What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
At the VPR level, we are developing an Aerospace Hub at the U by creating and strengthening relationships between local Aerospace industries, NASA, the DoD, government agencies, and other academic institutions.
Individually, we are validating fiber optic strain sensors embedded in aerospace composite materials.
How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
Today, the development of relevant, multi-disciplinary research that meets national aerospace objectives is ad-hoc, narrowly focused, and less productive.
Conventional aerospace strain and temperature sensing rely on limited numbers of obtrusive, surface-mounted sensors and heavy bundles of electrical wiring, which are inefficient for aerospace applications.
What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
The Hub’s approach is to invest in fewer but more strategic aerospace research areas that directly support university, state, and national objectives.
On the research level, the approach is to develop embedment methods, characterize performance, and validate measurements of optical fiber sensors embedded within composite materials.
Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?
A successful Aerospace Hub at the U will provide researchers with opportunities to work on larger, more game-changing problems that align with the goals of the university, state, and national leadership.
Lightweight, composite structures that can accurately infer external structural shape, characterize internal strain state, and measure temperature field response, in real-time can improve the capability of aerospace vehicle structural safety and performance.