Video: Unmanned aircraft flight test center


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Established in 2007, the New Mexico State University Physical Science Laboratory's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Test Center is the first of its kind. In the last eight years, NMSU's UAS FTC has become the most accomplished and most experienced Federal Aviation Administration-approved UAS test facility in the country.

NMSU's UAS FTC provides direct access to more than 15,000 m2 of airspace, and was the first civil UAS test facility that provided direct, available access to restricted airspace—a must for testing developmental aircraft or multi-aircraft scenarios. Henry Cathey, interim deputy director of NMSU's Physical Science Laboratory, was honored at NMSU's Scholarly Excellence Rally Friday, Oct. 9.

"The Flight Test Center in Las Cruces has been operating for a number of years, and it's not only a unique resource for the state of New Mexico, but it is a unique resource for the entire country," Cathey says. "It's state-of-the-art, cutting-edge, and it's very exciting that New Mexico is leading the way in this area."

In May 2015, the FAA announced that the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) would operate a new National Center of Excellence for UAS. NMSU is a core member-university on a team, which is comprised of 15 universities and six affiliates.

As a core university of ASSURE, NMSU is helping lead the partnership of academic and industry members that will begin a new era of commercial unmanned aircraft research, development and integration into the nation's airspace. Dallas Brooks, NMSU UAS research and development strategic manager, is the principle investigator on the ASSURE project and co-chairs the Federal UAS Science and Research Panel, which oversees and coordinates UAS research conducted by the FAA, NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security.

The center of excellence will supply research to the FAA and UAS industry to increase the potential uses of unmanned systems with minimal changes to the current system regulating manned aircraft. The center of excellence research areas include detect and avoid technology; low-altitude operations safety; control and communications; spectrum management; human factors; compatibility with air traffic control operations; and training and certification of UAS pilots and other crewmembers.

"We are supporting and trying to make the skies safer for using things like UAS or unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace," Cathey says. "We have been tasked to look at detect and avoid technology on how we can integrate things from small UAS up to things with a 15- to 20-foot wingspan into national airspace safely.

"The detect and avoid research area focuses on issues related to the detection of potential threats to remain well clear and avoid collisions. It explores sensors, the data produced from sensors, the management and use of that data, and the operational outcome that is considered safe and acceptable," he said.

In this research area, NMSU is evaluating the requirements for an airborne or ground-based Detect and Avoid system compatible with small UAS (55 pounds and less) operating in limited portions of the National Air Space to comply with the regulations and not increase the risk to other aircraft or people on the ground, beyond what is currently in effect. Additionally, NMSU is accessing the requirements for software along with what are the most feasible airborne or ground-based sensors.

ASSURE will form teams between its member universities, government agencies and industry partners to address both government and commercial UAS challenges. "Each of those universities has specific skills and abilities, and the idea is to marry all of the technical expertise to provide real research answers for flight safety in the National Air Space," Cathey said.

 

Video: Unmanned aircraft flight test center

Established in 2007, the New Mexico State University Physical Science Laboratory’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Test Center is the first of its kind.

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Advancing development of thermal manufacturing technologies

September 24, 2015
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A new roadmap outlines a near-term strategy for the accelerated development and implementation of advanced technologies across the many industries that rely on thermal manufacturing, which collectively employ more than 5.4 million people and generate almost $3 trillion in economic activity. By providing specific actions for a more coordinated cross-sector approach to advanced thermal manufacturing in the next five years, this roadmap aims to enable the more than 100,000 businesses involved in and impacted by thermal manufacturing—97% of which are small and medium-sized companies—to improve the efficiency of their operations as well as the performance of the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole.  
 
Developed by the Thermal Manufacturing Industries Advanced Technology Consortium (TMI ATC) initiative under the leadership of ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, and through funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md., Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) program, Advancing Thermal Manufacturing: A Technology Roadmap to 2020 identifies common barriers that currently constrain the use of advanced technologies in thermal manufacturing—including limitations of current technologies and processes as well as widespread non-technical issues related to workforce development and training.  
 
"We were very pleased to be able to bring together different constituencies to develop this first roadmap in the thermal manufacturing area", says Terry Mosier, Managing Director of ASM International.  
 
To address these common barriers, the roadmap offers a two-fold strategy that combines focused technology development with activities designed to stimulate and support technology implementation. The roadmap identifies 50 activities and seven detailed action plans to accelerate the development, adaptation, and implementation of advanced technologies throughout the thermal manufacturing community in the next five years.

  • The technology development activities identified in the roadmap aim to enhance the development and adaptation of heating methods and materials for thermal manufacturing equipment and products as well as improve the understanding, prediction, monitoring, and control of thermal manufacturing processes. 
  • The technology implementation activities identified in the roadmap focus on stimulating the widespread acceptance and adoption of advanced technologies throughout the thermal manufacturing community to ensure that even small and medium-sized companies with limited resources can effectively implement these technologies in their operations.


Implementation of this roadmap's critical actions and priority action plans will be led by the Metal Processing Institute (MPI) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Mass., in conjunction with ASM International. Together, these organizations will engage their diverse membership bases—including members from academia, national laboratories, and industry—to catalyze action in this nationally critical area.
 
"The increased development and implementation of advanced technologies can ultimately better position the U.S. thermal manufacturing in the global economy," says Diran Apelian, MPI Director. "This roadmap provides a compelling path forward that should be of interest to all stakeholders."
 

Advancing development of thermal manufacturing technologies

Cross-industry Consortium Leads the Way to Advanced Thermal Manufacturing

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Heat Treat expo sells out

September 18, 2015
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The exposition for Heat Treat 2015 has sold out for the second time in a row. Hundreds of heat treating companies and gear manufacturers will be displaying their latest and greatest products and services next month at the 28th annual ASM Heat Treating Society Conference and Exposition in Detroit, Mich.

With over 290 booths on the sold out floor - an increase of over 20 booths from 2013 - attendees will have plenty of opportunities to see the latest technology in action. A new addition this year are scheduled live demonstrations on the expo floor, which will educate attendees about new equipment in a hands-on way. Other exciting events happening on the show floor are plenary talk from Dr. Alan Taub of the LIFT consortium on Tuesday afternoon, and the exhibitor reception on Tuesday evening. Exhibitors are encouraged to invite their clients and prospects to attend, particularly if they are local.

Heat Treat 2015 is a biannual conference recognized by industry, academia and government professionals as the premier heat treating gathering in North America. This year it is taking placing in Detroit Michigan, a place with deep roots in heat treating and the birthplace of the ASM Heat Treat Society.

To see a list of the exhibitors, visit this page.

To register for Heat Treat 2015, visit here on the Heat Treat event website.

Heat Treat expo sells out

The exposition for Heat Treat 2015 has sold out for the second time in a row.

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VIDEO: Additive manufacturing: 3D printing beyond plastic

July 30, 2015
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At Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT), Christopher Williams heads the effort to further advance 3D printing—known among engineers as additive manufacturing—with copper, a widely used conductor in electronics. Williams is using a process called binder jetting in which an inkjet printer selectively jets glue into a bed of copper powder, layer-by-layer. The printed copper product is then taken to a furnace to fuse the particles together.

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Williams is addressing a major challenge in the 3D copper printing process, which is to eliminate the porosity that develops in the part during the process. These microscopic pockets of air weaken the finished product. Williams's goal is to create an additive manufacturing process for copper that would be practical for widespread use. If successful, the results gleaned from this project can also be used to educate future engineers in designing systems with 3D printing.

 

 

Beyond the already functioning "3-D printing vending machine" available to students at VT, researchers hope to integrate their findings into an undergraduate/graduate additive manufacturing course, as well as summer workshops for K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers. These proposed programs will not only instruct students through inquiry-based learning methods but also study how teacher/student perceptions of manufacturing evolve. The research is this episode was supported by NSF award #1254287, Additive Manufacture of Copper Cellular Materials, made through NSF's CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development) program.

Miles O'Brien, Science Nation Correspondent

Ann Kellan, Science Nation Producer

VIDEO: Additive manufacturing: 3D printing beyond plastic

Engineers turn to copper, but must first overcome a major challenge

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NIST hosts first app challenge to improve data access


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Researchers looking for information on the properties of methane at high temperatures or the isotopic composition of an element know they can rely on standard reference data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md. But what they really need is an app (or apps) to make the data more accessible.

As a step in that direction, NIST is launching its first app challenge. Prizes totaling $45,000 can go to developers who create applications that offer new ways to access and use data from one or more of six eligible scientific data collections maintained by NIST.

NIST maintains some of the world's most accurate and comprehensive datasets of physical, material, chemical, and biological data covering a broad range of substances and properties. These datasets are invaluable research tools for physicists, biochemical engineers, environmental researchers, students, and many others. The app challenge is meant to boost awareness of these resources and modernize their use. To support the challenge, NIST has made six of its datasets available in machine-readable format. The contest is open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents over the age of 18.

Challenge participants must make the app available for testing at no cost to NIST, and it must be accompanied by a brief text submission, at least one screenshot of the app, and a brief (less than five minute) video describing the functionality of the app. Entries are due by Sept. 28.

NIST experts will vet technical aspects of the apps and a group of judges will evaluate submissions to identify the best. The criteria for judging will be the app's potential impact, its creativity and innovation, how well it is implemented, and the integration of one or more SRD or other data into the app.

The six eligible NIST Standard Reference Datasets to be used in the challenge are:

  • CODATA Fundamental Physical Constants (NIST SRD 121) — provides the most accurate internationally recommended values of the fundamental physical constants that are essential to basic theories of physics and our quantitative understanding of the physical universe.
  • Ground Levels and Ionization Energies for the Neutral Atoms (NIST SRD 111) — primarily used by chemists and astronomers to calculate thermodynamic properties of atoms in chemical reactions and other kinetic processes, and by atomic physicists to benchmark experimental data for advanced atomic theories.
  • Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions (NIST SRD 144) — provides atomic weights for elements 1 through 118 and is used by scientists in detecting radioactive isotopes, dating of paintings and sculptures, determining the origins of meteor samples and more.
  • NIST Computational Chemistry Comparison and Benchmark Database (CCCBDB, NIST SRD 101) — provides thermochemical data for a selected set of more than 1000 gas-phase atoms and molecules. It is used by chemists to compare experimental results with computational ideal-gas properties.
  • NIST-JANAF Thermochemical Tables (NIST SRD 13) — originally used by the aerospace industry to understand rocket propellant combustion, these thermochemical data for a range of chemical substances are used world-wide in a range of chemistry, environmental and materials applications. Industry scientists use these tables to predict thermodynamic information about chemical substances, including equilibrium mixtures and heat release.
  • NIST ITS-90 Thermocouple Database (NIST SRD 60) — provides temperature calibration data for converting a measured voltage to temperature, and is the basis for calibration of thermometers, instrument controllers and other devices that rely on temperature for process control. These types of devices are found in virtually every technology including kitchen ovens, hot water heaters, residential and commercial furnaces, power plants, and more.

 

The Reference Data Challenge follows NIST's first participation in the National Day of Civic Hacking, held June 6 in which NIST invited coders from across the U.S. to play with a subset of its Standard Reference Data. The challenge also complements NIST's ongoing efforts to ensure its data and research results are publicly accessible. On July 8, 2015, NIST released a new data access plan and is asking the public for feedback to help guide its policies and procedures.

For detailed information on the NIST Reference Data Challenge, visit nistdata.ChallengePost.com. View the Federal Register notice here.

NIST hosts first app challenge to improve data access

Researchers looking for information on the properties of methane at high temperatures or the isotopic composition of an element know they can rely on standard reference data from NIST.

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Ultra 76 Plus tantalum alloy resists corrosion in hot concentrated acids

July 8, 2015
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H.C. Starck, Newton, Mass., introduces the Ultra 76 Plus tantalum alloy, which is designed to combat aggressive hazardous-chemical corrosion in hot concentrated acids. The alloy is based on the Ta2.5W alloy, which improves corrosion resistance by minimizing hydrogen embrittlement, extending equipment life, and reducing downtime.

Ultra 76 Plus was designed by H.C. Starck's Fabricated Products Division. It enables increased concentrations and operating temperatures in HCI, H2SO4, and other acids. It can add value to a multitude of products, from heat exchangers, condensers, and coils, to thermocouple protection sheaths, pumps, distillation columns, boilers, and condensers.

H.C. Starck's high-tech materials — molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, niobium, and their alloys — are excellent choices for applications in high temperatures and severe environments. Tantalum, in particular, is widely used in electronics, chemical processes, and biomedical industries, where its alloys provide cost-effective, long service-life solutions for mission-critical components. In addition, it enables users to eliminate separate "Platinum Spot Welding" steps.

www.hcstarck.com

 

 

Ultra 76 Plus tantalum alloy resists corrosion in hot concentrated acids

H.C. Starck, Newton, Mass., introduces the Ultra 76 Plus tantalum alloy, which is designed to combat aggressive hazardous-chemical corrosion in hot concentrated acids.

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