures, pressures and microwave frequencies as the signals pass through different combinations of gases. The laboratory work is expected to be completed during 2012.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The measurements we\u0027ve made will allow the radiometer on Juno to be calibrated,\u0022 Steffes explained. \u0022When Juno gets to Jupiter, we\u0027ll know what conditions each microwave signature corresponds to.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarlier attempts to quantify the water on Jupiter -- the solar system\u0027s largest planet -- produced conflicting information. Steffes assisted the Galileo mission, which dropped a probe into the planet\u0027s atmosphere in 1995 and found surprisingly little water. Yet when the Comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed into Jupiter in 1994, it stirred up oxygen that led scientists to believe water was abundant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce Juno reaches the planet, it will go into an elliptical polar orbit to avoid Jupiter\u0027s deadly radiation belts, which would harm the probe\u0027s electronic systems. Juno is scheduled to make 30 orbits, each of which will take 11 days. The researchers then expect to take about 18 months to process the information sent back to Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond measuring water on Jupiter, Juno will also study the planet\u0027s gravitation field in an effort to determine whether a solid core exists and how the giant body rotates. It will also measure magnetic fields and investigate Jupiter\u0027s auroras, which are the strongest in the solar system. And it will take a look at the planet\u0027s polar areas for the first time ever.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJuno is also notable because it will be the first deep-space probe to be powered by photovoltaic arrays, which were less expensive than the nuclear generators used on earlier missions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESteffes has been studying planetary atmospheres for more than 25 years, and has simulated conditions on Venus, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus in addition to Jupiter. The work has continued under the same contract since 1984. Georgia Tech\u0027s research into other planets goes back more than 50 years, Steffes noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudies of other planetary atmospheres can now be done from Earth using radio telescopes such as the Very Large Array in New Mexico, or the new Atacama array in Chile. But Jupiter\u0027s radiation belts, which are made up of energized particles spewed into the atmosphere by the volcanic moon Io, prevent that.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022To test for water, you have to operate at frequencies that are pretty low, about the same as a cell phone,\u0022 Steffes said. \u0022But the radiation belts are generating huge amounts of noise at those frequencies, so we couldn\u0027t do this observation from Earth because the radiation belts would mask the signal from Jupiter\u0027s atmosphere. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity to observe Jupiter with the Juno spacecraft.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENASA\u0027s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E 75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn August of 2016, when NASA\u0027s Juno Mission begins sending back information about the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter, research done by Georgia Tech engineers using a 2,400-pound pressure vessel will help scientists understand what the data means.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Simulating the Jupiter atmosphere supports NASA\u0027s Juno Mission."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-08-02 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:09:52","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-08-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-08-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"69139":{"id":"69139","type":"image","title":"Paul Steffes","body":null,"created":"1449177239","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:59","changed":"1475894604","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:24"},"549031":{"id":"549031","type":"image","title":"Juno and Jupiter","body":null,"created":"1467320400","gmt_created":"2016-06-30 21:00:00","changed":"1475895343","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:43","alt":"Juno and Jupiter","file":{"fid":"92591","name":"juno_concept.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/juno_concept.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/juno_concept.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":45282,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/juno_concept.jpg?itok=sFWFCEbC"}},"69141":{"id":"69141","type":"image","title":"Paul Steffes and Danny Duong","body":null,"created":"1449177239","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:59","changed":"1475894604","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:24"}},"media_ids":["69139","549031","69141"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=97","title":"Paul Steffes"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13866","name":"Juno Mission"},{"id":"11219","name":"Jupiter"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"1260","name":"Paul Steffes"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"171105","name":"simulated atmosphere"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"64679":{"#nid":"64679","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Silver-Diamond Composite Offers Cooling Capabilities for Electronics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are developing a solid composite material to help cool small, powerful microelectronics used in defense systems. The material, composed of silver and diamond, promises an exceptional degree of thermal conductivity compared to materials currently used for this application.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research is focused on producing a silver-diamond thermal shim of unprecedented thinness \u2013 250 microns or less.  The ratio of silver to diamond in the material can be tailored to allow the shim to be bonded with low thermal-expansion stress to the high-power wide-bandgap semiconductors planned for next generation phased-array radars.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThermal shims are needed to pull heat from these high-power semiconductors and transfer it to heat-dissipating devices such as fins, fans or heat pipes. Since the semiconductors work in very confined operating spaces, it is necessary that the shims be made from a material that packs high thermal conductivity into a tiny structure.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDiamonds provide the bulk of thermal conductivity, while silver suspends the diamond particles within the composite and contributes to high thermal conductivity that is 25 percent better than copper.  To date, tests indicate that the silver-diamond composite performs extremely well in two key areas -- thermal conductivity and thermal expansion.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0027We have already observed clear performance benefits -- an estimated temperature decrease from 285 degrees Celsius to 181 degrees Celsius -- using a material of 50 percent diamond in a 250-micron shim,\u0027 said Jason Nadler, a GTRI research engineer who is leading the project. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are approaching diamond percentages that can be as high as 85 percent, in a shim less than 250 microns in thickness. These increased percentages of diamond are yielding even better performance results in prototype testing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENadler added that this novel approach to silver-diamond composites holds definite technology-transfer promise.  No material currently available offers this combination of performance and thinness. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENatural Thermal Conductors\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDiamond is the most thermally conductive natural material, with a rating of approximately 2,000 watts per meter Kelvin, which is a measure of thermal efficiency.  Silver, which is among the most thermally conductive metals, has a significantly lower rating -- 400 watts per meter K. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENadler explained that adding silver is necessary to:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-  bond the loose diamond particles into a stable matrix;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-  allow precise cutting of the material to form components of exact sizes;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-  match thermal expansion to that of the semiconductor device being cooled;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-  create a more thermally effective interface between the diamonds.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENadler and his team use diamond particles, resembling grains of sand, that can be molded into a planar form.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe problem is, a sand-like material doesn\u0027t hold together well.  A matrix of silver -- soft, ductile and sticky -- is needed to keep the diamond particles together and achieve a robust composite material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, because the malleable silver matrix completely surrounds the diamond particles, it supports cutting the composite to the precise dimensions needed to form components like thermal shims. And silver allows those components to bond readily to other surfaces, such as semiconductors.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETailoring Thermal Expansion\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs any material heats up, it expands at its own individual rate, a behavior known as its coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen structures made from different materials -- such as a wide-bandgap semiconductor and a thermal shim -- are joined, it is vital that their thermal-expansion coefficients be identical.  Bonded materials that expand at different rates separate readily.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDiamond has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion of about two parts per million\/Kelvin (ppm\/K).  But the materials used to make wide-bandgap semiconductors -- such as silicon carbide or gallium nitride \u2013 have higher CTEs, generally in the range of three to five ppm\/K.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy adding in just the right percentage of silver, which has a CTE of about 20 ppm\/K, the GTRI team can tailor the silver-diamond composite to expand at the same rate as the semiconductor material. By matching thermal-expansion rates during heating and cooling, the researchers have enabled the two materials to maintain a strong bond. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike metals, which conduct heat by moving electrons, diamond conducts heat by means of phonons, which are vibrational wave packets that travel through crystalline and other materials.  Introducing silver between the diamond-particle interfaces helps phonons move from particle to particle and supports thermal efficiency. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a challenge to use diamond particles to fill space in a plane with high efficiency and stability,\u0022 Nadler said. \u0022In recent years we\u0027ve built image-analysis and other tools that let us perform structural morphological analyses on the material we\u0027ve created. That data helps us understand what\u0027s actually happening within the composite -- including how the diamond-particle sizes are distributed and how the silver actually surrounds the diamonds.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA remaining hurdle involves the need to move beyond performance testing to an in-depth analysis of the silver-diamond material\u0027s functionality. Nadler\u0027s aim is to explain the thermal conductivity of the composite from a fundamental materials standpoint, rather than relying solely on performance results.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe extremely small size of the thermal shims makes such in-depth testing difficult, because existing testing methods require larger amounts of material. However, Nadler and his team are evaluating several testbed technologies that hold promise for detailed thermal-conductivity analysis.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are developing a solid composite material to help cool small, powerful microelectronics used in defense systems. The new material is composed of silver and diamond.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new composite material could help cool high-power electronics."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-02-28 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:18","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-02-28T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-02-28T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"64680":{"id":"64680","type":"image","title":"Silver-diamond composite materials","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894569","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:49","alt":"Silver-diamond composite materials","file":{"fid":"192067","name":"tlk30065.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlk30065_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlk30065_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1566428,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tlk30065_0.jpg?itok=2GrGCacw"}},"64681":{"id":"64681","type":"image","title":"Diamond materials","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894569","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:49","alt":"Diamond materials","file":{"fid":"192068","name":"tis30065.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tis30065_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tis30065_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1387493,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tis30065_0.jpg?itok=xW6H8EfD"}},"64682":{"id":"64682","type":"image","title":"Diamond material","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894569","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:49","alt":"Diamond material","file":{"fid":"192069","name":"thg30065.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thg30065_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thg30065_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":662179,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thg30065_0.jpg?itok=XTk8hD5C"}}},"media_ids":["64680","64681","64682"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12178","name":"composite"},{"id":"437","name":"cooling"},{"id":"1366","name":"defense"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"12176","name":"Jason Nadler"},{"id":"2832","name":"microelectronics"},{"id":"171070","name":"silver-diamond"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"64241":{"#nid":"64241","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Work Toward Automating Sedation in Intensive Care Units","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Northeast Georgia Medical Center are one step closer to their goal of automating the management of sedation in hospital intensive care units (ICUs). They have developed control algorithms that use clinical data to accurately determine a patient\u0027s level of sedation and can notify medical staff if there is a change in the level.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022ICU nurses have one of the most task-laden jobs in medicine and typically take care of multiple patients at the same time, so if we can use control system technology to automate the task of sedation, patient safety will be enhanced and drug delivery will improve in the ICU,\u0022 said James Bailey, the chief medical informatics officer at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga. Bailey is also a certified anesthesiologist and intensive care specialist. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring a presentation at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, the researchers reported on their analysis of more than 15,000 clinical measurements from 366 ICU patients they classified as \u0022agitated\u0022 or \u0022not agitated.\u0022 Agitation is a measure of the level of patient sedation. The algorithm returned the same results as the assessment by hospital staff 92 percent of the time.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Manual sedation control can be tedious, imprecise, time-consuming and sometimes of poor quality, depending on the skills and judgment of the ICU nurse,\u0022 said Wassim Haddad, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering. \u0022Ultimately, we envision an automated system in which the ICU nurse evaluates the ICU patient, enters the patient\u0027s sedation level into a controller, which then adjusts the sedative dosing regimen to maintain sedation at the desired level by continuously collecting and analyzing quantitative clinical data on the patient.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis project is supported in part by the U.S. Army. On the battlefield, military physicians sometimes face demanding critical care situations and the use of advanced control technologies is essential for extending the capabilities of the health care system to handle large numbers of injured soldiers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking with Haddad and Bailey on this project are Allen Tannenbaum and Behnood Gholami.  Tannenbaum holds a joint appointment as the Julian Hightower Chair in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, while Gholami is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis research builds on Haddad and Bailey\u0027s previous work automating anesthesia in hospital operating rooms. The adaptive control algorithms developed by Haddad and Bailey control the infusion of an anesthetic drug agent in order to maintain a desired constant level of depth of anesthesia during surgery in the operating room. Clinical trial results that will be published in the March issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EIEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology \u003C\/em\u003Edemonstrate excellent regulation of unconsciousness allowing for a safe and effective administration of an anesthetic agent. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECritically ill patients in the ICU frequently require invasive monitoring and other support that can lead to anxiety, agitation and pain. Sedation is essential for the comfort and safety of these patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The challenge in developing closed-loop control systems for sedating critically ill patients is finding the appropriate performance variable or variables that measure the level of sedation of a patient, in turn allowing an automated controller to provide adequate sedation without oversedation,\u0022 said Gholami.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the ICU, the researchers used information detailing each patient\u0027s facial expression, gross motor movement, response to a potentially noxious stimulus, heart rate and blood pressure stability, noncardiac sympathetic stability, and nonverbal pain scale to determine a level of sedation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers classified the clinical data for each variable into categories. For example, a patient\u0027s facial expression was categorized as \u0022relaxed,\u0022 \u0022grimacing and moaning,\u0022 or \u0022grimacing and crying.\u0022 A patient\u0027s noncardiac sympathetic stability was classified as \u0022warm and dry skin,\u0022 \u0022flushed and sweaty,\u0022 or \u0022pale and sweaty.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey also recorded each patient\u0027s score on the motor activity and assessment scale (MAAS), which is used by clinicians to evaluate level of sedation on a scale of zero to six. In the MAAS system, a score of zero represents an \u0022unresponsive patient,\u0022 three represents a \u0022calm and cooperative patient,\u0022 and six represents a \u0022dangerously agitated patient.\u0022 The MAAS score is subjective and can result in inconsistencies and variability in sedation administration.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a Bayesian network, the researchers used the clinical data to compute the probability that a patient was agitated. Twelve-thousand measurements collected from patients admitted to the ICU at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center between during a one-year period were used to train the Bayesian network and the remaining 3,000 were used to test it. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 18 percent of the test cases, the computer classified a patient as \u0022agitated\u0022 but the MAAS score described the same patient as \u0022not agitated.\u0022 In five percent of the test cases, the computer classified a patient as \u0022not agitated,\u0022 whereas the MAAS score indicated \u0022agitated.\u0022 These probabilities signify an 18 percent false-positive rate and a five percent false-negative rate.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This level of performance would allow a significant reduction in the workload of the intensive care unit nurse, but it would in no way replace the nurse as the ultimate judge of the adequacy of sedation,\u0022 said Bailey. \u0022However, by relieving the nurse of some of the work associated with titration of sedation, it would allow the nurse to better focus on other aspects of his or her demanding job.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers\u0027 next step toward closed-loop control of sedation in the ICU will be to continuously collect clinical data from ICU patients in real time. Future work will involve the development of objective techniques for assessing ICU sedation using movement, facial expression and responsiveness to stimuli.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDigital imaging will be used to assess a patient\u0027s facial expression and also gross motor movement. In a study published in the June 2010 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/em\u003E, the researchers showed that machine learning methods could be used to assess the level of pain in patients using facial expressions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We will explore the relationship between the data we can extract from these multiple sensors and the subjective clinical MAAS score,\u0022 said Haddad. \u0022We will then use the knowledge we have gained in developing feedback control algorithms for anesthesia dosage levels in the operating room to develop an expert system to automate drug dosage in the ICU.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis project is supported in part by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command (Grant No. 08108002). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator (Wassim Haddad) and does not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Army.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Computer System for Evaluating Sedation Level Shows Strong Agreement with Clinical Assessment"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers are a step closer to automating sedation in hospital intensive care units. They have developed control algorithms that use clinical data to accurately determine a patient\u0027s level of sedation and can notify medical staff if the level changes.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers step closer to automating sedation in hospital ICUs"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2011-02-12 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:10","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-02-14T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-02-14T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"64242":{"id":"64242","type":"image","title":"Haddad\/Tannenbaum\/Gholami","body":null,"created":"1449176735","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:05:35","changed":"1475894564","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:44","alt":"Haddad\/Tannenbaum\/Gholami","file":{"fid":"191973","name":"tbh63890.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbh63890_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbh63890_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":963223,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbh63890_0.jpg?itok=CUjwfUw8"}},"64243":{"id":"64243","type":"image","title":"Haddad\/Tannenbaum\/Gholami","body":null,"created":"1449176735","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:05:35","changed":"1475894564","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:44","alt":"Haddad\/Tannenbaum\/Gholami","file":{"fid":"191974","name":"tfd63890.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfd63890_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfd63890_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1179892,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tfd63890_0.jpg?itok=VYJuHp5s"}}},"media_ids":["64242","64243"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/community\/staff\/bio\/haddad-w","title":"Wassim Haddad"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=101","title":"Allen Tannenbaum"},{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1109\/TCST.2010.2042810","title":"IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1109\/TBME.2009.2039214","title":"IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering paper"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"11910","name":"Agitation"},{"id":"11901","name":"Allen Tannenbaum"},{"id":"7780","name":"anesthesia"},{"id":"11905","name":"automated anesthesia"},{"id":"11907","name":"automated sedation"},{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"11911","name":"closed-loop control system"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"11903","name":"control algorithm"},{"id":"11904","name":"Intensive Care Unit"},{"id":"11913","name":"Maas"},{"id":"11912","name":"motor activity and assessment scale"},{"id":"11908","name":"Nurse"},{"id":"11909","name":"Nurse Anesthesia"},{"id":"171061","name":"Sedation"},{"id":"11902","name":"Wassim Haddad"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"62918":{"#nid":"62918","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Simple, Efficient Wing-Flapping Motion Proposed for Tiny Air Machines","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, tiny air vehicles may be able to fly through cracks in concrete to search for earthquake victims, explore a contaminated building or conduct surveillance missions for the military. But today, designing the best flying mechanism for these miniature aerial machines is still a challenging task. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECreating micro-scale air vehicles that mimic the flapping of winged insects or birds has become popular, but they typically require a complex combination of pitching and plunging motions to oscillate the flapping wings. To avoid some of the design challenges involved in mimicking insect wing strokes, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology propose using flexible wings that are driven by a simple sinusoidal flapping motion. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We found that the simple up and down wavelike stroke of wings at the resonance frequency is easier to implement and generates lift comparable to winged insects that employ a significantly more complex stroke,\u0022 said Alexander Alexeev, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Mechanical Engineering.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDetails of the flapping motion proposed by Alexeev and mechanical engineering graduate student Hassan Masoud were presented on Nov. 22 at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics. A paper published in the May issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review E\u003C\/em\u003E also reported on this work, which is supported in part by the National Science Foundation through TeraGrid computational resources.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/maximum_lift.mov\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWatch a movie that illustrates the resonance oscillations of a flexible wing at the maximum lift frequency.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn nature, flapping-wing flight has unparalleled maneuverability, agility and hovering capability. Unlike fixed-wing and rotary-wing air vehicles, micro air vehicles integrate lifting, thrusting and hanging into a flapping wing system, and have the ability to cruise a long distance with a small energy supply. However, significant technical challenges exist in designing flapping wings, many motivated by an incomplete understanding of the physics associated with aerodynamics of flapping flight at small size scales.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you want to create smaller and smaller vehicles, the aerodynamics change a lot and modeling becomes important,\u0022 said Alexeev. \u0022We tried to gain insight into the flapping aerodynamics by using computational models and identifying the aerodynamic forces necessary to drive these very small flying machines.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlexeev and Masoud used three-dimensional computer simulations to examine for the first time the lift and hovering aerodynamics of flexible wings driven at resonance by sinusoidal oscillations. The wings were tilted from the horizontal and oscillated vertically by a force applied at the wing root. To capture the dynamic interactions between the wings and their environment, the researchers used a hybrid computational approach that integrated the lattice Boltzmann model for fluid dynamics and the lattice spring model for the mechanics of elastic wings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe simulations revealed that at resonance -- the frequencies when a system oscillates at larger amplitudes -- tilted elastic wings driven by a simple harmonic stroke generated lift comparable to that of small insects that employ a significantly more complex stroke. In addition, the simulations identified one flapping regime that enabled maximum lift and another that revealed maximum efficiency. The efficiency was maximized at a flapping frequency 30 percent higher than the frequency for maximized lift.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This information could be useful for regulating the flight of flapping-wing micro air vehicles since high lift is typically needed only during takeoff, while the enhanced aerodynamic efficiency is essential for a long-distance cruise flight,\u0022 noted Masoud.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo facilitate the design of practical micro-scale air vehicles that employ resonance flapping, the researchers plan to examine how flapping wings can be effectively controlled in different flow conditions including unsteady gusty environments. They are also investigating whether wings with non-uniform structural and mechanical properties and wings driven by an asymmetric stroke may further improve the resonance performance of flapping wings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"To avoid some of the design challenges involved in creating micro-scale air vehicles that mimic the flapping of winged insects or birds, Georgia Tech researchers propose using flexible wings that are driven by a simple sinusoidal flapping motion.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers propose flexible wings for micro air vehicles."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2010-11-22 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:50","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-11-22T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-11-22T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62919":{"id":"62919","type":"image","title":"Alexander Alexeev and Hassan Masoud","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Alexander Alexeev and Hassan Masoud","file":{"fid":"191608","name":"ttr40795.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttr40795_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttr40795_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":992951,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttr40795_0.jpg?itok=0DSFdy97"}},"62920":{"id":"62920","type":"image","title":"Alexander Alexeev","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Alexander Alexeev","file":{"fid":"191609","name":"tsp40795.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsp40795_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsp40795_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1352749,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tsp40795_0.jpg?itok=Kxps-Tmx"}}},"media_ids":["62919","62920"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.81.056304","title":"Physical Review E paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/alexeev.shtml","title":"Alexander Alexeev"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/","title":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11333","name":"flapping wings"},{"id":"11332","name":"flexible wings"},{"id":"11334","name":"lattice Boltzmann"},{"id":"11335","name":"lattice spring"},{"id":"11329","name":"micro air vehicle"},{"id":"2122","name":"oscillation"},{"id":"7106","name":"resonance"},{"id":"171048","name":"sinusoidal oscillation"},{"id":"11330","name":"Wings"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"62994":{"#nid":"62994","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Project Pioneers Silicon-Germanium for Space Electronics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA five-year project led by the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a novel approach to space electronics that could change how space vehicles and instruments are designed. The new capabilities are based on silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology, which can produce electronics that are highly resistant to both wide temperature variations and space radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETitled \u0022SiGe Integrated Electronics for Extreme Environments,\u0022 the $12 million, 63-month project was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In addition to Georgia Tech, the 11-member team included academic researchers from the University of Arkansas, Auburn University, University of Maryland, University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University. Also involved in the project were BAE Systems, Boeing Co., IBM Corp., Lynguent Inc. and NASA\u0027s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The team\u0027s overall task was to develop an end-to-end solution for NASA -- a tested infrastructure that includes everything needed to design and build extreme-environment electronics for space missions,\u0022 said John Cressler, who is a Ken Byers Professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Cressler served as principal investigator and overall team leader for the project. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA paper on the project findings will appear in December in \u003Cem\u003EIEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability, 2010\u003C\/em\u003E. During the past five years, work done under the project has resulted in some 125 peer-reviewed publications. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnique Capabilities\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESiGe alloys combine silicon, the most common microchip material, with germanium at nanoscale dimensions. The result is a robust material that offers important gains in toughness, speed and flexibility. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat robustness is crucial to silicon-germanium\u0027s ability to function in space without bulky radiation shields or large, power-hungry temperature control devices. Compared to conventional approaches, SiGe electronics can provide major reductions in weight, size, complexity, power and cost, as well as increased reliability and adaptability. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our team used a mature silicon-germanium technology -- IBM\u0027s 0.5 micron SiGe technology -- that was not intended to withstand deep-space conditions,\u0022 Cressler said. \u0022Without changing the composition of the underlying silicon-germanium transistors, we leveraged SiGe\u0027s natural merits to develop new circuit designs -- as well as new approaches to packaging the final circuits -- to produce an electronic system that could reliably withstand the extreme conditions of space.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the end of the project, the researchers supplied NASA with a suite of modeling tools, circuit designs, packaging technologies and system\/subsystem designs, along with guidelines for qualifying those parts for use in space. In addition, the team furnished NASA with a functional prototype -- called a silicon-germanium remote electronics unit (REU) 16-channel general purpose sensor interface. The device was fabricated using silicon-germanium microchips and has been tested successfully in simulated space environments. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA New Paradigm \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAndrew S. Keys, center chief technologist at the Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA program manager, said the now-completed project has moved the task of understanding and modeling silicon-germanium technology to a point where NASA engineers can start using it on actual vehicle designs. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The silicon-germanium extreme environments team was very successful in doing what it set out to do,\u0022 Keys said. \u0022They advanced the state-of-the-art in analog silicon-germanium technology for space use -- a crucial step in developing a new paradigm leading to lighter weight and more capable space vehicle designs.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKeys explained that, at best, most electronics conform to military specifications, meaning they function across a temperature range of minus-55 degrees Celsius to plus-125 degrees Celsius. But electronics in deep space are typically exposed to far greater temperature ranges, as well as to damaging radiation. The Moon\u0027s surface cycles between plus-120 Celsius during the lunar day to minus-180 Celsius at night. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe silicon-germanium electronics developed by the extreme environments team has been shown to function reliably throughout that entire plus-120 to minus-180 Celsius range. It is also highly resistant or immune to various types of radiation. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe conventional approach to protecting space electronics, developed in the 1960s, involves bulky metal boxes that shield devices from radiation and temperature extremes, Keys explained. Designers must place most electronics in a protected, temperature controlled central location and then connect them via long and heavy cables to sensors or other external devices. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy eliminating the need for most shielding and special cables, silicon-germanium technology helps reduce the single biggest problem in space launches -- weight. Moreover, robust SiGe circuits can be placed wherever designers want, which helps eliminate data errors caused by impedance variations in lengthy wiring schemes. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For instance, the Mars Exploration Rovers, which are no bigger than a golf cart, use several kilometers of cable that lead into a warm box,\u0022 Keys said. \u0022If we can move most of those electronics out to where the sensors are on the robot\u0027s extremities, that will reduce cabling, weight, complexity and energy use significantly.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Collaborative Effort\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENASA currently rates the new SiGe electronics at a technology readiness level of six, which means the circuits have been integrated into a subsystem and tested in a relevant environment. The next step, level seven, involves integrating the SiGe circuits into a vehicle for space flight testing. At level eight, a new technology is mature enough to be integrated into a full mission vehicle, and at level nine the technology is used by missions on a regular basis. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuccessful collaboration was an important part of the silicon-germanium team\u0027s effectiveness, Keys said. He remarked that he had \u0022never seen such a diverse team work together so well.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Alan Mantooth, who led a large University of Arkansas contingent involved in modeling and circuit-design tasks, agreed. He called the project \u0022the most successful collaboration that I\u0027ve been a part of.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMantooth termed the extreme-electronics project highly useful in the education mission of the participating universities. He noted that a total of 82 students from six universities worked on the project over five years. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERichard W. Berger, a BAE Systems senior systems architect who collaborated on the project, also praised the student contributions. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027\u0022To be working both in analog and digital, miniaturizing, and developing extreme-temperature and radiation tolerance all at the same time -- that\u0027s not what you\u0027d call the average student design project,\u0022 Berger said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMiniaturizing an Architecture\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBAE Systems\u0027 contribution to the project included providing the basic architecture for the remote electronics unit (REU) sensor interface prototype developed by the team. That architecture came from a previous electronics generation: the now cancelled Lockheed Martin X-33 Spaceplane initially designed in the 1990s. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the original X-33 design, Berger explained, each sensor interface used an assortment of sizeable analog parts for the front end signal receiving section. That section was supported by a digital microprocessor, memory chips and an optical bus interface -- all housed in a protective five-pound box. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe extreme environments team transformed the bulky X-33 design into a miniaturized sensor interface, utilizing silicon germanium. The resulting SiGe device weighs about 200 grams and requires no temperature or radiation shielding. Large numbers of these robust, lightweight REU units could be mounted on spacecraft or data-gathering devices close to sensors, reducing size, weight, power and reliability issues. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBerger said that BAE Systems is interested in manufacturing a sensor interface device based on the extreme environment team\u0027s discoveries. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther space-oriented companies are also pursuing the new silicon-germanium technology, Cressler said. NASA, he explained, wants the intellectual-property barriers to the technology to be low so that it can be used widely. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The idea is to make this infrastructure available to all interested parties,\u0022 he said. \u0022That way it could be used for any electronics assembly -- an instrument, a spacecraft, an orbital platform, lunar-surface applications, Titan missions \u2013 wherever it can be helpful. In fact, the process of defining such an NASA mission-insertion roadmap is currently in progress.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Cressler (404-894-5161)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:cressler@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecressler@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA five-year project led by the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a novel approach to space electronics that could change how space vehicles and instruments are designed. The new capabilities are based on silicon-germanium technology.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Silicon-germanium could change electronics for space vehicles."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-11-30 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:50","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62995":{"id":"62995","type":"image","title":"Testing silicon-germanium devices","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Testing silicon-germanium devices","file":{"fid":"191695","name":"tgw42582.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tgw42582_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tgw42582_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1286570,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tgw42582_0.jpg?itok=qcJ3-ijx"}},"62996":{"id":"62996","type":"image","title":"Prototype device developed for NASA","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Prototype device developed for NASA","file":{"fid":"191696","name":"tux42582.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tux42582_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tux42582_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1909829,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tux42582_0.jpg?itok=sCncmhia"}},"62997":{"id":"62997","type":"image","title":"Testing silicon-germanium devices","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Testing silicon-germanium devices","file":{"fid":"191697","name":"tny42582.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tny42582_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tny42582_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1323499,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tny42582_0.jpg?itok=05Dz6szA"}}},"media_ids":["62995","62996","62997"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=123","title":"John Cressler"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"609","name":"electronics"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"7617","name":"radiation"},{"id":"170841","name":"silicon-germanium"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"62371":{"#nid":"62371","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Design Would Let Commercial Jets Use Shorter Runways","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch underway at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) could enable fixed-wing jet aircraft to take off and land at steep angles on short runways, while also reducing engine noise heard on the ground. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAirplanes of this type -- called cruise-efficient, short take-off and landing (CESTOL) aircraft -- could use runways at much smaller airports, allowing expansion of commercial jet service to many more locations. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEnabling commercial jets to take off and land in ever-shorter distances is an ongoing goal for aircraft designers, and several approaches are under development. GTRI\u0027s research could result in a CESTOL aircraft comparable to a Boeing 737 in size, with a similar ability to carry 100 passengers at up to 600 miles per hour. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022To take off or land on a short runway, an aircraft needs to be able to fly very slowly near the runway,\u0022 said Robert J. Englar, a principal research engineer who is leading the GTRI effort. \u0022The problem is that flying slowly decreases the lift available for taking off and landing. What\u0027s needed is a powered-lift approach that combines low air speed with the increased lift capability required for successful CESTOL operation.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work is part of the NASA Hybrid Wing-Body Low-Noise ESTOL Program. This four-year program, funded by NASA and led by California Polytechnic State University, includes GTRI and several other team members. GTRI\u0027s current work involves leadership of the aerodynamic and acoustic design for the program, along with development of large-scale models that will be used for wind-tunnel testing at government facilities. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the heart of GTRI\u0027s powered-lift design is circulation control wing -- also known as blown-wing -- technology. In this type of system, high-speed jets of air are directed over the upper surface of the wings during take-off and landing, creating an unprecedented lift capability. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our design has to incorporate several trade-offs, yet the entire wing-engine powered-lift system has to perform all of its functions well,\u0022 said Englar, who leads the aerodynamics portion of GTRI\u0027s work. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpecifically, he said, the new design must: \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Generate a high degree of lift on take-off and landing to allow short ground rolls and steep climb-out or approach flight angles; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Yield lower drag at cruising speeds to achieve good fuel efficiency; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Simplify the wing and downsize it for more-efficient cruise performance; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Produce noise levels that are lower than a conventional passenger jet; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Be less complex overall than conventional designs. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo satisfy those requirements, the GTRI team placed turbo-fan engines above the wing of the conceptual CESTOL aircraft, rather than below the wing as on most commercial aircraft, explained Rick Gaeta, a former GTRI senior research engineer who had led the acoustic portion of the research. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver-the-wing placement is a key design element because it enables very high lift while still providing the engine thrust necessary for take-off and high-speed level flight. It also offers important reduced-noise benefits. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBased on this engine placement, the team\u0027s powered-lift design maximizes performance using several interrelated elements: \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENovel Blown-Wing Design\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn most fixed-wing aircraft, Englar explains, the upper surface of the wing is curved. That curvature forces air to flow faster over the top of the wing, which reduces pressure on the upper surface of the wing, increasing wing lift. Mechanical flaps increase aft curvature, enlarging the wing during take-off and landing, and augmenting lift by deflecting the ambient wind stream flowing over the wing. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the lift generated by conventional wings isn\u0027t sufficient for the low flight speeds and steep ascents and descents required by CESTOL aircraft. The essential element in such extreme lift is circulation control \/ blown-wing technology. This approach can far exceed mechanical flaps in achieving high lift coefficient (a lift coefficient is a number that relates an aircraft\u0027s total lift to its wing area and flight speed). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI team has designed a blown wing that is relatively simple mechanically. Unlike a conventional wing, which uses multiple flap elements, GTRI\u0027s design uses only one small, relatively simple flap. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, that single wing flap is used in tandem with a novel element based on circulation-control technology. A narrow slot, capable of pneumatically blowing out air, runs along the entire trailing edge of each wing, just above the flap. This system is powered by its own compressed air source located inside the wing. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe wing flap, which forms a sharp trailing edge during level flight to reduce drag, rotates downward on take-off and landing. When thus rotated, it forms a highly curved aft surface; then air from the slot can be blown over that curved surface to generate high lift. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis procedure, called flap-blowing, performs two functions: it increases air velocity over the top of the wing, and it deflects the ambient wind stream downward so that it curls under the wing. The combined forces generate a lift coefficient that can be two to four times higher than a conventional mechanical flap. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEntraining Jet Exhaust\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo achieve even higher lift than flap-blowing alone, the GTRI design takes advantage of an additional phenomenon -- the interaction between the air coming from the wing slot and the exhaust of the plane\u0027s over-the-wing jet engines. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring take-off and landing, air flow from the slot interacts with the engine exhaust and pulls this powerful exhaust blast down onto the wing. This process, called entraining the exhaust, greatly increases the velocity of the air passing over the wing and results in highly augmented upward suction and lift. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This strategy allows an aircraft to be flying at a very low speed, while the wing is seeing much higher relative wind speeds on its curved upper surface due to this blowing and thrust-entraining combination,\u0022 Englar said. \u0022We have measured lift coefficients between 8.0 and 10.0 on these pneumatic powered-lift wings at a level flight condition during testing. The normal lift coefficient on a conventional wing at a similar flight condition is less than 1.0.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReduced Noise\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe benefit of an above-the-wing engine configuration is not limited to providing good short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance. It also provides two potential sources of noise reduction: engine-noise shielding and reduced noise footprint in the community. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGaeta explains the noise-shielding issue by noting that today\u0027s commercial jets have their engines under the wings. During take-off and approach, a great deal of noise from these jets propagates downward unimpeded, while engine sound that does travel upward bounces off the wing and then reflects downward. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By putting the noise source above the wing, there is the potential to shield the ground from engine noise, at least partially,\u0022 Gaeta said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe critical design choice in noise shielding involves where to place the engine relative to the wing, he explained. Closer to the wing helps take-off and landing performance, but it increases noise due to viscous rubbing of the jet exhaust stream acting along the wing upper surface. Further away from the wing is better from a noise perspective, but not as effective for take-off and landing performance. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFinally, to the extent that placing the engine above the wing can shield exhaust noise, the engine needs to be placed as far forward as possible because maximum jet noise occurs at the exhaust exit, Gaeta said. Moreover, all of these design choices must not detract from the crucial issue of cruise performance. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe very nature of a STOL flight trajectory -- steep takeoff and approach angles -- offers another potential noise benefit. This trajectory keeps much of the offending noise closer to the airport environs. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExplained Gaeta: \u0022By virtue of steeper takeoff and approach angles, the STOL aircraft can potentially keep its most offending noise within the airport boundary because it is farther from the ground when it passes over communities.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Putting Engines Atop Wings Would Also Reduce Noise"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch underway at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) could enable fixed-wing jet aircraft to take off and land at steep angles on short runways, while also reducing engine noise heard on the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Jet aircraft could use shorter runways, thanks to a new design."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-10-26 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:38","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-10-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-10-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62372":{"id":"62372","type":"image","title":"Wind tunnel testing of concept","body":null,"created":"1449176369","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:29","changed":"1475894541","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:21","alt":"Wind tunnel testing of concept","file":{"fid":"191456","name":"tux28989.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tux28989_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tux28989_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1489014,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tux28989_0.jpg?itok=uksHsym8"}},"62373":{"id":"62373","type":"image","title":"Rendering of proposed CESTOL aircraft.","body":null,"created":"1449176369","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:29","changed":"1475894541","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:21","alt":"Rendering of proposed CESTOL aircraft.","file":{"fid":"191457","name":"ttl28989.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttl28989_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttl28989_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":146620,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttl28989_0.jpg?itok=C4A_gh-J"}},"62374":{"id":"62374","type":"image","title":"Wind tunnel testing of concept","body":null,"created":"1449176369","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:29","changed":"1475894541","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:21","alt":"Wind tunnel testing of concept","file":{"fid":"191458","name":"tzy29122.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tzy29122_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tzy29122_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1269188,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tzy29122_0.jpg?itok=YGqs6IEJ"}}},"media_ids":["62372","62373","62374"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11068","name":"CESTOL"},{"id":"9104","name":"Jet"},{"id":"1519","name":"landing"},{"id":"11069","name":"lift"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"11071","name":"runway"},{"id":"11070","name":"wing"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"60238":{"#nid":"60238","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech-Led Team Authors Comprehensive New Radar Technology Book","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team consisting primarily of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology has completed a new book on radar technology aimed at both students and professionals. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe book, \u003Cem\u003EPrinciples of Modern Radar: Basic Principles\u003C\/em\u003E, was authored by 15 radar engineers and scientists -- 12 of whom are associated or formerly associated with Georgia Tech. The 960-page work, published by SciTech Publishing Inc., was edited by Georgia Tech researchers Mark A. Richards, James A. Scheer and William A. Holm. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The genesis of this publication can be found in the highly-respected Georgia Tech professional education short course entitled Principles of Modern Radar, which was first offered over 40 years ago,\u0022 said Holm, a principal research scientist with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the associate vice provost for Distance Learning and Professional Education at Georgia Tech. \u0022This book will be used to support that course, or any course that offers a complete, comprehensive introduction to radar technology.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new work, he added, should not be confused with a 1987 text, also entitled \u003Cem\u003EPrinciples of Modern Radar \u003C\/em\u003Eand written by some of the same authors. The current publication is an entirely new effort handled by a different publisher. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Radar technology has progressed very extensively during the last 20 years,\u0022 said Richards, who is a principal research engineer in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the book\u0027s editor-in-chief. \u0022The action today is in signal processing \u2013 that\u0027s where the technology has developed most significantly.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConsequently, he said, the new book provides an extensive treatment of signal processing along with thorough overviews of radar technology, subsystems and phenomenology. It also covers such cutting-edge transmitter-receiver technologies as phased-array radars and radar exciters. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScheer noted that \u003Cem\u003EPrinciples of Modern Radar: Basic Principles\u003C\/em\u003E is actually the first of a two-volume series. A volume on advanced radar concepts, largely by the same team of authors, is expected to be published by SciTech in 2011. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The rapid evolution of hardware computing power has enabled software signal-processing techniques that can do so much more with a given radar signal, and this new work reflects that tremendous change,\u0022 said Scheer, a retired GTRI engineer who continues to work and teach at Georgia Tech. \u0022I would call it a comprehensive presentation of radar technology that also contains a relatively high level of signal-processing content. It can serve as a basic-principles text for radar courses or as a reference for practicing engineers.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the three editors, chapter contributors for \u003Cem\u003EPrinciples of Modern Radar: Basic Principles \u003C\/em\u003Einclude: Christopher Bailey, GTRI; William Dale Blair, GTRI: Joseph A. Bruder, GTRI; Nicholas C. Currie, GTRI; Randy J. Jost, Utah State University; Byron M. Keel, GTRI; David G. Long, Brigham Young University; Jay Saffold, Research Network Inc., formerly with GTRI; Paul E. Schmid, Engineering Systems Inc.; John Shaeffer, formerly with GTRI; Gregory A. Showman, GTRI, and Tracy Wallace, GTRI. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore information on \u003Cem\u003EPrinciples of Modern Radar: Basic Principles \u003C\/em\u003Ecan be found on the Web at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.scitechpub.com\/pomr\/\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.scitechpub.com\/pomr\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.scitechpub.com\/pomr\/\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team consisting primarily of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology has completed a new book on radar technology aimed at both students and professionals.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new book on radar technology captures Georgia Tech expertise."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-07-27 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"60239":{"id":"60239","type":"image","title":"Authors of radar book","body":null,"created":"1449176253","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:33","changed":"1475894523","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:03","alt":"Authors of radar book","file":{"fid":"191081","name":"tkx83377.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tkx83377_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tkx83377_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":982282,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tkx83377_0.jpg?itok=QS7p78-p"}},"60240":{"id":"60240","type":"image","title":"Authors of radar book","body":null,"created":"1449176253","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:33","changed":"1475894523","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:03","alt":"Authors of radar book","file":{"fid":"191082","name":"teo83377.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teo83377_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teo83377_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1185111,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/teo83377_0.jpg?itok=PT3Fb8sa"}}},"media_ids":["60239","60240"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2621","name":"radar"},{"id":"623","name":"Technology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"62112":{"#nid":"62112","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Two Robotic Aircraft \u0026 Ground Vehicle Collaborate at Rodeo","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are showing the U.S. Army an advanced approach to enabling autonomous collaboration among dissimilar robotic vehicles. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI system, called the Collaborative Unmanned Systems Technology Demonstrator (CUSTD), employs two small-scale aircraft and a full-size automobile to perform a complex, interactive mission without human intervention. The demonstration system uses onboard computers running advanced collaborative-vehicle software -- along with novel sensors and open standards-based communications and interfaces -- to create an autonomous system with unique capabilities. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u0027s CUSTD system will take part in Robotics Rodeo 2010, scheduled for Oct. 12-15 at Fort Benning, Ga. The Rodeo is hosted by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), based near Detroit. A number of invited robotic-research teams will demonstrate their work at the event. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We believe our system represents the leading edge of demonstrating collaborative autonomous vehicle capabilities,\u0022 said Lora Weiss, a principal research engineer who is a member of GTRI\u0027s Unmanned and Autonomous Systems team. \u0022This system demonstrates not only the collaborative interoperability possible among dissimilar vehicles, but also the numerous sensing technologies that can be included onboard as interchangeable payloads -- chemical and infrared sensors, still and video cameras, and sophisticated signal- and data-processing.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI system uses two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have nine-foot wingspans, seven-pound scientific-instrument payloads, and global positioning systems (GPS) for navigation. The unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is a full-size Porsche Cayenne. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe aircraft require human guidance during takeoff, but while aloft they become autonomous for both navigation and target-locating tasks. The Porsche -- the same \u201cSting\u201d vehicle entered by Georgia Tech in the DARPA Urban Challenge -- is fully autonomous. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The vehicles\u0027 very dissimilarity helps them collaborate effectively,\u0022 said Charles Pippin, a GTRI research scientist who led the CUSTD effort. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFast-moving unmanned air vehicles, he explained, can find targets over a wide area, but their altitude and the limitations of their lightweight sensors can lessen the quality of gathered data. However, the UAVs can call in an unmanned ground vehicle -- equipped with large, complex sensors and cameras -- to analyze the target location more fully. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPersonnel from several GTRI units have participated in the CUSTD effort, said Pippin, who like Weiss is a member of GTRI\u0027s Unmanned and Autonomous Systems team. CUSTD\u0027s current capabilities are based on extensive research and testing, including more than 50 test flights conducted at Fort Benning and other locations throughout the past year. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA demonstration opportunity such as the Robotics Rodeo, Pippin said, allows researchers to dramatize how well multiple autonomous robots can now collaborate. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s hard to illustrate the effectiveness of collaborative interoperability and autonomy algorithms in a simulation,\u0022 he said. \u0022When onlookers see the technology demonstrated on hardware platforms, then it becomes very real.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a typical CUSTD scenario, the two aircraft search for an existing target over a wide area. When one plane spots the target, it radios its location using GPS coordinates to the unmanned ground vehicle, which then finds its way around buildings and along roads to the target. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, the unmanned air vehicle over the target can ask the second aircraft to fly to the target and use its sensors to further analyze the situation. Such flexibility can be important, Pippin said, because UAVs are often outfitted with different sensors due to weight and cost considerations. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne technique that is still under development at GTRI -- and is proving valuable for vehicle collaboration -- is called market-based auctions, Pippin said. This approach uses an \u0022auction\u0022 type of algorithm that lets robotic vehicles \u0022bid\u0022 on a given task. Using this method, unmanned vehicles can autonomously divide up work on the spot in the most efficient way. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn an auction-technology scenario, an unmanned air vehicle over a target might send out a bid to other nearby UAVs, asking which among those airplanes that are outfitted with a particular sensor is closest to the target. The UAV that best complies with both requirements \u2013 equipment and proximity -- wins the bid. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a GTRI experiment, unmanned air vehicles using a market-based approach reduced the travel required to complete a task by nearly 50 percent. The result was a substantial saving in both time and fuel. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWeiss explained that GTRI\u0027s CUSTD system is standards compliant, an important consideration in current defense-technology development. All GTRI autonomous-system designs now comply with the Standard Interface of the Unmanned Control System for NATO UAV interoperability (STANAG 4586) and with the Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) scripting language. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By developing these systems to be STANAG and JAUS compliant, we\u0027re building in future interoperability with other unmanned systems produced by different vendors,\u0022 Weiss said. \u0022If upcoming systems are going to be able to communicate, as well as operate with the control-system designs now being developed, they\u2019ll need to be standards compliant.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe CUSTD system also makes use of FalconView\u2122, a Windows-based mapping application developed by GTRI for the Department of Defense. FalconView supports many map types, such as aeronautical charts, satellite images and elevation maps. FalconView can be used by a ground-based station to monitor and control the system. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the past several years, GTRI has been bringing autonomous vehicle research under one umbrella that includes all aspects of systems-payload, sensor, autonomy logic and collaborative operations. Research now also includes unmanned underwater vehicles and space vehicles. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Robotics Rodeo will consist of two separate events. The Extravaganza is open to the public. The Robotic Technology Observation, Demonstration and Discussion (RTOD2), closed to the public, allows research teams to demonstrate their technologies to government observers and contractors. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30318 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are showing the U.S. Army an advanced approach to enabling autonomous collaboration among dissimilar robotic vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Engineers are demonstrating collaboration of air \u0026 ground vehicles."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-10-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:04:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-10-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-10-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62113":{"id":"62113","type":"image","title":"Three robotic vehicles","body":null,"created":"1449176355","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:15","changed":"1475894471","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:11","alt":"Three robotic vehicles","file":{"fid":"191398","name":"tbg15582.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbg15582_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbg15582_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":412588,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbg15582_0.jpg?itok=xbp7R82G"}},"62114":{"id":"62114","type":"image","title":"Inspecting robotic aircraft","body":null,"created":"1449176355","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:15","changed":"1475894471","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:11","alt":"Inspecting robotic aircraft","file":{"fid":"191399","name":"tiq15582.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiq15582_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiq15582_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1311341,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tiq15582_0.jpg?itok=NhfUcQGA"}},"62115":{"id":"62115","type":"image","title":"Preflight inspection of aircraft","body":null,"created":"1449176355","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:15","changed":"1475894481","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:21","alt":"Preflight inspection of aircraft","file":{"fid":"191400","name":"tbv15582.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbv15582_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbv15582_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1516289,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbv15582_0.jpg?itok=8lHk_DuU"}}},"media_ids":["62113","62114","62115"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"},{"id":"10939","name":"collaborate"},{"id":"2552","name":"robotic"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72267":{"#nid":"72267","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Digital Process Provides Better Aircraft Warnings","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have patented a discovery that could significantly increase reliability and reduce cost in equipment that helps protect U.S. military aircraft from attack.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe patent covers a device called a digital crystal video receiver (DCVR), a vital part of the radar warning receiver (RWR) system that alerts an aircraft crew to enemy ground-radar activity.  GTRI researchers Michael J. Willis and Michael L. McGuire, working with Air Force scientist Charlie W. Clark, have patented a way to use digital circuitry to perform many functions formerly allotted to more-problematic analog chips. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESpecifically, the researchers have moved a critical operation -- the logarithmic transfer function -- from the analog to the digital domain. The logarithmic transfer function coordinates the input and output of a radar warning receiver\u0027s signal-processing system. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Electronic analog technologies have a number of error sources and limitations when subjected to the extended temperature range that our military requires,\u0022 said Willis, a principal research engineer with GTRI\u0027s Electronic Systems Laboratory (ELSYS).  \u0022By moving the logarithmic transfer function into the digital signal-processing domain, we\u0027ve improved the stability of the circuit.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnalog circuits, traditionally used to detect real-world phenomena such as sound or temperature, hold a multitude of continuous values across any given range.  By contrast, digital circuits process information in discrete steps governed by the binary code that computers use.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn radar warning receivers, Willis explains, the continuous-scale analog implementation has been difficult to calibrate and maintain. By contrast, the digital domain needs no calibration and is more robust.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe digital version is also far less expensive to manufacture.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Moving the logarithmic transfer function from analog to digital probably reduces production costs of a radar warning receiver by a factor of between five and 10,\u0022 he said. \u0022The cost of the digital video portion could become nearly insignificant in comparison to the cost of the remainder of the RWR system.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new digital crystal video receiver is comprised of an analog-to-digital converter and a programmable logic component.  Together, they\u0027re able to transfer most received analog signals to the more-reliable digital domain. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEarlier crystal video receiver architectures, Willis explains, detected radio-frequency (RF) signals immediately, without intermediate processing.  Such analog \u0022direct-conversion\u0022 receivers often needed multiple receivers to detect radar signals over a range of frequencies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy contrast, the DCVR\u0027s improvements include a capacity to readily detect RF signals through a wide range of frequencies using up-to-date broadband receiver techniques.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EScientists use the word \u0022video\u0022 to describe this technology because the receiver demodulates received radar signals into video waveforms.  The new digital crystal video receiver approach subjects those video waveforms to digital signal processing, producing a digital equivalent with a logarithmic function applied to it to make processing easier.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Adding the word \u0022digital\u0022 to the older term \u0022crystal video receiver\u0022 emphasizes that technology advances have allowed us to overcome many limitations of the older-generation, crystal-based, direct-conversion receivers,\u0022 Willis said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe initial sponsored research involved a radar warning receiver used on a number of U.S. military aircraft, Willis said.  The discovery may have other military applications as well.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECommercial applications are also possible, he said. The discovery could be applied not only to radar warning receivers but to any receiver that requires a logarithmic transfer function.  Thus, it could be used in many types of radios or in other devices that involve signal receiving and processing capabilities. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe recent patent, shared by GTRI and the U.S. government, is significant because it protects the technology.  Still, Willis said, the patent is only another step in an ongoing process leading to field deployment.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, he said, GTRI is studying how to implement the new technology.   He expects it will take two years to complete the design process and transition the final implementation into production.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"GTRI researchers receive patent for radar warning receiver improvement"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have patented a discovery that could significantly increase reliability and reduce cost in equipment that helps protect U.S. military aircraft from attack.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GTRI researchers patent an improved receiver"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-03-08 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72268":{"id":"72268","type":"image","title":"Mike Willis","body":null,"created":"1449177446","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:26","changed":"1475894653","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:13"},"72269":{"id":"72269","type":"image","title":"Mike Willis","body":null,"created":"1449177446","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:26","changed":"1475894653","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:13"}},"media_ids":["72268","72269"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/elsys\/index.html","title":"Electronic Systems Laboratory"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7569","name":"analog"},{"id":"525","name":"military"},{"id":"2621","name":"radar"},{"id":"2027","name":"warning"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46384":{"#nid":"46384","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Learn Why Robots Get Stuck in the Sand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EToday\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New Study Could Help Future Space Robots"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new study takes what may be the first detailed look at the problem of robot locomotion on granular surfaces. Among the study","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study provides details of robot travel on granular surface"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-02-09 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46385":{"id":"46385","type":"image","title":"SandBot","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"SandBot","file":{"fid":"101141","name":"txc17406.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1655382,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg?itok=RtpvrkaR"}},"46386":{"id":"46386","type":"image","title":"SandBot","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"SandBot","file":{"fid":"101142","name":"tih17406.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1259577,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg?itok=NczTdjdi"}}},"media_ids":["46385","46386"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/SandBot.wmv","title":"Video of SandBot (wmv format)"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/dgoldman.html","title":"Daniel Goldman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1357","name":"granular"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"1359","name":"terrain"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46404":{"#nid":"46404","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Aeroacoustics Research Could Quiet Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUnmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are playing increasingly important roles in many fields. Ranging in size from the huge Global Hawk aircraft to hand-held machines, these remotely controlled devices are growing ever more vital to the U.S. armed forces in roles that include surveillance and reconnaissance.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn some instances, UAVs must fly close to their targets to gather data effectively and may evade enemy detection with sophisticated techniques like radar stealth, infrared stealth and special camouflage. Aeroacoustics researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are investigating an additional kind of stealth that could also be vital to these UAVs\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"GTRI Initiative Helps Protect UAVs from Detection"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are helping to protect unmanned aerial vehicles by learning how to control their acoustic emissions.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New research focuses on controlling UAV acoustic emissions"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-01-22 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-01-22T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-01-22T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46405":{"id":"46405","type":"image","title":"Testing UAV acoustics","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Testing UAV acoustics","file":{"fid":"101163","name":"tkp42681.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tkp42681_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tkp42681_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1097043,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tkp42681_0.jpg?itok=xyj1tXeX"}},"46406":{"id":"46406","type":"image","title":"Testing UAV emissions","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Testing UAV emissions","file":{"fid":"101164","name":"tui42681.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tui42681_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tui42681_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1340471,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tui42681_0.jpg?itok=djVc7nqa"}},"46407":{"id":"46407","type":"image","title":"Testing UAV acoustics","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Testing UAV acoustics","file":{"fid":"101165","name":"twu42681.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/twu42681_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/twu42681_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1641142,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/twu42681_0.jpg?itok=Un3qf6Ku"}}},"media_ids":["46405","46406","46407"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1501","name":"acoustic"},{"id":"464","name":"emissions"},{"id":"525","name":"military"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46410":{"#nid":"46410","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Continuous Descent: Saving Fuel and Reducing Noise for Airliners","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAirline passengers arriving in Atlanta on early morning\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Flight Testing Done at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Flight testing has taken place in Atlanta for a new","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new landing technique that saves fuel has been tested in Atlan"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-01-20 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-01-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-01-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46411":{"id":"46411","type":"image","title":"John-Paul Clarke","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"John-Paul Clarke","file":{"fid":"101167","name":"tqc53715.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tqc53715_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tqc53715_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1238223,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tqc53715_0.jpg?itok=z1F5H1B8"}},"46412":{"id":"46412","type":"image","title":"Hartsfield-Jackson airport","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Hartsfield-Jackson airport","file":{"fid":"101168","name":"tsg53715.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsg53715_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsg53715_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":53421,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tsg53715_0.jpg?itok=Dm9UIu1V"}}},"media_ids":["46411","46412"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1520","name":"descent"},{"id":"1521","name":"fuel"},{"id":"1519","name":"landing"},{"id":"1522","name":"noise"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70869":{"#nid":"70869","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Models Predict the Remaining Life of Mechanical, Electronic Equipment","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research at the Georgia Institute of Technology could soon make predicting the degradation and remaining useful life of mechanical and electronic equipment easier and more accurate, while significantly improving maintenance operations and spare parts logistics. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENagi Gebraeel, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has developed models that use data from real-time sensor measurements to calculate and continuously revise the amount of remaining useful life of different engineering systems based on their current condition and health status. These predictions are then integrated with maintenance management and spare parts supply chain policies as part of an autonomous \u0027sense and respond\u0027 logistics paradigm.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Recent advances in sensor technology and wireless communication have enabled us to develop innovative methods for indirectly monitoring the health of different engineering systems,\u0022 said Gebraeel, who started working on this project at the University of Iowa. \u0022This has created an environment with an abundance of data that can be exploited in decision-making processes across different application domains such as manufacturing, aging infrastructure, avionics systems, military equipment, power plants and many others.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGebraeel\u0027s predictive models were detailed during two presentations on October 14 at the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Annual Meeting. Funding for model development was provided by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause Gebraeel\u0027s sensor-driven prognostic models combine general reliability characteristics with real-time condition-based signals, they provide an accurate and comprehensive assessment of a system\u0027s current health status and its future evolution. These accurate predictions are then used to determine the most economical time to order a spare part component and schedule a maintenance replacement by accounting for different costs, including those due to unexpected failures, spare part inventory holding and out-of-stock situations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGebraeel began his research by monitoring the vibration and acoustic emissions signals from rotating machinery, namely bearings. He extracted degradation-based characteristics pertaining to key components on the machinery and used them to develop condition-based signals.  Gebraeel then created stochastic models to characterize the evolution of these condition-based signals and predict the remaining life of these critical components.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter extensive experimentation and testing, results showed that his techniques can potentially reduce the total failure costs and costs associated with running out of spare parts inventory by approximately 55 percent. With such positive results, Gebraeel turned his attention to developing models for electronics. He recently began working with Rockwell Collins to develop adaptive models to estimate the remaining useful life of aircraft electronic components.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Aircraft take off at ambient ground temperatures and quickly reach their cruising altitudes, where the temperatures tend to be below zero,\u0022 explained Gebraeel. \u0022It\u0027s these changes in temperature coupled with inherent vibrations that affect the deterioration and lifetime of electronic equipment.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGebraeel\u0027s goal is to embed his prognostic methodology into key avionic systems so that decisions can be made about whether an aircraft is capable of carrying out a specific mission or if it should be assigned to a shorter mission or grounded.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGebraeel is also working closely with Virginia-based Global Strategic Solutions LLC, which has funding from two U.S. Navy Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. The focus of one of the grants is to advance the development of embedded diagnostics and prognostics to predict the remaining life distributions of electrical power generation systems on board U.S. Naval aircraft. The focus of the second grant is to develop advanced health monitoring and remaining useful life models for aircraft communication, navigation and identification (CNI) avionics systems used on the Joint Strike Fighter.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The long term impact of all of these projects on human safety and maintenance costs will be tremendous, especially in the airline industry,\u0022 noted Gebraeel.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Information linked to spare parts logistics to improve maintenance management"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Research presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting describes an easier and more accurate method to predict the remaining useful life of mechanical and electronic equipment, while significantly improving maintenance operations and spare parts logistics.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Models predict a system\u0027s remaining life and links info to inven"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-10-14 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70870":{"id":"70870","type":"image","title":"Gebraeel Elwany Samy","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43"},"70871":{"id":"70871","type":"image","title":"Joint Strike Fighter","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43"},"70872":{"id":"70872","type":"image","title":"Nagi Gebraeel","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43"}},"media_ids":["70870","70871","70872"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/profile.php?entry=ngebraeel3","title":"Nagi Gebraeel"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/","title":"Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"7154","name":"avionic"},{"id":"684","name":"chain"},{"id":"7153","name":"degradation"},{"id":"4186","name":"electronic"},{"id":"1381","name":"equipment"},{"id":"7149","name":"inventory"},{"id":"2273","name":"life"},{"id":"233","name":"Logistics"},{"id":"7150","name":"maintenance"},{"id":"2834","name":"mechanical"},{"id":"3773","name":"navy"},{"id":"7148","name":"part"},{"id":"7145","name":"prognostic"},{"id":"7151","name":"remaining"},{"id":"167318","name":"sensor"},{"id":"170858","name":"spare"},{"id":"167930","name":"supply"},{"id":"170859","name":"system"},{"id":"7152","name":"useful"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70931":{"#nid":"70931","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Micro Honeycomb Materials Enable New Approach to Sound Reduction","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENoise from commercial and military jet aircraft causes environmental problems for communities near airports, obliging airplanes to follow often complex noise-abatement procedures on takeoff and landing. It can also make aircraft interiors excessively loud.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo address this situation, engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are turning to innovative materials that make possible a new approach to the physics of noise reduction.  They have found that honeycomb-like structures composed of many tiny tubes or channels can reduce sound more effectively than conventional methods.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This approach dissipates acoustic waves by essentially wearing them out,\u0022 said Jason Nadler, a GTRI research engineer.  \u0022It\u0027s a phenomenological shift, fundamentally different from traditional techniques that absorb sound using a more frequency-dependent resonance.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe two-year project is sponsored by EADS North America, the U.S. operating entity of EADS.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMost sound-deadening materials - such as foams or other cellular materials comprising many small cavities - exploit the fact that acoustic waves resonate through the air on various frequencies, Nadler explains.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJust as air blowing into a bottle produces resonance at a particular tone, an acoustic wave hitting a cellular surface will resonate in certain-size cavities, thereby dissipating its energy. An automobile muffler, for example, uses a resonance-dependent technique to reduce exhaust noise.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe drawback with these traditional noise-reduction approaches is that they only work with some frequencies - those that can find cavities or other structures in which to resonate. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENadler\u0027s research involves broadband acoustic absorption, a method of reducing sound that doesn\u0027t depend on frequencies or resonance.  In this approach, tiny parallel tubes in porous media such as metal or ceramics create a honeycomb-like structure that traps sound regardless of frequency.  Instead of resonating, sound waves plunge into the channels and dissipate through a process called viscous shear. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EViscous shear involves the interaction of a solid with a gas or other fluid.   In this case, a gas - sound waves composed of compressed air - contacts a solid, the porous medium, and is weakened by the resulting friction.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s the equivalent of propelling a little metal sphere down a rubber hose when the sphere is just a hair bigger than the rubber hose,\u0022 Nadler explained.  \u0022Eventually the friction and the compressive stresses of contact with the tube would stop the sphere.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis technique, Nadler adds, is derived from classical mechanical principles governing how porous media interact with gases - such as the air through which sound waves move.  Noise abatement using micro-scale honeycomb structures represents a new application of these principles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You need to have the hole big enough to let the sound waves in, but you also need enough surface area inside to shear against the wave,\u0022 he said.   \u0022The result is acoustic waves don\u0027t resonate; they just dissipate.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn researching this approach, Nadler constructed an early prototype from off-the-shelf capillary tubes, which readily formed a low-density, honeycomb-like structure.  Further research showed that the ideal material for broadband acoustic absorption would require micron-scale diameter tubes and a much lower structural density. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECreating such low-density structures presents an interesting challenge, Nadler says.  It requires a material that\u0027s light, strong enough to enable the walls between the tubes to be very thin, and yet robust enough to function reliably amid the high-temperature, aggressive environments inside aircraft engines.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the likely candidates are superalloys, materials that employ unusual blends of metals to achieve desired qualities such as extreme strength, tolerance of high temperatures and corrosion resistance.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENadler has developed what could be the world\u0027s first superalloy micro honeycomb using a nickel-base superalloy. At around 30 percent density, the material is very light - a clear advantage for airborne applications - and also very strong and heat resistant.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe estimates this new approach could attenuate aircraft engine noise by up to 30 percent.  Micro-honeycomb material could also provide another means to protect the aircraft in critical areas prone to impact from birds or other foreign objects by dissipating the energy of the collision.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jason Nadler (404-407-6104); E-mail (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jason.nadler@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejason.nadler@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Innovation could help quiet military and commercial aircraft"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are developing innovative honeycomb structures that could make possible a new approach to noise reduction in aircraft.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new approach to sound control could help quiet jet aircraft"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-09-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70932":{"id":"70932","type":"image","title":"Jason Nadler","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"},"70933":{"id":"70933","type":"image","title":"Jason Nadler","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"},"70934":{"id":"70934","type":"image","title":"Noise reduction material","body":null,"created":"1449177328","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:28","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"}},"media_ids":["70932","70933","70934"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"7185","name":"honeycomb"},{"id":"1692","name":"materials"},{"id":"1522","name":"noise"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71098":{"#nid":"71098","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Wins Contract to Support Test \u0026 Evaluation of Unmanned Systems","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has won a contract to support development of a roadmap designed to improve the testing and evaluation of unmanned and autonomous systems for the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The field of unmanned and autonomous systems is evolving rapidly, and new techniques are needed to effectively test and evaluate the capabilities that are being inserted into these systems. This is especially challenging for systems that are increasing in levels of autonomy,\u0022 said Lora Weiss, a GTRI principal research engineer.  \u0022Our task is to develop a roadmap that identifies new approaches to testing autonomous systems and details what needs to be tested, how the autonomous technologies can be tested, and when the testing needs to occur.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKnown as the Roadmap Development and Technology Insertion Plan (RD-TIP), the one-year $430,000 award is funded through the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range.  The initiative is headed by Derrick Hinton, T\u0026amp;E\/S\u0026amp;T program manager with the Test Resources Management Center in the U.S. Department of Defense.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Many new technologies are being developed for unmanned and autonomous systems that must be tested and evaluated before they can be deployed.  New approaches are needed for testing and measuring the robustness of these systems, especially in non-deterministic and evolving environments,\u0022 Weiss noted.  \u0022The only way to know how to test them is to understand both the details of the technology and the system that it is going into. GTRI has extensive experience in both areas and can uniquely couple fundamental research with warfighter systems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe effort will address all five major unmanned and autonomous systems domains, including systems that operate in the air, on the ground, underwater, on the sea surface and in space.  The roadmap will address both vehicles and the socio-technical environments in which they operate. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is a strong desire from the warfighter to get these systems into the field,\u0022 Weiss added.  \u0022This, coupled with the rapid pace at which unmanned and autonomous systems are developing, creates a need to consider new options for more flexible testing of unmanned systems.  Through this roadmap, the government has asked us to help define these options.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETest and evaluation has traditionally been a focus area for GTRI, noted Rusty Roberts, a principal research engineer who oversees all of GTRI\u0027s test and evaluation programs. \u0022The current roadmap award builds on GTRI\u0027s long-term experience with test and evaluation for government customers and couples it with GTRI\u0027s strong knowledge of unmanned systems,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe unmanned systems test and evaluation project is a new area within the Test and Evaluation Science and Technology Program, which is sponsored by the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI has ongoing projects in four areas of the T\u0026amp;E Science and Technology Program: unmanned and autonomous systems, directed energy, net-centric systems and non-intrusive instrumentation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology, GTRI is also involved in other test and evaluation projects for the government, Roberts said.  Its test and evaluation capabilities cover a broad range of engineering and scientific disciplines, including tracking new technologies and their effect on test and evaluation, planning and executing programs for the government\u0027s operational test agencies and providing and\/or sponsoring test and evaluation professional education courses and workshops, as well as meetings such the annual ITEA Technology Conference.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnmanned and autonomous systems are recognized as critical components to all aspects of modern warfare across the joint forces, and they are growing in mission effectiveness. They have proved effective in Afghanistan and Iraq by providing commanders at both the operational and tactical levels with improved intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and precision strike capabilities. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022They are being chosen over manned systems when the situation involves the dull (long mission times), the dirty (sampling for hazardous materials) and the dangerous (lethal exposure to hostile action) -- and when the unmanned systems can provide capabilities that are not achievable by manned systems,\u0022 Weiss noted. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has won a contract to support development of a roadmap designed to improve the testing and evaluation of unmanned and autonomous systems for the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research will provide a technology \u0027roadmap\u0027 for testing"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-07-31 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71099":{"id":"71099","type":"image","title":"UAV testing","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894628","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:48"},"71100":{"id":"71100","type":"image","title":"UAV testing","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894628","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:48"}},"media_ids":["71099","71100"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"},{"id":"1331","name":"evaluation"},{"id":"383","name":"test"},{"id":"1500","name":"UAV"},{"id":"7263","name":"unmanned"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71187":{"#nid":"71187","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Receives $4 Million to Redesign Air Traffic Control Radios","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has received a $4 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to redesign critical modules used in thousands of air traffic control radios.  First fielded in 1968, these ground-based units play a vital role in keeping U.S. military aircraft safe, and the redesign should help keep the radios on the job until newer designs can replace them.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe redesign task - which must be completed in a year - is both challenging and important, said Russell S. McCrory, a GTRI senior research engineer.  Some 7,500 of these ground communications radios - known as AN\/GRT-21 and AN\/GRT-22 transmitters and AN\/GRR-23 and AN\/GRR-24 receivers - are still in service. When they break down, they often require parts that are no longer available.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This system has been in the field almost 40 years now,\u0022 said McCrory, who is project director.  \u0022Many parts now unavailable were originally manufactured by hand, and would be very expensive to reproduce today just because of the manual labor involved.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong other things, GTRI engineers must find ways to replace numerous semiconductor components, such as transistors and diodes that are no longer manufactured.  In some cases the original makers are no longer in business; in other cases the products are so old that no replacements are available.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInstead of trying to reproduce the original technology, GTRI engineers are designing replacement units that use only modern off-the-shelf parts.  The aim is to give the customer a replacement module that is plug-compatible with the original unit and does the same job.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We throw away the original design, and we make a unit with the same size and the same function,\u0022 McCrory said. \u0022If the old unit had a certain meter reading to show a certain condition, the new one should work identically.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe current $4.05 million contract covers redesign of five major assemblies within the GRT\/GRR, a complex system of receivers and transmitters that operates in the VHF and UHF radio-frequency bands.  The five assemblies include a dual-band power amplifier unit, an intermediate-frequency (IF) amplifier, a mixer-multiplier, a power supply unit and a synthesizer.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This work provides both a technical challenge and a demonstration of GTRI\u0027s commitment to deliver on fast-reaction contracts,\u0022 McCrory said. \u0022Within 12 months, GTRI will produce five complete new designs including all data necessary for the government to obtain competitive bids from manufacturers, engineer prototypes, obtain the initial devices from an outside vendor and update user and operator manuals.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe said that GTRI\u0027s changes to the dual-band power amplifier will retain that assembly\u0027s unusual capacity to broadcast a 10-watt radio signal in either the VHF or UHF bands.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, the new design will re-engineer the mixer multiplier - a unit that converts received frequencies to a range that can be processed by the receiver - and also modify the IF (intermediate frequency) amplifier in the receiver, which amplifies the received radio signals. And a new power supply will increase reliability.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn replacing the current radio\u0027s original analog components, GTRI engineers are crafting a system that is still all-analog but uses new off-the-shelf technology that is widely available. This approach allows the Air Force to ask for competitive bids from numerous manufacturers rather than relying on a sole source.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe savings can be substantial, McCrory said. He cites a competing approach that would have cost the government about $500,000 for drawings of one obsolete transistor in the GRT system, and then another $500,000 for the first transistor reproduced from those drawings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our approach will result in major savings for the military versus trying to remanufacture the original components,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u0027s role in maintaining the GRT\/GRR radios has evolved over several years. In 1999 the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Georgia\u0027s Robins Air Force Base took over engineering responsibility for the radios, and in 2005 GTRI engineers were asked to produce GRT\/GRR technical documentation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESubsequently, GTRI created a support roadmap for sustaining the units until they are retired, and the analysis showed that major radio components needed to be replaced to meet this goal. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMcCrory adds that his team has made extensive use of GTRI\u0027s SUSTAIN software in helping to identify modules requiring redesign and to justify funding requests. SUSTAIN is a multi-part management tool that helps guide maintenance\/sustainment decisions on older military systems. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEventually, McCrory explains, all Department of Defense radios are due to be replaced by a reprogrammable, software-based technology known as the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS).  Though the first JTRS systems could begin replacing high-priority radios as early as 2011, ground radios like the GRT\/GRR systems are scheduled for replacement much later - probably not until 2020 to 2025.  That means GRT\/GRR radios could require maintenance for another 18 years.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI expects its redesign to help ease the Air Force\u0027s parts inventory and logistics tasks for these radios. The new dual-band-power amplifier is expected to replace three older models, and the new mixer multiplier will replace two older models.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of GTRI\u0027s top goals, McCrory said, is to make it cheaper for the Air Force to simply plug in a new module than to repair an old one.  That would not only save money and time, but also bring broken units back online faster.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0027The Air Force, in conjunction with Tobyhanna Army Depot which does the maintenance, has done just a wonderful job keeping this system in the field,\u0022 McCrory said. \u0022We\u0027re trying to help them continue to do that, while keeping costs under control.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Work will allow vintage devices for continue operating"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has received a $4 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to redesign critical modules used in thousands of military air traffic control radios.  The work will extend the life of these radios, which were first fielded in 1968.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Redesign work will extend the life of military air traffic radio"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-06-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71188":{"id":"71188","type":"image","title":"Air traffic control radios","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71189":{"id":"71189","type":"image","title":"Air traffic control radios","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71190":{"id":"71190","type":"image","title":"Air traffic control radios","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"}},"media_ids":["71188","71189","71190"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7356","name":"air-traffic"},{"id":"7357","name":"module"},{"id":"1265","name":"radio"},{"id":"7355","name":"redesign"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46216":{"#nid":"46216","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Radiation-Hardened Microelectronics Could Reduce Spacecraft Weight","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESpace environments can deliver a beating to spacecraft electronics. For decades, satellites and other spacecraft have used bulky and expensive shielding to protect vital microelectronics -- microprocessors and other integrated circuits -- from space radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing ways to harden the microchips themselves against damage from various types of cosmic radiation.  With funding from NASA and other sponsors, a Georgia Tech team is investigating the use of silicon-germanium (SiGe) to create microelectronic devices that are intrinsically resistant to space-particle bombardment.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKey to the investigation is determining exactly what happens inside a device at the instant a particle hits, says principal investigator John D. Cressler, who is a Ken Byers Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Cosmic radiation can go right through the spacecraft, and right through electronics on the way, generating charge inside the device that can cause electronic systems to produce errors or even die,\u0022 Cressler said.  \u0022There\u0027s a lot of interest in improved hardening capabilities from NASA, the Department of Defense and communications companies, because anything that flies into space has to withstand the effects of this radiation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESilicon-germanium holds major promise for this application, he adds. SiGe alloys combine silicon, the most common microchip material, with germanium, at nanoscale dimensions.  The result is a material that offers important gains in toughness, speed and flexibility.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAny space vehicle, from NASA spacecraft and military vehicles to communications and global positioning system (GPS) satellites, must contend with two principal types of cosmic radiation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E-- \u003Cstrong\u003EIonizing radiation \u003C\/strong\u003Eincludes ubiquitous particles such as electrons and protons that are relatively high in energy but not deeply penetrating.  A moderate amount of metal shielding can reduce their destructive effect, but such protection increases a space vehicle\u0027s launch weight.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E-- \u003Cstrong\u003EGalactic cosmic rays \u003C\/strong\u003Einclude heavy ions and other extremely high-energy particles.   It is virtually impossible to protect against these dangers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFaced with damaging radiation, engineers have for decades augmented shielding with a circuit-design technique called \u0022triple modular redundancy.\u0022 This approach utilizes three copies of each circuit, all tied into logic circuitry at one end. If one copy of the circuit is corrupted by cosmic radiation and begins producing bad data, the logic circuit opts for the matching data produced by the other two circuits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The problem with this approach is that it requires three times the overhead in power, real-estate and cost,\u0022 Cressler said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOther traditional circuit-protecting techniques have included the hardening-by-process method.  In this approach, integrated circuits are produced using special processes that harden the chips against radiation damage.  The problem is this processing generally increases chip costs by 10 to 50 times.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a result, the space community is eager to find ways to produce space-hardened microelectronic devices using only everyday commercial chip-making technologies, Cressler says.  The savings in cost, size and weight could be very significant.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESilicon-germanium is a top candidate for this application because it has intrinsic immunity to many types of radiation. The catch is that, like other materials, SiGe cannot stand up to the extremely destructive heavy ions present in galactic cosmic rays.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt least, not yet.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECressler\u0027s team is analyzing exactly what happens inside a SiGe device when it\u0027s subjected to the type of energy found in heavy ions. Using sophisticated new equipment, including an extremely high-speed oscilloscope, researchers can capture details of particle-strike events that last only trillionths of a second (picoseconds).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking with NASA and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Cressler is using an ultrafast laser to inject current into a silicon-germanium transistor.  The aim is to emulate the effect of a heavy-ion strike in space.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When I shine a laser on the device, it generates a pulse of current that may only last for a few picoseconds,\u0022 Cressler said. \u0022Capturing the dynamics of that process -- what it looks like in time and in its magnitudes -- is important and challenging.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECressler\u0027s investigation also involves firing actual ions at SiGe circuits. Using a focused ion microbeam at the Sandia National Laboratories, the Georgia Tech team can aim a single heavy ion at a given point on a device and capture those results as well.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ultimate aim is to alter silicon-germanium devices and circuits in ways that will make them highly resistant to nearly all cosmic radiation, including heavy ions, without adding overhead.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EObserving actual particle impacts in real time is key, Cressler says. Detailed computer 3-D models of particle strikes on SiGe devices and circuits -- created with sophisticated numerical simulation techniques -- have already been developed.  But until researchers can compare these models to actual observed data, they can\u0027t be sure the models are correct. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If we get good fidelity between the two,\u0022 he added, \u0022then we\u0027ve know we have a good understanding of the physics.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStep two, he adds, will involve using that information to design devices and circuits that are highly immune to radiation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One of the holy grails in this field is getting sufficient radiation hardness without resorting to any of the high overhead schemes such as shielding, process hardening, or triple modular redundancy,\u0022 he said.  \u0022And, in fact, we are closing in on that goal, using SiGe electronics.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Cressler (404-894-5161); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.cressler@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejohn.cressler@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Silicon-Germanium Circuits Could Also Cut Costs"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers are developing new ways to harden microelectronics for space applications using silicon-germanium, an alloy that is intrinsically resistant to space-particle bombardment.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are developing new ways to harden circuits for space"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-09-28 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46217":{"id":"46217","type":"image","title":"Studying silicon-germanium","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"Studying silicon-germanium","file":{"fid":"101022","name":"tly64084.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tly64084.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tly64084.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1432913,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tly64084.jpg?itok=Q0n_Ka_V"}},"46218":{"id":"46218","type":"image","title":"John Cressler","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"John Cressler","file":{"fid":"101023","name":"tgr64084.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tgr64084.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tgr64084.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1893724,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tgr64084.jpg?itok=2HTyaLTI"}},"46219":{"id":"46219","type":"image","title":"Studying silicon-germanium","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"Studying silicon-germanium","file":{"fid":"101024","name":"tfh64084.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfh64084.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfh64084.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1421894,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tfh64084.jpg?itok=-mcphuBD"}}},"media_ids":["46217","46218","46219"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=123","title":"John Cressler"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2832","name":"microelectronics"},{"id":"1963","name":"particles"},{"id":"170841","name":"silicon-germanium"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46284":{"#nid":"46284","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Team Tackles an Urgent Aircraft Defense Upgrade","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen the U.S. Air Force found that one of its key combat aircraft needed more protection from an enemy missile threat, a multidisciplinary team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) went into action.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe problem was a pressing one. The A-10 attack aircraft, an Air Force workhorse, needed important additions to its electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures systems.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This was a rush program -- they needed it right away,\u0022 said research engineer Melanie Hill, who was GTRI\u0027s lead engineer on the program. \u0022We made it a priority across many different GTRI groups because of the broad requirements, which included electrical engineering, software development, systems engineering and mechanical engineering.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt issue was the ability of the A-10 to detect infrared signals from certain classes of enemy weapons. The A-10, an attack aircraft that often flies at lower altitudes to use its heavy guns and missiles against ground targets, could be vulnerable to those weapons.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe A-10 already carried extensive electronic warfare equipment, including the ALQ-213, a central controller that is the core of the airplane\u0027s electronic warfare systems. Essentially, it is the pilot\u0027s control center for threat protection.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ALQ-213 takes information from the aircraft\u0027s individual EW systems -- which include a radar warning receiver and signal-jamming pods -- and processes that data in a coordinated manner. The controller also handles the dispensing of chaff and flares, which are countermeasures used to decoy hostile missiles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI team\u0027s first task was to take an existing infrared-detection tool, the AAR-47 missile warning system, and determine whether it could do the job on the A-10. Then the team had to decide exactly how to add the AAR-47 to the A-10, and how to integrate the new missile-warning functions into the ALQ-213 controller.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe effort, called the A-10 Infrared Countermeasures (IRCM) Program, was on a tight schedule from the start, with 200 days to move from concept to flight test. The project was sponsored by the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEngineers from across GTRI pulled together to meet the deadline. GTRI principal research scientist Charlie Carstensen used a pedestal-mounted A-10 located at an Air Force facility in Rome, N.Y., to establish that the AAR-47 was a viable option for the A-10.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith principal research engineer Mike Willis as program manager, principal research engineer Jeff Hallman led the AAR-47 research effort, and principal research engineer Byron Coker led the team developing the software that allowed the AAR-47 to communicate with the ALQ-213. A successful flight test kept the program on schedule.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u0027s next task was to take the prototype equipment that had passed the flight test and use it to develop a standardized installation kit that included a complete package of technical drawings. The kit would then be used to perform hundreds of upgrades on U.S. A-10s worldwide.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch associate Kim Wood was a leader in electrical\/mechanical design and aircraft installation, and principal research engineer Rod Beard and electrical engineer Wallace Gustad were among the GTRI personnel who worked on the original prototype used for flight testing, as well as on development of the upgrade installation kits. Numerous other engineers, technologists and scientists worked on the program\u0027s mechanical engineering and drafting needs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo help get the actual A-10 upgrade process under way, GTRI supported the manufacture of the initial production kits, and then turned the engineering over to the Air Force for continued production.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe upgrade is now active on the U.S. A-10 fleet worldwide.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a separate but related project, a GTRI team that included Byron Coker, Mike Willis and Lee Monta\u0026ntilde;a was successful in automating the functions of the ALQ-213 on the A-10 and the F-16 combat aircraft. Now pilots of those aircraft can put their entire EW suite on fully automatic operation, giving them greater freedom to concentrate on missions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I think the success of the IRCM program says something about GTRI\u0027s ability and readiness to focus a broad spectrum of expertise on a given need, even in a short timeframe,\u0022 Hill said. \u0022A lot of different disciplines in GTRI worked on this program, and they worked together in ways that were both timely and highly effective.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Cont\u003C\/strong\u003Eacts: Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirkeng@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirkeng@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Improvement to A-10 Aircraft Made Quickly"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"When the U.S. Air Force found that one of its key combat aircraft needed more protection from an enemy missile threat, a multidisciplinary team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) went into action.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech helped protect a key U.S. aircraft from missiles"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-07-01 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-07-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-07-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46285":{"id":"46285","type":"image","title":"A-10 Maintenance","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"A-10 Maintenance","file":{"fid":"101069","name":"twb97359.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/twb97359_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/twb97359_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1704431,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/twb97359_0.jpg?itok=BdWZjwyy"}},"46286":{"id":"46286","type":"image","title":"Jeff Hallman","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Jeff Hallman","file":{"fid":"101070","name":"tqv97360.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tqv97360_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tqv97360_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":676370,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tqv97360_0.jpg?itok=ZP1-MEC4"}},"46287":{"id":"46287","type":"image","title":"A-10 Team","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"A-10 Team","file":{"fid":"101071","name":"tiw97360.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiw97360_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiw97360_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":74580,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tiw97360_0.jpg?itok=_ePiXrkt"}}},"media_ids":["46285","46286","46287"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1832","name":"A-10"},{"id":"1833","name":"aircraft"},{"id":"1366","name":"defense"},{"id":"1834","name":"missile"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46334":{"#nid":"46334","#data":{"type":"news","title":"President\u0027s Keynote Highlights GTRI\u0027s 75th Anniversary Symposium","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and its applied-research emphasis are vital to Georgia Tech\u0027s mission, and the current support and collaboration between GTRI and the university\u0027s academic units will continue to grow.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat was the core message delivered by Georgia Tech President G.P. \u0022Bud\u0022 Peterson at the GTRI 75th Anniversary Technology Symposium on April 20.  The symposium, one of several observances of GTRI\u0027s 75th year of operation, featured presentations by GTRI researchers as well as a keynote address by the new president.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As universities are increasingly called upon to become drivers of innovation and high-end economic development, the importance of the role of GTRI and organizations like it will continue to grow,\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and its applied-research emphasis are vital to Georgia Tech\u0027s mission, and the current support and collaboration between GTRI and the university\u0027s academic units will continue to grow, President G.P. \u0022Bud\u0022 Peterson said recently.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GTRI\u0027s applied research emphasis is vital to Georgia Tech"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-05-04 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-05-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-05-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46335":{"id":"46335","type":"image","title":"President Peterson","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894416","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:16","alt":"President Peterson","file":{"fid":"101105","name":"tdk55509.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdk55509_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdk55509_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":942766,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tdk55509_0.jpg?itok=zDBX5s4T"}},"46336":{"id":"46336","type":"image","title":"Jud Ready","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894416","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:16","alt":"Jud Ready","file":{"fid":"101106","name":"tza55509.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tza55509_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tza55509_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1000357,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tza55509_0.jpg?itok=eD_xQjQZ"}},"46337":{"id":"46337","type":"image","title":"Director Stephen Cross","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894416","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:16","alt":"Director Stephen Cross","file":{"fid":"101107","name":"tnz55509.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tnz55509_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tnz55509_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1159205,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tnz55509_0.jpg?itok=vSSqobKA"}}},"media_ids":["46335","46336","46337"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/president\/welcome\/","title":"G.P. (Bud) Peterson"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"715","name":"anniversary"},{"id":"340","name":"collaboration"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EKirk Englehardt\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=ke60\u0022\u003EContact Kirk Englehardt\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-407-7280\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46376":{"#nid":"46376","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Instrument Could Detect Hidden Aviation Hazards","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhile radar and other existing systems typically warn aircraft pilots of potential weather hazards during flight, they do not detect all possible atmospheric dangers. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Existing Systems Can"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"While radar and other existing systems typically warn aircraft pilots of potential weather hazards during flight, they do not detect all possible atmospheric dangers.  Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute are testing a new approach that could provide a better warning.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers test new approach for detecting aviation hazards"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-03-02 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46377":{"id":"46377","type":"image","title":"Detection instruments","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Detection instruments","file":{"fid":"101136","name":"tcq45744.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcq45744_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcq45744_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":264017,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tcq45744_0.jpg?itok=2S0tZs0y"}},"46378":{"id":"46378","type":"image","title":"Detection instruments","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Detection instruments","file":{"fid":"101137","name":"ttg45744.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttg45744_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttg45744_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1794750,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttg45744_0.jpg?itok=qGNc3_9M"}}},"media_ids":["46377","46378"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1173","name":"aviation"},{"id":"1253","name":"hazard"},{"id":"1254","name":"interferometer"},{"id":"1255","name":"turbulence"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46193":{"#nid":"46193","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Improved Electric Propulsion Could Boost Satellite Lifetimes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have won a $6.5 million grant to develop improved components that will boost the efficiency of electric propulsion systems used to control the positions of satellites and planetary probes.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFocusing on improved cathodes for devices known as Hall effect thrusters, the research would reduce propellant consumption in commercial, government and military satellites, allowing them to remain in orbit longer, be launched on smaller or cheaper rockets, or carry larger payloads.  Sponsored by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Sciences Office (DARPA-DSO), the 18-month project seeks to demonstrate the use of propellant-less cathodes with Hall effect thrusters.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022About 10 percent of the propellant carried into space on satellites that use an electric propulsion system is essentially wasted in the hollow cathode that is part of the system,\u0022 said Mitchell Walker, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Aerospace Engineering and the project\u0027s principal investigator.  \u0022Using field emission rather than a hollow cathode, we are able to pull electrons from cathode arrays made from carbon nanotubes without wasting propellant.  That will extend the life of the vehicle by more efficiently using the limited on-board propellant for its intended purpose of propulsion.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo maintain their positions in space or to reorient themselves, satellites must use small thrusters that are either chemically or electrically powered.  Electrically-powered thrusters use electrons to ionize an inert gas such as xenon.  The resulting ions are then ejected from the device to generate thrust.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn existing Hall effect thrusters, a single high-temperature cathode generates the electrons.  A portion of the propellant -- typically about 10 percent of the limited supply carried by the satellite -- is used as a working fluid in the traditional hollow cathode.  The DARPA-funded research would replace the hollow cathode with an array of field-effect cathodes fabricated from bundles of multi-walled carbon nanotubes.  Powered by on-board batteries and photovoltaic systems on the satellite, the arrays would operate at low power to produce electrons without consuming propellant.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWalker and collaborators at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have already demonstrated field-effect cathodes based on carbon nanotubes.  This work was presented at the 2009 AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference held in Denver, Colo.  The additional funding will support improvements in the devices, known as carbon nanotube cold cathodes, and lead to space testing as early as 2015.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This work depends on our ability to grow aligned carbon nanotubes precisely where we want them to be and to exacting dimensions,\u0022 said Jud Ready, a GTRI senior research engineer and Walker\u0027s collaborator on the project.  \u0022This project leverages our ability to grow well-aligned arrays of nanotubes and to coat them to enhance their field emission performance.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to reducing propellant consumption, use of carbon nanotube cathode arrays could improve reliability by replacing the single cathode now used in the thrusters. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Existing cathodes are sensitive to contamination, damaged by the ionized exhaust of the thruster, and have limited life due to their high-temperature operation,\u0022 Ready noted. \u0022The carbon nanotube cathode arrays would provide a distributed cathode around the Hall effect thruster so that if one of them is damaged, we will have redundancy.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore the carbon nanotube cathodes developed by Georgia Tech can be used on satellites, however, their lifetime will have to be increased to match that of a satellite thruster, which is typically 2,000 hours or more.  The devices will also have to withstand the mechanical stresses of space launches, turn on and off rapidly, operate consistently and survive the aggressive space environment.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPart of the effort will focus on special coating materials used to protect the carbon nanotubes from the space environment.  For that part of the project, Walker and Ready are collaborating with Lisa Pfefferle in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Yale University.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are testing their cathodes with the same Busek Hall effect thruster that flew on the U.S. Air Force\u0027s TacSat-2 satellite.  In addition, the cathodes will be operated with Hall effect thrusters developed by Pratt \u0026amp; Whitney and donated to Georgia Tech.  The researchers are also collaborating with L-3 ETI on the electrical power system and with American Pacific In-Space Propulsion on flight qualification of the hardware.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ability to control individual cathodes on the array could provide a new capability to vector the thrust, potentially replacing the mechanical gimbals now used.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe use of carbon nanotubes to generate electrons through the field-effect process was reported in 1995 by a research team headed by Walt de Heer, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics.  Field emission is the extraction of electrons from a conductive material through quantum tunneling that occurs when an external electric field is applied.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe improved carbon nanotube cathodes should advance the goals of reducing the cost of launching and maintaining satellites.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Thrust with less propellant has been one of the major goals driving research into satellite propulsion,\u0022 said Walker, who is director of Georgia Tech\u0027s High-Power Electric Propulsion Laboratory.  \u0022Electric propulsion is becoming more popular and will benefit from our innovation.  Ultimately, we will help improve the performance of in-space propulsion devices.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Carbon Nanotube Components Will Cut Propellant Use"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have won a $6.5 million grant to develop improved components that will boost the efficiency of electric propulsion systems used to control the positions of satellites and planetary probes.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New components will make electric satellite propulsion more effi"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-10-21 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:09","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-10-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-10-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46194":{"id":"46194","type":"image","title":"Preparing for tests","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"Preparing for tests","file":{"fid":"101001","name":"tln43008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tln43008.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tln43008.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1837343,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tln43008.jpg?itok=60vRB8oJ"}},"46195":{"id":"46195","type":"image","title":"Preparing for tests","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"Preparing for tests","file":{"fid":"101002","name":"tdn43008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdn43008.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdn43008.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1253609,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tdn43008.jpg?itok=JVgxlAxp"}},"46196":{"id":"46196","type":"image","title":"Hall effect thruster","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894388","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:48","alt":"Hall effect thruster","file":{"fid":"100942","name":"tal43008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tal43008_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tal43008_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1542434,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tal43008_1.jpg?itok=tmrXXDV5"}}},"media_ids":["46194","46195","46196"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/people\/mwalker\/HPEPL.html","title":"High Power Electric Propulsion Lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7021","name":"cathode"},{"id":"7022","name":"emission"},{"id":"7019","name":"ion"},{"id":"7020","name":"lifetime"},{"id":"7018","name":"propulsion"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70296":{"#nid":"70296","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Dr. Vigor Yang to Chair Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Vigor Yang as chair of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, delivering a seasoned and accomplished researcher to lead the school to impressive new heights.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Yang will begin his tenure at Georgia Tech on January 1, 2009. Current chair, Professor Bob Loewy, will remain in the position through December 31, 2008.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe selection of Dr. Yang ends an extensive search to fill the position, which included several highly qualified candidates in the field of aerospace engineering.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Dr. Yang\u0027s professional contributions and activities offer the School of Aerospace Engineering a national and international visibility that adds to our reputation,\u0022 said Don Giddens, dean of the Georgia Tech College of Engineering. \u0022His passion for research and ambition for the department set us on a course for new successes in academics and discovery.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Yang received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1984. He spent a year as a research fellow in the Jet Propulsion Lab at Caltech before joining the faculty of Pennsylvania State University in 1985. He is currently the John L. and Genevieve H. McCain Chair of Engineering at Penn State, teaching classes on thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, propulsion, combustion and mathematics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It is with a deep sense of humility and honor that I accept the responsibility of chair for the School of Aerospace Engineering,\u0022 Yang said. \u0022The position is challenging, but also exciting. My top priority is to continue the traditions of excellence at the school in both teaching and research, as well as in service. The Aerospace Engineering school already has a wonderful reputation for excellence, but I hope that I can work to further advance educational goals.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, eight graduate students are working under Dr. Yang\u0027s direction at Penn State. He has previously supervised 35 Ph.D. and 15 M.S. theses.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Yang\u0027s research interests include combustible instabilities in propulsion systems, chemically reacting flows in rocket engines and high-pressure thermodynamics and transport.  His accolades include the Penn State Engineering Society Outstanding Teaching and Premier Research Awards and several publication and technical awards from The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), including the Air-Breathing Propulsion and Pendray Aerospace Literature Awards.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBoasting more than 300 technical papers he has authored or co-authored, Dr. Yang has functioned as the editor-in-chief of the AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power since 2001. He also serves on the editorial advisory boards of Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Combustion, Explosion, and Shock Waves, the Journal of Aeronautics, Astronautics, and Aviation, the Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers and the JANNAF Journal of Propulsion and Energetics. He has consulted with several industrial and governmental organizations, including NASA, General Electric, Pratt \u0026amp; Whitney, Siemens, Aerojet and Rolls Royce.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EU.S. News and World Report currently ranks the Guggenheim School fourth in graduate programs and second in undergraduate programs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Extensive search ends with selection of award-winning researcher"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Vigor Yang as chair of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, delivering a seasoned and accomplished researcher to lead the school to impressive new heights.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dr. Vigor Yang to chair aerospace engineering school"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2008-12-08 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-12-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2008-12-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70297":{"id":"70297","type":"image","title":"media:image:180acdcb-4c5c-4bc3-8345-5eee12b96d0f","body":null,"created":"1449177304","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:04","changed":"1475894618","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:38"}},"media_ids":["70297"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"1741","name":"Vigor Yang"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EDon Fernandez\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMarketing and Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:don.fernandez@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EContact Don Fernandez\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6016\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["don.fernandez@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72572":{"#nid":"72572","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Walker Awarded Air Force Young Investigator Grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMitchell Walker, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s Daniel Guggeheim School of Aerospace Engineering, has received a grant for $380,000 through the Air Force\u0027s Young Investigator Research Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the grant, funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Walker will focus on annular helicon plasma sources for high thrust-to-power Hall thrusters.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe program is open to scientists and engineers at research institutions across the United States. Those selected, 21 scientists and engineers who submitted winning research proposals, will receive the grants over a 3-year period. Competition for YIP grants is intense.  A total of 145 proposals were received in response to the AFOSR broad agency announcement solicitation in major areas of interests to the Air Force. Interest areas include aerospace and materials sciences, chemistry and life sciences, mathematics and information sciences and physics and electronics. AFOSR officials selected proposals based on the evaluation criteria listed in the broad agency announcement.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022AFOSR is proud to participate in the President\u0027s National Competitive Initiative by supporting the exciting research of these 21 outstanding scientists and engineers,\u0022 said Dr. Brendan B. Godfrey, AFOSR director. \u0022The AFOSR Young Investigator Research Program will grow to at least 50 grants over the next 3 years.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe program supports scientists and engineers who have received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last five years. Grant recipients must show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research. The objective of this program is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWalker\u0027s primary research interests lie in electric propulsion, plasma physics and hypersonic aerodynamics\/plasma interaction. He has extensive design and testing experience with Hall thrusters and ion engines. Walker has also performed seminal work in Hall thruster clustering and vacuum chamber facility effects. As founding director of the High-Power Electric Propulsion Laboratory at Georgia Tech, his current research activities involve theoretical and experimental work in advanced spacecraft propulsion systems, diagnostics, plasma physics, helicon plasma sources, Hall thrusters and magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters. He also teaches courses in thermodynamics and compressible flow, jet and rocket propulsion and electric propulsion.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Mitchell Walker, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s Daniel Guggeheim School of Aerospace Engineering, has received a grant for $380,000 through the Air Force\u0027s Young Investigator Research Program to study thrusters.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Mitchell Walker to use grant to study thrusters"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2006-10-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:42","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2006-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72573":{"id":"72573","type":"image","title":"Walker","body":null,"created":"1449177942","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:42","changed":"1475894661","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:21"}},"media_ids":["72573"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"2633","name":"Air Force"},{"id":"2634","name":"grant"},{"id":"2474","name":"Mitchell Walker"},{"id":"2635","name":"thruster"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72318":{"#nid":"72318","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Engine Helps Satellites Blast Off With Less Fuel","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have developed a new protoype engine that allows satellites to take off with less fuel, opening the door for deep space missions, lower launch costs and more payload in orbit.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe efficient satellite engine uses up to 40 percent less fuel by running on solar power while in space and by fine-tuning exhaust velocity. Satellites using the Georgia Tech engine to blast off can carry more payload thanks to the mass freed up by the smaller amount of fuel needed for the trip into orbit. Or, if engineers wanted to use the reduced fuel load another way, the satellite could be launched more cheaply by using a smaller launch vehicle.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe fuel-efficiency improvements could also give satellites expanded capabilities, such as more maneuverability once in orbit or the ability to serve as a refueling or towing vehicle.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech project, lead by Dr. Mitchell Walker, an assistant professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, was funded by a grant from the U.S. Air Force. The project team made significant experimental modifications to one of five donated satellite engines from aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt \u0026amp; Whitney to create the final prototype.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe key to the engine improvements, said Walker, is the ability to optimize the use of available power, very similar to the transmission in a car. A traditional chemical rocket engine (attached to a satellite ready for launch) runs at maximum exhaust velocity until it reaches orbit, i.e. first gear.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new Georgia Tech engine allows ground control units to adjust the engine\u0027s operating gear based on the immediate propulsive need of the satellite. The engine operates in first gear to maximize acceleration during orbit transfers and then shifts to fifth gear once in the desired orbit. This allows the engine to burn at full capacity only during key moments and conserve fuel.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You can really tailor the exhaust velocity to what you need from the ground,\u0022 Walker said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech engine operates with an efficient ion propulsion system. Xenon (a noble gas) atoms are injected into the discharge chamber. The atoms are ionized, (electrons are stripped from their outer shell), which forms xenon ions. The light electrons are constrained by the magnetic field while the heavy ions are accelerated out into space by an electric field, propelling the satellite to high speeds.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech\u0027s significant improvement to existing xenon propulsion systems is a new electric and magnetic field design that helps better control the exhaust particles, Walker said. Ground control units can then exercise this control remotely to conserve fuel.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe satellite engine is almost ready for military applications, but may be several years away from commercial use, Walker added.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Engine lets satellites take more hardware into orbit, reposition more easily"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have a created a new satellite technology that allows satellites to blast off with less fuel, opening the door for deep space missions, lower launch costs and more hardware on board.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Savings allow deep space missions, cheaper launch"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-02-22 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:37","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-02-22T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-02-22T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72319":{"id":"72319","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech engine","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16"},"72320":{"id":"72320","type":"image","title":"Mitchell Walker","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16"}},"media_ids":["72319","72320"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/people\/mwalker\/","title":"Dr. Mitchell Walker"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"2479","name":"deep space mission"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"246","name":"Georgia Institute of Technology"},{"id":"2474","name":"Mitchell Walker"},{"id":"169609","name":"satellite"},{"id":"169608","name":"satellites"},{"id":"167589","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"},{"id":"2478","name":"U.S. Air Force"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}