Air Force Research Lab researchers partner with National Science Foundation awardees on advanced materials research

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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) – The Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program is the primary means by which the national Science Foundation (NSF) actively contributes to the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) for Global Competitiveness. On this tenth anniversary of MGI, NSF announced a $65.3 million investment in 37 new DMREF awards supported by nine Divisions across the Directorates of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Computer and Information Science and Engineering. Among this cohort, 13 awards include Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) collaborators, spanning three AFRL Directorates, through the NSF - Air Force Partnership in Advanced Material Sciences.
 
“The DMREF-AFRL partnership will promote joint academic and AFRL research, accelerating materials advances in support of the Department of the Air Force materials needs, and moreover develop the AFRL workforce, in conjunction with the NSF INTERN program,” notes Dr. Tim Bunning, Chief Technologist of AFRL. Dr. Pat Roach, Chief Scientist of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) of AFRL; Dr. Rich Vaia, Chief Scientist, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate of AFRL; and Dr. Ruth Pachter, Senior Technologist at AFRL, have expressed their excitement about AFRL’s participation on a wide range of research topics, embracing the tools of data science and machine learning to discover and develop advanced materials potentially impactful to AFRL.
 
About AFRL
 
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 11,000 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit: www.afresearchlab.com.