SBIR Phase I: The role of gravity in advanced materials manufacturing for the era of digital transformation

Award ID: 2015155

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development, design, and optimization of new materials in the absence of gravity. The current approach to in-space manufacturing is primarily trial-and-error. The proposed technology will advance a systematic approach to in-space manufacturing, enabling the development of new materials with better properties and cost-competitive associated infrastructure. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance the translation of material development in zero-G environments. Chemical formulations of known materials may be unstable under the effect of body forces, but the mechanisms through which these forces impact the phase diagram remain unknown. This project will integrate experimental, computational, and machine learning techniques to identify material formulations amenable to zero-G manufacturing. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Muralidharan Nair