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How Forterra Is Enabling Modular Military Vehicle Autonomy

On this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast, Patrick Acox, Forterra Vice President of Defense Growth, is the guest to explain how the company provides autonomy-enabling modules for a wide variety of military applications.

Automation, Robotics, and AI Integration in Medical Manufacturing

AI-driven quality control, predictive maintenance, and process optimization are improving efficiency and reducing costs in medical manufacturing.

Showcasing Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs: Innovations at the 2025 Create the Future Design Contest

The 23rd annual Create the Future Design Contest was held November 7 in New York City. Read on to find out who took home the $25,000 grand prize!

Autonomous Drones Harness Wind for ISR and Counter UAS

Rob Creighton, Windlift Founder & CEO, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to explain how Windlift's autonomous tethered drone system leverages wind to power a wide variety of defense applications.

Cutting-Edge Computing Goes Spaceborne

Hewlett Packard Enterprise worked with Ames Research Center to send a computer to space that was radiation-hardened with software. Now the approach is making fast, low-cost radiation hardening available to commercial space companies, allowing the use of cutting-edge computers in space.

Powerful and Precise Multi-color Lasers Now Fit on a Single Chip

A few years ago, researchers in Michal Lipson’s Columbia Engineering lab noticed something remarkable. They were working on a project to design high-power chips that could...

Breaking the Thermal Conductivity Barrier with Boron Arsenide

University of Houston researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery in thermal conductivity, overturning an existing theory that boron arsenide (BAs) couldn’t compete with...

Using Streetlamps as EV Chargers

Electric vehicles (EVs) can have lower fuel costs and reduce emissions relative to cars that use gasoline, but they are only a practical option if drivers have convenient ways to charge them. For people who...

High-Performance Electrification Solutions Reshaping Military Systems

The electrification of military systems is a positive step that will deliver enormous technical, operational, and sustainability advantages across defense equipment lifecycles. But it requires deep system-level technical expertise to ensure systems work seamlessly together across power conversion, distribution, and conditioning. Read on to learn more.

2025 Award Finalists

In this article, you’ll learn about the Create the Future Design Contest finalists in all seven categories chosen from over 600 new product ideas submitted from 67 countries.

Silent Sentry: A Software-Defined Passive Sensor for Counter-Stealth and Battlefield Survivability

Silent Sentry is a software system that transforms existing passive microwave sensors into advanced threat detectors. The system is based on Passive Microwave Radiometry (PMR), which “listens” for the faint, naturally emitted thermal radiation from all objects. Read on to learn more about Silent Sentry, which was the Aerospace & Defense finalist at the 2025 Create the Future Design contest.

REACT®: Automated Capsule Recycling Technology for a Circular Coffee Industry

The REACT® Coffee Maker is an innovative integrated appliance that automates both the brewing and clean recycling of single-use coffee capsules. Unlike conventional capsule coffee machines, which leave used capsules contaminated with organic coffee grounds, the REACT® Coffee Maker incorporates a patented mechanical separation module that automatically empties each capsule immediately after brewing. Read on to learn more about the 2025 Create the Future Design Contest Manufacturing & Materials finalist.

Blood Viscosity: The Next Vital Sign – A Wearable Breakthrough in Trauma, Sepsis, and Vascular Health

The first real-time, wearable blood viscosity monitoring device fills a long-standing void in trauma, burn, and sepsis care by delivering continuous, noninvasive insights into the body’s fluid and vascular dynamics. Read on to learn more about the technology, which was the Medical finalist at the 2025 Create the Future Design contest.

Flexible Metal-Free Magnetic Gel for Soft Robotics

Soft robots, medical devices and implants, and next-generation drug delivery methods could soon be guided with magnetism — thanks to a metal-free magnetic gel developed by researchers at the University of Michigan and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany. Read on to learn more about it.

Printable Heat Shield Formulations Advance Spacecraft Construction

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed additively manufactured thermal protection system (AMTPS) comprised of two printable heat shield material formulations. This technology could significantly decrease heat shield or thermal protection system (TPS) fabrication cost and time. Read on to learn more.

Nanofibers Yield Stronger, Tougher Carbon Fiber Composites

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed an innovative new technique using carbon nanofibers to enhance binding in carbon fiber and other fiber-reinforced polymer composites — an advance likely to improve structural materials for automobiles, airplanes and other applications that require lightweight and strong materials.

An Innovative Approach to Lower Limb Rehab Robotics

A study conducted by Fuyang Yu and his colleagues introduces an innovative approach to lower limb rehabilitation. Their research outlines the development of a lower limb rehabilitation robot designed to significantly improve the safety and effectiveness of gait training through a novel method based on human-robot interaction force measurement. Read on to learn more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including an artificial neuron made of conductive plastics that can perform advanced functions similar to those of biological nerve cells; a new method that significantly boosts the performance and stability of solar cells; and more.