Alabama NASA EPSCoR FY2019 Research Infrastructure Development (RID) Augmentation

The programmatic focus of the Alabama NASA EPSCoR RID program is to build core capabilities at Alabama’s universities and other collaborative institutions by further engaging and utilizing Alabama’s unique resources and talent for enhancing greater scientific discovery and developing new technologies to address NASA’s goals: • Contribute to and promote the development of research capability in NASA EPSCoR jurisdictions in areas of strategic importance to the NASA mission; • Improve the capabilities of the NASA EPSCoR jurisdictions to gain support from sources outside the NASA EPSCoR program; • Develop partnerships among NASA research assets, academic institutions, and industry; and • Contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science and technology capabilities, higher education, and economic development of the jurisdiction. With RID augmentation funding, we shall continue to build competitive research and technology development capabilities in areas of interest to both NASA and the State of Alabama. The interests of the State of Alabama in this regard are defined by the Alabama State EPSCoR Committee (SEC), which oversees all EPSCoR programs within the state. The PI of this proposal is Dr. L. Dale Thomas, the Alabama NASA EPSCoR Director, the Alabama Space Grant Consortium Director, and a professor at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Alabama proposes a RID augmentation program based on the following elements: • Seed grants – Seed grant augmentation for Yrs. 2 and 3 to current FY19 seed research grant/research initiation grants awardees to researchers in early stages of their careers (5 grants @ $16K/year) – awardees were competitively selected. o Dr. Raziq Yaqub, Alabama A&M University, Cyber Security for Decentralized Aero-vehicle Control Systems o Dr. Nicholas Tsolas, Auburn University, The Next Frontier in Space Exploration - Cubesats: Investigating the combustion characteristics of imidazole-based ionic liquids and HAN bipropellants to enable dual-mode propulsion systems o Dr. Todd Freeborn, University of Alabama, Evaluating localized electrical impedance myography to quantify segmental fluid shifts induced by simulated micro-gravity conditions o Dr. Kannatassen Appavoo, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Effect of Space Radiation Environment on Emerging Photonic Technologies o Dr. Yu Lei, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Development for Advanced Fuel Coatings; • Continued development of new contacts and cooperative research ties with NASA Centers (plus JPL) and/or Mission Directorates; • Continued funding for EPSCoR Director travel and travel grants for jurisdiction researchers; • Continued travel to the annual NASA EPSCoR National Director’s Meetings; • Continued development of new or continuing partnerships among colleges and universities in the jurisdiction that will enhance our jurisdictions’ ability to respond to NASA’s research and technology development needs. One way we plan to do this is to host a 2-day state-wide Technical Interchange Meeting/Workshop in Yr. 3 ($12K) which is open to all researchers at all universities and colleges.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.