University of Houston researcher part of $5 million DOD grant to support defense manufacturing

UH key partner in America’s Additive Foundry Consortium

2024-02-07

(Press-News.org) The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded a $5 million grant to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)-led America’s Additive Foundry Consortium, which includes the University of Houston as a key partner. This is one of six grants – totaling about $30 million – to help enhance national security through community investments.

The funding will enable the consortium to undertake a $7.5 million project designed to ensure that the U.S. military has a stable supply of domestically produced, high-quality tactical alloys critical for national defense. The consortium will accomplish this by focusing on developing novel advanced manufacturing methods.

UH, located in the Energy Capital of the World, has a special advantage to contribute. Ben Xu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and Presidential Frontier Faculty Fellow at UH, will serve as the site director of the Houston-based Demonstration Hub for the consortium. The demonstration hub will link small and medium-sized manufacturers to DoD contractors, showcase various advanced manufacturing processes, provide local technical support to facilitate commercialization and implementation of the proposed novel technologies and help upskill and reskill existing workforce.

“Securing the supply of specialty alloys and maintaining the ability to conduct forging and casting operations are essential to producing military equipment,” Xu said. “We [the consortium] will develop and demonstrate alternative casting and forging processes by leveraging metal additive/hybrid/convergent manufacturing technologies to modernize America’s foundry operations in the Texas Coastal Plains region through advanced research, technical support, business development, and workforce training with a focus on small manufacturers.”

The consortium has an ambitious agenda. During the five-year grant period, the consortium aims to demonstrate additive casting and hybrid forging processes to 1,800 manufacturers, incubate 45 startups and pitch 30 companies. In addition, it will leverage resources of partner institutions to provide relevant workforce training and educational programs.

Other key consortium partners include the UTRGV Center for Advanced Manufacturing Innovation and Cyber Systems, UT Austin, UT San Antonio, Georgia Tech, Texas Manufacturing Assistant Center, Army Research Laboratory, America Makes, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, and Tooling U-SME.

This initiative is expected to benefit the TX-SGCP region, which includes Brownsville-Harlingen, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Corpus Christi, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, San Antonio-New Braunfels, and Greater Austin.

“Businesses and the workforce, now and in the future, need to be really knowledgeable about advances in technology – not only for optimal efficiency, but also to adapt to changing scenarios and innovate new solutions to stay competitive and secure,” said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at UH. “This will benefit not only them but also the region and the nation. We have a great opportunity to revitalize American manufacturing through collaboration to foster research, innovation, and workforce development.”

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

University of Houston researcher part of $5 million DOD grant to support defense manufacturing 2

University of Houston researcher part of $5 million DOD grant to support defense manufacturing 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers measure and control interactions between magnetic ripples using lasers

2024-02-07

One vision for the future of computing involves using ripples in magnetic fields — called magnons — as a basic mechanism. In this application, magnons would be comparable to electricity as the basis for electronics. In conventional digital technologies, such magnonic systems are expected to be far faster than today’s technologies, from laptops and smartphones to telecommunications. In quantum computing, the advantages of magnonics could include not only quicker speeds but also more stable devices. A recent study in the journal Nature Physics reports an early-stage discovery along the path ...

Africa could grow more rice -- new study shows how

2024-02-07

Africa’s rice sector has major opportunities to increase its yield gains through improved agronomic practices while avoiding massive land conversion, a study by international scientists including a Husker co-investigator finds. The production advances can be important in meeting Africa’s projected food needs and reducing dependence on imports, the researchers concluded. Rice demand in Africa is projected to more than double over the next 25 years due to population growth and increased rice consumption. At present, Africa imports nearly 40% of its rice. “Nearly 15 million hectares of rice are waiting for yield improvement in Africa, ...

PROX1/α-SMA correlated with colorectal cancer progression, poor outcomes and therapeutic resistance

2024-02-07

“The findings validate the combined PROX1/α-SMA gene set as a prospective prognostic biomarker and a central regulator in CRC progression and its TME.” BUFFALO, NY- February 7, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 2, entitled, “PROX1 interaction with α-SMA-rich cancer-associated fibroblasts facilitates colorectal cancer progression and correlates with poor clinical outcomes and therapeutic resistance.” The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a vital role in tumor progression through intricate ...

Ancient rocks improve understanding of tectonic activity between earthquakes

2024-02-07

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Rocks once buried deep in ancient subduction zones — where tectonic plates collide — could help scientists make better predictions of how these zones behave during the years between major earthquakes, according to a research team from Penn State and Brown University. Clues from rock formations in Alaska and Japan allowed the scientists to develop a new model to predict the pressure solution activity in subduction zones, the researchers reported in the journal Science Advances. ...

The Medical University of South Carolina will be one of four sites exploring the genetic basis of Parkinson’s disease in the Black community

2024-02-07

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has chosen MUSC as one of four sites for the Black and African American Connections to Parkinson’s Disease (BLAAC PD) research study, a part of the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program. BLAAC PD will explore the genetic basis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in the Black community by genotyping more than 150,000 people worldwide, setting the stage for the development of targeted treatments. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, approximately 36,265 people with ...

ORNL's Jason DeGraw named ASHRAE Fellow

2024-02-07

The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, or ASHRAE, selected Jason DeGraw, a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as one of 23 members elevated to Fellow during its 2024 winter conference. A thermal-fluid scientist and mechanical engineer in the Thermal Energy Storage group, DeGraw was recognized for making substantial contributions in heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration, and the built environment. He contributes education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications, presentations and mentoring to ASHRAE. At ORNL, DeGraw works with the Building Technologies ...

Sara Federico, MD, named director of the Solid Tumor Division at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

2024-02-07

(Memphis, Tenn. – February 7, 2024) St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital today announced Sara M. Federico, MD, has been named director of the institution’s Solid Tumor Division within the Department of Oncology. Federico is an internationally recognized leader in pediatric oncology whose contributions have defined the landscape of treatment for high-risk childhood solid tumors, such as neuroblastoma. “Dr. Federico’s experience will pave the way for new discoveries that will help advance cure rates for patients with high-risk cancers by identifying, testing and optimizing novel therapeutic strategies,” said Julie R. ...

Cancer researcher Craig B. Thompson named 2024 Watanabe Prize winner

2024-02-07

INDIANAPOLIS – Pioneering cancer researcher Craig B. Thompson, MD, has been named the 2024 winner of the August M. Watanabe Prize in Translational Research. Awarded by the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Watanabe Prize is one of the nation's largest and most prestigious awards recognizing individuals focused on shepherding scientific discoveries into new therapies for patients. The prize is awarded to a senior investigator who has made a significant contribution to the field of translational science.  Thompson is the former president and chief executive officer ...

Chapman scientists code ChatGPT to design new medicine

2024-02-07

Generative artificial intelligence platforms, from ChatGPT to Midjourney, grabbed headlines in 2023. But GenAI can do more than create collaged images and help write emails — it can also design new drugs to treat disease. Today, scientists use advanced technology to design new synthetic drug compounds with the right properties and characteristics, also known as “de novo drug design.” However, current methods can be labor-, time-, and cost-intensive. Inspired by ChatGPT’s popularity and wondering if this approach could speed up the drug design process, scientists in the Schmid ...

Erectile dysfunction drugs may be linked to reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease

2024-02-07

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – The drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction may also be associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published in the February 7, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that erectile dysfunction drugs reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. It only shows an association. Erectile dysfunction drugs, which work by dilating blood vessels to allow more blood ...

UB researchers show why cannabis policies should shift to a harm reduction, health promotion approach to safeguard public health

Your ability to balance on one leg may be a reliable indicator of neuromuscular aging, with men and women showing significant declines over the decades

Most young adults in the UK consider non-consensual condom removal during sex to be wrong and a violation of consent, with almost 9 in 10 seeing it as a form of sexual assault, per survey of 18-25-yea

Under climate change scenarios, 30-44% more land in Ethiopia might become suitable for growing arabica coffee by 2080, although some cultivated areas might also become unsuitable, per modelling study

Cockroaches and maggots might be able to turn an invasive seaweed into a high quality compost, finds a new experimental study which provides hope for the environment and the circular economy

University of Houston researcher part of $5 million DOD grant to support defense manufacturing

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: