July 2020 - Physical Sciences Inc.

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories at Boston University (NEIDL/BU), has been awarded a SBIR Phase II contract from the U.S. Air Force to further develop the PSI’s antimicrobial coating and demonstrate its effectiveness on an existing Patient Movement Item (PMI) litter product and other DoD medical equipment.

The Air Force has identified an urgent need to reduce COVID-19 contaminant loads in environments where Airmen operate (e.g., patient transfer mobility aircraft) and thus decrease transmission likelihood. PSI’s lightweight evacuation litter contains many materials representative of Air Force PMIs. PSI will coat these materials with a permanently attached, broad-spectrum antimicrobial technology. The coating efficacy will be demonstrated against a virus panel and other pathogens of interest. The coating will be optimized to achieve high levels of viral reduction within a short amount of time. The robustness of coating in litter operation will be evaluated upon weathering, abrasion, and cleaning. The application, efficacy, and robustness demonstrations will be extended to include other equipment that are potential disease vectors.

The PSI team will be solving the problem of reducing the transmission of COVID-19 and other infections, to help the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) accomplish the goal of utilizing novel antimicrobial coating technologies to protect the Airmen in environments such as patient transfer mobility aircraft and other equipment. The technology will be applied to a wide range of equipment from surgical tools to evacuation aircraft.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Dorin Preda
Group Leader, Material Technologies
dpreda@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop a solar concentrator system for lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) applications including oxygen extraction from lunar regolith.

In PSI’s system, solar radiation is collected using a concentrator array that transfers the concentrated solar radiation to the optical waveguide (OW) transmission cable made of low loss optical fibers. The OW transmission line directs the solar radiation to the thermal receiver for thermochemical processing of lunar regolith. Key features of this system include: Highly concentrated solar radiation transmitted via the flexible OW cable directly to the thermal receiver for oxygen production from lunar regolith; power scale-up of the system is achieved by incremental increase of the number of concentrator units; the system can be autonomous, stationary or mobile, and easily transported and deployed on the lunar surface; and the system can be applied to multiple lunar ISRU processes.

The primary application of PSI’s solar concentrator system is for the production of oxygen and other useful materials on the lunar surface. The solar concentrator system can be used for sintering lunar regolith for surface stabilization and construction. In addition, the system can be used for thermal or electric power generation and plant lighting and illumination for the lunar base. Therefore, the solar concentrator system is the key enabling technology for building up the infrastructure for the lunar base. There are also a number of terrestrial uses for the solar concentrator system related to heating applications including water heating (for domestic and industrial usage), transportable heat source for the detoxification of contaminated soil, heat engine for small power plants and industrial process heat. Also, concentrator subsystems may find applications for building and indoor plant growth lighting.

For more information, contact:

Mr. William Kessler
Vice President, Applied Optics
kessler@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a research program from the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific to create a integrated antenna deployment system that elevates the communications antennas above the hull of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) when surfaced to improve signal and increase line-of-sight communications distance.

The U.S. Navy has identified an urgent need for improved UUV communications and seeks improved antennas for the Razorback Medium UUV platform. To address this, PSI is developing a broadband antenna system to replace the multiple off-the-shelf antennas currently in use, which are rigidly mounted and too short for consistent Line-of-Sight communications in elevated sea states. An integrated antenna solution will allow the user to achieve required antenna performance within the compact space claim and reduce system weight. PSI is partnering with a leader in the UUV market to develop a system that is ready to integrate with the Razorback MUUV.

While the antenna system is specifically being developed for Navy personnel, this innovative concept will open up a new type of integrated, multi-band antenna for military and commercial solutions. Its modular architecture will allow PSI to rapidly reconfigure the design for different applications. UUVs are used for a variety of tasks in the commercial sector, including oceanographic research and by the oil and gas industry. This system could be implemented to complement existing antenna systems to improve range and mission duration.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Sean Torrez
Group Leader, Deployable Technologies
storrez@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Telephone: (978) 689-0003