3D Printing Stronger Carbon Nanotubes

Researchers in the Lyding Group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have discovered an efficient, sustainable method for 3D-printing single-walled carbon nanotube films, a versatile, durable material that can transform how we explore space, engineer aircraft, and wear electronic technology.

Shark Skin Inspires Functional Surface Film for Aircraft

Following nature's example, Lufthansa Technik and BASF have jointly developed the functional surface film AeroSHARK for commercial aircraft.

Enhancing Fault Isolation and Detection for Electric Powertrains of UAVs

NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is developing innovative data solutions to assure safe, rapid, and repeatable access to a transformed National Airspace System.

Small But Mighty: Stratospheric Microballooons

A zero-emission reusable stratospheric balloon developed by Urban Sky for remote sensing could one day be used for real-time wildfire monitoring.

3D-Printed Catalysts Propel Hypersonic Flight

Ultra-efficient catalysts were developed that are cost-effective to make and simple to scale.

Vertiport Assessment and Mobility Operations System

It is widely believed that Advanced Air Mobility is poised to have a significant societal impact in the coming years to move people and cargo more rapidly and efficiently.

Self-Healing Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite

NASA has developed a new metal matrix composite (MMC) that can repair itself from large fatigue cracks that occur during the service life of a structure.

A Systems Engineering Approach to Sustainable Power Systems

Research and development work continue to deliver cleaner, more efficient, and more diverse ways of generating the energy we need to power modern society.

Teaching Drones How to Navigate Real-World Weather

For drones to autonomously perform necessary but quotidian tasks, they must be able to adapt to wind conditions in real time.

Unmanned Hover Plane

The Trojan Unmanned Hover Plane (UHP) is a one-of-a-kind system that bridges the gap between the need to hover and the need to reach long ranges, giving it the ability to perform aerial missions with pinpoint precision.

Method Pinpoints Microscale Damage in Metal

The process predicts when and where microscopic cracks will occur before they become catastrophic.

Fixed-Wing Angle eVTOL

New design removes the need for mechanisms to perform active tilting of the wings or rotors, reducing system mass.

Anti-Phase Noise Suppression Rotor Technologies

Acoustic optimization for anti-phase asymmetric rotor.

Improved Fixed-Wing Gust Load Alleviation Device

Gust load alleviation is an increasing concern for the design of fixed-wing aircraft with ultra-high aspect wings.

Outer Aileron Yaw Damper

A lightweight alternative to rudders for aircraft with spanwise adaptive wings.

Aeronautics in the 21st Century: Safe. Sustainable. Smart.

Aviation is emerging aggressively from the pandemic to turn setbacks into comebacks.

Propelling the Future of Sustainable Aviation

Electric aircraft hold tremendous potential to improve emission, noise, and operating economics across a range of different applications in support of the goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Painting 3D-Printed Objects

Engineers have created a highly effective way to paint complex 3D-printed objects, such as lightweight frames for aircraft and biomedical stents, that could save manufacturers time and money and provide new...

Embracing Agile Product Development

We've made some impressive strides from both a societal and industry perspective in the face of this unrelenting pandemic. And while the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry has been hit...

Test Strategies to Track Hypersonic Threats

Hypersonic weapons, unlike ballistic missiles, take unpredictable paths and can evade missile defense systems. To counter hypersonic technologies, radar engineers must build systems that have no...

University of Colorado Boulder

Founded in 1876, the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Bolder) is a public research university in Boulder, CO. The College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder was founded in 1893. With an...

Extending Battery Life of Small Drones

A continuous flight of small drones over its perimeter could enhance security of the nation's border, but there is one small problem: The battery limitation of small drones (they last about 30 minutes)...

New Printing Process Advances 3D Capabilities

Substances such as plastics, metals, and wax are used in 3D printers to make products and parts for larger items. Products created through the 3D printing of plastics include every-thing from...

High-Power Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells

Electrification of the transportation sector is critical to future energy and environmental resilience and will require high-power fuel cells (either standalone or in conjunction with batteries) to...

Propulsion System for Hypersonic Flight

The system could allow for flight speeds of Mach 6 to 17 and would have applications in air and space travel.

Advancing Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Systems for Sustainable Flight

Hybrid-electric propulsion systems hold clear potential to reduce aircraft carbon dioxide emissions and support the goal of greater sustainability in aviation.

Facility Focus: The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Learn about the aviation, space, cybersecurity, and engineering achievements happening at Embry-Riddle.

Giving Bug-Like Bots a Boost

A new fabrication technique helps improve the performance of flying micro-robots.

Bipedal Robot Achieves Better Body Balance

A new robot developed by Caltech researchers LEO carves out a new type of locomotion somewhere between walking and flying.