NASA awards University of Delaware two research, technology grants

The University of Delaware has been selected by NASA to receive grants worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for research and technology projects.

The grants are being given to 22 universities nationwide by NASA’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) in areas such as remote sensing, nanotechnology, astrophysics and aeronautics. Results could be incorporated into the space agency’s ongoing work. EPSCoR helps develop partnerships among NASA research missions and programs, academic institutions and industry.

UD’s awards are for these projects:

• “Laser based Remote Magnetometry with Mesospheric Sodium Atoms for Geomagnetic Field Measurements.” The grant for be for up to $750,000 for three years.

• “Evaluation of Graphene-Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits for High-Speed, Light Weight and Radiation Hard Optical Communication in Space.” The project will be tested aboard the International Space Station.

NASA is spending about $900,000 total for projects by nine universities, including UD.

Overseeing the projects at UD will be physics professor William Matthaeus, director of the Delaware Space Grant Consortium.