Nonlinear Analysis of Impact-Contact Dynamics for Robot Hand Grasping a Boulder

Principal Investigator: Dr. Abdessattar Abdelkefi
Affiliation/Dept.: New Mexico State University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
NASA Collaborator/NASA Center: Brian Muirhead/NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
Description: Develop an innovative model order reduction (MOR) technique that can effectively model both linear and nonlinear contributions of the impact-contact problem of a robot hand grasping a boulder.

High-Voltage Power Sources for Differential Ion Mobility Spectrometry

Principal Investigator: Dr. Paul Furth
Affiliation/Dept.: New Mexico State University, Electrical and Computer Engineering
NASA Collaborator/NASA Center: Ariel V Mactangay, Technology Development Scientist, NASA Human Health and Performance Directorate
Description: This project will 1) Validate a high-voltage current source for ion-mobility spectrometry (IMS) and differential ion-mobility spectrometry (DMS) instruments. 2) create a high-voltage, high-frequency, power source for DMS. 3) Create a high-voltage, very high-frequency power system for fragmenting gas ions in a tandem DMS/DMS system.

Ordered Electronic Phase on Capacitor Plates for Electromagnetic Shielding and Inductance Applications

Principal Investigator: Dr. Thomas Manz
Affiliation/Dept.: New Mexico State University Chemical & Materials Engineering
NASA Collaborator/NASA Center: Manohar Deshpande, Senior RF Engineers, Microwave Instrument and Technology Branch/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Description: This research will develop a device for shielding electronic circuits from electromagnetic noise of ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and microwave wavelengths. The project will explore electromagnetic shielding and inductance applications of interest to NASA.

Development of Composites with Zero Thermal Expansion

Principal Investigator: Dr. Igor Sevostianov
Affiliation/Dept.: New Mexico State University, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
NASA Collaborator/NASA Center: Ken Segal, Mechanical engineering Branch/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Description: This research will address NASA’s need for the development of materials that demonstrate prescribed thermal expansion and thermal pressure properties. Note, that while composites with zero thermal expansion in one direction have already been developed, the isotropic materials with zero thermal expansion in all directions represent substantial novelty of the proposed research.

On Demand, Distributed, In-Memory Computing for Big Data Processing

Principal Investigator: Dr. Hamdy Soliman
Affiliation/Dept.: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Computer Science and Technology
NASA Collaborator/NASA Center: Lora Bleacher, Education and Public Outreach Lead/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Description: As an application, this project will focus on processing space observation data. This project will build an open computing infrastructure that combine three powerful computing paradigms i) in-memory data grids ii) dynamic Hadoop clusters, and iii) on-demand computing. The infrastructure would enable users to have a streamlined, on-demand access to computing and storage capacities adequate to the needs of their big data applications.

NM CubeSat Program

Principal Investigator: Dr. Steve Stochaj
Affiliation/Dept.: New Mexico State University, Electrical and Computer Engineering
NASA Collaborator/NASA Center: Tupper Hyde, Chief Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis (MESA) Division and William Oegerle, Director Astrophysics Science Division/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Description: This program provides paid research positions to students to aid in paying for school while participating in enrichment activities such as research projects. Students funded will work on the Ionospheric Neutron Content Analyzer (INCA) Satellite CubeSat mission. This program will produce students that are well versed in the related STEM fields and have skills that are reinforced with hands-on work experience. Graduates will be highly qualified for employment with NASA, National Laboratories, or the commercial industry.