Project Grant 1853265

This SBIR Phase I project, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084), aims to develop a novel liquid crystal polymer (LCP) called Tullomer to address limitations in fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. The $275,000 grant, awarded to Z-Polymers, Inc., will fund the optimization of Tullomer's monomer ratios, integration of nucleation additives, and control of mesogenic state formation to enhance...

Fluidform Inc. received a $249,644 Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project Grant from the National Science Foundation to develop additive manufacturing techniques for silicone elastomers and thermosets using freeform reversible embedding. The grant was awarded on May 1, 2021 under the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA #47.041) to support innovation, creativity, and excellence in engineering research. Specifically, the funding will enable Fluidform to advance...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering (CFDA 47.041) totaling $344,918 will establish a collaborative research program at Florida International University (FIU) to develop advanced data-driven approaches for additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing of materials with locally tunable electrical and mechanical properties. The research aims to create new polymer resin formulations for digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing that can...

This $200,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering grant (CFDA 47.041) supports fundamental research at Texas State University to investigate material-process-microstructure-property relationships in the direct ink writing of high-viscosity rubber nanocomposites. The goal is to optimize material composition and manufacturing process parameters to achieve high-quality 3D-printed parts with enhanced mechanical, electromechanical, and time-dependent properties. Key activities include...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program provides $275,000 to Novineer, Inc. to develop novel approaches for optimizing the layout, fiber paths, and plastic infill distribution in 3D printed composite materials. The project aims to advance the state-of-the-art in additive manufacturing for end-use parts by creating automated design software that can tailor the material distribution to...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) Project Grant award of $305,000 to Gelastomerics LLC is focused on developing a new hydrogel elastomer technology to address the need for intrinsically lubricious elastomer materials in the medical device market. The key products or services to be delivered under this Phase I SBIR project include: Validating that the new hydrogel elastomer technology can meet the technical performance requirements for...

This Project Grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084). The $274,579 award to Variables Machines Company aims to develop a reconfigurable additive manufacturing print bed composed of an array of linear actuators. This technology is expected to significantly reduce the cost, lead time, and material waste associated with large format additive manufacturing. The project entails designing the actuator...

This SBIR Phase I award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084) provides $274,991 to Molten Materials LLC, a woman-owned small business, to develop a sustainable solution for transforming waste plastics into high-value thermoplastic elastomers for infrastructure applications. The project aims to use reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to produce durable elastomers from depolymerized plastic...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a 4-year, $400,000 Project Grant under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to Trustees of Boston University for their research project titled "COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DMREF: CLOSED-LOOP DESIGN OF POLYMERS WITH ADAPTIVE NETWORKS FOR EXTREME MECHANICS." The project aims to develop an integrated experimental and computational platform for accelerated discovery and design of novel polymers exhibiting unprecedented...

This $2,999,319 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) supports the development of an "Anisotropic Multi-Axis Layerless Additive Manufacturing" (ANIMAL AM) system. The goal is to create a robotic additive manufacturing platform capable of precisely controlling the 3D orientation of multi-material composite structures. Key anticipated outcomes include: (1) new understanding of shear-induced orientation of dynamic inclusions during...