NASA ULI – News
April 18, 2024
NASA SCIENCE CHIEF NICKY FOX TO SPEAK AT UD
Nicola “Nicky” Fox, the head of NASA’s Science Directorate and an expert in heliophysics — sun-related physics — will visit the University of Delaware’s corner of the universe.
During her visit, Fox will present “NASA’s Vision for Powerful Science,” a public talk from her perspective as the director of about 100 scientific missions at the world’s largest space agency. The presentation begins at 1:30 p.m. in UD’s Mitchell Hall. All are invited. The program also will be livestreamed to allow for broader public access.
March 8, 2024
Congratulations to 2023 ULI Summer Intern Iveena Mukherjee on her selection as one of only two outstanding young leaders to represent Delaware as a delegate to the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) to be held in Washington, D.C. March 2 – 9, 2024. Iveena will also receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship. Iveea is photographed below with Senator Chris Coons and Senator Tom Carper.
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November 27, 2023
- CalCompetes grant supports Joby facility expansion, job growth
$9.8 million will grown the eVTOL aircraft manufacturer’s footprint in Marina, California, support 690 new state jobs and accelerate early manufacturing to support initial commercial operations, targeted for 2025.
October 25, 2023 – Third Annual Review Highlights
- 212 registrants
- Tours and demos
- Executive Advisory Council commented – “World Class Research”
- Deep Draw/Stretch Forming Part Demonstrations
- New Constitutive model for Tuff thermoset implemented in Aniform for forming simulations
- Fatigue performance of TuFF 3mm IM7/LM-PAEK cross-ply laminates demonstrated (no microcracking 2M cycles @ 0.9% tensile strain (R=0.1)
- Origins of fiber waviness during processing visualized using single fiber model composites
- Process improvements in TuFF alignment mechanisms lead to improvements in fiber preform quality for thin ply preforms.
- TuFF Fiber steering demonstrated feasibility of reducing minimum steering radius by 1-2 orders of magnitude defect free
- Sole ULI invited by NASA to participate in NASA DC Day on the Hill on November 15, 2023
Third Annual Review, October 25, 2023
Agenda
The Third Annual Review of the NASA University Leadership Initiative Composite Manufacturing Technologies for Aerospace Performance at Automotive Production Rates program will be held at the University of Delaware Center for Composite Materials on October 25, 2023, starting at 8:00am (EST). This is an open meeting; attendees may attend in-person or via Teams.
A team led by the University of Delaware Center for Composite Materials (UD-CCM) is addressing technology barriers and education/workforce training needs in composites manufacturing that provides aerospace performance at high production rates for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and commercial air platforms. Our approach for manufacturing of complex geometry composite parts uses our highly aligned short fiber technology (called TuFF or Tailorable universal Feedstock for Forming) that can be stretch formed while retaining continuous fiber equivalent properties and aerospace quality.
Overview talks on UAM Technology needs and TuFF processing, microstructure, material formats and material properties as well as our extensive outreach activities will be presented. Technical sessions will provide updates on mechanics of aligned short fiber composites, forming of aligned short fiber composites and part process development. Lab tours of UD-CCM (Newark site) are planned for in-person attendees.
September 19, 2023
Located in the “birthplace of aviation,” Joby’s 2025 facility, led by state and local support, will deliver up to 500 aircraft per year with potential to reinforce further growth.
June 28, 2023
Joby Marks Production Launch, Receives Permit to Fly First Aircraft Built on Production Line
June 26, 2023
Three recent UD engineering graduates translated their space research into outreach for pre-k students at the UD Early Learning Center
May 2, 2023
April 12, 2023
Topic: Leading Advanced Turbine Research for Hybrid Electric Propulsion Systems
Presenting Speakers and their Affiliation:
• Karen Thole, Penn State
• Jon Gladin, Georgia Tech
• Ben Emerson, Georgia Tech
Summary of the Talk:
The electrification of aircraft propulsion has attracted the attention of the aerospace industry in recent years due to its potential benefits in reducing energy, carbon emissions, noise, maintenance cost, and cash operating cost. A significant number of research, technology, and product development efforts are underway to explore and exploit these perceived benefits. The realization and magnitude of these benefits depend on aircraft size, mission, fuel costs, architectural configuration, technology capability of the primary electrical components (i.e., energy storage devices, electric machines, and power conversion devices), and the electrical grid carbon intensity. One feasible solution to reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from commercial aviation is to use hybrid-electric propulsion (HEP), which is particularly well-suited for single-aisle medium- and short-haul aircraft. The objective of this research is to optimize the turbine design for HEP aircraft to meet the turbine efficiencies equal to that of large cores and reduce the energy consumption of the turbine by 8-12% over the entire flight envelope. This presentation will address the challenges of optimizing hybrid electric propulsion congruent with the combustor and turbine components.
March 6, 2023
Alumna and aerospace engineer Erin Rezich shares her journey
February 23, 2023
In the second stage of the type certification process, a company identifies the ways in which it will demonstrate it has met the regulatory intent of the safety rules (“Means of Compliance”) that were defined during the first stage of the process (“Certification Basis”).
February 14, 2022
Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY), a company developing all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger service, today announced it has begun final assembly of what is believed to be the world’s first company-conforming electric, vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
January 5, 2023
The University Student Research Challenge (USRC) (solicitation NNH21ZEA001N-USRC2) seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics. USRC will provide students, from accredited U.S. colleges or universities, with grants of up to $80,000 for their projects and with the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign. The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator – requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public. The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies. Notices of Intent (NOIs) are not required for this solicitation. Three-page proposals for the next USRC cycle are due February 23, 2023. Proposals can also be submitted later and evaluated in the second and third cycles.
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