Researchers earn NASA grant to reinvent electronics manufacturing in space
Published: Mar 22, 2022 7:00 AM
By Joe McAdory
Manufacturing electronics and sensors in space are becoming an inevitable part of future space exploration and activities. But even today’s state-of-the-art liquid-based printing machines present challenges within microgravity or antigravity environments. That’s a problem.
A team of Auburn multi-disciplinary researchers, however, have a proposed solution.
Masoud Mahjouri-Samani, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, Nima Shamsaei, Philpott-WestPoint Stevens distinguished professor of mechanical engineering and director of the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME), and Stephen Mills, Director of Business Development for the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, are investigating means to manufacture functional devices in space via dry printing technology.
Their project, “In Space Additive Nanomanufacturing and Dry Printing of Multi-materials Electronics,” was awarded recently by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. “The cooperative agreement’s goal is to establish a technological foundation that enables the in-space manufacturing and printing of electronics and sensors,” said the project principal investigator, Mahjouri-Samani.
The team’s research demonstrates a transformative, laser-based dry additive nanomanufacturing approach that enables the printing of electronics in space. The primary advantage of the system is generating a jet of dry nanoparticles on-demand that can readily function in microgravity environments. When these nanoparticles are directed toward a substrate placed on an x-y stage, they can be sintered in real-time, forming desired electronic circuits.
“We are honored to be given an opportunity to develop a process that can contribute to space exploration, helping to provide future astronauts with additive nanomanufacturing and device printing capabilities that will allow them to successfully complete their missions,” said Shamsaei, the project co-principal investigator.
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Masoud Mahjouri-Samani, left, and Nima Shamsaei, are part of a NASA-funded team that will create new means to manufacture electronic devices in space.
