SBIR Phase I: Bio-based Design of Structural Ceramics

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will identify materials with desirable properties and performance standards. Rapid advances in communication technology, flight-based transportation, medical components and military strategy due to rapidly changing global alliances is pushing a need for materials that goes beyond current capabilities. This project will use advanced 3D fabrication techniques to produce innovative materials that mimic bio-based shell structures. The commercial and broader impacts of this technology could lead to a commercial product with unique properties. The project will expand the capabilities of digital and rapid manufacturing, two areas that this country must push forward in, if the country is to maintain any sort of dominance in worldwide manufacturing.