Research Topics

Scholars are encouraged to contact any mentors whose projects they find of interest. To contact the mentor, use the link included at the conclusion of each project description.

Virtually every spacecraft flying uses photovoltaics (aka solar cells) to provide electrical power. Advances in single crystal multi-junction, thin-film, and nano-technology based photovoltaics are important to achieving improved on-orbit performance. The current state of the art photovoltaic cells used for space applications are based on the III-V material systems (eg. GaAs, GaInP). However, innovative and novel material systems capable of more effectively utilizing the solar spectrum could provide tremendous advantages for space missions. For example, recent work examining nano-structures have shown interesting advancements. Some areas of interest for this topic include space environmental effects, electro-optical properties, and performance parameters for candidate material systems. Specific projects can be tailored to students’ interests and skills, but will require a basic understanding of electrical, optical, and materials properties. Students selected for this research opportunity will work with their mentor to develop a productive work plan which will be synergistic with their field of study and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s mission.

To enable improved craft control and capabilities, the Robotic Orbital Control Lab is seeking a summer scholar to implement advanced controller types such as LQR into robotic lab float craft. Scholars applying to this topic will spend time understanding the air thruster based actuator system and its challenges before selecting and implementing the appropriate advanced controller in either Python or C++.

The Space Communication and PNT (SCPNT) program researches next generation satellite navigation (SatNav). Research areas include: advanced SatNav signals and signal exploitation, spacecraft payloads, SatNav control systems and PNT situational awareness. Technology areas include: digital and RF signal processing, software defined radios, RF signal generation and broadcast, encryption, machine learning and command and control technologies. Research is performed both in a laboratory simulated environment and in the field.
The SCPNT program is developing new SatNav concepts. These concepts need to be further defined, their feasibility analyzed, and initial performance characteristics estimated before the concepts can be advanced. An intern project would involve building a model of the concept in an appropriate environment (possibilities include Matlab, Simulink, software defined radio, etc.), calculating link budgets, estimating the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of a transmitter/receiver, estimating receiver performance in the presence of an appropriate noise model, developing machine learning tools to identify and characterize contested environments, etc.

The Space Communication and PNT (SCPNT) program researches next generation satellite navigation (SatNav). Research areas include: advanced SatNav signals and signal exploitation, spacecraft payloads, SatNav control systems and PNT situational awareness. Technology areas include: digital and RF signal processing, software defined radios, RF signal generation and broadcast, encryption, machine learning and command and control technologies. Research is performed both in a laboratory simulated environment and in the field. The SCPNT program is developing new SatNav concepts. These concepts need to be further defined, their feasibility analyzed, and initial performance characteristics estimated before the concepts can be advanced. An intern project would involve building a model of the concept in an appropriate environment (possibilities include Matlab, Simulink, software defined radio, etc.), calculating link budgets, estimating the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of a transmitter/receiver, estimating receiver performance in the presence of an appropriate noise model, developing machine learning tools to identify and characterize contested environments, etc.

The propagation of laser beams through turbulent flows has been an important topic with applications ranging from missile defense to target designation and tracking. The turbulent air disturbances are severe enough to severely distort the light, preventing it from properly focusing. The study of these interactions has been described as "aero-optics". The opportunities for the aero-optic research at AFRL include experimental studies of turbulence such as turbulent boundary layers and shear layers as well as the development of appropriate diagnostic instrumentation, and water-table visualization. Computational (CFD) opportunities also exists to design aero-optic experiments and to develop accurate aero-optic CFD solutions.

The propagation of laser beams through turbulent flows has been an important topic with applications ranging from missile defense to target designation and tracking. The turbulent air disturbances are severe enough to severely distort the light, preventing it from properly focusing. The study of these interactions has been described as "aero-optics". The opportunities for the aero-optic research at AFRL include experimental studies of turbulence such as turbulent boundary layers and shear layers as well as the development of appropriate diagnostic instrumentation, and water-table visualization. Computational (CFD) opportunities also exists to design aero-optic experiments and to develop accurate aero-optic CFD solutions.

Come gain experience being a historian! As an aerospace historian, every day is a new adventure and holds a possibility to explore new worlds in the history of space and directed energy. From assessing satellites that have returned from space for historical value, to talking to news reporters about laser defense of the planet, to writing the first ever history of a new space plane, an aerospace historian's job is never dull!

In this exciting summer internship opportunity, you will gain hands-on work as an aerospace historian. You will gain skills and experience in research and writing the history of US Dept. of Defense space and directed energy program histories designed both for internal use and public release. Additionally, you will assist in work designing and developing historical exhibits, working with local K-12 schools and universities, and and working with local museums.

In this exciting opportunity, you will gain hands-on work as an aerospace historian. You will gain skills and experience in researching and writing the history of US Dept. of Defense space and directed energy program histories, articles, and monographs designed both for internal use and public release. Additionally, you will assist in work designing, developing, and improving historical exhibits on base and in the community, working with local K-12 schools and universities, and working with local museum teams.

Assist with on-site research at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in support of a nonfiction monograph on the life of Gen. Samuel C. Phillips. Selected candidate will research in the Samuel C. Phillips Papers and Map Collection (https://findingaids.loc.gov/db/search/xq/searchMfer02.xq?_id=loc.mss.eadmss.ms004016&_faSection=overview&_faSubsection=scopecontent&_dmdid=d121274e21). Working under close email, phone, and video conference communication with off-site historian, candidate will be expected to examine, scan, take notes, and digitally deliver documents pertinent to the life of General Phillips housed in the collection.

Using a Barrett Technology Whole Arm Manipulator (WAM) hand with a palm vision scanner and tactile sensors in the fingers, we will explore assembly navigation. The robot (and hand) will use sensors to navigate through a field of parts, use AI and vision to identify parts, use vision and tactile sensors to determine the precise orientation of parts for acquisition and placement. This capability will integrate into an impedance-based real-time ROS control system to pick and place parts in a low-volume agile manufacturing environment.

This project will involve the computer simulation of specific aspects of high-power fiber laser amplifiers. The project will compare and assess the reliability of different modeling approaches, especially in regards to fiber coiling effects. One goal will be complete a parameter sensitivity study for uncertainty quantification purposes. There is no prerequisite to understand lasers, fiber amplifiers, nor nonlinear optics - the relevant information will be taught as the project progresses.

The Hybrid Architecture Demonstration is aggregating commercial, international, and government space assets into a single architecture to take advantage of the strengths and weaknesses of each part of the currently disjointed space domain. This project will focus on mapping, understanding, and reporting on the cutting edge exploitation and space-based sensor capabilities that are available, if they have the potential to fill capability gaps for the HAD, and where they fit in on the road map and in the architecture.

Compressive single-pixel imaging is a signal processing paradigm wherein high-resolution scenes are
recovered from highly subsampled, randomly spatially multiplexed data acquired on a single detector.
While this allows for scenes to be imaged at sub-Nyquist rates, recovery becomes an iterative process
with high compute requirements. For this reason, extracting information from the randomly multiplexed
measurements themselves, without reconstruction, is highly desirable. One valuable piece of
information is whether a static scene experienced any significant changes, called anomalies, over the
course of the measurement. In this project, the student will develop novel methods for detecting and
localizing anomalies from single-pixel measurements using time-series analysis and neural networks.

Fault detection systems are an essential component of satellites. The current method relies on expert knowledge identifying the likely failures along with long checkout windows. This project will be to investigate different techniques and create a code base that can be applied in our multi-agent quadcopter testbed.

Please reach out with any further questions.

AFRL/RVS has established a dedicated architecture analytics testbed under the Space Performance Analytics and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) project. The objective of this project is to provide AFRL with an organic, in-house, capability to assess processing options for next generation mission applications. This addresses the increasing challenge of mapping mission requirements to hardware and software implementations for space computing applications. The topic provides several summer research opportunities for students interested in optimization and evaluation of mission application code on space hardware. The selected summer scholar will be given mission application algorithms/code and tasked to examine methods for optimization of the code (parallel constructs, optimized libraries, etc.) and compilation/execution of the software on hardware resources. This will allow for detailed analysis of the application’s performance on different hardware architecture alternatives, providing critical insight into the computational requirements for next generation mission applications. This effort will provide a valuable capability to the Air Force, guiding future science and technology investments decisions.

AFRL/RVS has established a dedicated architecture analytics testbed under the Space Performance Analytics and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) project. The objective of this project is to provide AFRL with an organic, in-house, capability to assess processing options for next generation mission applications. This addresses the increasing challenge of mapping mission requirements to hardware and software implementations for space computing applications. The topic provides several summer research opportunities for students interested in optimization and evaluation of mission application code on space hardware. The selected summer scholar will be given mission application algorithms/code and tasked to examine methods for optimization of the code (parallel constructs, optimized libraries, etc.) and compilation/execution of the software on hardware resources. This will allow for detailed analysis of the application’s performance on different hardware architecture alternatives, providing critical insight into the computational requirements for next generation mission applications. This effort will provide a valuable capability to the Air Force, guiding future science and technology investments decisions

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in Earth's atmosphere contains a number of atomic and molecular species, both uncharged and ions. As a spacecraft operates in LEO, the atmosphere serves as a source of drag on the velocity of the spacecraft leading to altitude variations over time. One significant source of this drag is the atomic oxygen concentration, which can vary significantly with various conditions (e.g. daytime vs nighttime) . The measurement of neutrals often involves instruments with significant size, weight and power requirements which often make it impractical to make in situ space measurements. In this project, the student will examine atomic oxygen collisions with various materials in a high vacuum environment so as to impart a response on either the surface or the oxygen collision partner that can lead to quantification of the number density of atomic oxygen. The student will compare and quantify the measured response to the state-of-the-art capabilities and assess whether these materials improve the state-of-the-art or should no longer be explored.

Carbon fiber and nanotubes materials have been explored as cathodic coatings due to their high thermal and electrical conductivities and aspect ratios. A significant barrier to achieving theoretical performance of these coatings is the interface between the fiber/nanotube and the structural substrate material. In this project, we seek to determine the electronic properties of the nanotube-substrate interface through atomistic modeling. Participant will develop workflow to explore structure of this interface and calculate corresponding electronic properties of interface structure.

Recent advancements in deployable structures are enabling mission concepts for large deployable apertures, i.e. antennas and solar panels. However, large deployable structures can have high flexibility, with modal frequencies approaching the bandwidth requirements for even low-precision attitude control. The fact that the flexible modes of deployable structures can be difficult to model prior to launch makes the controller-design problem even more difficult. The goal of this project is to develop control methodologies that exploit the large trade space in sensors, actuators, and control objective. Sensors can be limited to traditional attitude and angular-velocity sensors, or also include measurements of the flexible-body motion (i.e. strains or displacements). Actuators can be limited to applying a single torque to the spacecraft, or allow multiple actuators distributed across the deployable structure. Control objectives can be simply to avoid exciting the flexible-body motion, or to actively control these perturbations. Research projects may address one or more of these topics.

Recent advances in deployable structures are enabling mission concepts for large deployable apertures, i.e. antennas and solar panels. However, large deployable structures can have high flexibility, with modal frequencies approaching the bandwidth requirements for even low-precision attitude control. The fact that the flexible modes of deployable structures can be difficult to model prior to launch makes the controller-design problem even more difficult. The goal of this project is to develop control methodologies that exploit the large trade space in sensors, actuators, and control objective. Sensors can be limited to traditional attitude and angular-velocity sensors, or also include measurements of the flexible-body motion (i.e. strains or displacements). Actuators can be limited to applying a single torque to the spacecraft, or allow multiple actuators distributed across the deployable structure. Control objectives can be simply to avoid exciting the flexible-body motion, or to actively control these perturbations. Research projects may address one or more of these topics.

Materials with a low barrier to electron emission are desirable for the creation of cathodes that emit via field emission. In this project, we hope to expand current knowledge of materials with low workfunctions via atomistic modeling enhanced with automated workflow tools used to support high-performance computing. Participant will select a materials modeling framework that is capable of providing information about the electronic structure of various material systems, connect the necessary computational elements to generate a calculation of workfunction for a few known systems, and implement this workflow in an automated tool suite to explore an expanded materials parameter space.

Materials with a low barrier to electron emission are desirable for the creation of cathodes that emit via field emission. In this project, we hope to expand current knowledge of materials with low workfunctions via atomistic modeling enhanced with automated workflow tools used to support high-performance computing. Participant will select a materials modeling framework that is capable of providing information about the electronic structure of various material systems, connect the necessary computational elements to generate a calculation of workfunction for a few known systems, and implement this workflow in an automated tool suite to explore an expanded materials parameter space.

Autonomous cis- or trans-Lunar spacecraft navigation is critical to mission success as communication to ground stations and access to GPS signals could be lost. However, if the satellite has a camera of sufficient quality, line of sight (unit vector) measurements can be made to known solar system bodies to provide observations which enable autonomous estimation of position and velocity of the spacecraft, that can be telemetered to those interested space based or ground based consumers. An improved Gaussian-Initial Orbit Determination (IOD) algorithm, based on the exact values of the f and g series (free of the 8th order polynomial and range guessing), for spacecraft state estimation, is presented here and exercised in the inertial coordinate frame (2-Body Problem) to provide an initial guess for the Batch IOD that is performed in the Circular Restricted Three Body Problem (CRTBP) reference frame, which ultimately serves to initialize a CRTBP Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) navigator that collects angle only measurements to a known Asteroid 2014 EC (flying by the Earth) to sequentially estimate position and velocity of an observer spacecraft flying in a Halo orbit. With the addition of simulating/expressing the accelerations that would be sensed in the IMU platform frame due to delta velocities caused by either perturbations or corrective guidance maneuvers, this three phase algorithm is able to autonomously track the spacecraft state on its Cis-Lunar journey while observing the motion of the Asteroid.

Air density variations around and airborne directed energy system distort a beam’s wavefront, resulting in degraded performance after propagation into the far field. Adaptive optics (AO) can be used to correct for these rapidly evolving aero-optical aberrations; however, in some conditions, the inherent latency between measurement and correction in state-of-the-art AO systems results in significantly reduced performance. Predictive AO control methods utilize future state predictions to compensate for rapidly evolving distortions and are promising techniques for mitigating this limitation. Accurate predictions of flow is a challenging problem, and any solution must be sufficiently light-weight to operate at the high bandwidths of an AO system. This research opportunity will involve characterization and development of new methods for producing short-term predictions of high speed flow to improve the performance of beam control systems for applications such as high energy lasers, communications systems, and astronomical seeing.

Air density variations around and airborne directed energy system distort a beam’s wavefront, resulting in degraded performance after propagation into the far field. Adaptive optics (AO) can be used to correct for these rapidly evolving aero-optical aberrations; however, in some conditions, the inherent latency between measurement and correction in state-of-the-art AO systems results in significantly reduced performance. Predictive AO control methods utilize future state predictions to compensate for rapidly evolving distortions and are promising techniques for mitigating this limitation. Accurate predictions of flow is a challenging problem, and any solution must be sufficiently light-weight to operate at the high bandwidths of an AO system. This research opportunity will involve characterization and development of new methods for producing short-term predictions of high speed flow to improve the performance of beam control systems for applications such as high energy lasers, communications systems, and astronomical seeing.

Processing requirements for future spacecraft are expected to be very high. For example, high resolution sensors are expected to produce data at rates too high to transmit all the data to ground. Other applications generate less data, but require complicated decision making with little intervention from the ground. Size, weight and power restrictions associated with operation in space are forcing us to examine the capabilities of a broad range of processing architectures ranging from the traditional - e.g., multicore processing, many core processing with graphics processors (GPUs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) - to the novel - e.g., neural networks, memristor-based circuits, approximate computing, etc. Students working on this project will aid in the development and benchmarking of model processing kernels that will allow us to compare the capabilities of these architectures for various applications.

Processing requirements for future spacecraft are expected to be very high. For example, high resolution sensors are expected to produce data at rates too high to transmit all the data to ground. Other applications generate less data, but require complicated decision making with little intervention from the ground. Size, weight and power restrictions associated with operation in space are forcing us to examine the capabilities of a broad range of processing architectures ranging from the traditional - e.g., multicore processing, many core processing with graphics processors (GPUs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) - to the novel - e.g., neural networks, memristor-based circuits, approximate computing, etc. Students working on this project will aid in the development and benchmarking of model processing kernels that will allow us to compare the capabilities of these architectures for various applications.

With renewed interest in lunar exploration and commercialization, there is a need for novel methods and algorithms to promote space situational awareness in the cislunar regime. A software development environment is needed to process cislunar space situational awareness data efficiently. This research would focus on implementing and analyzing data structures, software architectures, and user interfaces to support an anticipated AFRL flight experiment flying to the vicinity of the Moon in the near future. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact the mentor for more information.

With renewed interest in lunar exploration and commercialization, there is a need for novel methods and algorithms to promote space situational awareness in the cislunar regime. This regime presents a variety of challenges including vast distances, unique exclusion zones, and chaotic system dynamics. This research effort is focused on the implementation and analysis of algorithms to enable the collection, processing, and interpretation of optical cislunar image data. The research would support the data collection and processing for an anticipated AFRL flight experiment flying to the vicinity of the Moon in the near future. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact the mentor for more information.

With renewed interest in lunar exploration and commercialization, there is a need for novel methods and algorithms to promote space situational awareness in the cislunar regime. This regime presents a variety of challenges including vast distances, unique exclusion zones, and chaotic system dynamics. This research effort is focused on the implementation and analysis of algorithms to process optical cislunar data products with a specific focus on data association, correlation, and state estimation. The research would support the data collection and processing for an anticipated AFRL flight experiment flying to the vicinity of the Moon in the near future. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact the mentor for more information.

PFAS (or polyfluoroalkyl substances) have been commonly used for firefighting as well as non-stick cookware and stain-resistant fabric. These substances are commonly found in the environment, which are long-lasting and difficult to break down. In this project, we would develop electrochemical methods of breaking down PFAS compounds to less harmful organic compounds.

Our laboratory is developing inertial navigation sensors and clocks using cold-atom technology. The relevant experiments and prototypes for cold-atom sensors typically require specialized timing-control hardware, software, and computer integration. We are developing means to utilize micro-controllers, low-power computers, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and open-source software for data acquisition and experimental control. The assigned project will depend on the student's interest and experience, but could include micro-controller programming, FPGA programming, low-power computer-experiment integration, and/or development and testing of new cold-atom control routines/hardware for use in future or current experiments.

Our laboratory is developing inertial navigation sensors and clocks using cold-atom technology. The relevant experiments and prototypes for cold-atom sensors typically require specialized timing-control hardware, software, and computer integration. We are developing means to utilize micro-controllers, low-power computers, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and open-source software for data acquisition and experimental control. The assigned project will depend on the student's interest and experience, but could include micro-controller programming, FPGA programming, low-power computer-experiment integration, and/or development and testing of new cold-atom control routines/hardware for use in future or current experiments.

Our laboratory is developing inertial navigation sensors and clocks using cold-atom technology. The relevant experiments and prototypes for cold-atom sensors typically require specialized timing-control hardware, software, and computer integration. We are developing means to utilize micro-controllers, low-power computers, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and open-source software for data acquisition and experimental control. The assigned project will depend on the student's interest and experience, but could include micro-controller programming, FPGA programming, low-power computer-experiment integration, and/or development and testing of new cold-atom control routines/hardware for use in future or current experiments.

The subject of our research is precision timing and inertial sensing enabled by advances in atomic physics and photonics. One of our major efforts pursues the development of robust, miniaturized optical clocks including optical frequency combs. These portable clocks will provide a cost-effective replacement for the atomic clocks aboard the global positioning satellite constellation and will enable new applications of precision timing such as free-space optical time transfer.

Another major effort uses atom-chip devices to develop confined atom interferometry, which offers the possibility to dramatically increase the interrogation time of atom-based inertial sensing devices. We use a rapid prototyping technique for atom chips that allows us to quickly customize and live-test atom chip structures. We are also exploring techniques for developing compact atomic devices, including large-diameter hollow-core fiber guiding, integrated atom-chip transport, and on-chip micro-optical cavity integration.

Cold atoms are used to make precision measurements of rotation, acceleration, time (think atomic clocks), etc.  Atoms are typically cooled using laser cooling techniques to temperatures less than 100 micro Kelvin to reduce thermal noise and increase measurement time.  We are investigating new cold atoms sources that either reduce the size, weight, and power (SWAP) requirements of laser cooled sources or that can cool atoms without lasers.  Reducing SWAP is an important considering for making compact devices that can be transitioned from the laboratory into real world applications.  Cooling atoms without laser opens the possibility of using atoms that currently cannot be cooled but have properties that are of scientific and/or technical interest.   The assigned project will depend on the student’s interest and experience.

Cold atoms are used to make precision measurements of rotation, acceleration, time (think atomic clocks), etc.  Atoms are typically cooled using laser cooling techniques to temperatures less than 100 micro Kelvin to reduce thermal noise and increase measurement time.  We are investigating new cold atoms sources that either reduce the size, weight, and power (SWAP) requirements of laser cooled sources or that can cool atoms without lasers.  Reducing SWAP is an important considering for making compact devices that can be transitioned from the laboratory into real world applications.  Cooling atoms without laser opens the possibility of using atoms that currently cannot be cooled but have properties that are of scientific and/or technical interest.   The assigned project will depend on the student’s interest and experience.

Help the Air Force Research Laboratory develop new coatings and dopants to impart novel properties, such as electrical conductivity, fluorescence, and enhanced robustness, onto a variety of materials by running computer simulations of molecules and chemical reactions.

The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate is charged with developing new capabilities for use on space platforms. One promising approach is to capitalize on the power of chemistry to design novel molecules that inherently have properties of interest. Such an approach is sought as localizing desired properties to individual molecules enables easy deployment as the properties as such molecules can be readily imparted onto spacecraft components by integrating them into composite materials or painting them onto key surfaces. To guide experimental efforts to create such molecules, the undergraduate sought for position will be tasked with running computer simulations to predict synthetic targets for experimentalists to attempt to synthesize and support efforts to interpret experimental results. Anyone with a computer programming background and an interest in developing their skills in computational chemistry is encouraged to apply.

This project will center around using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to model high-temperature and high-pressure gas expansion dynamics through orifices resulting from highly exothermic chemical reactions. We are interested in the flow of gas within the reaction vessel as well as the evolution of the gas as it exits the vessel in terms of temperature, pressure and/or concentration gradients. We are looking for a student who has knowledge of CFD, and can bring in that expertise to model these systems. This should include any of the following: gas flow and expansion, chemical reactions, material phase changes or others to simulate experimental parameters. Experience using the ANSYS suite or CFD++ would be preferred as access to the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) would be provided.

This project will center around using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to model high-temperature and high-pressure gas expansion dynamics through orifices resulting from highly exothermic chemical reactions. We are interested in the flow of gas within the reaction vessel as well as the evolution of the gas as it exits the vessel in terms of temperature, pressure and/or concentration gradients. We are looking for a student who has knowledge of CFD, and can bring in that expertise to model these systems. This should include any of the following: gas flow and expansion, chemical reactions, material phase changes or others to simulate experimental parameters. Experience using the ANSYS suite or CFD++ would be preferred as access to the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) would be provided.

The applicant will apply a wide range of cyber tools to satellite flight software and sensor firmware in efforts to reduce attack surface and vulnerabilities to these systems. The target software architecture, source code, programming language, etc. will need to be investigated in order to apply the correct tool-set. The result will be a processes for application of said tools to specific targets and produce cyber-resilient software. As well, the applicant will need to perform simple Cyber Vulnerability Assessment of said targets to determine success of the tools.

The Advanced SatNav Technologies (AST) program researches next generation satellite navigation (SatNav). Research areas include: advanced SatNav signals and signal exploitation, spacecraft SatNav payloads, and SatNav command & control systems. Technology areas include: digital and RF signal processing, software defined radios, RF signal generation and broadcast, encryption, and command and control technologies. Research is performed both in a simulated environment and in the laboratory.
The AST program is developing signals for the next generation SatNav systems, including GPS. These signals will close weaknesses in existing GPS signals, such as provide authentication of civilian signals, rapid acquisition of military signals, improved performance of military signals in jamming situations, etc. Research is ongoing both in the development of new signals (and modification of existing signals) and the development of the receiver algorithms necessary to fully exploit the advanced signal features. An intern project would involve implementing and receiving advanced SatNav data structures in a simulation environment that incorporates interference (jamming and spoofing) elements. Examples include digital signatures to protect against spoofing and data formats optimized to maximize data throughput under challenging conditions.

The Advanced SatNav Technologies (AST) program researches next generation satellite navigation (SatNav). Research areas include: advanced SatNav signals and signal exploitation, spacecraft SatNav payloads, and SatNav command & control systems. Technology areas include: digital and RF signal processing, software defined radios, RF signal generation and broadcast, encryption, and command and control technologies. Research is performed both in a simulated environment and in the laboratory.
The AST program is developing signals for the next generation SatNav systems, including GPS. These signals will close weaknesses in existing GPS signals, such as provide authentication of civilian signals, rapid acquisition of military signals, improved performance of military signals in jamming situations, etc. Research is ongoing both in the development of new signals (and modification of existing signals) and the development of the receiver algorithms necessary to fully exploit the advanced signal features. An intern project would involve implementing and receiving advanced SatNav data structures in a simulation environment that incorporates interference (jamming and spoofing) elements. Examples include digital signatures to protect against spoofing and data formats optimized to maximize data throughput under challenging conditions.

The space domain asset population is in the midst of explosive growth, with
the number of space-based assets expected to quintuple by 2030. This is due
to a growing deployment of collaborating small satellites with on-board
sensing and computing technologies. However, as the number of
spacecraft-to-spacecraft interactions is expected to increase, there are
(and will be) limited human-in-the-loop resources available. Thus, these
space systems require autonomous capabilities on-board to carry out a
variety of operations in the space environment. This could include (but is
not limited to) rendezvous and docking, object-of-interest sensing/tracking,
satellite constellation reconfiguration, etc... All of these applications
require decision-making on the part of one or multiple agents to satisfy
mission requirements. This research effort is directed at the inclusion of
autonomy into these decision-making processes. High-level concepts include
information theory, belief fusion, expert reasoning, collaborative tasking,
and the incorporation of modeled and unmodeled uncertainties in the
operating environment. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact
the mentor for more information, as well as to discuss specific research
ideas for the summer.

The space domain asset population is in the midst of explosive growth, with
the number of space-based assets expected to quintuple by 2030. This is due
to a growing deployment of collaborating small satellites with on-board
sensing and computing technologies. However, as the number of
spacecraft-to-spacecraft interactions is expected to increase, there are
(and will be) limited human-in-the-loop resources available. Thus, these
space systems require autonomous capabilities on-board to carry out a
variety of operations in the space environment. This could include (but is
not limited to) rendezvous and docking, object-of-interest sensing/tracking,
satellite constellation reconfiguration, etc... All of these applications
require decision-making on the part of one or multiple agents to satisfy
mission requirements. This research effort is directed at the inclusion of
autonomy into these decision-making processes. High-level concepts include
information theory, belief fusion, expert reasoning, collaborative tasking,
and the incorporation of modeled and unmodeled uncertainties in the
operating environment. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact
the mentor for more information, as well as to discuss specific research
ideas for the summer.

Help the Air Force Research Laboratory develop new coatings and dopants to impart novel properties, such as electrical conductivity, fluorescence, and enhanced robustness, onto a variety of materials.

The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate is charged with developing new capabilities for use on space platforms. One promising approach is to capitalize on the power of chemistry to design novel molecules that inherently have properties of interest. Such an approach is sought as localizing desired properties to individual molecules enables easy deployment as the properties as such molecules can be readily imparted onto spacecraft components by integrating them into composite materials or painting them onto key surfaces. To get all of this to work will take a good amount of know-how in a variety of disciplines. Chemistry skills will be needed to design and synthesize molecules anticipated to have the desired properties. Advanced manufacturing skills will be needed to fabricate test coupons and component prototypes. Material science skills will be needed to analyze test samples and evaluate their performance.

Interested in joining this effort and developing your skills in the aforementioned areas? The candidate selected for this program will be tasked with applying their scientific expertise to design new molecules, create new chemical synthesis procedures, and develop new fabrication techniques. Anyone with a desire to build their expertise in these areas is encouraged to apply.

The Advanced SatNav Technologies (AST) program researches next generation satellite navigation (SatNav). Research areas include: advanced SatNav signals and signal exploitation, spacecraft SatNav payloads, and SatNav command & control systems. Technology areas include: digital and RF signal processing, software defined radios, RF signal generation and broadcast, encryption, and command and control technologies. Research is performed both in a simulated environment and in the laboratory.
The AST program is developing signals for the next generation SatNav systems, including GPS. These signals will close weaknesses in existing GPS signals, such as provide authentication of civilian signals, rapid acquisition of military signals, improved performance of military signals in jamming situations, etc. Research is ongoing both in the development of new signals (and modification of existing signals) and the development of the receiver algorithms necessary to fully exploit the advanced signal features. An intern project would involve designing, implementing, and receiving these advanced signals in a simulation environment that incorporates interference (jamming and spoofing) elements.

The Advanced SatNav Technologies (AST) program researches next generation satellite navigation (SatNav). Research areas include: advanced SatNav signals and signal exploitation, spacecraft SatNav payloads, and SatNav command & control systems. Technology areas include: digital and RF signal processing, software defined radios, RF signal generation and broadcast, encryption, and command and control technologies. Research is performed both in a simulated environment and in the laboratory.
The AST program is developing signals for the next generation SatNav systems, including GPS. These signals will close weaknesses in existing GPS signals, such as provide authentication of civilian signals, rapid acquisition of military signals, improved performance of military signals in jamming situations, etc. Research is ongoing both in the development of new signals (and modification of existing signals) and the development of the receiver algorithms necessary to fully exploit the advanced signal features. An intern project would involve designing, implementing, and receiving these advanced signals in a simulation environment that incorporates interference (jamming and spoofing) elements.

AFRL/RDHEC specializes in development of HPM sources via high fidelity simulation of device physics.  HPM sources we are currently developing include conventional magnetrons, relativistic magnetrons, recirculating planar magnetrons (RPMs), and others.  We are also interested in gigawatt-class amplifier HPM sources.  New ideas are welcome, students will have the opportunity to virtually prototype their own source using the DoD ICEPIC simulation code and DoD supercomputers if they wish, or can contribute by modifying existing designs.  Opportunities exist also for students that are fluent with programming to help improve the tools used for HPM design, which we are also actively developing.

AFRL/RDHEC specializes in development of HPM sources via high fidelity simulation of device physics.  HPM sources we are currently developing include conventional magnetrons, relativistic magnetrons, recirculating planar magnetrons (RPMs), and others.  We are also interested in gigawatt-class amplifier HPM sources.  New ideas are welcome, students will have the opportunity to virtually prototype their own source using the DoD ICEPIC simulation code and DoD supercomputers if they wish, or can contribute by modifying existing designs.  Opportunities exist also for students that are fluent with programming to help improve the tools used for HPM design, which we are also actively developing.

This project is for Texas State University students involved with USRA's University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO). The project will focus on exploring the design, control, and production of geo-polymer type concretes for their potential use in off-world construction. When structures are built off-Earth, the structures are going to require new and unique construction materials that are produced and constructed through non-conventional techniques. A geo-polymer type concrete is perfectly suited for this type of construction as it uses little to no cement, and instead is created through a mixture of the on-site material, which is then chemically activated through a solution. It is important that these materials be well characterized and understood prior to off-world production. Additionally, for off-world construction, conventional Earth based techniques won’t be suitable, therefore the structures will likely have to be built through an additive manufacturing process such as 3D printing. As a Space Scholar in this program, the Scholar will work with AFRL scientists and University of New Mexico faculty to develop and characterize various geo-polymer concretes and test their compatibility/capability with 3D printing at the laboratory scale.

The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) group is seeking young scientists and engineers to join the USPL team. Students will direct USPL systems to gas or solid targets and study the resulting fast timescale plasma dynamics. Topics under investigation include laser wakefield acceleration, filamentation, and laser-solid or laser-gas interactions. Students will learn the basics of USPL operation, assist with the design and implementation of experimental hardware, build diagnostics, and perform data acquisition and analysis.

The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) group is seeking young scientists and engineers to join the USPL team. Students will direct USPL systems to gas or solid targets and study the resulting fast timescale plasma dynamics. Topics under investigation include laser wakefield acceleration, filamentation, and laser-solid or laser-gas interactions. Students will learn the basics of USPL operation, assist with the design and implementation of experimental hardware, build diagnostics, and perform data acquisition and analysis.

Recent advances in camera technology have led to the development of the
Event-Based Sensor (EBS), which has the potential to overcome limitations in
traditional frame-based cameras. Specifically, since these devices only
respond to changes, they offer the potential of dramatic improvements in
traits such as dynamic range, high-speed operation, and bandwidth
requirements. Because of the relatively recent technological advances, their
utility for many applications remains unexplored. This project will
specifically look at the potential of event-based sensors to outperform
traditional frame-based cameras in complex applications including target
detection and tracking.
The Directed Energy Scholar would investigate the capabilities of the EBS
within these applications. Specifically, the work would be experimental,
theoretical or both. In the experimental track, the Scholar would design and
conduct experiments with an EBS, with options for both lab and field
experiments. In the theoretical track, the Scholar would support EBS
research by conducting modeling and simulation at either the system-level or
the component-level. In each case, the scholar would have the opportunity to
identify and develop new EBS applications.

Example projects could include but are not limited to:
. Development and evaluation of tracking, target detection and
classification, or image reconstruction algorithms
. Design and construction of EBS subsystems, including the optical system,
test targets, and a camera steering system.
. Development of novel wavefront sensor applications using EBS
. Development of hybrid sensor systems fusing EBS with frame based cameras

All major military operations rely on space. Space operations are inherently software centric (arguably the one domain where software is most critical). The software world moves entirely too fast for our traditional acquisition paradigm (5+ years timeline from concept to operational use). In order to be relevant in software we need to go from “wild idea” to deploying in operations in 18-24 months. This requires streamlining and automating the process from code level to human level, including integration, security, safety, test, and training. We are seeking to implement a process of Continuous Operational Validation (DevSecDT/OTOps) by bringing people, processes and software technologies together on a two-week development and operations cadence for testing/stress-testing all of the above (people, processes, technologies). We are developing a live and live-virtual-constructive environment for operationally testing Space Control, Space C2 and Space Domain Awareness capabilities. Experience with software languages/developer tools/applications: JavaScript, NodeJS, Python, C++, Unity, Unreal, C#, Grafana, Tableau, Kubernetes, GitLab, Kibana, ElasticSearch, Amazon Web Services, Java,
Atlassian suite (JIRA/Confluence), Relational Databases (MySQL), NoSQL, Kafka, REST services, Salesforce CRM Experience with agile software development methodologies Experience with DevOps concepts Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) Systems Engineering mindset and desire to optimize operational workflows Aerospace Engineering experience, coursework in orbital mechanics Desire to gain experience in space operations (space surveillance, space object tracking, command and control) (The ideal candidate will have a combination the skills/experience listed above)

All major military operations rely on space. Space operations are inherently software centric (arguably the one domain where software is most critical). The software world moves entirely too fast for our traditional acquisition paradigm (5+ years timeline from concept to operational use). In order to be relevant in software we need to go from “wild idea” to deploying in operations in 18-24 months. This requires streamlining and automating the process from code level to human level, including integration, security, safety, test, and training. We are seeking to implement a process of Continuous Operational Validation (DevSecDT/OTOps) by bringing people, processes and software technologies together on a two-week development and operations cadence for testing/stress-testing all of the above (people, processes, technologies). We are developing a live and live-virtual-constructive environment for operationally testing Space Control, Space C2 and Space Domain Awareness capabilities. Experience with software languages/developer tools/applications: JavaScript, NodeJS, Python, C++, Unity, Unreal, C#, Grafana, Tableau, Kubernetes, GitLab, Kibana, ElasticSearch, Amazon Web Services, Atlassian suite (JIRA/Confluence), Relational Databases (MySQL), NoSQL, Kafka, REST services, Salesforce CRM Experience with agile software development methodologies Experience with DevOps concepts Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) Systems Engineering mindset and desire to optimize operational workflows Aerospace Engineering experience, coursework in orbital mechanics Desire to gain experience in space operations (space surveillance, space object tracking, command and control) (The ideal candidate will have a combination the skills/experience listed above)

We are developing a laboratory plasma device called EMPD (ExB drifting Magnetized Plasma Device. EMPD is a 4' dia. by 6' long vacuum chamber with 0-200 Gauss axial magnetic field "bottle" for scaled plasma experiments. We are currently developing plasma sources, experiments, and diagnostics to explore plasma-plasma coupling and Langmuir Probe physics in the positive bias flowing plasma regime which is still poorly explored, with relevance to applications as the Electro-dynamic Space Tether.

We are developing a laboratory plasma device called EMPD (ExB drifting Magnetized Plasma Device. EMPD is a 4' dia. by 6' long vacuum chamber with 0-200 Gauss axial magnetic field "bottle" for scaled plasma experiments. We are currently developing plasma sources, experiments, and diagnostics to explore plasma-plasma coupling and Langmuir Probe physics in the positive bias flowing plasma regime which is still poorly explored, with relevance to applications as the Electro-dynamic Space Tether.

To help involve and familiarize educators with STEM experimentation at the R&D level, Space Vehicles Directorate is actively pursuing educators to aid in the application of machine learning and artificial neural network for technological advancements in robotics. The applicant will be expected to utilize image recognition software and robotics hardware to train AI to perform tasks that could also be applied to satellite maintenance.

[1] Light-electron interaction and optical response of semiconductors;
[2] Effect of electron scattering on transport in semiconductors;
[3] Controlling propagation of electromagnetic waves in conducting materials;
[4] Coupling of lattice vibrations and electron transport;

Laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics (AO) is commonly used on large astronomical telescopes to correct for the distorting effects of atmospheric turbulence and improve imaging performance; however, the output of the LGS laser system is also affected by the atmosphere. The standard solution to this problem has been to limit the diameter of the laser launch telescope to roughly match the coherence length of the turbulence (or the distance over which the atmosphere is approximately homogenous). The Starfire Optical Range (SOR) is interested in extending LGS AO operations into the daytime when the atmospheric turbulence is stronger and thus more likely to negatively impact LGS AO performance. This project will use wave optic simulations to model turbulence effects on laser guide formation and the effect of a misshapen beacon on the performance of the wavefront sensor measuring the atmospheric turbulence. The goal of the project will be to quantify the degradation in AO performance due to an irregular beacon shape, determine the optimal beam size for a given atmospheric turbulence, and to explore methods for improving AO performance in more extreme atmospheric turbulence.

Laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics (AO) is commonly used on large astronomical telescopes to correct for the distorting effects of atmospheric turbulence and improve imaging performance; however, the output of the LGS laser system is also affected by the atmosphere. The standard solution to this problem has been to limit the diameter of the laser launch telescope to roughly match the coherence length of the turbulence (or the distance over which the atmosphere is approximately homogenous). The Starfire Optical Range (SOR) is interested in extending LGS AO operations into the daytime when the atmospheric turbulence is stronger and thus more likely to negatively impact LGS AO performance. This project will use wave optic simulations to model turbulence effects on laser guide formation and the effect of a misshapen beacon on the performance of the wavefront sensor measuring the atmospheric turbulence. The goal of the project will be to quantify the degradation in AO performance due to an irregular beacon shape, determine the optimal beam size for a given atmospheric turbulence, and to explore methods for improving AO performance in more extreme atmospheric turbulence.

Laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics (AO) is commonly used on large astronomical telescopes to correct for the distorting effects of atmospheric turbulence and improve imaging performance; however, the output of the LGS laser system is also affected by the atmosphere. The standard solution to this problem has been to limit the diameter of the laser launch telescope to roughly match the coherence length of the turbulence (or the distance over which the atmosphere is approximately homogenous). The Starfire Optical Range (SOR) is interested in extending LGS AO operations into the daytime when the atmospheric turbulence is stronger and thus more likely to negatively impact LGS AO performance. This project will use wave optic simulations to model turbulence effects on laser guide formation and the effect of a misshapen beacon on the performance of the wavefront sensor measuring the atmospheric turbulence. The goal of the project will be to quantify the degradation in AO performance due to an irregular beacon shape, determine the optimal beam size for a given atmospheric turbulence, and to explore methods for improving AO performance in more extreme atmospheric turbulence.

Laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics (AO) is commonly used on large astronomical telescopes to correct for the distorting effects of atmospheric turbulence and improve imaging performance; however, the output of the LGS laser system is also affected by the atmosphere. The standard solution to this problem has been to limit the diameter of the laser launch telescope to roughly match the coherence length of the turbulence (or the distance over which the atmosphere is approximately homogenous). The Starfire Optical Range (SOR) is interested in extending LGS AO operations into the daytime when the atmospheric turbulence is stronger and thus more likely to negatively impact LGS AO performance. This project will use wave optic simulations to model turbulence effects on laser guide formation and the effect of a misshapen beacon on the performance of the wavefront sensor measuring the atmospheric turbulence. The goal of the project will be to quantify the degradation in AO performance due to an irregular beacon shape, determine the optimal beam size for a given atmospheric turbulence, and to explore methods for improving AO performance in more extreme atmospheric turbulence.

A student is sought to assist in the operation of an electron RF linear accelerator. This is to include start-up, system characterization, standard operation, minor troubleshooting, and shut down. Students will receive training in these topics and work closely with the PI. Students will also assist in data collection for various projects. Finally, students will learn about radioactivity, radiation safety, and the production and storage of radioactive materials.

A student is sought to assist in the operation of an electron RF linear accelerator. This is to include start-up, system characterization, standard operation, minor troubleshooting, and shut down. Students will receive training in these topics and work closely with the PI. Students will also assist in data collection for various projects. Finally, students will learn about radioactivity, radiation safety, and the production and storage of radioactive materials.

The goal of the research is to investigate the physics of electron field emission under a variety of conditions.  Carbon fiber cathodes will be used for the research.  First, emission characteristics with pulse width from 100ns to 500ms and DC will be examined.  A new cathode test bed will be built for this purpose.  Second, different numbers of emitters (1<n<100) will be used to study the turn-on effects of cathodes, and the phenomena will be modeled using  a predator-prey relationship.  ICEPIC will be used to predict the effects of pulse width on electron field emission, in addition,  various numbers of fibers placed on the cathode will be subjected to the same voltage pulse, and ICEPIC will be used to model the cathode geometry, and comparison in terms of the total current obtain and the value of the field enhancement factors will be made with theory and experiment.  Lastly, a predator and prey relationship model will be developed to study the physics of emission when large number (1<n<100) of fibers are present on the cathode.  During the course of the program, Students will be involved in using ICEPIC to design the geometry of the cathodes, as well as to set up ICEPIC model to study the emission of the cathode under different pulse width.  At the end of the internship, students will gain knowledge in the emission physics from a carbon fiber cathode which is highly relevant in future technology.

This project is for Texas State University students involved with USRA's University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO). This project will focus on preliminary modeling and investigation into developing and producing an instrumented device that could facilitate the remote assessment of potential austere landing sites. Typically, to determine if an area of land is suitable for an aircraft landing, personnel need to complete a suite of testing on the ground. It is possible that this process could be reduced to a remote assessment through the use of a calibrated and instrumented device that could be dropped from an airplane, take the necessary readings, and transfer via RF the necessary information back to the plane without the use of personnel at the site (i.e. boots on the ground). As a Space Scholar in this program, the Scholar will work with AFRL Scientists to complete a literature search on similar devices and technology that could be adapted or developed to meet this need. Other research components include looking into the instruments, materials, and equipment necessary to develop such a device, as well as producing a 3D model of how the device and its instruments would be assembled and fabricated. If time permits, a preliminary prototype of the device will be assembled and preliminary testing will be accomplished.

The need for manufacturable high performance mid- to long-wave infrared technologies is growing due to their applications in thermal imaging, gas sensing, and growing potential in noninvasive medical detection/diagnostics. The telecommunications industry has taken advantage of the high manufacturability of near- to short-wave infrared III–V semiconductor materials to support the ever increasing performance requirements of our world’s telecommunications networks. Given the pervasiveness of this industry and its ever-expanding markets, there would be great value in leveraging that same industrial base for mid-wave infrared optoelectronic applications. While the bandgap engineering flexibility of superlattice material systems has furthered our capabilities in the mid-wave infrared, superlattices gain this tunability at the expense of electron and hole wavefunction coupling, which leads lower absorption coefficients and to very low vertical mobility. Given these challenges, a more ideal mid-wave infrared solution would be a bulk III V alloy with sufficient tunability in its bandgap and band edge alignments to form effective heterostructures with other alloy systems at the lattice constant of a large-area commercially available substrate. One potential design space that could enable this technology is an alloy utilizing the heaviest group-V element Bi in a quinary alloy of GaInAsSbBi.

In order to evaluate GaInAsSbBi as a candidate for mid-wave infrared detection, a sufficient quantity of Bi should be incorporated to achieve a mid-wavelength infrared cutoff, and fundamental optoelectronic quality metrics such as the alloy’s minority carrier lifetime need to be investigated. In this project, the minority carrier lifetime of these alloys will be measured and analyzed to gain insight into the performance of GaInAsSbBi infrared detectors.

Recent advances in camera technology have led to the development of the
Event-Based Sensor (EBS), which has the potential to overcome limitations in
traditional frame-based cameras. Specifically, since these devices only
respond to changes, they offer the potential of dramatic improvements in
traits such as dynamic range, high-speed operation, and bandwidth
requirements. Because of the relatively recent technological advances, their
utility for many applications remains unexplored. This project will
specifically look at the potential of event-based sensors to outperform
traditional frame-based cameras in complex applications including target
detection and tracking.
The Directed Energy Scholar would investigate the capabilities of the EBS
within these applications. Specifically, the work would be experimental,
theoretical or both. In the experimental track, the Scholar would design and
conduct experiments with an EBS, with options for both lab and field
experiments. In the theoretical track, the Scholar would support EBS
research by conducting modeling and simulation at either the system-level or
the component-level. In each case, the scholar would have the opportunity to
identify and develop new EBS applications.

Example projects could include but are not limited to:
. Development and evaluation of tracking, target detection and
classification, or image reconstruction algorithms
. Design and construction of EBS subsystems, including the optical system,
test targets, and a camera steering system.
. Development of novel wavefront sensor applications using EBS
. Development of hybrid sensor systems fusing EBS with frame based cameras

When plasmas confined in magnetic mirror traps are subjected to very rapid rotation (10s - 100s km/s) there is a rich interplay between stabilizing centrifugal forces and competing instabilities that limit the rotation rate and degrade the plasma. This project is part of an experimental campaign to understand and overcome observed upper limits on the rotation speed. We create rotating plasmas using pulsed, high voltage electric currents to both ignite the plasmas and drive rotation. Students will have the opportunity to experimentally quantify plasma properties such as rotation rate, turbulent flows, and temperature fluctuations within the rapidly rotating plasmas. The students will gain hands-on experience through the process of designing, calibrating and using their own instruments to collect data as well as processing the data to understand their results.

The Air Force's Global Positioning System (GPS) was created to provide unprecedented position and timing accuracy to the warfighter and has since become a staple of the global economy. Cell phones, autonomous vehicles, air traffic control, financial transactions, search-and-rescue crews, and the national power grid all depend on uninterrupted GPS coverage. Together with industry, AFRL is developing advanced technologies to detect and mitigate interference and make GPS stronger than ever.

The Air Force's Global Positioning System (GPS) was created to provide unprecedented position and timing accuracy to the warfighter and has since become a staple of the global economy. Cell phones, autonomous vehicles, air traffic control, financial transactions, search-and-rescue crews, and the national power grid all depend on uninterrupted GPS coverage. Together with industry, AFRL is developing advanced technologies to detect and mitigate interference and make GPS stronger than ever.

The Air Force's Global Positioning System (GPS) was created to provide unprecedented position and timing accuracy to the warfighter and has since become a staple of the global economy. Cell phones, autonomous vehicles, air traffic control, financial transactions, search-and-rescue crews, and the national power grid all depend on uninterrupted GPS coverage. Together with industry, AFRL is developing advanced technologies to detect and mitigate interference and make GPS stronger than ever.

The LaSR laboratory is interesting in studying the interactions between photons and either vapor or solid materials through the implementation of experiments and models. One area of interest is in the high temperature spectroscopy of metal-containing species. Metal species and their complexes can potentially have complicated spectroscopy at high temperatures due to the prevalence of low-lying electronic states which can have significant population. By vaporizing metals at different temperature, we will experimentally examine the absorbance/emission of the isolated species as well as any emission arising from reactivity. These experiments compliment modeling efforts toward understanding chemical systems at high temperatures. These modeling efforts include spectroscopic/kinetic modeling of the gas phase species or potentially CFD to examine the vaporization process directly and inform future experiments.

A separate modeling effort involves the modeling of satellite plume species emissions and their life cycle in the space environment. Thruster plume species will have significant interaction with UV photons in the space environment and it is important to both identify and model the kinetics of breakdown pathways. Additionally, identifying and modeling the flux of photons arising from these species upon interactions with the space environment is necessary to understand visual observations. In addition to optical signatures arising from plume species, significant photon flux can arise due to solar reflections arising from the body of the space vehicle in question. Due to the lack of atmosphere in the space environment significant reflections of UV/VUV light may occur, but there is a lack of experimental data on the reflectivity of “real-world” space-relevant materials in these high energy regions.

We will work together to develop a project of mutual interest in one of these research areas.

Fault detection systems are an essential component of satellites. The current method relies on expert knowledge identifying the likely failures along with long checkout windows. This project will be to investigate different techniques and create a code base that can be applied in our multi-agent quadcopter testbed.

The Space Vehicles Directorate Finance Division (RVF) is seeking college
students who are pursuing a degree in business or a business-related field
(i.e. economics, accounting, finance). Applicants must be enrolled at least
half time in a degree program, in good academic standing, interested in a
career in finance, a U.S citizen, and be able to obtain a Secret security
clearance.

Interns will perform a variety of work assignments under the guidance of
senior personnel. Assignments will consist of projects that have been
selected to orient the intern in the practical application of basic
principles, concepts, and techniques of the occupational field, and will
provide progressive training value for the individual. Interns will become
familiar with Air Force requirements for projects, as well as the current
body of precedents and technical knowledge. Interns will also aid in
planning, monitoring, and conducting special studies, projects, and
initiatives, which includes determining the validity, feasibility
achievability, and efficiency of said special studies, projects, and
initiatives.

Throughout the session, interns will attend meetings to observe interactions
and understand working relationships with customers, specialists, and other
organizational points of contact. Interns will also assist in the collection
and analysis of information and data, documentation of findings, development
of reports, evaluation of project results, and development of
recommendations for improvement in study and project procedures.

We will assemble a team of DE Scholars and AFRL scientists to model/simulate cutting edge gigawatt-class high power microwave (HPM) source technologies. We will utilize the DoD's massively parallel supercomputing capabilities to perform high fidelity simulations using the AFRL's Improved Concurrent Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell Code (ICEPIC). We will be virtually prototyping and improving the world's most advanced HPM sources, leveraging the latest published results to produce virtual prototypes that represent the best of the world's HPM sources. Team members will work closely with each other and their mentors to learn the basic and advanced features of ICEPIC to create and run successful HPM models in a high performance computing environment.

We will assemble a team of DE Scholars and AFRL scientists to model/simulate cutting edge gigawatt-class high power microwave (HPM) source technologies. We will utilize the DoD's massively parallel supercomputing capabilities to perform high fidelity simulations using the AFRL's Improved Concurrent Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell Code (ICEPIC). We will be virtually prototyping and improving the world's most advanced HPM sources, leveraging the latest published results to produce virtual prototypes that represent the best of the world's HPM sources. Team members will work closely with each other and their mentors to learn the basic and advanced features of ICEPIC to create and run successful HPM models in a high performance computing environment.

We will assemble a team of DE Scholars and AFRL scientists to model/simulate cutting edge gigawatt-class high power microwave (HPM) source technologies. We will utilize the DoD's massively parallel supercomputing capabilities to perform high fidelity simulations using the AFRL's Improved Concurrent Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell Code (ICEPIC). We will be virtually prototyping and improving the world's most advanced HPM sources, leveraging the latest published results to produce virtual prototypes that represent the best of the world's HPM sources. Team members will work closely with each other and their mentors to learn the basic and advanced features of ICEPIC to create and run successful HPM models in a high performance computing environment.

We will assemble a team of DE Scholars and AFRL scientists to model/simulate cutting edge gigawatt-class high power microwave (HPM) source technologies. We will utilize the DoD's massively parallel supercomputing capabilities to perform high fidelity simulations using the AFRL's Improved Concurrent Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell Code (ICEPIC). We will be virtually prototyping and improving the world's most advanced HPM sources, leveraging the latest published results to produce virtual prototypes that represent the best of the world's HPM sources. Team members will work closely with each other and their mentors to learn the basic and advanced features of ICEPIC to create and run successful HPM models in a high performance computing environment.

Over the past few years, an increasing amount of interest has been building towards returning to the moon. A second space race of private companies have pledged to send satellites to the Moon within the next decade. However, the dynamics involved in this regime are much more complicated than a typical Earth-orbiting satellite. Scholars applying to this topic will assist in advancing the capabilities of the Air Force in this new regime, developing high-fidelity three-body motion models and assisting in deploying them in a simulation environment.

Fiber amplifiers have proven to be a key technology critical to scaling to output powers needed for directed energy applications. Single fiber amplifiers have readily proven scalable to high average powers, and coherent beam combining technology has demonstrated how arrays of fiber amplifiers are readily scaled to specific power levels. Improving capabilities of lasers may include more robust beam combination technology to react to high-speed phase disturbances, and a better understanding of the optical nonlinearities limiting the maximum power from an individual fiber amplifier.

Potential projects include high speed imagery of fiber amplifiers to better understand the temporal dynamics, to modeling and simulation of fiber amplifiers and/or different control algorithms for more robust beam combining systems.

This project will be on modeling high-power fiber lasers/amplifiers. Specifically, the goal is to develop techniques for overcoming nonlinear and thermal effects that inhibit scaling to higher output powers while maintaining good beam quality, and usually narrow linewidth. One method for achieving this goal is through novel fiber designs, which may suppress deleterious processes that occur at high powers in the fibers, but are also complex and challenging to model on a computer. Through this modeling effort various fiber laser/amplifier configurations will be explored in order to optimize the output.

AFRL is currently pursuing studies of high power mm-wave interactions with materials. One main thrust of this research is to understand the mm-wave, complex permittivity of materials at high temperature. Such an understanding can contribute to multiple applications such as supersonic/hypersonic radomes, mm-wave power beaming, and mm-wave processing of materials (additive manufacturing, sintering, etc.). One goal of this work is to build a predictive model for determining the permittivity of unknown materials up to very high temperatures (>1000℃). Part of building this model could involve traditional regression techniques but neural network approaches have also shown promise. Building a fundamental understanding of loss mechanisms at these temperatures is also desirable - for instance, a material whose loss tangent increases dramatically can give rise to strong thermal gradients and thus material failure. Measurements of conductivity as a function of temperature and frequency may also lead to a better understanding of the motion of ions and defects in materials and thus contribute to the development multi-spectral hypersonic radomes and energy storage technologies (e.g. fuel cells, batteries). This work can be expected to include quasi-optical characterization of complex permittivity up to high temperature (>1000℃) using a variety of methods (Fabry Perot, free-space) with opportunities to develop characterization techniques (e.g. for high temperature, low loss materials and very high permittivity materials).

Lasers projected from an aircraft need to stay focused as they pass through the air that has been disturbed by that same aircraft. Conversely, light which is being received by the aircraft, e.g. for imaging systems, also needs to be focused after it has passed through the same flow field. In some cases, the turbulent air disturbances are severe enough to severely distort the light, preventing it from properly focusing. The study of these interactions has been described as "aero-optics". AFRL is interested in understanding and predicting aero-optic distortions for a variety of applications. This opportunity involves participation in aero-optic research at AFRL including wind-tunnel experiments and data analysis. Example studies may include investigations of turbulent boundary layers, shear layers or turbulent wakes. In addition to traditional flow measurement sensors (e.g. pressure and velocity), Summer Scholars will have the opportunity to work with flow diagnostic techniques such wavefront sensing and schlieren/shadowgraph techniques.

Lasers projected from an aircraft need to stay focused as they pass through the air that has been disturbed by that same aircraft. Conversely, light which is being received by the aircraft, e.g. for imaging systems, also needs to be focused after it has passed through the same flow field. In some cases, the turbulent air disturbances are severe enough to severely distort the light, preventing it from properly focusing. The study of these interactions has been described as "aero-optics". AFRL is interested in understanding and minimizing aero-optic distortions for a variety of applications. Opportunities for summer aero-optic research at AFRL include experimental studies of turbulence such as turbulent boundary layers and shear layers as well as the development of appropriate diagnostic instrumentation (e.g. schlieren, wavefront sensing, laser induced fluorescence, pressure sensitive paint, etc.). Computational (CFD) opportunities also exists to design aero-optic experiments and to develop accurate aero-optic CFD solutions.

The LaSR laboratory is interested in studying the gas phase spectroscopy of metal-containing species at combustion-like temperatures. The emission and absorbance of metal complexes can potentially change significantly at high temperatures due to the multitude of low-lying electronic states available to such species. This project centers on experimentally vaporizing a metal species and subsequently measuring the absorbance/emission of the hot vapor in isolation or after reaction with a different species. Mapping out the spectroscopy of metals over a variety of temperatures is essential towards the eventual modeling of applications which produce both high temperature gas-phase metal species and subsequent emission.

One of the major quantities of interest for airborne laser systems is the unsteady variation in the pointing direction of the beam, or jitter. In airborne laser systems, the beam jitter is usually thought of as sourced from two components. The component of the jitter caused by mechanical vibration of the optical table, optical elements, etc. is called mechanical jitter. The component of jitter caused by flow structures on the order of the aperture size is called the aero-optical jitter. In typical experiments, information pertaining to the aero-optical component of the jitter is almost always corrupted by mechanical disturbances and is typically removed from the data. For this reason, much is unknown about the nature of aero-optical jitter disturbances. In the Aero-Effects Laboratory at AFRL we study, among other topics, the aero-optical component of the jitter and its relationship to target tracking performance. This study often involves both experimental work, as well as high fidelity simulations of the aero-optical environment. This project will involve closely guided and mentored research into the aero-optical jitter generated by canonical flows.

One of the major quantities of interest for airborne laser systems is the unsteady variation in the pointing direction of the beam, or jitter. In airborne laser systems, the beam jitter is usually thought of as sourced from two components. The component of the jitter caused by mechanical vibration of the optical table, optical elements, etc. is called mechanical jitter. The component of jitter caused by flow structures on the order of the aperture size is called the aero-optical jitter. In typical experiments, information pertaining to the aero-optical component of the jitter is almost always corrupted by mechanical disturbances and is typically removed from the data. For this reason, much is unknown about the nature of aero-optical jitter disturbances. In the Aero-Effects Laboratory at AFRL we study, among other topics, the aero-optical component of the jitter and its relationship to target tracking performance. This study often involves both experimental work, as well as high fidelity simulations of the aero-optical environment. This project will involve closely guided and mentored research into the aero-optical jitter generated by canonical flows.

The Gridded Retarding Ion Drift Sensor (GRIDS) instrument is a CubeSat compatible sensor designed to
characterize ion density, drift, and temperature in the ionosphere. The sensor has a variety of
mechanical and electrical components. Previous iterations of this instrument are will be flown on two
NASA CubeSats, petitSat and Dione. This project will focus on further miniaturizing the instrument by
combining some mechanical components with one existing electrical PCB into a single PCB. Knowledge
and/or experience with schematic capture software is preferred.

The Space Vehicles Directorate is actively pursuing ways to fabricate an IR transparent conductor to be used in thermal space applications. One approach is to apply a thin conductive film to an IR transparent substrate, but the issues that arise are thin film adhesion and too narrow of an IR transmission window from either the conductive film or the substrate. In addition, IR transparent substrates generally have too low of a melting point to withstand high temperature annealing of the conductive thin film. Alternatively, what would be of interest from the applicant is the development of an intrinsically conductive IR transparent polymer that could be efficiently processed in the lab and characterized and tested as an electrode for electroplating metal.

The computational physics group is seeking motivated researchers to investigate numerical modeling of laser air interaction, ionization and filament generation. The early stages of filamentation is dominated by non-equilibrium electron dynamics and are modeled using kinetic theory. The student will work closely with their mentor and other in-house researchers in exploring this topic.

Are you an elementary, middle, or high school educator interested in learning firsthand how the math and science you teach in class is applied to develop new technologies and expand our understanding of the natural world? Consider spending this summer working fulltime at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in a chemical laboratory seeking to develop adaptive technology capable of changing their properties to meet new mission conditions or objectives. The candidate selected for this position will be tasked with working with AFRL researchers to characterize the features of engineered surfaces, assess optical properties, track changes when different stresses are applied, analyze the electrochemical behavior of nascent technologies, assess how much energy can be extracted from various power sources, and fabricate prototypes of novel devices capitalizing on recent discoveries. It is hoped that introducing the candidate selected for this position to such a variety of fields will impart a broader understanding on how basic research and technology development is conducted. This understanding, it is hoped, will subsequently enrich the lessons the educator provides when they return to teaching in the fall. Though welcome, candidates considered for this position do not have to have a background in science or prior experience working in a laboratory. All required training will be provided on site. The key metric upon which candidates for this position will be evaluated is the extent it is believed that the candidate can share their experience with their students and inspire them to explore topics in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Are you an elementary, middle, or high school educator interested in learning firsthand how the math and science you teach in class is applied to develop new technologies and expand our understanding of the natural world? Consider spending this summer working fulltime at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in a chemical laboratory seeking to develop adaptive technology capable of changing their properties to meet new mission conditions or objectives. The candidate selected for this position will be tasked with working with AFRL researchers to characterize the features of engineered surfaces, assess optical properties, track changes when different stresses are applied, analyze the electrochemical behavior of nascent technologies, assess how much energy can be extracted from various power sources, and fabricate prototypes of novel devices capitalizing on recent discoveries. It is hoped that introducing the candidate selected for this position to such a variety of fields will impart a broader understanding on how basic research and technology development is conducted. This understanding, it is hoped, will subsequently enrich the lessons the educator provides when they return to teaching in the fall. Though welcome, candidates considered for this position do not have to have a background in science or prior experience working in a laboratory. All required training will be provided on site. The key metric upon which candidates for this position will be evaluated is the extent it is believed that the candidate can share their experience with their students and inspire them to explore topics in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

SatNav seeks to push the boundaries of navigation and maintain GPS space dominance. Advanced Satellite Navigation will bring forward the next generation of SatNav satellites. New signals and equipment are being researched to support current GPS signals. Research areas include current GPS military and civilian signals, Radio Frequency (RF) signal processing, interference, and data analysis.
Intern projects will involve testing advanced signals in the lab. This includes working with Radio Frequency lab equipment, analyzing data collected at field tests, Power Network Analyzers (PMA), measuring antenna frequency response, signal sample error rate under various field conditions, and assisting the setup of equipment for public field-testing event. Projects will be adapted to fit the intern’s expertise and interests.

The laser effects modeling and simulation branch (AFRL/RDLE) is tasked with studying the physics and associated phenomenology of laser material interaction to support next generation laser system requirements. Materials of interest include but are not limited to advanced aerospace materials such as metal alloys, high temperature ceramics, composites and semi-conductor materials. AFRL/RDLE constantly strives to develop innovative and novel simulation models to develop predictive capabilities for pre-test analysis and to support military utility studies. This project will focus on developing high fidelity and reduced order laser material interaction models. The research will investigate laser induced failure modes and mechanisms. Numerical methods of interest include but are not limited to Finite Element/Finite Difference (FE/FD), Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI), Magneto Hydro-Dynamics (MHD)/Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE), and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Interns are not required to have a working knowledge of all of these methods, but rather the mentor will identify the appropriate software based on the intern’s skills and educational background. Custom scripting may be required to modify/update existing models. Development of interaction codes may also require literature reviews for appropriate material properties and development of material constitutive equations. The student will conduct verification and validation analysis with provided analytic, numeric and experimental results. The developed models may be integrated into larger frameworks for wargaming and mission planning.

Interested in learning how what you have been taught in science class can lead to new technology for everyday life? Try spending a summer working at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate on creating prototype devices, unique materials capable of providing novel functionality, or adaptive materials capable of altering their properties to meet new mission requirements. The high school student selected for this project will be tasked with working alongside AFRL researchers to develop innovative technology by applying basic research. This work can involve running simulations to determine the properties of novel materials, synthesizing new chemicals, developing new electrolytes, fabricating novel devices, and assessing materials properties. Experience with computer programing and participating in events like science fairs are a plus, however all required training will be provided on-site.

The Local Intelligent Networked Collaborative Satellites (LINCS) Laboratory is a multi-agent robotics laboratory at the Space Vehicles Directorate. It is interested in developing and implementing novel algorithms for collaborative satellite autonomy. In this project, high school scholars will work collaboratively in the LINCS laboratory in a team environment. Prospective scholars should be independent and motivated to learn and gain new skills. They will work closely with senior researchers and other interns to develop an understanding of the robotics platforms, build and design new robotics platforms and sensors to test, learn embedded systems programming and robotics skills.

The Local Intelligent Networked Collaborative Satellites Laboratory is a multi-agent robotics laboratory at the Space Vehicles Directorate. It is interested in developing and implementing novel algorithms for collaborative satellite autonomy. In this project, Phillips Scholars will work collaboratively in the LINCS laboratory in a team environment. Prospective scholars should be independent and motivated to learn and gain new skills. They will work closely with senior researchers and other interns to develop an understanding of the robotics platforms, build and design new robotics platforms and sensors to test, learn embedded systems programming and robotics skills.

The Local Intelligent Networked Collaborative Satellites Laboratory is a multi-agent robotics laboratory at the Space Vehicles Directorate. It is interested in developing and implementing novel algorithms for collaborative satellite autonomy. In this project, Phillips Scholars will work collaboratively in the LINCS laboratory in a team environment. Prospective scholars should be independent and motivated to learn and gain new skills. They will work closely with senior researchers and other interns to develop an understanding of the robotics platforms, build and design new robotics platforms and sensors to test, implement advanced distributed guidance, navigation, control and autonomy algorithms.

AFRL's AI/ML portfolio has demonstrated the utility of applying modern computer vision techniques to a variety of sensing modalities, includingoptical imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry. Passive RF is another sensing modality that is largely unexplored within machine learning. Passive RF data is relatively simple to collect, but requires complex processing techniques to make sense of the large volumes of raw data present. Machine learning techniques may provide data processing solutions to allow for object detection, classification, tracking, among other applications. The portfolio now seeks to explore deep learning techniques to passive RF, which may inform the design of future passive RF sensing networks. The next stage in this work is to 1) develop performant models trained on simulated and real datasets, 2) analyze instrument design options for maximizing detection and identification goals, and 3) present the work in a final presentation at the end of the 12-week internship.

This project will explore machine learning/deep learning approaches to performing image processing tasks that are traditionally done using computationally intensive and memory intensive algorithms. Among the tasks to be explored are image classification and feature extraction using simulated image data. Projects will make use of neuromorphic processor chips or graphical processing units (GPUs) depending upon the student’s interest and level of expertise. Software frameworks include PetaVision, CUDA, OpenCL, etc. Machine learning frameworks might include PetaVision, cuDNN, Caffe or TensorFlow.

This project will explore machine learning/deep learning approaches to performing image processing tasks that are traditionally done using computationally intensive and memory intensive algorithms. Among the tasks to be explored are image classification and feature extraction using simulated image data. Projects will make use of neuromorphic processor chips or graphical processing units (GPUs) depending upon the student’s interest and level of expertise. Software frameworks include PetaVision, CUDA, OpenCL, etc. Machine learning frameworks might include PetaVision, cuDNN, Caffe or TensorFlow.

Event Based Sensing (EBS) is a new sensing modality offering several distinct advantages, such as high temporal resolution and high dynamic range, for USSF mission areas, specifically those that have stringent SWaP-C requirements. In order to properly evaluate the technology across various mission areas, we seek to develop novel methods for the production of realistic and representative synthetic data. This product will allow the generation of realistic scene data on which we can assess and improve data analysis methods. Furthermore, we can benchmark EBS performance and determine its suitability in the mission area to a high degree of accuracy. By using machine learning methods, we hope to expedite the process of generating realistic event based data without the need for developing expensive ab initio pixel circuit models. The project will begin with the collection of event based data using multiple sensors in the lab or in the field as needed. We will then use these data sets to train machine learning algorithms and subsequently output data that is representative of the original data. Finally asses the performance of this simulated data against the original.

Due to harsh and inaccessible operating environments, systems for spacecraft are subject to many unique challenges and constraints. However, the increasing need for real-time sensor and autonomous processing, coupled with limited communication bandwidth with ground stations, is increasing on-orbit computing demands for next-generation space missions. To address these challenges, AFRL's Space Electronics Technology program has established a dedicated architecture analytics project called the Spacecraft Processing Architectures and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) Laboratory to provide the DoD with the capability to assess on-orbit computing solutions for spacecraft. This project will explore software fault injection on neural networks to assess their reliability in a space environment as part of this effort. This project will introduce students to programming machine learning applications with an emphasis on space applications. The basics of neural networks and computing reliability will be covered along with a light introduction to software fault injection. Fault injection campaigns will then be executed and the results will be analyzed under mentor supervision.

Due to harsh and inaccessible operating environments, systems for spacecraft are subject to many unique challenges and constraints. However, the increasing need for real-time sensor and autonomous processing, coupled with limited communication bandwidth with ground stations, is increasing on-orbit computing demands for next-generation space missions. To address these challenges, AFRL's Space Electronics Technology program has established a dedicated architecture
analytics project called the Spacecraft Processing Architectures and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) Laboratory to provide the DoD with the capability to assess on-orbit computing solutions for spacecraft. This project will explore software fault injection on neural networks to assess their reliability in a space environment as part of this effort. The primary application area will be image processing. Existing fault injection tools will be utilized. The project will also make use of PyTorch.

Due to harsh and inaccessible operating environments, systems for spacecraft are subject to many unique challenges and constraints. However, the increasing need for real-time sensor and autonomous processing, coupled with limited communication bandwidth with ground stations, is increasing on-orbit computing demands for next-generation space missions. To address these challenges, AFRL's Space Electronics Technology program has established a dedicated architecture
analytics project called the Spacecraft Processing Architectures and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) Laboratory to provide the DoD with the capability to assess on-orbit computing solutions for spacecraft. This project will explore software fault injection on neural networks to assess their reliability in a space environment as part of this effort. The primary application area will be image and video processing. Existing fault injection tools will be utilized, and new fault injection tools will be developed as necessary. The project will also make use of PyTorch.

Experience the exciting world of working in a machine shop at the Air Force Research Lab supporting
world class scientist developing the latest space component technology and flying state of the art
satellite space experiments. Activities will include working side‐by‐side with and being mentored by a
senior level model maker reviewing drawings, planning the sequence of steps, selecting appropriate
machines (e.g. lathes, mills), making precise and accurate cuts, and checking results to ensure
consistency with specifications. Expect exposure to a variety of projects and the opportunity to visit and
interact with the scientist/labs where the parts will be used. Basic knowledge of mathematics and
mechanics required and a great respect for safety precautions is a must. If you are looking to improve
your skills or learn some new ones, this is for you.

With a push towards digital engineering in the DoD, the Space Logistics and Robotics team in AFRL/RVSV is seeking a scholar with MBSE experience to model their two labs in Cameo Systems Modeler. Scholars applying for this topic should expect to spend time understanding these systems and before modeling hardware and software components, interactions, activities, functions, uses cases, and missions of these labs. These models could be used in future sharing of laboratory developed hardware and software with external contractors.

The AF has interest in developing catalytic species for applications such as solar fuels; however, development is hampered by a lack of understanding of the mechanisms by which these processes occur. We aim to decipher these mechanisms through a combination of gas phase experimental studies, quantum chemical calculations, and kinetic modeling. Experiments will focus on either biomimetic species or metal cations, measuring the temperature dependent kinetics for systems of interest using a Selected Ion Flow Tube apparatus equipped with a variety of ion sources (electrospray, electron impact, chemical ionization, solids probe, laser vaporization). The (generally complicated) potential surfaces of these systems will be determined using quantum chemical calculations (e.g. Gaussian), and finally information on the mechanisms will be extracted by kinetic modeling of those surfaces to fit to the experimental results.

Electrospray thrusters using ionic liquid propellants are next-generation propulsion systems that are well-suited for in-space propulsion for small spacecraft. These systems provide unique high-density, low power propulsion capabilities and are envisioned in such missions as the upcoming gravity wave observatory mission (LISA, NASA). The physics occurring at the emission sites of high performance electrospray systems is still ripe for experimental and theoretical exploration designed to improve our understanding of the operation of the devices.

In this project, the selected student will either undertake experimental or theoretical approaches to further the understanding of the plume of ions emitted from either (or both) a capillary or externally wetted emitter. Theoretical methods, if the student’s primary interest, might include the use of quantum mechanical and molecular dynamics approaches to the prediction of emitted ion clusters, the lifetime of the clusters, prediction of the plume shape and other observables, modelling in support of experimental data or other related work.

Students focused primarily on experimental investigations will utilize mass spectrometry, current-sensing and mass-sensing tools to examine the plume generated from various different propellants or emitter types at relevant volumetric flow rates. Analysis of the experimental measurements will yield insights into trends among the different propellants and improve understanding of the microphysics occurring post-emission in a laboratory thruster.

The Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration and Modeling (AFSIM) is a “C++ based modular object-oriented, multi-domain, multi-resolution modeling and simulation (M&S) framework for military simulations focused on analysis, experimentation and wargaming” [1]. AFSIM is used widely by the DoD and government contractors; hence, possessing experience with AFSIM is useful when searching for careers.
The exact nature of the project will depend on modeling needs when the intern arrives and the interns prior experience. All projects will require the intern to learn AFSIM and apply that knowledge to modeling scenarios of interest. Some projects may include opportunities to apply optimization software such as Galaxy [2] and others may include opportunities to explore the physics of systems of interest for the purpose of creating digital twins in AFSIM.

[1] https://csiac.org/articles/afsim-the-air-force-research-laboratorys-approach-to-making-ms-ubiquitous-in-the-weapon-system-concept-development-process/
[2] https://www.stellarscience.com/project/galaxy/

The Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration and Modeling (AFSIM) is a “C++ based modular object-oriented, multi-domain, multi-resolution modeling and simulation (M&S) framework for military simulations focused on analysis, experimentation and wargaming” [1]. AFSIM is used widely by the DoD and government contractors; hence, possessing experience with AFSIM is useful when searching for careers.
The exact nature of the project will depend on modeling needs when the intern arrives and the interns prior experience. All projects will require the intern to learn AFSIM and apply that knowledge to modeling scenarios of interest. Some projects may include opportunities to apply optimization software such as Galaxy [2] and others may include opportunities to explore the physics of systems of interest for the purpose of creating digital twins in AFSIM.

This project will involve working in the AFRL/RDHP millimeter-wave (MMW) test and measurement laboratory. The selected applicant will have the opportunity to assist our team in the development of materials which have dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties suitable for use in a variety of applications of interest to the DoD. This will involve mastery and use of laboratory equipment such as a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), Vacuum Induction Furnace, Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras and software. In addition, the selected applicant may assist in the development and operation of Vacuum Electron Device (VED)-type MMW sources, such as Extended Interaction Klystron (EIK)-based systems and gyrotron-based systems, with power levels from 10's of watts to 100 kW. These sources are used to produce the MMW radiation used in material development and other efforts such as outdoor experiments, which the selected applicant also may have the ability to participate in. Opportunities will also include the ability to develop skills in performing free-space microwave material measurements using focused Gaussian beams. The majority of the work is anticipated to be in an indoor laboratory and office setting, but may include to a lesser extent the possibility of working outdoors including in a test range setting.

This project will involve working in the AFRL/RDHP millimeter-wave (MMW) test and measurement laboratory. The selected applicant will have the opportunity to assist our team in the development of materials which have dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties suitable for use in a variety of applications of interest to the DoD. This will involve mastery and use of laboratory equipment such as a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), Vacuum Induction Furnace, Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras and software. In addition, the selected applicant may assist in the development and operation of Vacuum Electron Device (VED)-type MMW sources, such as Extended Interaction Klystron (EIK)-based systems and gyrotron-based systems, with power levels from 10's of watts to 100 kW. These sources are used to produce the MMW radiation used in material development and other efforts such as outdoor experiments, which the selected applicant also may have the ability to participate in. Opportunities will also include the ability to develop skills in performing free-space microwave material measurements using focused Gaussian beams. The majority of the work is anticipated to be in an indoor laboratory and office setting, but may include to a lesser extent the possibility of working outdoors including in a test range setting.

This project will involve working in the AFRL/RDHP millimeter-wave (MMW) test and measurement laboratory. The selected applicant will have the opportunity to assist our team in the development of materials which have dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties suitable for use in a variety of applications of interest to the DoD. This will involve mastery and use of laboratory equipment such as a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), Vacuum Induction Furnace, Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras and software. In addition, the selected applicant may assist in the development and operation of Vacuum Electron Device (VED)-type MMW sources, such as Extended Interaction Klystron (EIK)-based systems and gyrotron-based systems, with power levels from 10's of watts to 100 kW. These sources are used to produce the MMW radiation used in material development and other efforts such as outdoor experiments, which the selected applicant also may have the ability to participate in. Opportunities will also include the ability to develop skills in performing free-space microwave material measurements using focused Gaussian beams. The majority of the work is anticipated to be in an indoor laboratory and office setting, but may include to a lesser extent the possibility of working outdoors including in a test range setting.

The Infrastructure Management Branch of AFRL administers the RV and RD directorate's facility’s needs, through planning, programming, design, and construction including providing architectural solutions. This includes the development of graphic studies in the areas of sustainable design (identifying and implementing energy cost strategies to existing facilities), new facility projects, facility remodeling projects, facility condition inspections (ICI program), and other misc architecture and engineering design solutions including developing Energy Sustainability and Assurance for AFRL's campus. Our program for 2020 Scholars will offer those involved in Architecture and Engineering disciplines the opportunity to have hands on experience within their given fields. The Infrastructure Management Branch oversees all PRS facilities and these positions support multiple RV and RD programs.

The Infrastructure Management Branch of AFRL administers the RV and RD directorate's facility’s needs, through planning, programming, design, and construction including providing architectural solutions. This includes the development of graphic studies in the areas of sustainable design (identifying and implementing energy cost strategies to existing facilities), new facility projects, facility remodeling projects, facility condition inspections (ICI program), and other misc architecture and engineering design solutions including developing Energy Sustainability and Assurance for AFRL's campus. Our program for 2020 Scholars will offer those involved in Architecture and Engineering disciplines the opportunity to have hands on experience within their given fields. The Infrastructure Management Branch oversees all PRS facilities and these positions support multiple RV and RD programs.

The Infrastructure Management Branch of AFRL administers the RV and RD directorate's facility’s needs, through planning, programming, design, and construction including providing architectural solutions. This includes the development of graphic studies in the areas of sustainable design (identifying and implementing energy cost strategies to existing facilities), new facility projects, facility remodeling projects, facility condition inspections (ICI program), and other misc architecture and engineering design solutions including developing Energy Sustainability and Assurance for AFRL's campus. Our program for 2020 Scholars will offer those involved in Architecture and Engineering disciplines the opportunity to have hands on experience within their given fields. The Infrastructure Management Branch oversees all PRS facilities and these positions support multiple RV and RD programs.

The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) modeling group is seeking young scientists and engineers to join the USPL team. Using the pulse propagation code gUPPE, students will model laser induced plasma filamentation in direct support of experimental efforts. New physics models need to be developed to answer long standing questions about the group's experimental filamentation results. Students will learn to use the Air Force's world leading High Powered Computing (HPC) resources, assist with the development of new physics models, rapid prototype new simulations based on experimental feedback, and perform post-processing and data analysis

With upcoming emergent technologies in satellite control and communications, crosslinking communications provide a novel method for transfer of information from multiple heterogeneous platforms across large distances. This domain brings numerous challenges at many levels due to the vast distances required in communications, the complexity of the dynamics and the on-board computational power. This research effort is focused on control design and analysis related to coordination of distributed and decentralized multiagent space systems. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact the mentor for more information, as well as to discuss specific research ideas for the summer.

With upcoming emergent technologies in satellite control and communications, crosslinking communications provide a novel method for transfer of information from multiple heterogeneous platforms across large distances. This domain brings numerous challenges at many levels due to the vast distances required in communications, the complexity of the dynamics and the on-board computational power. This research effort is focused on modeling and simulation of novel automation algorithms for multi-agent space based systems. Namely, we are interested in problems related to coordination of distributed and decentralized multiagent space systems. Research will be performed in both in a simulated environment and in a laboratory test bed, if applicable. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact the mentor for more information, as well as to discuss specific research ideas for the summer.

With upcoming emergent technologies in satellite control and communications, crosslinking communications provide a novel method for transfer of information from multiple heterogeneous platforms across large distances. This domain brings numerous challenges at many levels due to the vast distances required in communications, the complexity of the dynamics and the on-board computational power. This research effort is focused on modeling and simulation of novel automation algorithms for multi-agent space based systems. Namely, we are interested in problems related to coordination of distributed and decentralized multiagent space systems. Research will be performed in both in a simulated environment and in a laboratory test bed, if applicable. Potential scholars are strongly encouraged to contact the mentor for more information, as well as to discuss specific research ideas for the summer.

Multi-Agent systems of spacecraft have been gaining traction in research applications in recent years. Allocation of tasks add a layer of complexity that does not exist for a single agent satellite system. Scholars applying to this topic will be working in a simulation lab developing research-level guidance algorithms to coordinate multiple spacecraft to achieve a myriad of different tasks.

Machine learning is a bound and a step over traditional image processing for classification accuracy, meaning it should be used in all domains possible, even space. I work in the Space Electronics Technology (SET) branch in the Space Vehicles directorate, specifically the Spacecraft Performance Architectures and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) laboratory. We work with various satellite processing architectures and try to fit specific algorithms to each one. Going back to image processing, their is an idea of processing on-board the satellite while in space, the problem is power limitations and the harsh space environment. Specifically the power requirements and the radiation effects on hardware. that is why bio-inspired hardware is of interest to our group, as they complete highly parallelized processing at a fraction of the cost of modern processors. We will explore many aspects of these systems and how well they can perform, which could broaden out into spiking neural networks or different online training methods. On another route, neural network models could be improved for space related imagery or optimized by being combined with different image processing solutions/algorithms, pre-processing methods, or etc.

This project seeks to develop improved methods for spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) through improved understanding of the spacecraft nonlinear dynamics. Spacecraft translational motion is dominated by orbital dynamics, and the control is often constrained by a limited fuel supply. Therefore, translational GNC methods generally must be designed to work with these dynamics instead of fighting them. Spacecraft attitude motion is governed by the particular structure of rotational dynamics, and robust performance of attitude GNC methods depends on careful adherence to this structure. Additionally, spacecraft operations are subject to significant nonlinear control-estimation interactions, an example being the lack of observability of control-free relative motion in close proximity when using angles-only measurements. Research projects may address one or more of these topics.

This project seeks to develop improved methods for spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) through improved understanding of the spacecraft nonlinear dynamics. Spacecraft translational motion is dominated by orbital dynamics, and the control is often constrained by a limited fuel supply. Therefore, translational GNC methods generally must be designed to work with these dynamics instead of fighting them. Spacecraft attitude motion is governed by the particular structure of rotational dynamics, and robust performance of attitude GNC methods depends on careful adherence to this structure. Additionally, spacecraft operations are subject to significant nonlinear control-estimation interactions, an example being the lack of observability of control-free relative motion in close proximity when using angles-only measurements. Research projects may address one or more of these topics.

The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) modeling group is seeking young computer scientists, physicists, mathematicians, and engineers to join the USPL team. Using a Julia based generalized unidirectional pulse propagation equation code, students will model laser induced plasma filamentation in direct support of experimental efforts. The rich and complex nature of the physics involved in filamentation necessitates new features be added to the existing code framework such as turbulence and arbitrary polarization laser support. The new physics is needed to answer long standing questions about the group's experimental filamentation results. Students will learn to use a new emerging computer language, the Air Force's world leading High Performance Computing (HPC) resources, develop and implement new physics models into a software framework, rapid prototype new simulations based on experimental feedback, and perform post-processing and data analysis.

Students will receive an in depth view of what a career in a national lab setting will be like. If you're not sure about going into academia, this is an opportunity to see what other options look like.

The Space Vehicles Directorate is actively pursuing ways to developing conductive, robust passive cooling surfaces. We've developed a non-conductive micro structure passive cooling material that can be applied to any surface, however because of the highly brittle and porous nature of the cooling structure it has proven ineffective to merely deposit a conductive thin film material over the structure. What needs to be done instead is to infiltrate the structure with a liquid precursor that can be hardened into a polymer or silica matrix that will result in a robust and smooth microstructure which can then be made to have a conductive surface. The applicant will learn to process and characterize cooling films as well as synthesize sol gels for microstructure hardening. The applicant will gain experience in conducting literature search, working in a chemistry lab, spray coating, and microstructure modification.

The goal of our program is to improve nuclear explosion monitoring capability through studies focused on seismic signal and array processing, Earth structure, wave propagation, source characterization, and explosion source physics. Specific details of the project will be based on aligning interests of the program with the applicant’s background to ensure effective progress on a problem of interest to the Air Force. The intent of the summer project is that it will build capability at AFRL while providing the student with results they can build on and use in their thesis work.

The goal of our program is to improve nuclear explosion monitoring capability through studies focused on seismic signal and array processing, Earth structure, wave propagation, source characterization, and explosion source physics. Specific details of the project will be based on aligning interests of the program with the applicant’s background to ensure effective progress on a problem of interest to the Air Force. The intent of the summer project is that it will build capability at AFRL while providing the student with results they can build on and use in their thesis work.

The goal of our program is to improve nuclear explosion monitoring capability through studies focused on seismic signal and array processing, Earth structure, wave propagation, source characterization, and explosion source physics. Specific details of the project will be based on aligning interests of the program with the applicant’s background to ensure effective progress on a problem of interest to the Air Force. The intent of the summer project is that it will build capability at AFRL while providing the student with results they can build on and use in their thesis work.

The goal of our program is to improve nuclear explosion monitoring capability through seismology studies focused on seismic signal and array processing, Earth structure, wave propagation, source characterization, and explosion
source physics. Specific details of the project will be based on aligning interests of the program with the applicant's background to ensure effective progress on a problem of interest to the Air Force. The intent of the summer project is to build capability at AFRL while providing the student with results they can build on and use in their thesis work.

The goal of our program is to improve nuclear explosion monitoring
capability through seismology studies focused on seismic signal and array
processing, Earth structure, wave propagation, source characterization, and
explosion source physics. Specific details of the project will be based on
aligning interests of the program with the applicant's background to ensure
effective progress on a problem of interest to the Air Force. The intent of
the summer project is to build capability at AFRL while providing the
student with results they can build on and use in their thesis work.

The goal of our program is to improve nuclear explosion monitoring processing, Earth structure, wave propagation, source characterization, and explosion source physics. Specific details of the project will be based on aligning interests of the program with the applicant's background to ensure effective progress on a problem of interest to the Air Force. The intent of the summer project is to build capability at AFRL while providing the student with results they can build on and use in their thesis work.

The goal of our program is to improve nuclear explosion monitoring processing, Earth structure, wave propagation, source characterization, and explosion source physics. Specific details of the project will be based on aligning interests of the program with the applicant's background to ensure effective progress on a problem of interest to the Air Force. The intent of the summer project is to build capability at AFRL while providing the student with results they can build on and use in their thesis work.

Using the theory of linearized perturbation techniques in concert with a two point boundary value shooting method, it is possible to refine the trajectory of a ballistic spacecraft by applying an optimum impulsive velocity maneuver at some time t to alter and improve its position at final time tf . This same theory may also be used to solve for the inertial direction (out of plane if desired) along which a small desired velocity impulse may be applied during ballistic flight of a missile at some time t, that does not alter the warhead’s intended target position (ground impact) at arrival time. This paper introduces an approach to calculate not only this inertial direction, known as the Null Range Axis (NRA), but also the particular direction that corresponds to an arbitrary or desired impulsive magnitude. Included in this investigation is a J2 gravity field for a rotating Earth, which requires that a plane change be incorporated into the computation of a missile’s NRA direction at time t. Earth atmosphere is ignored. Ultimately it is desired to compute this inertial direction in "real time", not prior to flight. Simple notional kinematic spinning reentry vehicle pointing (circular coning) will be developed if time allows.

Due to harsh and inaccessible operating environments, embedded systems for spacecraft are subject to many unique challenges and constraints that limit on-orbit computing performance. However, the increasing need for real-time sensor and autonomous processing, coupled with limited communication bandwidth with ground stations, is increasing on-orbit computing demands for next-generation space missions. To address these challenges, AFRL’s Space Electronics Technology program has established a dedicated architecture analytics project called the Spacecraft Performance Analytics and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) laboratory to provide the DoD with the capability to assess on-orbit computing solutions for spacecraft. This topic provides students with the opportunity to analyze a variety of the latest commercial-grade and space-grade processors including multi/many-core CPUs, DSPs, GPUs, FPGAs, SoCs, and neuromorphic architectures using a combination of metrics, benchmarks, simulations, and emulations. These architectures will be analyzed in terms of their performance, power efficiency, memory usage, reliability, programmability, or other factors using several compute-intensive space applications. Results will help determine how to best optimize architectures for various applications and which architectures are best suited for which missions, and can be used to guide future DoD investment decisions. Summer projects will be tailored to the interests and expertise of the students to provide a meaningful experience.

Due to harsh and inaccessible operating environments, embedded systems for spacecraft are subject to many unique challenges and constraints that limit on-orbit computing performance. However, the increasing need for real-time sensor and autonomous processing, coupled with limited communication bandwidth with ground stations, is increasing on-orbit computing demands for next-generation space missions. To address these challenges, AFRL’s Space Electronics Technology program has established a dedicated architecture analytics project called the Spacecraft Processing Architectures and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) Laboratory to provide the DoD with the capability to assess on-orbit computing solutions for spacecraft. This topic provides scholars with the opportunity to analyze a variety of the latest commercial-grade and space-grade processors including multi/many-core CPUs, DSPs, GPUs, FPGAs, SoCs, and neuromorphic architectures using a combination of metrics, benchmarks, simulations, and emulations. These architectures will be analyzed in terms of their performance, power efficiency, memory usage, reliability, programmability, or other factors using several compute-intensive space applications. Results will help determine how to best optimize architectures for various applications and which architectures are best suited for which missions, and can be used to guide future DoD investment decisions. Projects will be tailored to the interests and expertise of the scholars to provide a meaningful experience.

Machine learning is a powerful technique that can enable many next-generation applications for the DoD. This is why I and our team have great interest in this topic. I work in the Space Electronics Technology (SET) program in the Space Vehicles directorate of AFRL, specifically the Spacecraft Performance Architectures and Computing Environment Research (SPACER) laboratory. We work with various satellite processing architectures and based around the algorithm being looked at, complete trade-studies to produce the best recommendations and/or predictions for newer technologies. The idea of on-orbit processing could expand the capabilities greatly of next-generation space systems, but there are strict power limitations and the harsh effects that space radiation has on electronics. That is why neuromorphic and bio-inspired hardware is of interest to our group, as they complete highly parallelized processing at a fraction of the cost of traditional modern processors in specific cases, and have shown a good resiliency to bit flips during processing. We will explore many aspects of these systems and how well they can perform, which could broaden out into spiking neural networks or possibly lifelong learning training methods. Another possibility could involve improving and experimenting with neural network models for space related imagery and optimizing them for edge processing on-orbit.

This effort aims to enable autonomous robotic repair, replacement, and assembly of key spacecraft components (e.g., solar panels, antenna, batteries, and thrusters) using state-of-health assessments. These functionalities are part of a larger vision for autonomous robot-enabled On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM). The proposed study consists of designing autonomous controllers operating in the visio-tactile domain coupled with high-level planners with human-on-the-loop supervision.
The proposed research activities will enable key functionalities for on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing via novel multi-robot systems, algorithms, and techniques for autonomous servicing for spacecraft operation extension.

The goal of this study is to characterize how the optical properties of commonly used spacecraft materials change due to exposure to energetic particles. In space, energetic particles break bonds within a material such as polyimide (Kapton®), often forming free radicals. These radicals can then reform the original bond, or they can form new bonds, creating a new material. Understanding the chemical mechanisms for bond breaking and forming processes individually will allow for development of a model to predict the material’s chemical composition as a function of environmental exposure and time. We will simultaneously characterize the optical properties and chemistry of the materials, and develop understanding and correlations between material chemistry and optical signatures.

One way to detect and identify spacecraft is to gather the sunlight reflected from the spacecraft as it orbits overhead. These data contain a huge amount of information about the position, composition and intent of the spacecraft that is difficult to obtain in any other way. However, these light curves are dependent on the spacecraft surface materials and they are know to change in response to space weather exposure. So to make the most use of these types of data, we must understand how the reflectivity of spacecraft materials change.
During this project you will interface with the spacecraft observing community and lab based scientist to quantify the degree of optical changes to common spacecraft materials under simulated GEO exposure in the lab. These data will then be applied to observations of spacecraft in modeling software to recreate the complex light curve of real space objects.

Phase-stabilized optical frequency combs were first developed as a means for measuring the frequency of an optical clock (i.e. to 'count' optical frequencies). The wide spectral coverage and femtosecond-level timing precision offered by a frequency comb makes it an attractive tool for many advanced technologies. Compact and robust frequency comb sources are now available as all-polarization-maintaining fiber lasers, which have been shown to operate outside the metrology laboratory. Moreover, micro-resonator combs offer unique promise in their wide mode-spacing and small footprint. We are developing frequency comb sources suitable for terrestrial and space applications; digital control algorithms for frequency comb stabilization; and applications that exploit the attractive features of the comb related to free-space optical time transfer, optical communications, and coherent spectroscopy.

Frequency combs are optical sources that allow for direct conversion between THz optical frequencies and MHz/GHz RF frequencies. Frequency combs are an essential component of optical clocks, which are the most accurate and precise timekeeping devices ever made. Our work involves developing new frequency comb sources for optical clock and other applications. Frequency combs based on tabletop fiber lasers as well as chip scale microresonators are some of the technologies we work with in our lab. Frequency combs emit a series of optical pulses that can be counted to give precise information about their optical properties. The resulting signals can be used for a number of applications related to precision timing, sensing, and communications. Project specifics will depend on scholar interests and education level, but will include experimental lab work with fiber optics, lasers and optical amplifiers, and photonics, as well as optical modelling and simulation.

Frequency combs are optical sources that allow for direct conversion between THz optical frequencies and MHz/GHz RF frequencies. Frequency combs are an essential component of optical clocks, which are the most accurate and precise timekeeping devices ever made. Our work involves developing new frequency comb sources for optical clock and other applications. Frequency combs based on tabletop fiber lasers as well as chip scale microresonators are some of the technologies we work with in our lab. Frequency combs emit a series of optical pulses that can be counted to give precise information about their optical properties. The resulting signals can be used for a number of applications related to precision timing, sensing, and communications. Project specifics will depend on scholar interests and education level, but will include experimental lab work with fiber optics, lasers and optical amplifiers, and photonics, as well as optical modelling and simulation.

This topic involces conducting research and development in the field of optically pumped lasers. There various thrusts in this area including diode pumped alkali lasers as well as optically pumped rare gas lasers.  Experimental area includes small scale laser demonstrations,and pressure broadening and shift rate explorations. There is also oppurtunity to develop and test advanced diagnostics for enhancing the understanding of these systems.

AFRL/RDSM is investigating affordable solutions for conducting characterization of space objects. The Satellite Custody & Characterization program is seeking an intern to develop electro-optical techniques with existing telescope and sensor hardware for objectives such as closely-spaced object characterization and spectral identification of satellites.

The normal operation of electric propulsion devices results in the generation of atomic and molecular ions of various charge, often with significant velocities. These expelled ions can collide with other atomic and molecular components (e.g. Earth's atmosphere, un-ionized propellant) and impart a significant amount of internal energy into the collision partners. This internal energy can be rotational, vibrational and/or electronic and often leads to emission of photons at specific wavelengths. These specific wavelengths occur because of the unique energy levels of the collision partners. While the thruster environment can be relatively complicated, these collisions can be generated in the laboratory under controlled conditions such that quantitative determination of the populations in the various energy levels can be determined. These populations can lead to specific optical signatures that can be used for thruster diagnostics and safety-of-flight purposes.
In this task, the interested student will perform modelling and simulation of the collision systems using custom research and development codes developed in previous years to predict optical signatures resulting from the collisions. The student will compare the theoretical results to experimental measurements and assess the predictive quality of the models. This effort will also be paired to an experimental effort of the same name in the Space Scholars Program.

Explore, construct, and test different photonic-based devices such as micro-resonators and electro-optic combs. This will involve testing devices for optimal performance, working with different locking schemes (PID and PLL), and potentially integrating into different experiments such as timing systems.

Explore, construct, and test different photonic-based devices such as micro-resonators and electro-optic combs. This will involve testing devices for optimal performance, working with different locking schemes (PID and PLL), and potentially integrating into different experiments such as timing systems.

The integration of learning and control in planning for autonomous spacecraft has enormous promise, however rigorous assurances, that typically take the form of mathematical guarantees, are often difficult to obtain. The stochasticity that arises from machine learning algorithms is often resistant to traditional control theoretic techniques. This project investigates the integration of data-driven methods into a stochastic optimal control framework. The goal is to capture the stochastic effects of machine learning algorithms in onboard autonomy in manner amenable to traditional approaches for optimization, planning, and control. The proposed work involves investigation of empirical characteristic functions, which can be embedded into a chance constraint framework, in space robotics scenarios.

We study a broad range of plasma chemistry including electron attachment, ion-molecule reactions, dissociative recombination, and mutual neutralization. We specialize in studying difficult species, radicals, and extended temperature ranges. Several fast flow plasma reaction apparatuses are used. The ion-molecule temperature range is 90-1800 K, while for the other plasma processes temperatures up to 1400 K can be studied. Recent successes include measuring the only product distributions for mutual neutralization, electron attachment to fluorocarbon radicals, and the discovery that electrons catalyze mutual neutralization. A recent upgrade has allowed for studies of radicals with electrosprayed ions, which is important for solar fuels research.
The data support a wide variety of AF/DoD applications including the natural ionosphere, hypersonic vehicles, plasmas assisted combustion, high power lasers, conversion of gaseous to liquid fuels, trace gas detection, high energy density materials, and other catalytic processes.

Our group studies a wide array of plasma chemistry in fast flow tubes. Our goal is to improve chemistry models of plasmas of interest to the Air Force and DoD. Typical examples include the natural ionosphere, high speed combustion, reentry, solar, and trace gas detection. There are four separate apparatuses in the laboratory for studying reactions at extreme temperatures and pressures as well as a variety of processes including ion-molecule, electron-molecule, ion-electron, and ion-ion. New areas of interest include solar fuels, laser ignition, and catalysis for advanced propulsion.

Applicants will port and optimize standard unclassified object tracking and detection algorithms on embedded processing hardware including low power CPUs, GPUs or FPGAs, depending on the applicants hardware expertise. They will then perform benchmarking studies of these algorithms to assess their performance (speed), scalability (problem size) and power utilization using unclassified synthetic data. The student will work closely with both algorithm development and hardware benchmarking and analysis teams in the Space Vehicles directorate.

Controlled magnetic fields are critical to the operation of confined atom interferometers, and associated inertial sensors. This project involves further developing in-house capabilities for laser etching so-called 'atom chips'. We use inexpensive DBC substrates: aluminum nitride with a layer of copper bonded to each face. By laser cutting specific wire shapes into the copper, we can create well-controlled magnetic fields simply by varying the applied currents. These chips already enable a variety of experiments involving ultracold atoms, and were used to create a Bose-Einstein condensate. Our goal is to progress to more advanced structures and processes, carefully characterize the laser mill cuts, and reduce the need for post-processing due to trace defects.

Controlled magnetic fields are critical to the operation of confined atom interferometers, and associated inertial sensors. This project involves further developing in-house capabilities for laser etching so-called 'atom chips'. We use inexpensive DBC substrates: aluminum nitride with a layer of copper bonded to each face. By laser cutting specific wire shapes into the copper, we can create well-controlled magnetic fields simply by varying the applied currents. These chips already enable a variety of experiments involving ultracold atoms, and were used to create a Bose-Einstein condensate. Our goal is to progress to more advanced structures and processes, carefully characterize the laser mill cuts, and reduce the need for post-processing due to trace defects.

Controlled magnetic fields are critical to the operation of confined atom interferometers, and associated inertial sensors. This project involves further developing in-house capabilities for laser etching so-called 'atom chips'. We use inexpensive DBC substrates: aluminum nitride with a layer of copper bonded to each face. By laser cutting specific wire shapes into the copper, we can create well-controlled magnetic fields simply by varying the applied currents. These chips already enable a variety of experiments involving ultracold atoms, and were used to create a Bose-Einstein condensate. Our goal is to progress to more advanced structures and processes, carefully characterize the laser mill cuts, and reduce the need for post-processing due to trace defects.

We are researching ways to use laser-levitated nanoparticles to measure acceleration. Our ultimate goal is to create a small, portable accelerometer rivaling the precision of state-of-the-art systems to be used on satellites, aircraft, and other military vehicles. By levitating nanoparticles with a focused laser beam forming what is known as “optical tweezers,” we can explore physics at the boundary between classical and quantum mechanics and make extremely precise measurements of forces. A scholar on this project may help develop methods of launching and catching nanoparticles in ultra-high vacuum, engineer ways to isolate acoustic noise from measurements, write computer programs to manage or model data acquisition, create and modify laser and optical systems, or explore the theory of interactions between light and matter in optical cavities.

Big solar eruptive events often result in the production of highly energetic particles that propagate from the Sun out to the Earth and beyond.  In some cases these solar energetic particles (SEPs) reach GeV energies, cause serious communications and spacecraft problems, and can be detected with ground based detectors.  The general understanding is that SEPs are accelerated in shock waves in the solar corona that are driven by mass ejections in the eruptive events.  The SEPs propagate along magnetic field lines away from the Sun and spread throughout interplanetary space.  Our work attempts to understand the origin of the SEPs - what seed particles are accelerated, and when and where in the eruptive events?  What eruptions or solar conditions are favorable or unfavorable for SEP production?  We use data sets of spacecraft in situ observations of SEPs and space and groun-based optical, radio, EUV, and X-ray observations of solar eruptions to characterize and understand SEP production.  Because of the great diversity of SEP events, the work is often statistical in nature, with analysis of properties of many observed SEP events.

While the majority of radio based studies of the ionosphere use active transmissions, the goal of this project is to explore passive techniques that have only recently been made available, thanks to large, low frequency radio telescopes such as the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) in New Mexico. With unparalleled frequency coverage, field of view, duty cycle, angular and temporal resolution, the LWA radio telescopes are the world’s foremost instruments for passively studying the ionosphere. Students can pick from multiple topics related to this project which include:

1. Imaging riometry for studying atmospheric gravity/acoustic waves in the ionospheric D layer
2. Geolocating, tracking, and measuring electron density of sporadic E structures using unintentional radio noise from the electrical grid as a wide spread radar source
3. Studying the connection between Meteor Radio Afterglows and persistent trains

The AF and DOD as a whole would like to increase the operating temperature of VIS-LWIR detectors. The goal of this topic is to better understand the fundamental mechanisms that drive the overall dark current in III-V based barrier architecture detectors such as, but not limited to, nBn, pBp, complementary barriers, etc. By developing an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that limit performance it is anticipated that improved barrier architecture detector designs will result in detectors that can be operated at higher temperatures resulting in an eliminated or reduced need for cryocoolers. Summer research thrusts can be in several areas including: dark current, QE, and noise measurements. These detectors will ultimately be utilized in a space environment so there is keen interest in understanding their performance when subjected to ionizing radiation. Deliverables from this research will ultimately dictate the path forward in future detector growth-characterization campaigns. OPSEC Approval AFRL-2022-3887

University Consortium Research Opportunity - University of Texas, Austin - Develop, implement, and refine rapid initial orbit determination algorithms in conjunction with Space Domain Awareness capabilities at AFRL.

The student will work with other researchers and engineers to design, build, and test rf structures and enabling technologies. The student will utilize tools such as CST Simulia and SolidWorks to design structures than can be built using rapid prototyping techniques. The emphasis will be to design new structures, or adapt existing ones to forms that can be manufactured via 3D printing, metallization, and metal casting. These structures will be designed to run at atmospheric or vacuum pressures, and will likely include cooling channels or other structures that will enable high average powers in HPM sources. These structures may also be components of mode converters, RF feeds, antennas, or pulsed power systems depending on the interest of the student.

This topic is centered on development of AI engines (primarily reinforcement learning approaches) to compete in a multi-player, competitive, zero-sum game involving space dynamics and space environment constraints, e.g. power, thermal, communications, etc. The project will involve co-opting or developing the game mechanics as needed; using openly available game engines and physics simulations to implement the game in a form suitable for play by computers; the development & training of AI engines using openly available development environments; the analysis of AI player performance against human players; and documentation of results via reports and/or technical papers.

This topic is centered on development of AI engines (primarily reinforcement learning approaches) to compete in a multi-player, competitive, zero-sum game involving space dynamics and space environment constraints, e.g. power, thermal, communications, etc. The project will involve co-opting or developing the game mechanics as needed; using openly available game engines and physics simulations to implement the game in a form suitable for play by computers; the development & training of AI engines using openly available development environments; the analysis of AI player performance against human players; and documentation of results via reports and/or technical papers.

This topic is centered on development of AI engines (primarily reinforcement learning approaches) to compete in a multi-player, competitive, zero-sum game involving space dynamics and space environment constraints, e.g. power, thermal, communications, etc. The project will involve co-opting or developing the game mechanics as needed; using openly available game engines and physics simulations to implement the game in a form suitable for play by computers; the development & training of AI engines using openly available development environments; the analysis of AI player performance against human players; and documentation of results via reports and/or technical papers.

The study of relative motion between multiple resident space objects allows for the modeling and simulation of their interactions. Recent pushes toward spacecraft operating in this regime, such as the Gateway project developed by NASA, will require a new suite of relative motion models to be developed and tested for the new operating environment. Scholars applying to this topic will assist in advancing the capabilities of the Air Force in this new regime, developing and testing new relative motion models.

The AFRL-UNM Agile Manufacturing Laboratory is developing technologies to reduce the cost of assembling small satellites and integrated directed energy systems. Using a Barrett Technology Whole Arm Manipulator (WAM) hand with a palm vision scanner and tactile sensors in the fingers, we will explore manipulation of deformable/soft objects. Specifically, we will investigate,
- Grasping and manipulation for deformable objects
- Visual & tactile sensing for manipulation of deformable objects
- Machine learning for manipulation of deformable objects

The Robotic Orbital Control Lab is an air bearing table testbed in need of a summer scholar to conduct hardware test runs. Scholars will be responsible for developing and executing test plans on a range of hardware including air bearing float craft, cameras, and robotic manipulators.

As satellite technology and capabilities continue to advance, more reliance is being placed on space
infrastructure to achieve complicated mission goals. This has pushed the need for a higher degree of
autonomy within the satellite control domain despite the state-of-the-art within the field of controls
often being adopted without fully matured safety guarantees. This research effort focuses on the
investigation of verification and validation methods and controller synthesis methods for a satellite
control system in order to enable safer autonomous space operations. Examples of research areas
within this effort include correct-by-construction controller development, falsification and reachability
analysis techniques, and ways to enforce guaranteed behavior from reinforcement learning-based
controllers. Potential scholars are encouraged to contact the mentor for more information as well as to
discuss research ideas for the summer program.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Public Affairs release approval #AFRL20224802.

As satellite technology and capabilities continue to advance, more reliance is being placed on space
infrastructure to achieve complicated mission goals. This has pushed the need for a higher degree of
autonomy within the satellite control domain despite the state-of-the-art within the field of controls
often being adopted without fully matured safety guarantees. This research effort focuses on the
investigation of verification and validation methods and controller synthesis methods for a satellite
control system in order to enable safer autonomous space operations. Examples of research areas
within this effort include correct-by-construction controller development, falsification and reachability
analysis techniques, and ways to enforce guaranteed behavior from reinforcement learning-based
controllers. Potential scholars are encouraged to contact the mentor for more information as well as to
discuss research ideas for the summer program.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Public Affairs release approval #AFRL20224802.

The new generation of deployable space structures utilize thin, high-strain composite components in place of traditional metallic mechanisms. These high-strain composites offer many benefits including the ability to stow into much smaller volumes, being much lighter weight, and having near-zero coefficients of thermal expansion. The challenges of designing structural systems utilizing these composites include their integration into larger satellite systems. Using holistic design approaches that consider the effects of a subsystem on the larger system’s performance, and the ability to balance all strengths and weaknesses of a given design is vital.
With guidance, students will investigate novel deployable structure designs and integration concepts to maximize deployment reliability, stowage efficiency, and performance of deployable structures for future Air Force and DoD satellites. Students will have access to CAD modeling software (SolidWorks), Computational and FEM software (MatLab, ANSYS), and AFRL’s state-of-the-art fabrication facilities. Students will be expected to participate in the production of composite components and other hardware to support testing of their designs.

The Air Force Maui Optical & Supercomputing Site is researching the application of new algorithms and techniques to apply to a coordinated network of space surveillance sensors for the purpose of observing and characterizing close encounters between satellites in an effective and autonomous manner. While accidental orbital conjunctions occur from time to time, this project is focused on intentional activity that may be considered interesting or possibly threatening. There are inherent challenges with observing and characterizing these rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), such as inability to resolve distinct objects at close separations, properly keeping track of which object is which using relatively sparse observations, accurate knowledge of objects' trajectories when small and frequent maneuvers are taking place, and timely indication that one object appears to be planning or initiating RPO with another object.

It is believed that these challenges would be best addressed by exploring new techniques and algorithms that enable a sensor network to do the following things:

1. More quickly and accurately determine an object's orbit, i.e. position and velocity, for the purposes of characterizing RPO activity
2. More robustly handle objects which maneuver frequently and slightly, and accurately characterize those maneuvers
3. More robustly identify and associate objects, for example by using a logical reduction of raw optical imagery which associates objects based on their brightness or other characteristics in addition to their orbital motion
4. Autonomously task telescopes in such a way as to balance the information gain of characterizing an ongoing RPO situation with other competing requirements on those telescopes, such as custody of objects in different parts of the sky

The new generation of deployable space structures utilize thin, high-strain composite components in place of traditional metallic mechanisms. These high-strain composites offer many benefits including the ability to stow into much smaller volumes, being much lighter weight, and having near-zero coefficients of thermal expansion. The challenges of designing structural systems utilizing these composites include their integration into larger satellite systems. Using holistic design approaches that consider the effects of a subsystem on the larger system’s performance, and the ability to balance all strengths and weaknesses of a given design is vital.
With guidance, students will investigate novel technology applications, composite component designs, and/or deployable structure designs to further development of deployable structures for future Air Force and DoD satellites. Students will have access to CAD modeling software (SolidWorks), Computational and FEM software (MatLab, ANSYS), and AFRL’s state-of-the-art fabrication facilities. Students will be expected to participate in the production of composite components and other hardware to support testing of their designs.

Space is a harsh thermal environment. Therefore, satellites must have capable thermal control systems. There are multiple types of components that are used for different satellite thermal management needs. The physics behind these technologies can be complex and interesting, so detailed engineering and correct modeling need to be used while designing satellite thermal control components and systems. Based on the abilities of the student selected for this project, the student will be responsible for: thermal management technology design/prototype; thermal vacuum testing of a range of thermal management technologies; research related to spacecraft thermal control; development of thermal lab test equipment; and/or spacecraft thermal modeling.

The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) group is seeking young scientists and engineers to join the USPL team. Students will learn to use the laser propagation code gUPPE and execute targeted simulations on laser plasma interactions of interest to the USPL experimental and modeling team in the filamentation regime. Students will leverage the Air Force's world leading High Powered Computing (HPC) resources to accelerate simulation runtimes for at scale problems of interest and also perform data post-processing and data analysis.

AFRL/RD (Wargaming and Simulation Branch) conducts experiments on Directed Energy technologies that require mission-level modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) to translate engagement data collected during experiments into a Military Utility Assessment (MUA). The RDMW branch will be completing mission-level MS&A and wargames in Summer 2023 to show military utility of systems. RDMW is seeking an intern who would like to support a senior analyst in developing mission-level analysis in AFSIM and analyzing the results.

AFRL/RD (Wargaming and Simulation Branch) conducts experiments on Directed Energy technologies that require mission-level modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) to translate engagement data collected during experiments into a Military Utility Assessment (MUA). The RDMW branch will be completing mission-level MS&A and wargames to show military utility of systems. RDMW is seeking a Research Assistant to support senior analysts in developing mission-level analysis in AFSIM and analyzing the results.

Modeling the global solar magnetic field is critical for forecasting space weather events. Individuals interested in working with the input data used to drive solar wind models are encourged to apply for this oppertunity. The project involves working with a variety of ground and space based solar disk observations, as well as in-situ data from multiple spacecraft.

Modeling the global solar magnetic field is critical for forecasting space weather events. Individuals interested in working with the input data used to drive solar wind models are encourged to apply for this oppertunity. The project involves working with a variety of ground and space based solar disk observations, as well as in-situ data from multiple spacecraft.

The Space Vehicles Directorate is actively pursuing ways to develop solid oxide fuel cells for use in space applications. Specifically, atmosphere-independent solid oxide fuel cells (AISOFC) are of interest to power space satellites. To help realize this capability, the applicant must assist in assembling an in-lab fuel cell testing setup to test and evaluate cell performance using one or more oxidizers. The applicant will be expected to run fuel cell testing experiments and be able to run a potentiostat and use Gamry software to collect voltage, impedance data, and I-V curves at different temperatures.

Autonomous spacecraft navigation is critical to mission success as communication to ground stations and access to GPS signals could be lost. However, if the satellite has a camera of sufficient quality, line of sight (unit vector) measurements can be made to known planetary bodies and provide observations enabling estimation of position and velocity of the spacecraft. Because the well-known solar system bodies might also be near coplanar with the spacecraft's orbit, advanced orbit determination algorithms may be needed to mitigate the expected problem of the relative co-planarity between both the spacecraft's and the visible planet's orbit.

This investigation has two goals. The first is to determine the minimum quality of line of sight navigation measurements to target planet bodies necessary for successful insertion into destination orbit. The second is to design an improved initial orbit determination (IOD) algorithm to mitigate the anticipated co-planar (singularity causing) problem without the need of an a priori assumption of either orbit class or any specific orbital regime of the spacecraft. What is novel in this proposed research is its consideration of a least squares batch initial state estimator that implements the linearized perturbation technique (fixed final time guidance) in conjunction with a Lambert solver and a stabilized Gaussian-IOD method. This latter method might be expected to handle the co-planar singularity condition as low as 0.1 deg. and aid in the initialization of an EKF that can maintain track of the unique stabilized solution of the host spacecraft. This stabilized batch algorithm might also allow for accurate initial orbit estimation of the spacecraft using a limited set of (as few as six might be possible) planetary measurements and is built upon a system of co-planar observed singularity conditions that form the normal equations of the exact values of the f and g series least squares solution.

This research will consider errors in the precise centering of the line of sight unit vector to the center mass of a measured target planet. The effect of light travel time and light aberration will be taken into account due to the large distances between the spacecraft and an observed planetary body.

Join operations crew as a mission planner (master scheduler for vehicle commanding). Learn about system, operations processes, and science by talking to vehicle and groundstation experts. Be able to pass flight operations team certification tests and possibly “solo” by end of term!

Join operations crew as a mission planner (master scheduler for vehicle commanding). Learn about system, operations process, and science by talking to vehicle and ground station experts. Bea able to pass flight operations team certifications tests and possibly "solo" by end of term!

This project aims to develop new software tools for improving current and future mission planning activities. The goal is to reduce the time required to produce mission planning products while also improving their quality. Software developed has the potential to be used in current spacecraft operations. Tasks will involve developing or improving programs using a variety of languages to schedule activities, perform coordinate transformations, find fuel efficient trajectories, process and display data, perform optimization, and other. As part of these tasks, you can expect to learn about spacecraft mission planning, spacecraft operations, orbital mechanics, basic astronomy, and space situational awareness. Depending on the task, platforms will include Linux and Windows. Languages may include Perl, Python, Java, C, C#, Matlab, or application specific scripting languages depending on what system the software is integrating with.

This project aims to develop new software tools for improving current and future mission planning activities. The goal is to reduce the time required to produce mission planning products while also improving their quality. Software developed has the potential to be used in current spacecraft operations. Tasks will involve developing or improving programs using a variety of languages to schedule activities, perform coordinate transformations, find fuel efficient trajectories, process and display data, perform optimization, and other. As part of these tasks, you can expect to learn about spacecraft mission planning, spacecraft operations, orbital mechanics, basic astronomy, and space situational awareness. Depending on the task, platforms will include Linux and Windows. Languages may include Perl, Python, Java, C, C#, Matlab, or application specific scripting languages depending on what system the software is integrating with.

Thermal modeling and analysis of spacecraft is hard. Thermal models are highly optimized for a specific satellite design and generate large amounts of data. As a result, analyzing thermal model data is time-consuming and complicated. These complications can be mitigated if a software tool is created to interface with industry standard programs and condense large amounts of data into easily communicable results. The student will be responsible for the following: designing/writing software tools to analyze thermal modeling data; determining methods to interface with industry standard thermal modeling software; using data analysis techniques to write data analysis algorithms; design/implement effective data presentation tools.

Traditional satellite thermal design is a very detailed process that results in a highly optimized design for a particular satellite, but cannot be easily adapted to other spacecraft. As a result, thermal design tends to be a costly and time-consuming process. These shortcomings can be mitigated through the incorporation of robust thermal control, in which high conductivity materials are used in conjunction with heat transfer modulating devices and efficient insulation to create a thermal control system that can handle a wide range of component locations and heat loads. Based on the abilities of the student(s) selected for this topic, the student(s) will be responsible for: thermal management technology design/prototype; thermal vacuum testing of a range of thermal management technologies; and spacecraft thermal modeling. In addition to laboratory prototypes, the student(s) may receive the opportunity to work on flight hardware.

Traditional satellite thermal design is a very detailed process that results in a highly optimized design for a particular satellite, but cannot be easily adapted to other spacecraft. As a result, thermal design tends to be a costly and time-consuming process. These shortcomings can be mitigated through the incorporation of robust thermal control, in which high conductivity materials are used in conjunction with heat transfer modulating devices and efficient insulation to create a thermal control system that can handle a wide range of component locations and heat loads. Based on the abilities of the student(s) selected for this topic, the student(s) will be responsible for: thermal management technology design/prototype; thermal vacuum testing of a range of thermal management technologies; and spacecraft thermal modeling. In addition to laboratory prototypes, the student(s) may receive the opportunity to work on flight hardware.

A spacecraft in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) is subject to the harsh weather of space. Weather in GEO comprises primarily fluxes of high energy electrons, protons, and ultraviolet light. The Spacecraft Charging and Instrument Calibration Laboratory (SCICL) is building the capability to accurately simulate the harsh GEO environment in a laboratory-based vacuum chamber. Toward that end, the candidate will construct an electron flood gun based on an in-house design and characterize the performance of a proton gun in order to simulate different GEO weather conditions such as a coronal mass ejection. Some of the activities associated with the project will be working with our in-house machine shop to create the components from which to build the electron source, instrument construction, programming of instrument control software using LabVIEW software, and initial investigations into the effects of GEO weather on some common spacecraft materials.

The AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate develops and flies unique experimental satellites that present unique challenges and require specialized software tools for each mission. Scholars will train as a Flight Director (team lead) or Mission Planner (master vehicle command scheduler) on one or more currently on-orbit missions, with the ability to delve into technical and operations processes, identify areas for improvement, and implement improvements alongside vehicle and ground system experts. Additionally, scholars will assist in developing operations and training materials and investigate the causes of new or on-going anomalies. More opportunities for other development may be available depending on missions in development and student interests.

Join satellite operations crew as flight director (crew leader) or mission planner (master commanding scheduler) for multiple missions. Learn about system, operations processes, and science by talking to vehicle and groundstation experts. Pass flight operations team certification tests and possibly “solo” by end of term! Work with flight ops team mentors to enhance training materials, and develop materials for quicker on-boarding of new crew members. Option to join navigation/control or Systems team in anomaly investigation or optimization problem for ONE mission. Solve a space vehicle or concept of operations issue.

Modeling the global solar magnetic field is critical for forecasting space weather events. Individuals interested in working with the input data used to drive solar wind models are encouraged to apply for this opportunity. The project involves working with a variety of ground and space based solar disk observations, as well as in-situ data from multiple spacecraft.

Modeling the global solar magnetic field is critical for forecasting space weather events. Individuals interested in working with the input data used to drive solar wind models are encouraged to apply for this opportunity. The project involves working with a variety of ground and space based solar disk observations, as well as in-situ data from multiple spacecraft.

When magnetized plasmas rotate at very high velocity (10s - 100s km/s) there is a rich interplay between stabilizing centrifugal forces and a diverse field of instabilities that can limit the rotation speed and degrade the plasma. This project is part of an experimental campaign aimed at understanding and overcoming these limiting factors. Our laboratory produces rotating plasmas using high-voltage pulsed electric currents to drive plasma rotation via the J x B force. We are looking for students to join us in the lab designing and using instruments to quantify these instabilities and their impact on the upper limits on plasma rotation velocity. Students will work directly in the lab designing and building instruments that will then be deployed to measure key properties of the plasma such as temperature and rotation Mach number.

Students will investigate the application of a commercial trusted platform module (TPM) for hardening an embedded computing system. A single-board computer running Linux and an existing set of embedded system software and including a TPM chip will be provided for development. Students will be responsible for developing software to interface with the TPM and integrating the TPM-enable capabilities into the existing embedded software.

The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) group is seeking young scientists and engineers to join the USPL team. Topics under investigation include laser wakefield acceleration, filamentation, and laser-solid or laser-gas interactions. Students will assist with the design and implementation of experimental hardware, build diagnostics, and perform data acquisition and analysis.

The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) group is seeking young scientists and engineers to join the USPL team. Topics under investigation include laser wakefield acceleration, filamentation, and laser-solid or laser-gas interactions. Students will assist with the design and implementation of experimental hardware, build diagnostics, and perform data acquisition and analysis.

Current imaging, wavefront-sensing, and adaptive-optics solutions are inadequate when in the presence of distributed-volume atmospheric aberrations and extended objects (aka the "deep-turbulence problem"). This shortcoming requires that we innovate towards a new solution. In leveraging a recent journal-article publication [https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.36.000A20], this research opportunity will develop imaging, wavefront-sensing, and adaptive-optics approaches that sense and correct for the disturbances found all along the laser-propagation path. Overall, this volumetric solution will enable advanced remote-sensing and directed-energy functions at extended standoffs.

Current imaging, wavefront-sensing, and adaptive-optics solutions are inadequate when in the presence of distributed-volume atmospheric aberrations and extended objects (aka the "deep-turbulence problem"). This shortcoming requires that we innovate towards a new solution. In leveraging a recent journal-article publication [https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.36.000A20], this research opportunity will develop imaging, wavefront-sensing, and adaptive-optics approaches that sense and correct for the disturbances found all along the laser-propagation path. Overall, this volumetric solution will enable advanced remote-sensing and directed-energy functions at extended standoffs.

This opportunity is designed for students from Georgia Institute of Technology participating in University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO) research.

The subject of our research is precision timing and inertial sensing enabled by advances in atomic physics and photonics. One of our major efforts pursues the development of robust, miniaturized optical clocks including optical frequency combs. These portable clocks will provide a cost-effective replacement for the atomic clocks aboard the global positioning satellite constellation and will enable new applications of precision timing such as free-space optical time transfer. Another major effort uses atom-chip devices to develop confined atom interferometry, which offers the possibility to dramatically increase the interrogation time of atom-based inertial sensing devices. We use a rapid prototyping technique for atom chips that allows us to quickly customize and live-test atom chip structures. We are also exploring techniques for developing compact atomic devices, including large-diameter hollow-core fiber guiding, integrated atom-chip transport, and on-chip micro-optical cavity integration.

This opportunity is designed for students from Georgia Institute of Technology participating in University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO) research.

The subject of our research is precision timing and inertial sensing enabled by advances in atomic physics and photonics. One of our major efforts pursues the development of robust, miniaturized optical clocks including optical frequency combs. These portable clocks will provide a cost-effective replacement for the atomic clocks aboard the global positioning satellite constellation and will enable new applications of precision timing such as free-space optical time transfer. Another major effort uses atom-chip devices to develop confined atom interferometry, which offers the possibility to dramatically increase the interrogation time of atom-based inertial sensing devices. We use a rapid prototyping technique for atom chips that allows us to quickly customize and live-test atom chip structures. We are also exploring techniques for developing compact atomic devices, including large-diameter hollow-core fiber guiding, integrated atom-chip transport, and on-chip micro-optical cavity integration.

AFRL's spectroscopy portfolio has multiple hyperspectral sensors that require innovative software design for control and data collection and processing. These sensors include spectrographs, slitless spectrographs, and polarimeters. The portfolio seeks to leverage the data from these sensors for problems within the space domain, to include object detection, classification, and tracking, among others. The portfolio will test and evaluate traditional data processing techniques alongside more modern AI/ML
techniques. However, the data can only be collected and analyzed with sophisticated software design for sensor control. The next stage in this work is to 1) design and build software to control numerous hyperspectral sensors, 2) evaluate system performance, 3) assess design and control options for maximizing detection and identification goals, and 4) present the work in a final presentation at the end of the 12-week internship.

This opportunity is designed for The University of Akron students involved with USRA’s University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO). Due to the high cost of space systems, the ability to inspect, service, and repair/refuel these systems on-orbit is highly desirable. Such missions require precise control of spacecraft motion to ensure mission objectives are met (e.g., imaging parameters, relative velocity constraints for docking, etc.), which is dependent on the closed-loop guidance algorithms used to ensure the vehicle completed the required mission within the defined constraints. This topic seeks to develop improved guidance algorithms that provide improved robustness and performance in the face of systemic uncertainties (e.g., modeling errors), are adaptive to such errors to enable performance in spite of errors, provide solutions for mission assurance and mission safety (e.g., fail-safe qualities), enable efficient use of spacecraft resources (fuel, power, etc.), and are reconfigurable based on shifting mission priorities.

This opportunity is designed for The University of Akron students involved with USRA’s University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO). Optimization techniques are difficult to implement in real-time on spacecraft due to many factors, including but not limited to (a) computational burden, (b) use of memory, and (c) confidence in obtaining a solution. This project will focus on exploring and developing a wide range of optimization methods that mitigate the challenges above. The algorithms developed will then be benchmarked against others for different scenarios (in simulation & robotic testbed implementation).

This opportunity is designed for University of Michigan students involved with USRA’s University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO). Description: Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) is only one part of a spacecraft architecture. At the next level, the spacecraft must be able to make its own decisions based upon information it has. The decision making process is complex, where there are several modes in which different control and estimation schemes are employed. Examples include momentum management, fault ID and mitigation, or rendezvous of spacecraft. Students in this project will focus on exploring and developing these decision making problems while working towards creating method to make these decisions efficiently.

This opportunity is designed for University of Michigan students involved with USRA’s University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO). Description: Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) is only one part of a spacecraft architecture. At the next level, the spacecraft must be able to make its own decisions based upon information it has. The decision making process is complex, where there are several modes in which different control and estimation schemes are employed. Examples include momentum management, fault ID and mitigation, or rendezvous of spacecraft. Students in this project will focus on exploring and developing these decision making problems while working towards creating method to make these decisions efficiently.

This opportunity is designed for students from the University of New Mexico participating in University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO) research.

We are researching ways to use laser-levitated nanoparticles to measure acceleration. Our ultimate goal is to create a small, portable accelerometer rivaling the precision of state-of-the-art systems to be used on satellites, aircraft, and other military vehicles. By levitating nanoparticles with a focused laser beam forming what is known as “optical tweezers,” we can explore physics at the boundary between classical and quantum mechanics and make extremely precise measurements of forces. A scholar on this project may help develop methods of launching and catching nanoparticles in ultra-high vacuum, engineer ways to isolate acoustic noise from measurements, write computer programs to manage or model data acquisition, create and modify laser and optical systems, or explore the theory of interactions between light and matter in optical cavities.

The University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) was founded in 1999 to foster satellite development expertise in young engineers and to generate new small satellite technologies on small satellite platforms. UNP works with various universities across the country to guide students in the end-to-end design and fabrication of small satellites. UNP typically selects 1 to 5 students to participate in the AFRL Scholars program to assist in this objective. Selected candidates will be required to assist in the analysis, test or documentation for the current nanosatellites preparing for launch. Often times this involves hands-on activities with the satellite. The candidates will also participate in program activities including spacecraft testing, troubleshooting, requirements verification, and providing technical expertise to other university participants within the program. Scholars may have the opportunity to accompany the UNP Office to official small satellite events during the summer. Scholars will have the opportunity to gain and swap systems engineering experience and expertise with other students and professionals in various small satellite lab programs across the US.

The Gridded Retarding Ion Drift Sensor (GRIDS) instrument is a CubeSat compatible sensor designed to characterize ion density, drift, and temperature in the ionosphere. This project will focus on the FPGA firmware development aimed at extending the capability of the sensor. Previous iterations of this instrument are will be flown on two NASA CubeSats, petitSat and Dione. The firmware developed for this project will be used in future flight units. Knowledge of HDL is required, but expertise and fluency is not.