The Department of Defense (DoD) will issue 23 awards totaling $163 million to academic institutions to perform multidisciplinary basic research. The awards are for a five-year period, subject to satisfactory research progress and the availability of funds.
research and development
March 27, 2017
Troy Olsson, a program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, says providing technologies to support warfighters is the most satisfying part of his job.
Olsson's connection to warfighters comes in part from his relationship with his grandfather, a former Navy man who taught him right from wrong, valued hard work and never forgot how to navigate by the stars.
November 1, 2016
A U.S. Army research and development organization in Tokyo is forming partnerships across the Asia-Pacific region—including in India, Malaysia and Vietnam—to help support warfighter needs and strengthen ties to neighboring nations.
One partnership involves multiple U.S. organizations that collaborated to modify and field a robotic system capable of working in tunnels or underground facilities to counter weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Researchers have fielded an interim solution, and a program of record is possible.
October 17, 2016
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced 11 awards, totaling $12 million, to support activities aimed at enhancing the public's access to the radio frequency spectrum, the part of the electromagnetic spectrum used to facilitate telecommunications and modern information systems essential for public safety, transportation and national defense.
These three-year awards continue NSF's ongoing investment in radio spectrum research, which over the past five years has supported more than 140 awards through an investment of over $60 million.
October 4, 2016
Five states accounted for just over half of the $255 billion of research and development (R&D) companies paid for and performed in the United States in 2013, according to a new report from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
Business R&D is geographically concentrated in the United States to a greater degree than either gross domestic product (GDP) or population. The five states with the highest levels of business R&D performance—California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas and Washington—accounted for $133 billion, or 52 percent, of the total.
July 29, 2016
Dynamic Animation Systems Inc.,* Fairfax, Virginia (W911NF-16-D-0019); Cole Engineering Services Inc.,* Orlando, Florida (W911NF-16-D-0020); Dignitas Technologies LLC,* Orlando, Florida (W911NF-16-D-0021); Intelligent Decision Systems Inc.,* Centreville, Virginia (W911NF-16-D-0022); VCOM3D, Orlando, Florida (W911NF-16-D-0023); Cole Engineering Services Inc.,* Orlando, Florida (W911NF-15-D-0024); STS International Inc.,* Berkeley Springs, West Virginia (W911NF-16-D-0025); Intelligent Decision Systems Inc.,* Centreville, Virginia (W911NF-16-D-0026); Engineering & Computer Simulation, Orlando, Florida (W911NF-16-D-0027); Cole Engineering Services Inc.,* Orlando, Florida (W911NF-16-D-0028); Digintas Technologies LLC,* Orlando, Florida (W
July 19, 2016
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineers have achieved unprecedented scalability in 3-D printed architectures of arbitrary geometry, opening the door to super-strong, ultra-lightweight and flexible metallic materials for aerospace, the military and the automotive industry, according to a published announcement.
July 18, 2016
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate will host two industry days to provide additional insights to the mobile and cellular industry and researchers about the Mobile Threats and Defenses request for information (RFI).
May 5, 2016
Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., Columbia, Maryland, is being awarded a $130,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for instrumentation test support for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in support of the Research and Development Office, Test Support Division, Test Diagnostics Branch (J9CXTD). Bids were solicited and two received. Work will be performed at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; and Nevada National Security Site, Mercury, Nevada. The base period is five years and is expected to be completed in 2021. The option period is for five years and is expected to be completed in 2026.
May 1, 2016
National Science Foundation officials are awarding several grants in the coming months earmarked for research on enhancing access to the electromagnetic spectrum. The grants are part of an effort to identify bold new concepts that could significantly improve the efficiency of radio spectrum usage for all consumers, including the military, government agencies and industry.
The foundation aims to award grants for its Grand Challenge, which falls under the Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum (EARS) program, by the end of September, reveals Thyaga Nandagopal, the EARS program manager. Officials expect up to eight awards totaling $10 million. Each grant will have a limit of $1.5 million for three years.
March 1, 2016
The race is on for one U.S. Air Force directorate to restore the technological edge the service has had over other nations’ militaries. It is funding research into propulsion, power and air vehicles that could produce next-generation scramjet engines, alternative fuels and hypersonic vehicles, to name a few.
February 22, 2016
The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) has released a broad agency announcement (BAA) seeking proposals to develop, and experimentally test, systems that use crowdsourcing and structured analytic techniques to improve analytic reasoning. At the same time, the organization released three requests for information and announced a March 11 proposers’ day for the Odin program, which is developing methods for detecting attempts to disguise a person’s biometric identity.
October 13, 2015
This blog is a followup to an article in the October issue of SIGNAL Magazine, Operation Cooperation: U.S. Defense Officials Intend to Expand Asia-Pacific Partnerships.
Although tighter budgets motivate governments to cooperate on technology development, sequestration and the budget uncertainties in the United States have negatively impacted international partnerships, says Keith Webster, director of international cooperation, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
September 30, 2015
Using nanometer-scale components, researchers have demonstrated the first optical rectenna, a device that combines the functions of an antenna and a rectifier diode to convert light directly into direct current electricity.
Based on multiwall carbon nanotubes and tiny rectifiers fabricated onto them, optical rectennas could provide a new technology for photodetectors that would operate without the need for cooling and energy harvesters that would convert waste heat to electricity. The technology also could ultimately result in a new way to efficiently capture solar energy.
September 21, 2015
BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland (W911NF-15-D-0001); Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio (W911NF-15-D-0002); Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia (W911NF-15-D-0003); Bowhead System Management LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia (W
September 1, 2015
Electrical and computer engineers at North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating less-expensive, low-power embedded computing devices useful in everything from thermostats to automobiles and a wide range of defense or security-related systems.
The researchers made two prototype systems with power converters using the new technique and compared them to dozens of other compatible power converters on the market. They found that none of the other converters could match the prototypes’ combination of low cost and high efficiency.
August 3, 2015
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper announced today that he has selected Jason Matheny to be the next director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), effective immediately.
June 4, 2015
The Department of Defense has announced it will issue 22 awards totaling $149 million over the next five years to academic institutions to perform multidisciplinary basic research. The Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program supports research by teams of investigators that intersect more than one traditional science and engineering discipline in order to accelerate research progress. Most of the program's efforts involve researchers from multiple academic institutions and academic departments.
March 31, 2015
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker has announced the first 26 recipients of the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program grants.
February 19, 2015
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing measurement tools for new mobile communications channels that could offer more than 1,000 times the bandwidth of today’s cellphone systems. The research aims to resolve burgeoning bandwidth demands associated with the rapid expansion of wireless devices. Boosting bandwidth and capacity could speed downloads, improve service quality and enable new applications like the Internet of Things connecting a multitude of devices.
