Air force summer faculty research program

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There may be an opportunity for a limited number of scholarships to attend this program after selections are made. Our outreach programs can help you determine whether the U. Air Force Academy is right for you, as well as help you make your application as complete and competitive as possible. The majority of our events are held in the fall and spring, with fewer events in the summer months. To learn more about the U. Air Force Academy, check for an event that may be convenient to you. Overview Summer Seminar Homeschoolers.

Summer Seminar See Yourself at the Academy. Along with your element, you will: Live in cadet dormitories and eat at the cadet dining facility. Click here to learn more about the areas of interest to the various Air Force Research Facilities as well as to learn more about the areas of interest to the various Air Force Research Facilities and for contact information for each facility. All appointments are subject to the participant's successful security investigation and approved access to unclassified government information systems.

Graduate Students. These students must meet the following requirements: They must be citizens of the United States. They must be enrolled in graduate school for the semester following the fellowship program. We study novel ways to efficiently incorporate defects into diamond during synthesis, such as using rational design of defect molecules, and e-beam chemistry.

Finally, we characterize the suitability of the synthesized defects for quantum technology applications using confocal microscopy, single-photon counting, magneto-optical spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. B Structural Ceramics for Aerospace Applications.

Fundamental scientific issues remain to be addressed to enable the development of a full range of high-performance ceramics and ceramic-matrix composites for Air Force air and space applications. Current research focuses on investigating higher temperature nonoxide fiber and matrix constituents for enhanced durability, development of oxide fiber coatings and interface control, developing fabrication processes specifically for nonoxide composites, investigating the stability of constituents in aggressive environments, and understanding key environmental effects on constituent-level behavior that affects life in relevant service environments.

Intended service environments for these composites include turbine and scramjet engines, as well as hot structures and thermal protection systems for hypersonic vehicles. Dickerson, Matthew - Our research is focused on developing synthesis and advanced processing strategies that yield high-temperature materials with well-controlled and novel nanostructures.

By exploiting nanoscale design, structural hierarchy, synthesis, and processing we strive to improve the performance of ceramic materials and composites for applications in extreme environments or multifunctional roles.

Summer faculty fellows will work with the multidisciplinary AFRL team to pursue revolutionary concepts in high-temperature material design and synthesis. Our research group focuses on materials synthesis, nanomaterials, advanced manufacturing, and biomimetic materials.

Advanced concepts in high-temperature composites are also of interest. Butler, Todd - Refractory complex concentrated alloys RCCAs are an emerging class of alloy that have the potential to push the temperature capability of current metallic solutions.

While these alloys have been shown to have higher specific strength than nickel-based superalloys at elevated temperatures, they have been limited by environmental attack. Recent work has highlighted compositions that have shown increased oxidation resistance in comparison to conventional refractory alloys, which is promoted by the sluggish oxidation of complex oxides.

While this work has identified some beneficial prototype oxide structures much more fundamental work is required to deliver inherent oxidation resistance for a structural RCCA alloy.

We are interested in foundational work focused on inherent oxidation of these complex systems including: understanding of oxidation thermodynamics and kinetics, identification of protective oxide products and predictive oxidation models. We are also interested in exploring the use of coatings and surface treatments to increase oxidation resistance while minimally effecting the bulk composition. Page, Michael - The objectives of this research are to investigate different magnetoelectric materials and phenomena with an eye towards elucidating novel materials physics that can be used for frequency agile microwave electronics.

Investigating novel frequency agile driving mechanisms and approaches holds the key to paving the way towards next generation microwave electronics. Glavin, Nicholas - The use of lasers to directly crystallize, functionalize, pattern and induce local surface reactions in soft materials represents an exciting processing development for future flexible devices.

With this technique, materials can be processed on soft, flexible substrates by restricting the absorption of the light to the active material only and also allow sub-micron photon-matter interactions and patterning. Particular materials of interest include 2D materials, organic electronic materials, nanoparticles, and other nanomaterials for flexible sensors, transistors, and photonic devices. In-situ process diagnostics will look into kinetics of phase transformation, microstructure, and morphology of the nanomaterials undergoing laser processing.

Post processing characterization will include x-ray characterization, atomic force microscopy, Raman and photoluminescence, as well as electrical testing in both the DC and RF domains. Mou, Shin - The objective is to study the fundamental properties of ultra-wide bandgap UWBG semiconductor materials bandgap larger than 4 eV, e. It will also involve the fabrication of the test structures for these measurements. UWBG semiconductors have the intrinsic advantages of large breakdown voltages for high power handling, emitting deep ultra-violet light, and providing stable single photon emission at room temperature due to their large bandgaps.

Fundamental studies need to be pursued to understand the basic properties of these materials due to the early stage of research and development we are at. Therefore, in this topic, we look into various ways to characterize the UWBG materials to gain important knowledge on their bandstructures, electronic transport properties, defect information, interface properties, and optical emission.

The characterization techniques include but are not limited to Hall-effect measurements, voltage-current measurements, capacitance spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and optical absorption. Sample preparation and test structure fabrication will also be involved to produce the test samples. Ganguli, Sabyasachi - An overarching theme for this research is materials development to enable more precise control over the memristor switching properties, electrical testing results from device pairs that exhibit multi-terminal latching, and efforts towards integration of multiple devices to emulate neuron functions such as programmable spiking behavior.

The ultimate goal of this research program is the realization of a memristor-based, fully non-digital, neuron equivalent that can function as a unit cell in a cellular neural network.

Dense crossbar arrays of non-volatile memory NVM devices represent one possible path for implementing massively-parallel and highly energy-efficient neuromorphic computing systems. Specific research would look into synthesis by Atomic Layer Deposition and Pulsed Laser Deposition, device processing photolithography , and device performance characterization of these NVM materials.

Applicants with backgrounds in various semiconductors and their electrical and thermal characterization techniques, and in simple device processing techniques are desirable. This research program will address to Air Force needs for the next generation extreme environment survivable high power RF electronics. Nepal, Dhriti - Efficient materials design and development of tools for their damage prediction are crucial for multifunctional composites.

Biomimetic design has opened up avenues for achieving extraordinary combinations of toughness and strength, similar to natural composites, although natural composites still surpass these properties. Key challenges include lack of understanding of the failure mechanisms in such composites and the influence of size, shape, and orientation of the nanofiller on toughening.

There are still open questions about chemical structure and morphology around the interphase region and its influence on the mechanics. Overcoming these challenges requires careful design and a multidisciplinary approach combining synthesis, processing, characterization across scales , and multiscale modeling. We are interested in understanding the failure mode from the nano- to higher scales, and the underlying processing structure-property relationship. Keywords: Biomimetic; Nanocomposite; Nanoscale imaging; Polymer; Mechanical properties; Spectroscopy; Fracture mechanics; Electro-optical properties; Multiscale modeling;.

Tabor, Christopher - Abstract: Gallium liquid metal alloys GaLMAs are room temperature fluidic conductors that can be confined to microchannels to explore flexible and stretchable electronics as well as reconfigurable agile RF electronics. The major hurdles to implementing these GaLMA materials are two-fold, controlling 1 the spontaneously forming oxide skin on the liquid alloy and 2 the reactive nature of the liquid alloy with nearly every metallic electrode material.

To overcome these limitations, controlling the surface chemistry of the liquid alloys in critical and identifying electronic materials that functionally interface well with the GaLMA without reacting with them are critical issues to address. Exploring these relationships through modeling, fabrication, characterization, and processing developments is an area where extensive research is being conducted. Novel additive manufacturing techniques such as aerosol jet and inkjet among others can contribute to proper control over the surface and interface chemistry of the GaLMA materials.

Berry, Rajiv - Research relates to current and prospective interests in design of improved materials for aerospace applications. Methodologies include electronic structure theory, chemical kinetics modeling, and molecular dynamics including coarse-grained MD. Properties of interest include computation of transport properties diffusion, electrochemical characteristics and physical properties glass transition, fragility, and density , elucidation of reaction pathways, prediction of interfacial phenomenon, and calculation of mechanical properties.

Projects of interest are described below: 1 Classical and coarse-grained molecular dynamics are being conducted to simulate the assembly and function of biopolymers. Knowledge gained from these studies will be used to produce both biological and bio-inspired materials with tailored mechanical properties for a variety of Air Force applications, including structural components, sensors and templates for materials processing. Candidates are modelled to predict their mechanical and transport properties as well as their ability to degrade in a biological environment.

The principal outcomes will be guidance to development scientists and engineers in terms of hydrogel match to skin compliance, clearer identification of the factors which most affect small-species diffusion, and comparative degradation rates among the candidates.

Implementation of cutting-edge codes and libraries such as AlphaFold2, code released on 15 July on DoD-HPC supercomputers are enabling rapid and accurate determination of protein structure and function starting from the protein sequence.

Such techniques are being incorporated in automated workflows in singularity containers. They offer opportunities for developing protocols to rapidly respond to challenges in chemistry and biology which impact US DOD and in particular aerospace interests such as biosequestration of valuable metals and biodegradation of environmental pollutants.

Keywords: Quantum mechanics DFT ; Classical molecular dynamics all-atom and coarse-grained ; Development of hybrid QM-MD techniques; Mechanical properties of polymer composites, assembly and structure-function relationships of bio-inspired materials; Biosequestration; Biodegradation US citizenship required. Flores, Mark - Additive manufactured AM polymer matrix composites PMCs game-changing disrupting technological trends are clear and are becomings more widely adopted in the design of an aircraft.

The Durability and Damage Tolerance DADT requirements must take into account stability, producibility, supportability, predictability of structural performance, characterization of mechanical and physical properties. The framework is quite evident and clear on the amount of engineering that is needed to satisfy the certification of the material while providing a substantial pathway to advance AM technologies further.

Machine learning has allowed researchers to design materials via the additive manufacturing process. Topology optimization has proven to be a creative outlet during the design phase, but primarily focuses on static boundary conditions and stiffness. Although, a variety of complex geometries with varying material stiffness could be generated, the lack of DADT focused requirements ultimately precludes the ability to address feasibility studies for structural parts during the early stages of its development.

B Nucleation and Growth of Carbon Nanotubes. Maruyama, B - Carbon nanotubes have been studied extensively beginning in the early 's. Their unparalleled properties make them attractive for application in composites, electronic devices, sensors, etc. However, production of nanotubes remains inefficient and expensive, and the as-produced purity is typically less than desired.

Improvements in production yield, catalyst efficiency, purity and type selectivity will enhance the viability of these materials. A fundamental understanding of the mechanisms by which nanotubes nucleate and grow is pursued in order to achieve such improvements by in-situ characterization of nucleation and growth.

We are exploring rational design of catalysts for CVD synthesis of carbon nanotubes. We modify the catalyst and catalyst support and observe the resultant changes in nanotube growth.

B Intelligent Manufacturing. Berrigan, John - The smart factory of the future is a flexible system can adapt to and learn from new conditions in real or near-real time, and autonomously run entire production processes.

This topic seeks to teach manufacturing tools to become teammates through investigation of novel approaches to machine vision, data fusion, and human-machine trust models in the context of materials processing or manufacturing. Manufacturing processes of interest include, direct ink write additive manufacturing, spray processes, and robotic assembly.

Woodward, C. F - This research focuses on developing and applying modeling and simulation methods to explore broad aspects of metal alloy development. Target materials include, but are not limited to, high temperature structural materials such as Ni-based superalloys, refractory metal intermetallics and Ti-Al alloys. Current areas of interest include modeling plasticity at the atomic and micron scales using electronic structure, atomistic and dislocation dynamics methods.

Research in this area includes size scale, chemical, ordering, solution, and precipitate effects. Also, free energy models, based on first principles methods, are used to predict phase stability and the nature and evolution of defects in these materials.

This includes properties of both the liquid and solid phases and the microstructural evolution of complex metal alloys. Significant computational resources are available through the High Performance Computing Modernization Office to perform large scale calculations, analysis and visualization.

B Metals Probabilistic Performance. Turner, Todd - The research focus is to develop a comprehensive understanding of relevant damage initiation and accumulation mechanisms and failure of aerospace structural metallic alloys and develop next-generation validated damage evolution and probabilistic fatigue life prediction methodologies necessary for forecasting durability and reliability during service.

Specific topics of interest include: 1 microstructure-sensitive probabilistic fatigue and damage tolerance models, with emphasis on life-limiting properties, 2 initiation, microstructure-scale small crack growth and continuum-scale long crack growth under service loading conditions such as fatigue, dwell-fatigue and thermal-mechanical fatigue loading, 3 3-dimensional crack growth and advanced fracture mechanics, including microstructure-scale small crack growth and continuum-scale long crack growth, 4 high fidelity microstructure-sensitive constitutive models for use in 3-dimensional simulation of damage accumulation in actual microstructures, 5 advanced micro- and macro-mechanics experimentation including microstructure-scale deformation mapping, multi-scale microscale, milliscale and conventional specimen testing under uniaxial and multi-axial loading conditions, and 6 influence of surface treatments such as peening e.

Models emphasizing mechanism-based approaches for reduction in uncertainty, Bayesian methods and independent validation of predictive capabilities are of interest to us.

Specific materials of interest include, but not limited to, Titanium alloys, Nickel-base superalloys, additively manufactured metals, and functionally graded and joined metals. Specialized high temperature testing capabilities, material characterization facilities and significant computational resources are available for multi-scale experiments and computations. US Citizens only.