MSI PI Traian Dumitrica, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is part of the new Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP), funded by NASA. The Institute focuses on the rapid development of technologies critical for extending human presence deeper into our solar system.
Professor Dumitrica will use MSI resources to design lighter and stronger materials than those currently used even in the most advanced aerospace structures. His research was featured on the MSI website in March 2015 (Understanding the Effects of Dislocations on Thermal Properties of Materials) and August 2014 (Modeling Properties of Graphene).
An article about the new Institute appears on the NASA website: NASA Selects Proposals for First-Ever Space Technology Research Institutes.