Current Research
2007 NASA EPSCoR Research Award (3 years)
Reliability Investigations of Radiation Resistant Multi-State Phase-Change Memory
Dr. Kris Campbell - Boise State University ($750,000)
2008 NASA EPSCoR Research Award (3 years)
Spacecraft Component Sterilization Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide
Dr. Ron Crawford - University of Idaho ($630,765)
2008 - 2009 NASA Idaho Space Grant Research Abstracts
The Radio-Protective Effects of Salt Crystal Formation in an Extreme Halophile
Dr. Caryn Evilia- Idaho State University
Studies of organisms occupying extreme environmental niches can provide an understanding of the origin of life and life on other planets, as well as defensive mechanisms for survival in the face of attempts at eradication. The extreme halophile Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 has been shown to survive high doses of both ionizing and ultraviolet radiation as well as desiccation, all of which cause lethality through DNA damage. The high salt concentration in the aqueous environment that this organism naturally inhabits has been implicated in this resistance, but this has not been conclusively demonstrated. We have observed that not only does this organism require high salt in solution, it may also alter its microenvironment to further increase local salt concentration and, in some cases, trigger crystallization of the salt around its cells, demonstrating a novel mechanism for protection against environmental stress. Our first goal is to determine if salt and formation of protective salt crystals affect survival after exposure to ionizing radiation, in addition to long-term viability. For the radiation studies, we will utilize the electron beam facilities available at the Idaho Accelerator Center at Idaho State University. To control for variations in cell-triggered formation of salt crystals, we will also simulate cell-triggered crystals using artificial crystals, and measure cell survival after radiation exposure and long-term storage Our second goal is to establish the involvement of cellular activity in the formation of salt crystals and alteration of dissolved salt concentrations in the microenvironment surrounding individual cells. Partitioning of salt concentration through cellular activity could be a novel survival tactic, and understanding the mechanism surrounding this would increase our knowledge of the ability of these organisms to broaden their environmental range, and survive prolonged exposures to otherwise lethal conditions.
Electrical Propulsion in Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic Materials
Dr. Donald G. Plumlee - Boise State University
Miniaturized propulsion systems are of particular interest to NASA in the development of micro-satellites. Considerable research efforts have been focused on the development of micropropulsion devices in Si that use traditional processing techniques. Although substantial progress has been made, Si is not ideally suited for the functions that must be integrated into a system. The proposed project will use low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) materials to fabricate a ceramic Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) electric propulsion system for small aerospace vehicles and satellites. By using LTCC materials, a novel platform for a new generation of electric micro-propulsion systems could be developed. In addition, the versatility of the LTCC manufacturing process allows for the fabrication of multiple prototypes with different configurations for optimization with minimal cost investment. The interdisciplinary team includes researchers from the Mechanical Engineering and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments at Boise State University. The investigators have expertise in aerospace propulsion systems, microelectronic packaging materials, plasmas, vacuum electronics, and microelectronic reliability. The project will expand the capability for fabrication of ceramic MEMS devices enabling additional research efforts in propulsion and plasma devices.
Geomorphology, Lithospheric Structure, and Compositional Interpretations of Small Plains-style Volcanoes in the Marius Hills Volcanic Complex
Dr. Scott S. Hughes and Dr. Ben Crosby - Idaho State University
A detailed geologic investigation will be undertaken for the Marius Hills volcanic complex on the Moon in order to develop planetary dynamic models of magmatism and provide constraints on geophysical interpretations of the subsurface. Research will be done mainly by the PI with help from one undergraduate student. The analysis will involve compilation of Lunar Orbiter imagery and stereo photogrammetric topography to better characterize the volcanic histories, eruptive mechanisms, and crustal structures associated with approximately 200-300 small shields in the region. Assessments of geologic conditions will be used to test a model of magma genesis that involves a mantle plume, active during the Late Imbrian Period, ~3.3 to 3.7 billion years before present.
Magnetic-Field Liquid-Phase Sintering of Magnetic Materials Below the Curie Temperature (Collaboration Grant)
Dr. Peter Müllner - Boise State University
The magnetic properties of ferromagnetic materials including high-coercivity rareearth magnets (e.g. SmCo5, Sm2Co17, Nd2Fe17B) and magnetic shape-memory alloys (e.g. Ni-Mn-Ga, FePd) strongly depend on their microstructure, e.g. on texture, grain size, second-phase particles etc. This project explores a new processing route which has the potential to produce new microstructures leading to superior magnetic properties such as higher magnetic anisotropy and larger magentic-field-induced deformation. The new microstructure with improved texture - and therefore improved anisotropy - are established during the sintering process through the application of an intermediate magnetic field. The sintering process is conducted in the presence of a liquid minority phase. The liquid phase (i) enables sintering at a temperature below the Curie temperature of the majority phase, (ii) facilitates the rotation of individual grains to align with the magnetic field, and (iii) significantly reduces the process energy and thereby the costs. This project will involve collaboration with the NASA Glenn Research Center.
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2008 - 2009 NASA Idaho EPSCoR Research Abstracts
Pin-based NonUniform Memory Access (NUMA) Memory Simulator: Pin-NUMASim
Dr. Gang-Ryung Uh - Boise State University
Many scientific, engineering, and commercial applications have an insatiable need for computational cycles. Examples include weather prediction, protein-folding for designing drugs, fluid-dynamics for designing aeropropulsion systems, and quantum chromodynamics for studying the strong interactions in high-energy physics. One way to speed up a computation is to use parallelism on a supercomputer configured with hundreds of processors on Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) shared memory architecture. It is not, however, easy to develop software that can take advantage of parallelism on a supercomputer. Dividing the computation into units that can execute on different processors in parallel is a significant challenge, but that by itself does not guarantee a speedup. We must also minimize interprocessor communication, because communication overhead over the shared memory can potentially make the parallel code run even slower than the sequential execution. Minimizing communication can be thought of as a special case of improving a program's data locality. In general, we say that a program has good data locality if a processor often accesses the same data it has used recently. If a processor on a supercomputer has good locality, it does not need to communicate with other processors as frequently. Thus, parallelism and data locality need to be considered hand-in-hand. To improve the data locality on a supercomputer, programmers must pinpoint which processor is responsible for excessive communication overhead during parallel execution. This is also a formidable task. This proposal responds to this particular challenge by proposing a cycle accurate memory simulator, referred to as Pin-NUMASim; this simulator will monitor data communication traffic of applications on a NASA Columbia supercomputer, which is configured with the distributed Non- Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) memory architecture.
Advanced Nanotube-Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites via Mechanical Milling Technique for Aerospace Applications
Dr. Indrajit Charit - University of Idaho
One of the main goals of NASA is to develop advanced aeronautics and space system technologies for future space flights and exploration. Breakthroughs in materials development are essential for advancing next generation space technologies, such as building of reusable launch vehicles (RLV). In this proposal, we propose to develop aluminum metal matrix composites using carbon nanotubes as reinforcements. Carbon nanotubes are known for their unique characteristics, such as high elastic modulus, high tensile strength, thermo-physical and electrical properties. Although main reinforcements Thus, the development of multi-functional composites becomes possible. High energy ball milling technique followed by standard powder metallurgy or thermomechanical processing technique will be used to make bulk composite samples. Various characterization techniques will be used starting from scanning, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to study the microstructure of the resulting composite material. Special emphasis will be given to the study of nanotubemetal interfacial microstructure and the distribution of nanotube reinforcements. In this study, the bulk samples will be characterized for mechanical properties through microhardness testing, tensile testing and impression creep testing.
Quantifying Leaf Area Index for Coniferous Forests: Assessment of MISR and MODIS Products Over Complex Terrain and New Methodologies for Deriving Vegetation Structure from MISR Data
Dr. Karen Humes - University of Idaho
The foliage component of a forest canopy is the primary surface that controls mass, energy, and gas exchange between photosynthetically active vegetation and the atmosphere. Leaf area index (LAI; the ratio of half of the total needle surface area per unit ground area) is the variable most often used to quantify the surface area available for exchange. It is a key variable in models of the carbon cycle and ecosystem function. Because of its importance in understanding and quantifying the Earth's carbon, water and energy cycles, much effort has gone into producing coarse-resolution operational products from NASA sensors, such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multi-angular Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR). However, it is difficult to validate these products on more than a few select sites; especially in coniferous forested ecosystems over complex terrain. Based on previous work by our research team, we have been able to generate accurate, high spatialresolution (30m) maps of LAI and other forest structural variables over two extensive areas in northern Idaho using discrete-return lidar. These maps provide a unique data source with which to assess the MODIS and MISR products over a range of forest characteristics and landscape variables. There are two major objectives for the work proposed here : (1) Assess existing MODIS and MISR-derived products over conifer forests over a wide range of sub-pixel heterogeneity and landscape characteristics and (2) Evaluate and test new methodologies for deriving LAI and other structural characteristics from MISR data over coniferous forests in complex terrain. This work is strongly coupled to NASA strategic goals and several specific goals of the Earth Science Division within the Science Mission Directorate and Idaho EPSCoR goals. Our research plan includes the strong involvement of two undergraduate research assistants and a clear plan for collaboration with NASA researchers.
Topology Control for Reliable and Energy-efficient Networking in Sensor-web
Dr. Sirisha Medidi - Boise State University
In this project, we propose a topology control approach for developing scalable protocols for the Sensor-web and, in particular, address the energy-efficient medium access control and reliable data transport protocols for efficient sensor networking. NASA's Sensor-web vision expects its Sensor-webs to provide on-demand sensing of a broad array of environmental and ecological phenomenon. A key wireless networking component is medium access control (MAC), a protocol to efficiently share the limited-bandwidth communication media, to fully realize the potential of sensor networks. However, sensor networks impose several additional and unique requirements beyond the usual on MAC: power and other resource constraints, high density due to over provisioning, and the predominant traffic pattern of correlated convergecast contention. Current approaches for sensor MACs do not simultaneously address these requirements. Most approaches also rely on the shortest-path tree for routing/forwarding and impose the implicit restriction of a single forwarding node for the MAC, resulting in further correlated contention which can significantly prolong delay, degrade throughput and impair energy-efficiency. We propose a scalable and energy-efficient MAC which utilizes a topology with multiple forwarders and extremely low duty cycles for efficient sensor networking that copes with higher density, power constraints, and the unique traffic pattern: such a MAC with a low delay allows Sensor webs to communicate observations and results in real time. Reliable data transport is a critical aspect of dependability and quality of service in networking. Data aggregation, particularly meaningful at the first hop, can significantly reduce the network traffic to cut down communication costs and may even alleviate spatially-correlated contention. However, since the packets containing correlated information is typically aggregated, a significant amount of information is lost even if one packet cannot be reliably delivered to the sink. Current transport protocols for sensor networks only provide event-level reliability for sensor-to-sink data delivery and, as such, cannot provide sufficiently reliable services. To support NASA's Earth Science Division data gathering mission, the Sensor-web must provide packet level reliability. We propose a sensor-to-sink protocol which is suitable for data aggregation and provide reliable data delivery by exploiting the controlled topology in identifying some of the inactive nodes as "monitors" to assist in quick loss detection and recovery while being energy efficient. The project will involve collaboration with NASA Glenn Research Center where validation of the proposed work and feedback on the test-bed implementation will be obtained to fine-tune the protocols for NASA applications. Our educational plan has four components: (i) developing a lab to augment an undergraduate and three graduate courses in networking we are introducing at Boise State University: these courses along with the laboratory will enrich the undergraduate and graduate curriculums, (ii) direct support for training graduate students, which will enable them to develop depth of experience in wireless and sensor networking that will enhance the economic development in Idaho, (iii) by imparting research experience for undergraduate students and motivating them to pursue advanced studies for maintaining and protecting the ecology and environment of Idaho, and (iv) outreach activities to recruit traditionally underrepresented students in Computer Science, particularly women and minority students.
Magnetic-Field Liquid-Phase Sintering of Magnetic Materials below the Curie Temperature
Dr. Peter Müllner - Boise State University
The magnetic properties of ferromagnetic materials including high-coercivity rareearth magnets (e.g. SmCo5, Sm2Co17, Nd2Fe17B) and magnetic shape-memory alloys (e.g. Ni-Mn-Ga, FePd) strongly depend on their microstructure, e.g. on texture, grain size, second-phase particles etc. This project explores a new processing route which has the potential to produce new microstructures leading to superior magnetic properties such as higher magnetic anisotropy and larger magnetic-field-induced deformation. The new microstructures with improved texture - and therefore improved anisotropy - are established during the sintering process through the application of an intermediate magnetic field. The sintering process is conducted in the presence of a liquid minority phase. The liquid phase (i) enables sintering at a temperature below the Curie temperature of the majority phase, (ii) facilitates the rotation of individual grains to align with the magnetic field, and (iii) significantly reduces the process energy and thereby the costs. This project will involve collaboration with the NASA Glenn Research Center and possibly NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
Towards Real-time CFD Simulations of Aerodynamic Flows using a GPU Computing Paradigm
Dr. Inanc Senocak - Boise State University
High-performance computing is radically changing, thanks to the advent of new programming models and advances in Graphics Processing Units (GPU) hardware. GPUs that are traditionally designed for graphics rendering have emerged as massively-parallel "co-processors" to the Central Processing Unit (CPU). Small-footprint desktop supercomputers delivering terascale peak performance at the price of conventional workstations have been realized. Our initial research on the solution of partial differential equations has confirmed the tremendous compute-potential of this new disruptive technology, and it has also shown that it is no small task to harness the full compute-potential of GPUs, because it requires a clear understanding of the fundamentally new programming models, device architectures and memory-access patterns. In this project we propose to develop a novel Cartesian grid complex geometry computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code for aerodynamic flows using the GPU computing paradigm. The proposed numerical approach will discretize the Navier- Stokes equations using the finite-volume method. Highly efficient geometric multi-grid method will be implemented to solve the pressure Poisson equation. Complex geometry will be treated in an immersed/embedded fashion. A hybrid Reynolds-averaged/largeeddy simulation eddy viscosity model will be used for the turbulence closure problem. High-fidelity CFD simulations of complex aerospace applications have always been considered computationally intensive because most of the practical internal and external flows are turbulent requiring substantial resolutions for accurate predictions. A CFD simulation capability with rapid computational turn-around time can substantially shorten the time-to-discovery, and it has the potential to transform design optimization procedures, virtual prototyping and physics-based virtual environments. Hence, a particular goal of our project is to sustain teraflops computations on small-footprint desktop platforms and demonstrate scalability towards future petascale computations. The proposed CFD code will be a convincing demonstration of the potential of GPU computing to accelerate aerodynamics simulations. Today, as part of NASA's Constellation program, a large share of NASA's supercomputing facilities are dedicated to high-fidelity CFD calculations of aerodynamic loads on the Ares Launch Vehicle and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. Furthermore, NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division has a keen interest in GPU computing and recently acquired the Hyperwall-2, a 128 node GPU cluster. Our proposed project will involve collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center on the programming models and architectures for GPU computing. A longer term goal for this project is to extend the proposed CFD code into a massivelyparallel all-speed multi-physics simulation code for aerospace applications.
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