Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ment-oriented efforts (6.2 and 6.3) at AFRL laboratories and 6.1 basic research
through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), a directorate within
the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
AFRL Research Portfolio in Micro- and Nanotechnologies
In microtechnology, AFRL supports 40 projects for a total of $29 million.
The AFRL nanotechnology program includes about 120 tasks, which receive
over $25 million in support. This includes about $10 million for the support of
nanomaterials research, about $12 million for nanodevice research, about
$2 million for research in nanobiology and information technology, and about
$3 million for research in nanoenergetics. This research is expected to have
significant impact in the areas indicated in Box 5-1.
The relationship of the AFRL nanotechnology program to long-term Air
Force requirements is illustrated in Table 5-1. Work is under way at the level of
the AFRL Chief Technologist to collect the multiple existing threads in micro-
and nanotechnology within AFRL and to plan a coordinated approach.
Funding for the main Air Force areas of interest by funding level is shown in
Table 5-2 and in Figure 5-1.
AFOSR Basic Research Programs in Nanotechnology
Much of the basic research (6.1) is conducted in U.S. academic institutions;
the distribution of AFOSR funding is about 70 percent external and 30 percent in-
house within AFRL. These investments have been provided from the Air Force
BOX 5-1
Expected Impacts of Research Supported by the
Air Force Nanotechnology Program
Enhanced
Mechanical
Sensors
Electronic devices
Energetic Materials
Structures
•
Infrared
•
High-speed
•
Propellants with
•
Lightweight
target
information
higher specific
structures
recognition
processing
impulse and
•
High performance
•
Airborne and
•
Orders of
controlled burn rates •
High-temperature
space-based
magnitude
•
Smaller munitions
materials and
long-range
increase in
•
Safer propellants
structures
detection
computing power
•
Enhanced power
•
Self-healing
•
Multispectral
•
Counterradiation
generation
structures
awareness
effects
•
Advanced fuels,
•
Smart skins
lubricants, and
•
Reduced cost of
additives
launch
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