Nathan Jackson, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and inventor at UNM, is the sole principal investigator for a new project funded by the Army Research Office, the Army’s principal agent for the planning, organization, selection, and management of extramural basic research in the physical, engineering, and informational sciences.
The three-year project called “Development of Multifunctional Flexible Piezoelectrical Materials for MEMS” will focus on piezoelectric materials with enhanced mechanical properties. The materials will have the ability to convert mechanical stress into an internal electrical charge. The award amount is $658,334.
Piezoelectric materials serve many functions for military and commercial applications. Some common devices that utilize these materials include sonar devices, radio frequency filters, microphones, and much more. There materials, however, have many limitations due to their stiff quality and are not ideal for infantry members in the field. Jackson is working to develop a new class of multifunctional smart polymer materials that are compatible with standard micro-fabrication manufacturing methods and can serve a wider range of functions. This new class of materials will open new doors for design engineers and support the advancement of current devices and technologies.
See also, “Engineering professor leading Department of Defense project to develop advanced materials for military and civilian use,” reprinted below and on the UNM Newsroom Website at https://news.unm.edu/news/engineering-professor-leading-department-of-defense-project-to-develop-advanced-materials-for-military-and-civilian-us.
Also, visit Nathan Jackson’s intellectual property portfolio page on Flintbox to learn more about his innovations and commercialization opportunities at:
https://unm.flintbox.com/?embed=true#members/5fdcbd57-5d08-4c8f-861c-ba009c1b220c.