Officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, announced a $45 million contract to UES on Monday for the Soft Organic Functional Technology (SOFT) program.
UES research will focus on biotechnology, biologically derived or inspired materials, flexible electronic materials, and devices for energy storage.
The UES researchers working on the SOFT program will conduct basic and applied research into biotechnology and flexible electronics-based materials technologies for use in military applications.
Flexible electronics seeks to mount electronic devices on flexible plastic substrates like polyimide, PEEK, or transparent conductive polyester film. Biotechnology, meanwhile, seeks to use living organisms to develop specific products.
Related: Global demand for flexible electronics predicted to hit $13.23 billion by 2020
UES will investigate how to use advanced materials, structures, and devices for energy storage, energy generation, and energy transduction, as well for sensing, communications, and electro-optical technologies for Air Force air, space, physiological monitoring, and weapons applications.
Key technical areas include biotechnology, flexible electronics, biomimetic sensors, bio-based fuel contamination, printable electronics, stretchable metals, and multifunctional materials. UES work also will involve new and modified materials, laboratory procedures, analytical, characterization, and modeling to evaluate materials performance.
The ultimate goal is to develop materials and processing necessary to create advanced materials and devices for the Air Force and for the other U.S. military services.
UES scientists will demonstrate biomolecular mechanisms and materials, as well as develop flexible electronics prototypes for energy storage, energy generation, energy transduction, sensing, communications, and electro-optics.
For more information contact UES Inc. online at www.ues.com, or the Air Force Research Laboratory at www.wpafb.af.mil/AFRL.
