Air Force Research Laboratory Facilities

 


 


 


The Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL, is the primary research organization of the US Air Force. The Space Vehicles directorate (AFRL/VS) is the lead agency in many cutting edge technology areas.

The facility is a 10 minute drive from UNM and available to UNM students through an inter-personnel agreement between UNM and AFRL. Students are provided with office space, computers with web access, and access to the laboratory facilities and technician support.
 
 


 





The composite laboratory includes the following operational facilities:
 

  • Pultrusion Machine, circ winder, thermocouple instrumentation, pull-force measurement.
  • 3-axis and 5-axis filament winding machines with software control
  • Autoclave, regular ovens, hot press
  • Composite layup room and resin-mix room
  • Machine shop with CNC machines
  • Mechanical testing room with a variety of MTS servo-hydraulic machines

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    Recent Student Projects
     

  • Effect of process variables on pultruded products - Lorena Sanchez
  • Explaining spring-in of filament wound composites - Jeff Ganley
  • Shape correction of inflatable membranes with smart film - Monica Starnes
  • Shape memory alloy to correct shape of composite reflectors - Manuel Rochin
  • Integrated load and noise mitigation in space vehicles - Alyssa Edwards

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    Dr. Maji also assists AFRL as a project manager for SBIR programs and a number of in-house research projects. He is responsible for the precision composite structures that will constitute the ?Deployable Optical Telescope? (DOT or UltraLite) experiment, the first space tracable ground test on deployable optical telescope. He also assists the Composite Flywheel Rotor development and certification effort underway in coordination with NASA-LeRC.


     
     

    Recent SBIR programs managed by Dr. Maji are listed below: