REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - The ink had not yet begun to dry on the Educational Partnership Agreements when students and faculty members of two local universities converged on the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center to start work on their marketing research projects.
Athens State University located in Alabama, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville recently signed agreements with the AMRDEC that will lead to the marketing of AMRDEC intellectual property while providing the universities with case studies to be used in their business and technology marketing programs. Both agreements are for five years.
"The universities were selected due to the Technology Management curriculum that the schools provide. Each university has their own teaching mechanism for students, so this was a great opportunity to involve the future market analyst," said Cindy Wallace, deputy for the Office of Research and Technology Applications in the Advanced Science and Technology Directorate.
"The end result of the agreement, students will have the opportunity to work in a 'real life' situation with researchers who developed the technology and the Army will gain by receiving the results from the marketing analysis to evaluate.
"If any other university would like, the door is open to them as well," continued Wallace.
The marketing of intellectual property is one of the major functions of the AMRDEC's Office of Research & Technology Applications in the Advanced Science & Technology Directorate.
"The partnering activities are helping AMRDEC to achieve its mission while at the same time assisting students and faculty develop the skills in science and math that are critical to defense science and engineering," said Wallace.
In preparation for their marketing studies, students from Athens State University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville visited with AMRDEC engineers at Redstone Arsenal to learn more about the technologies and have continued their projects in earnest and look forward to completing their marketing studies.
"Mr. Ledwin Mercury, an AMRDEC engineer, gave a short training session on one of the technologies that the students were presented. Since that training session, students have already contacted the laboratory engineers to gather further information on their assigned intellectual property project. At the end of the semester, students will present their outcome on marketing the technologies to the university. The university's professor will give the laboratory a summary of student's results from the project. Once the laboratory receives the results, they will in turn evaluate the outcome," said Wallace.
Under the Educational Partnership Agreement, some of the intellectual property given to the students to research are in the National Technical Information System areas of Navigation, Guidance, and Control; Aeronautics and Aerodynamics; Combustion, Engineering, and Propellants; Communication; Computers, Control and Information Theory, Detection and Countermeasures.
"We expect great things from these partnerships. The students and faculty are eager to make this work and there is a great potential for this technology to be used in other government and non-government agencies and private industry.
"Marketing technology can be tough when you know very little about the product. So to close the gap on marketing, the laboratory hopes to highlight the students' awareness of the different types of markets, the size of markets, the capability of the products, and how to access the technology in the existing and future markets. Ultimately, by learning these skills, the students will be better prepared to market technology to industry with a greater confidence and outlook," said Wallace.
The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center's technologies to be analyzed are as follows:
Aca,!Ac Auto-shutter System for Eye Protection Against In-Band Frequency Agile Lasers. The benefit is eye protection for pilots of airplanes or helicopters is provided by optical filters which attenuate high-intensity light emissions directed at the eyes of a pilot or copilot, while allowing other portions of the visible spectrum to be viewed. Some potential applications are laser threat warning and countermeasure systems for aircraft; sensing of errant laser emissions in industrial settings; Homeland security sensing of range finding activities by terrorists.
Aca,!Ac Swashplate Seal Assembly for a Rotor Shaft Assembly. The benefits provides improved protection from contaminants of a rotor bearing unit and rotor shaft assembly of a rotor utilized in the aviation industry and selected industrial production facilities. The potential applications are coverage of rotor bearing units utilized on aircraft to protect from intrusion of contaminants and an adjustable and inspectable seal assembly positioned within the interface between a rotating shaft and a non-rotating support assembly utilized in industrial machines.
Aca,!Ac Computer-Generated Environments: Pseudo-Random and As Needed (with nested fidelity). This technology is a method for generating computer environments which have virtually unlimited content and detail at minimal usage of computer resources. This new method would enable more extensive use of computer-generated environments for any conceivable application by increasing variety, content, and realism of such environments while reducing the computer resources required to create and to maintain those environments. The potential applications are computer and video games, training -virtual, simulations of systems, virtual navigational maps and assistance and interior design.
Aca,!Ac Measurements of Density Variations. The variation in density may be measured by using a single electromagnetic wave passing through that variation in density rather than requiring two (an effected EM and a referenced EM) wave. There are several potential applications for this technology such as astronomical measurements, industrial process control of gaseous and liquid systems, adjusting interferometric measurements for the effects of turbulence, measurement of mechanical dynamics of reflecting surfaces, and measurement of density variations in thin films.
Aca,!Ac Highly Efficient Piezoelectric Motor. This technology is a miniaturizable motor, highly efficient small motors, with production of significant amount of output power, and a constant torque that is independent of motor speed and precision mechanical power control. Some potential applications include motors (miniature motors, in particular), detection of chemical and biological weapons (miniature vacuum pumps for portable mass spectrometers), space exploration (space-borne astronomical instruments), pollution monitoring, and medical diagnostics.
Aca,!Ac Device for Distinguishing Objects in the Dark Using Infrared Polarimetry. This technology enhances the ability to detect objects in real-time in a cluttered environment and improvement over systems without polarization distinction. Some potential applications are Astronomy/Space exploration, materials characterization, plasma diagnostics, biological measurements, and surveillance/security monitoring.
Aca,!Ac Non-Protrusive Expandable Clamping Device. The benefits include flush and airtight interface between two joined objects, no protrusion of any part of the joining device (example: nail head), fixity in six degrees of freedom, and ease of disassembly and reassembly. The potential applications include construction, heavy machinery, and any objects that need to be joined together but cannot use conventional fastening devices due to unique space constraints or the shape of the joining surfaces of the objects.
Aca,!Ac Bendloss Measuring System. This technology is an easy, repeatable determination of the bend sensitivity of a single-mode optical fiber. The potential applications would be for an optical fiber manufacturing quality control or optical fiber payout applications.
Aca,!Ac Optical Data Bus. This technology has benefits that include handling of high data transfer rate, decrease in cross-talk between individual data channels, increased ruggedness, economical. Potential applications include computer system design, telephone and data communications, and ruggedized processing systems.
Aca,!Ac Alignment Device Using Interferometry. The benefits include compact size, versatility, along with portability. The potential applications include optics research, medicine, geological survey, and mining.
Aca,!Ac Remote Mosaic Imaging System. This technology utilizes readily available, commercial imaging sensors to increase the capabilities of the imaging system to cover virtually any target space with virtually any desired resolution, gives a wide field of view, and low bandwidth requirement. The applications would be law enforcement, premise monitoring, security, and space satellites.
Aca,!Ac Turbine Engine Torque Measuring System. The benefits include accurate measurements of torque enables smooth, safe and reliable engine control and prevention of damage to other drive train components. The potential applications include helicopters, turboshaft-driven fixed-wing aircraft, industrial gas turbine engines and transportation.
Aca,!Ac Soi-mems Gyroscope Technology Innovation. This technology provides accurate angular rate information over wide dynamic range even when exposed to extreme environments and conditions and can operate when exposed to 1000 g's of shock. This technology has applications in the automotive and aerospace industry.
Aca,!Ac Integrated Gyroscope and Temperature Sensor Technology Innovation. The benefit provides accurate angular rate information over wide dynamic range even when exposed to temperature extremes. The potential application is for any gyroscope application where extreme temperature conditions could affect a gyroscope's data output.
Aca,!Ac Hybrid Phased Communication Array. The benefits are a reliable and consistent transmission and reception of radio waves and lower costs. Applications would include cell phones, cell phone tower installations, and other wireless networks.
To locate additional technologies from AMRDEC and other laboratories, as well as technologies that are available for licensing, please visit http://www.dodtechmatch.com.
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