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Semiconductors & ICs

Advanced Silicones for ADAS in Light Vehicles

Today’s ADAS designers are adding more electronic components and redundant computing systems to printed circuit boards (PCBs). These heat-generating electronic assemblies are installed in...

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Design

Can Microvanes Improve Fuel Efficiency for Legacy Air Force Aircraft?

Air Force Operational Energy and Air Mobility Command are entering the final phase of evaluation for Microvane drag reduction technology on the C-17 Globemaster III....

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Manufacturing Spotlight: Machining Complex Parts and Materials for Space Flight and Exploration

This is the first article in a new section of Aerospace & Defense Technology called “Manufacturing Spotlight,” where we will cover some of the latest machines, tools, and other technologies being used by aerospace and defense industry design and manufacturing engineers. The first topic in this new section is “Machines,” specifically the computer numerical control machines. Read on to learn more.

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Shape-Shifting Antenna Poised to Transform Communications

By leveraging cutting-edge additive manufacturing techniques and shape memory alloys, researchers have created an antenna that can change its shape based on its temperature. This technology has transformative potential in a wide range of military, scientific and commercial applications. Read on to learn more.

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Materials

Clean Sky Demonstrator Fuselage Shows Potential of Thermoplastics in Aircraft Production

Suspended between discrete skeletal jigs, it wouldn't attract a second glance on an aircraft assembly line. Yet inside an anonymous hangar in northern...

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Materials

Supernova to 3D Print Military Grade Energetic Materials

The American Center for Manufacturing & Innovation (ACMI) has awarded a $2 million subcontract to Supernova Defense & Space to 3D print military-grade energetic materials.

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Aerospace

How the Navy is Using Additive Manufacturing to Protect Submarine Hatch Bolts

Commander, Submarine Forces is researching the usage of additive manufacturing (AM) technology to address operational needs, in collaboration with midshipmen from...

Technology Report

Energy

CES 2025: Gentex Improves Dimmable Glass Visors with Vanity Mirror

If you are someone who has wrestled with a too-small sun visor in your vehicle, Gentex’s improved dimmable sunshades might be one of the most practical innovations to get...

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Transportation

Innovation Comes Out of the Wool Work

For millennia, sheep’s wool has been key to major leaps in technology. From the invention of the spinning wheel to the dawn of computer-controlled looms, refining wool into textiles has led to revolutions in industry. Today, wool itself is leading the charge, with some assistance from NASA. Read on to learn more.

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Robotics, Automation & Control

Flipping NASA Tech and Sticking the Landing

Looking for a reliable method of adhesion for its product that lets a phone stick almost anywhere, Flipstik of St. Louis, Missouri, used published research into robotic grippers conducted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to improve its gecko-inspired accessory. Read on to learn more.

NASA Spinoff

Materials

Scaling Up Hydrogen

The Cryostat CS900 is poised to enable widespread use of liquid hydrogen as an energy carrier, according to James Fesmire, who invented the technology for his company, Titusville, Florida-based GenH2, building on his career developing cryostats at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Read on to learn more.

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Electronics & Computers

3D Printed Engines Propel Next Industrial Revolution

The new possibility of 3D-printed aluminum engine parts will mean significant savings for NASA in terms of time, money, and, most importantly, the weight of future spacecraft. Elementum 3D Inc., a partner on the project, is now bringing the benefits of that technology to its customers.

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Unmanned Systems

How Off-Gassing Keeps Divers, Submariners Safe From Toxin-Releasing Materials

Everyone knows that new car smell — the chemical odor wafting off the new plastics, fabrics and other materials in a vehicle's interior. Those smells are caused...

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Materials

Characterizing the Performance of Variable Emissivity Materials in Space

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) launched the Space Power InfraRed Regulation and Analysis of Lifetime, or SPIRRAL, experiment, Nov. 4, 2024. SPIRRAL, flown by...

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Advancing Metal Alloy Systems and Processes for Defense Manufacturing

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) Office, in collaboration with the National Center for Defense Manufacturing...

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Lockheed Martin Adds New Additive Manufacturing Machines to Texas Facility

Lockheed Martin recently added 16,000-square-feet of new additive manufacturing space to their facility located in Grand Prairie, Texas. This expansion includes some...

Technology Report

Materials

Discount Tire Tests So You Don’t Have To

For all the engineering that takes place at the Treadwell Research Park (TRP), Discount Tire’s chief product and technical officer John Baldwin told SAE Media that there’s actually something...

Briefs

Energy

Dormant Capacity Reserve in Lithium-Ion Batteries Detected

Using transmission electron microscopes, Researchers at Graz University of Technology were able to systematically track lithium ions as they traveled through battery material, map their arrangement in the crystal lattice of an iron phosphate cathode with unprecedented resolution, and precisely quantify their distribution in the crystal. Read on to learn more.

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Energy

Crafting Safe, Long-Cyclable Lithium Metal Batteries for High Temperatures

A research team led by Professor Dong-Myeong Shin of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hong Kong has developed a new generation of lithium metal batteries, representing a significant advancement in the field. Here, an interview with Shin to learn more about the technology.

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Electronics & Computers

Making a Material Difference in Aerospace & Defense Electronics

Laminate materials are indispensable in the manufacture of boards and flexible circuitry for aerospace and defense electronics. Their unique properties address stringent demands, ensuring systems perform reliably under extreme conditions. Read on to learn more.

Briefs

Manufacturing & Prototyping

Scientists Fuse Simulations and Machine Learning to Accelerate Novel Additively Manufactured Materials

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory have demonstrated a novel approach for applying machine learning to predict microstructures produced by a widely used additive manufacturing technique. Read on to learn more.

Briefs

Materials

‘First of Its Kind’ Composite Material to Help Space Vessels Travel Longer Distances

Dr. Ashwath Pazhani along with an international team of researchers have created a new material for storing the liquid hydrogen used to propel rockets into space by the likes of NASA. The new material is lighter than the current material used. Read on to learn more about it.

Articles

Manufacturing & Prototyping

These Speedy Cold Spray Machines Can 3D Print Vehicle Parts in War Zones

As “point of need” additive manufacturing emerges as a priority for the Department of Defense, Australian 3D printing provider SPEE3D is one of several companies demonstrating that its machines can rapidly produce castings, brackets, valves, mountings and other common replacement parts and devices that warfighters often need in an on-demand schedule when deployed near or directly within combat zones. Read on to learn more.

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Materials

Toyota Tacoma’s Resin Seat Named SPE’s 2024 Best Automotive Plastic Innovation

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) announced the winners of the 53rd annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala (IAG) in mid-November, naming Toyota’s...

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Materials

Top Aerospace OEMs Taking Action to Prevent Unapproved Parts From Entering Supply Chain

The Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition released its report recommending specific actions the aerospace industry should take to help prevent...

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Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Army Evaluates 3D Printing for Bradley Fighting Vehicle's Transmission Mount

SPEE3D, an Melbourne, Australia-based supplier of additive manufacturing technology successfully participated in the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development...

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Green Design & Manufacturing

Pure Lithium Bets on Vanadium Cathodes to Save U.S. Battery Independence

Continuing a common theme among some presenters at The Battery Show North America, Emilie Bodoin, the CEO and Co-Founder of Pure Lithium, which is betting on lithium...

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Materials

Factorial’s Solid-State B-Samples Send a Message

Earlier this year, Factorial Energy CEO Siyu Huang told SAE Media her company was “very committed” to bringing solid-state battery technology to the market sooner than basically anyone...

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Power

Battery Analysis Pioneer: North America Has Five Years to Catch China

North American automakers and EV battery firms have five years to erase China’s dominance in technology and manufacturing or they may face the reality of buying...