September 16, 2005

Sallie A. Keith
Media Relations Office
216-433-5795
sallie.keith@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 05-036

GLENN INNOVATIONS RECEIVE R&D 100 AWARDS

Four products worked on at NASA's Glenn Research Center, Cleveland,

have been recognized by the editors of R&D Magazine and a panel of
outside experts as being among the top 100 most technologically
significant products of the year. Recipients of the R&D 100 awards
will be recognized at an awards banquet on Thursday, October 20 at
Chicago's Navy Pier.

The four Glenn award-winning products are described below.

Dr. Mary Ann Meador and Dr. James Kinder of Glenn's Materials
Division, developed a family of rod-coil block copolymers to improve
ionic conductivity in lithium polymer batteries. The new polymers
combine a rigid rod and a flexible coil backbone. The rod portion
provides mechanical integrity while the coil acts as a carrier for a
variety of ions. These polymers offer cost-saving features for
practical applications of lithium polymer batteries such as mobile
phones and credit cards, or protons used in fuel cells. They also
offer lower manufacturing costs and increase battery safety to meet
future aerospace application requirements such as planetary orbiters
and astronaut equipment.

A new sensor-based fire detector system, developed at Glenn by a team

led by Dr. Gary Hunter of the Sensors and Electronics Branch, is so
sensitive that it may reduce false alarm rates of commercial
airliners. Most fire detector systems sense smoke particles but can
be fooled by dust and other tiny airborne particles. The team used
MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) expertise to develop a new,
multi-sensor system that includes miniaturized carbon dioxide
sensors, a smoke particle detector and integrated software to
effectively recognize the presence of fire while screening out false
alarms. These compact arrays can be placed in multiple locations
throughout the aircraft's cargo and baggage compartments. The
detector system is adaptable for use on the International Space
Station. Glenn researchers teamed with colleagues from Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland; The Ohio State University, Columbus;
and Makel Engineering, Inc., Chico, Calif., in collaboration with the
FAA.

The Glenn Refractory Adhesive for Bonding and Exterior Repair (GRABER)
material was considered for the space shuttle Return to Flight
program. The material was developed and tested by Dr. Mrityunjay
"Jay" Singh and Tarah Shpargel of the QSS Group, Inc. residents of
Glenn's Ceramics Branch. The material has shown potential multiuse
capabilities for in-space repair of both large repairs and small
cracks in the space shuttle reinforced carbon-carbon composite
thermal protection system. It has shown excellent plasma performance
under simulated reentry conditions in various arcjet testing
facilities. It has been tested as an adhesive and sealant in several
other repair concepts being explored in NASA's Thermal Protection
System Repair Research and Development Program. A number of
industrial applications of this material system are being evaluated
due to its low cost and excellent adhesive properties. This is Dr.
Singh's fourth R&D 100 award.

NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress) V8

is a modular computer software system for performing probabilistic
analysis of structural/mechanical components and systems such as
aerospace and automotive structures, biomechanics, gas turbine
engines, geomechanics and rotordynamics. NESSUS V8 combines
state-of-the-art probabilistic algorithms with general-purpose
numerical analysis methods to compute probabilistic response of
engineered systems. Initially developed for NASA by Southwest
Research Institute (SwRI), San Antonio, Texas, the software system
was enhanced by support from Glenn and a number of other
organizations. Dr. Shantaram Pai, of Glenn's Structural Mechanics and
Dynamics Branch, was responsible for developing the probabilistic
heat transfer module integrated in the system. Pai also managed
integration of nine other NASA-developed modules into NESSUS enabling
analysis of a diverse range of problems.

For more information on the R&D 100 awards on the Web, visit:

http://www.rdmag.com/awards.aspx

For more information on NASA Glenn on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/glenn

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