Build and Commission a new Space Optics Laboratory (SOL) at UMass Lowell

This is the Roman Technology Fellowship (RTF) funding proposal to build and commission a new Space Optics Laboratory (SOL) at UMass Lowell (UML) under the leadership of RTF fellow, Christopher Mendillo. Dr. Mendillo is currently a research professor in the physics department at UML and the PI of the PICTURE-D mission, a balloon-borne suborbital research program to directly image several debris disks around nearby stars in reflected visible light. The new 350 sq ft. laboratory space will be equipped with a ISO 7 (Class 10,000) cleanroom to conduct sensitive space optics research, including primarily the development of exoplanet coronagraph and adaptive optics systems for PICTURE-D and associated projects. The new \gls{sol} will house the \gls{picc} flight coronagraph, the Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology (LoCSST) in-air coronagraph testbed, and several coronagraph related technology maturation projects. It will provide adequate contamination control for the sensitive coronagraph optics and MEMS deformable mirrors.

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.