Innovative Technology
Mission
The Mission of Innovative Technologies Area is to address complex inter-disciplinary scientific and engineering challenges of national importance to the U.S. defense communities. This business area was established as an incubator group to start, foster, and develop emerging capabilities of new technologies.
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Framing camera picture using repetitively pulsed laser |
Core Competencies
Core competencies include impact physics, damage assessment, and resulting debris characteristics and signatures. Impacting objects include kill vehicle/kinetic warheads as well as rod like penetrators. Applications include ballistic missile defense and space asset vulnerabilities and negation. Expertise includes diagnostic instrumentation to characterize the velocity of fragments and blast waves from various warheads and line charges both out in the open and in confined spaces.
Current Research Thrusts Include:
- Research, Analysis, Characterization/Modeling of Weapons Effects for the Aegis BMD Program
- Space Debris Characterization Study
- Penetrator Performance Enhancement
- Sponsor: NAVSEA PD452
- Objective: Damage, signatures, hit point and kill assessment analyses for Aegis BMD within the flight test program and participation on the Kill Assessment IPT.
- Sponsor: The Aerospace Corporation/AF Space Command
- Objective: Based on previous PSI directed tests and developed models, provide estimates for debris generated by one and multiple space object impacts from direct ascent and orbiting interceptors.
- Sponsor: ONR
- Objective: Determination of the penetrator requirements for specific hole size generation and with a penetrator remnant for selected undersea targets for inert and reactive material penetrators.
Area Leadership
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Dr.Peter Mayer |
Dr. Peter Mayer leads the Innovation Technologies area at Physical Sciences Inc. Dr. Mayer joined PSI in April 2007, after completing his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (June 2007). His Ph.D. was entitled “Thermoelectric Power Generation and Nanoscale Thermal Metrology.” He also holds an M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering from MIT, an S.B in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and an S.B in Physics from M.I.T. During his Ph.D., Dr. Mayer worked on an Office of Naval Research-sponsored multi-university collaboration to develop and test nanostructured thermoelectric generators.
Since joining PSI Peter has worked mainly on projects related to ballistic missile defense (RF and IR sensor domains), ultra-fast optical methods for infrared-countermeasures, and space asset vulnerability assessment. His work has focused on the modeling of physical systems and the development of algorithms..
Contact
Dr. Peter Mayer
Physical Sciences Inc.
20 New England Business Center
Andover, MA 01810-1077
Telephone: (978) 689-0003
Fax: (978) 689-3232
mayer@psicorp.com