Scott Nicholas
The University of Delaware has landed a $15 million cooperative agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to help explore methods to produce small composite parts for military equipment.
DARPA and the university will work to develop reconfigurable forming and molding processes for the fabrication of composite structures under the Tailorable Feedback and Forming program, the Defense Department said Friday.
The agency received six proposals for the initiative through a competitive process and obligated $4.6 million in fiscal year 2015 and fiscal 2016 research and development funds at the time of award.
The TFF program focuses on identifying cost-efficient production methods for aerospace materials and determining the usability of the material in other products.
DARPA is seeking an alternative for aluminum and other metals used to manufacture military systems that weigh less than 20 pounds.
