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Partnering: Labs and Small Businesses

NATIONAL SBIR/STTR FALL CONFERENCE

Nov 13, 2014

Alex Athey, Ph.D.

Applied Research Laboratories

The University of Texas at Austin

alex.athey@arlut.utexas.edu

512-777-1616

Applied Research Laboratories

• Organized research unit reporting to the VP Research at UT Austin

• Navy University Affiliated Research Center (UARC)

‒ Organized in 1945

‒ One of five such labs (Univ of Washington, Penn State, Johns Hopkins, Hawaii)

‒ Asst Secretary of Defense, Research & Engineering (ASD R&E) charter and management

‒ Frequently involved as a trusted technical agent of government program office

• Technical Program Areas: Acoustics, Electromagnetics, Information Technology

– Emphasis on engineering, developing, and prototyping

• Sponsorship: Primarily Navy

– Also work for other federal agencies including the Army, Air Force, DARPA

– Industry: Mostly oil and gas and energy companies

• Secure Facility at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus and staff accustomed to working with classified

and proprietary information

• Current staff: about 650 total

– 325 research staff (20% PhD, 30% MS/MA, 50% BS/BA)

– 75–150 students (all U.S. citizens)

– $100M / year

ARL:UT operates as bridge between basic research in academia and prototyping

and applied engineering solutions for government and industry

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ARL:UT Laboratories

Signal and Information Sciences Lab

Signal Physics

– Target Physics, Signal Processing, Automatic Detection

and Classification

– Advanced Signal Processing Applications

– Higher Order Spectral Techniques

– Nonlinear Phenomenon

– Real-time Processing

Biomedical Ultrasound

Chemical/Nuclear/Biological Detection

Information Sciences

– Modeling and Simulation Architectures

– Data Warehousing and Mining

Risk Assessment, Cyber and Physical Protection

Advanced Technology Lab

High Frequency Acoustics

– Target physics

– Environment

– Signal Processing

High Resolution Sonar

– Obstacle Avoidance

– Under Ice

– Swimmer Detection

– Mine Hunting and

Avoidance

– Bottom Mapping

Electromagnetic Systems

– HF Communications

– Millimeter Wave Sensors

Environmental Sciences Lab

Low Frequency Acoustics

– Environment

– Signal Processing

– Sensor Performance

– Instrumentation

ASW Applications

– Undersea Surveillance

– Tactical Towed Arrays and

Hull Mounted Sensors

– Acoustic Intelligence

Seismic Systems

– Unattended Ground Sensors

Space and Geophysics Lab

Ionospheric Geophysics

– Characterization of Ionosphere

– Tomography

– Electromagnetic Propagation

– Instrumentation

Applications

– Worldwide GPS Monitoring

– Precision Geodesy

– Ionospheric/Tropospheric Corrections

– RF emitter positioning

– GPS Sled Track Survey

– mm accuracy over 10 miles

– Ionospheric Data Assimilation in 3D

Relevant Capabilities ❍ Ocean Engineering

–Fabrication, specialized welding,

potting, and pressure testing for full

ocean depth sensor packages

–Development and deployment of

instrumentation to collect data from

bottom mounted sensors in deep

ocean environments.

❍ Underwater Autonomous Vehicles

–High resolution forward-look sonar

for autonomous mapping and

precision bathymetry

12 3/4” Bluefin

UUV

Integrated

Sonar Nose

Assembly

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Relevant Capabilities

❍ Sensor Systems

–High resolution sonar and acoustic imaging

–Protection systems (swimmer detection,

passive millimeter wave)

–Deep ocean recording systems

–Acoustic arrays

–Embedded acoustic & seismic sensors

❍ Acoustic Sources & Systems

–Combustive sound source (alternative to air

guns)

–Abatement of low frequency noise due to

drilling and/or pile driving

❍ Acoustic Communications and Networks

– Subsea Communications

– Non-linear Data Transmissions

Relevant Capabilities ❍ Theory & Modeling

–Elastic wave propagation • Non-destructive test and evaluation

–Drill strings and pipelines

–Wind turbines noise model • Source and water/sediment propagation

–Acoustic and EM properties of nano-particles for

reservoir characterization

❍ RF Communications and Telemetry

– Over-water compact HF (10-100Mhz) Ground Wave radio

systems for non-line of sight (10-150 miles) communication

❍ Software and Algorithms – Real-time processing and control systems

– Kalman and Bayesian tracking

– Automated signal processing

• Applied to acoustic and seismic data

– OMI development (operator displays)

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Relevant Capabilities ❍ LIDAR Processing

–Bare earth extraction, vegetation

classification and topography for

environmental assessments

❍ Cyber-Security and Information Assurance

–Network security

–Advanced malware and insider threat

detection

–Data mining and analytics

❍ Risk Analysis and Assessments

–Human Element

–Critical safety software (IV&V)

–Physical and cyber protection systems

Partnership Examples

❍ “Classic model” of: IP creation, transfer through to commercialization office

– Office of Industry Engagement Sponsored Research

– Principal Investigator Activities and IP generation (years…)

– Office of Commercialization

– Technology Incubator Program

❍ IP provided by sponsor, acting as outsourced R&D team

❍ Independent Validation and Verification (sponsor driven)

❍ Expert Opinions (legal & advisory)

Caveats: We have a core mission to support the Navy and must remain an

unbiased source. This can restrict us from working directly with small

companies that might service the Naval market one day. This restriction can be

lifted with direct government support or parallel funding to support small

business concepts.

In general, ARL:UT is interested in long partnerships, not outsourced work.

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ARL:UT Tech Transfer of Science

Use-Inspired Basic Research

“Pasteur’s Quadrant”

ARL works at all stages of development

and can do rapid development.

Partnerships possible at any stage.

Sample Workflow for Deployment

• Develop Theory

• Perform Numerical Calculations

• Test Concept in Bench Top Lab

• Validate in Near-Real World with

Large Testing Facilities

• Prototype Full System

• Prove System in Short Term

Testing

• Long Duration Testing

• Deployment or Delivery