| COVER STORY | |
| Spheres of Influence | |
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| MATERIALS | |
| Self-assembling Molecules | |
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| Turning Off Explosions | |
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| SENSORS | |
| Sensing the Next Bridge Collapse | |
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| Saving Lives with Algorithms | |
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| DEPARTMENTS | |
| From the Editor | |
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Spheres of Influence
Nanocomposite material offers strong, lightweight replacement for heavy parts.
Nanoscopic composite materials developed for missile defense may soon provide a quick, inexpensive way for end users to improve the strength and performance of their systems, while reducing the weight and cost of aerospace, automotive, and biomedical components.  |
Self-assembling Molecules
A simple technique could someday replace complex circuit-writing technologies.
Inkjet printing has revolutionized the photo business, to where it is now trivial to produce clear, glossy photos with your home printer. Now, a simple inkjet technique developed by NanoSonic, Inc. (Blacksburg, VA), may offer hope to electronics makers seeking faster, simpler, more environmentally friendly methods for producing circuitry. |
Turning Off Explosions
A new class of materials brings lightswitch control to munitions and Hollywood stunts.
MDA funded Digital Solid State Propulsion, LLC (DSSP: Reno, NV), to develop alternative rocket propellants, and DSSP came up with a unique material, the first energetic material that can be turned on and off electrically, giving the user the ability to “turn off” an explosion. |
Sensing the Next Bridge Collapse
Corrosion monitors could provide early warning to road crews.
Sensors developed to monitor the structural integrity of materials used in missile defense systems soon may prevent automotive fatalities by providing early warning of highway bridge collapses.
The sensors, developed by Analatom, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA), and made of the same metal to which they are applied, enable transportation departments to assess specific environmental data such as metal structural corrosion on bridges. The sensors send data wirelessly to portable data units that use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the data to predict impending structural failures. |
Saving Lives with Algorithms
Web-based software uses patient data, studies to assess risk and diagnose cancer.
Physicians may soon be able to better prevent and more accurately diagnose breast cancer with the help of battlefield planning software designed for missile defense.
Medical Information Network Decision Support (MINDS™) software uses Web-based information management, decision support models, and architecture originally designed for MDA command-and-control systems, as part of a 2003 SBIR Phase II contract. MINDS works under the assumption that to improve results, whether in an operating room or on a battlefield, users need a common framework capable of pulling in disparate, scattered data and making sense of it. |
Leveraging Lessons
Bits of wisdom from MDA’s TA program could help businesses focus during tough times.
The MDA Technology Applications (TA) program encourages MDA-funded researchers at businesses and universities to seek opportunities for their technology beyond missile defense. From the Federal government’s standpoint, the idea is a smart and simple one: If you’re going to spend money—taxpayer money—to develop a widget, wouldn’t it be great if it could be used for more than one purpose? So we help innovators find additional opportunities for their technologies. |
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