The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $50,000 - Monday the 7th of April 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ACHIEVEMENT OF A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN THE BOND STRENGTH IN THE ADHESIVE AND COMPOSITE/ADHESIVE INTERFACES OF EXISTING FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITE MATERIAL JOINTS AND STRUCTURES SUITABLE FOR VARIOUS NASA APPLICATIONS IS THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS PROJECT. THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED AT INTEGRATED MICRO SENSORS INC IS BASED ON LASER-ASSISTED FABRICATION OF MICRO COLUMN ARRAYS (MCA) ON THE SURFACE OF THE TWO MATERIALS PRIOR TO BONDING. THERE ARE SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OF THE MCA TECHNOLOGY IN THE DRASTIC IMPROVEMENT OF ANY BOND: (I) MECHANICAL STRENGTH INCREASES DUE TO INTERLOCKING OF THE ADHESIVE OR BRAZING MATERIAL BETWEEN MICRO COLUMNS, (II) THE BOND STRENGTH INCREASES DUE TO THE INCREASE OF THE SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA BY MORE THAN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE, (III) STABILITY INCREASES DUE TO THE INHERENT ELASTICITY OF THE MICRO CONES DURING A DEFORMATION, (IV) INCREASE IN THE BOND DURABILITY BECAUSE OF THE REPEATED BEND CONTOURS OF THE SURFACE PREVENTING HYDROTHERMAL FAILURE, (V) WETTABILITY OF THE MATERIAL SURFACE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES DUE TO THE HIGHLY DEVELOPED SURFACE MORPHOLOGY AT THE MICRO AND SUBMICRON LEVEL AND CHANGES IN LOCAL CHEMISTRY AS A RESULT OF SURFACE OXIDATION. BASED ON THE FEASIBILITY PROVEN IN THE PHASE I PROJECT, THIS PHASE II PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY FOR NEWEST MATERIALS DEVELOPED UP TO DATE AND SCALING OF THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY TO LARGE AREA AND COMPLEX SHAPE FRP COMPOSITE STRUCTURAL JOINTS. THE INVESTIGATION OF THE APPROACH BASED ON USING THE BOND INTERFACE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES FOR JOINT HEALTH MONITORING INITIATED IN THE PHASE I PROJECT, WILL BE FURTHER DEVELOPED INTO VIABLE TRANSDUCER DEVICE CONCEPTS.

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• $199,250 - Monday the 7th of April 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  ACHIEVEMENT OF A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN THE BOND STRENGTH IN THE ADHESIVE AND COMPOSITE/ADHESIVE INTERFACES OF EXISTING FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITE MATERIAL JOINTS AND STRUCTURES SUITABLE FOR VARIOUS NASA APPLICATIONS IS THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS PROJECT. THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED AT INTEGRATED MICRO SENSORS INC IS BASED ON LASER-ASSISTED FABRICATION OF MICRO COLUMN ARRAYS (MCA) ON THE SURFACE OF THE TWO MATERIALS PRIOR TO BONDING. THERE ARE SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OF THE MCA TECHNOLOGY IN THE DRASTIC IMPROVEMENT OF ANY BOND: (I) MECHANICAL STRENGTH INCREASES DUE TO INTERLOCKING OF THE ADHESIVE OR BRAZING MATERIAL BETWEEN MICRO COLUMNS, (II) THE BOND STRENGTH INCREASES DUE TO THE INCREASE OF THE SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA BY MORE THAN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE, (III) STABILITY INCREASES DUE TO THE INHERENT ELASTICITY OF THE MICRO CONES DURING A DEFORMATION, (IV) INCREASE IN THE BOND DURABILITY BECAUSE OF THE REPEATED BEND CONTOURS OF THE SURFACE PREVENTING HYDROTHERMAL FAILURE, (V) WETTABILITY OF THE MATERIAL SURFACE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES DUE TO THE HIGHLY DEVELOPED SURFACE MORPHOLOGY AT THE MICRO AND SUBMICRON LEVEL AND CHANGES IN LOCAL CHEMISTRY AS A RESULT OF SURFACE OXIDATION. BASED ON THE FEASIBILITY PROVEN IN THE PHASE I PROJECT, THIS PHASE II PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY FOR NEWEST MATERIALS DEVELOPED UP TO DATE AND SCALING OF THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY TO LARGE AREA AND COMPLEX SHAPE FRP COMPOSITE STRUCTURAL JOINTS. THE INVESTIGATION OF THE APPROACH BASED ON USING THE BOND INTERFACE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES FOR JOINT HEALTH MONITORING INITIATED IN THE PHASE I PROJECT, WILL BE FURTHER DEVELOPED INTO VIABLE TRANSDUCER DEVICE CONCEPTS.

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• $125,000 - Wednesday the 19th of December 2012
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  HIGH-PERFORMANCE, RADIATION-TOLERANT DETECTORS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE TIME-OF-FLIGHT LASER BASED RANGEFINDERS. AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES (APDS) ARE CONVENTIONALLY CHOSEN AS DETECTORS FOR STANDARD LASER RANGEFINDER SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, THE PERFORMANCE OF CURRENTLY USED APDS DEGRADES SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER EXPOSURE TO HIGH LEVELS OF RADIATION. INTEGRATED MICRO SENSORS INC (IMS, HOUSTON, TX)) PROPOSES NOVEL INTRINSICALLY RADIATION-TOLERANT III NITRIDES BASED HIGH-SPEED APDS SUPERIOR FOR USE IN SPACE-BASED LASER-ALTIMETER SYSTEMS. THE INDIUM GALLIUM NITRIDE (INGAN) ALLOY HAS THE POTENTIAL OF FORMING PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES COVERING A RANGE OF 0.7 EV (INN) TO 3.4 EV (GAN). THIS ENERGY RANGE ALLOWS FOR PROVIDING A PERFECT MATCH TO THE 1.06 UM WAVELENGTH (~1.17 EV) OF THE LASERS USED IN THE TIME-OF-FLIGHT RANGE FINDERS. THE III-NITRIDES EXHIBIT INHERENT CHEMICAL AND THERMAL RUGGEDNESS, WHICH MAKES THEM SUITABLE FOR SEVERAL SPACE AND MILITARY APPLICATIONS. IT HAS RECENTLY BEEN DETERMINED THAT THESE NITRIDE MATERIALS CAN OFFER EXCEPTIONAL RADIATION TOLERANCE THAT IS WELL BEYOND WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH CONVENTIONAL MATERIALS THAT ARE CURRENTLY FLOWN INTO SPACE. THE INGAN APDS TO BE DEVELOPED IN THIS PROJECT WILL BE TARGETED FOR OPERATING CONDITIONS UP TO 250 OC, AND UP TO 2 MEV PROTON IRRADIATION, WHICH ARE SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER THAN THOSE FOR THE STANDARD CURRENTLY USED MATERIALS, SUCH AS SI OR GAAS. IMS ENVISIONS THAT DEVICES DEVELOPED IN THIS PROJECT WOULD BE ESPECIALLY BENEFICIAL TO EUROPA JUPITER SYSTEM MISSION (EJSM) THAT REQUIRES HIGH PERFORMANCE SENSORS AND DETECTORS THAT CAN OPERATE WITH LOW NOISE UNDER THE SEVERE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT.THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP HIGH-SPEED, RADIATION-TOLERANT VISIBLE-BLIND APDS RESPONDING TO LASER BEAMS OF 1.06 UM WAVELENGTH FOR RANGEFINDER APPLICATIONS.

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