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Materials in Space Workshop Overview

The ISS National Lab and the National Science Foundation co-sponsored a workshop on July 22, 2018 to gather thought leaders and experts in the field of materials science for a discussion of the benefits of space-based R&D in this field. The workshop focused on how the unique environment of low Earth orbit, including microgravity and extreme environmental conditions, enables materials R&D that is impractical or not possible to perform on Earth.

During the morning portion of the workshop, speakers discussed materials research conducted in space and new research opportunities on the ISS. In the afternoon, breakout sessions focused on specific subtopics as outlined in the below detailed agenda.

Agenda

  • 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

    Introduction

    9:00
    Welcome to Materials in Space Workshop
    Randy Giles, the ISS National Lab

    9:05
    Moving Forward with Materials Research in Space
    Lynnette Madsen
    National Science Foundation

  • 9:15 AM

    Modeling

    Designing Metal Alloys by Machine Learning Methods
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Houlong Zhuang
    Arizona State University

  • 9:25 AM - 10:15 AM

    Materials

    9:25
    Materials Science in Space: Preparation of Bulk Semiconductors and Photovoltaic Materials
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Joel Kearns
    NASA Glenn Research Center

    9:35
    Selenium Impregnated Monolithic Carbons as Free-standing Cathodes for High Volumetric Energy Lithium and Sodium Metal Batteries
    Download Slides (PDF)
    David Mitlin
    Clarkson University

    9:45
    An Overview of Advanced Materials Research at University of California Santa Barbara
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Matthew Begley
    University of California, Santa Barbara

    9:55
    Tiny but Tough: Emerging Nanomaterials for Space Exploration
    Debbie G. Senesky
    Stanford University

    10:05
    Scalable Growth, In-Situ Characterization and Processing of 2-Dimensional Crystal Materials for Future Generation Electronics
    Download Slides (PDF)
    David Snyder
    Penn State University

  • 10:15

    Break

  • 10:30 AM - 11:50 AM

    Synthesis

    10:30
    Manufacturing of Thin Film Functional Materials in the Vacuum of Space
    Alex Ignatiev
    University of Houston, Lunar Resources

    10:40
    International Space Station Materials Research Facilities
    David Hornyak
    NASA, ISS Research

    10:50
    Industrializing Low Earth Orbit (LEO): Microgravity-Enabled Product Development on the ISS National Lab
    Justin Kugler
    Made in Space, Inc    .

    11:00
    Fab on a Chip: A Micron Scale Workshop for Nano Fabrication
    Download Slides (PDF)
    David Bishop
    Boston University

    11:10
    3D Printing in Space
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Erik Svedberg
    National Academies

    11:20
    Launching Soon to the International Space Station: The Techshot 3D BioFabrication Facility
    Eugene Boland
    Techshot

    11:30
    Exploiting Microgravity Environment for the Development of Innovative Biomimetic Modular Nanomaterial Structures and Additive Manufacturing Capabilities for Applications in Energy, Defense, and Medicine
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Mauris DeSilva
    3D PARS (USA)

    11:40
    How Should We Commercialize LEO?
    Dmitry Starodubov
    FOMS

  • 11:50 AM

    Working Lunch (Included in Workshop)

  • 12:10 PM - 12:50 PM

    Measurements

    12:10
    Electrostatic Levitation to Determine Viscosity of ZBLAN and Chalcogenide Glasses
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Dennis Tucker
    NASA/MSFC

    12:20
    Studying Forward Osmosis Membrane Concentration Polarization Gradients in Microgravity for Ground Benefit
    Download Slides (PDF)
    David Zuniga
    Danish Aerospace Company – North America

    12:30
    A Novel Way to Measure Interfacial Tension Using Resonance Driven Instability / A New Way to Determine Surface Energies Using Electrodeposition Instability in Microgravity
    Ranga Narayanan
    University of Florida

    12:40
    Understanding the Local Structure-Property Relationships of Solders in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Environments Using Electron Microscopy and Nano-mechanical Testing
    Download Slides PDF
    Sid Pathak
    University of Nevada, Reno

    12:50
    Nanoscale Electrical and Optical Characterizations of Microstructured Thin-Film Solar Cells
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Heayoung Yoon
    University of Utah

  • 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM

    Applications

    1:00
    Ceramic Material Processing Towards Future Space Habitat
    Download Slides (PDF)
    Haiyan Wang
    Purdue University

    1:10
    Composite and In-Situ Materials for Protecting and Facilitating Operations for Human Space Exploration on Long-Duration Missions.
    Esther Beltran
    UCF-SSERVI Reveals

    1:20
    Micro-Scale Gallium Nitride Pressure Sensors for Harsh Environments
    Caitlin Chapin
    Stanford

  • 1:30 PM

    Break

  • 1:50 PM - 3:40 PM

    Breakout Sessions

    Facilities, Enabling Hardware, and On-Orbit Manufacturing
    Jennifer Lopez
    the ISS National Lab

    Advanced Material Synthesis in Microgravity
    Dave Mitlin
    Clarkson U.

    Materials Properties, Test, and Measurements
    Joel Kearns
    NASA

    Applications of Materials in or from Space
    Jonathan Volk
    the ISS National Lab


A detailed Workshop Report will be available in the future and will capture key discussion points and recommendations from this event.

Examples of related ISS National Lab research:

Learn more about the ISS National Lab Proposal Submission Process.

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