Oct 11, 2019 | No Comments | By Sarah Preis
Congratulations to HEMI Fellows James Guest (Dept. of Civil Engineering) and Tim Weihs (Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering) on receiving a Space@Hopkins seed grant for their project “3D-Woven CNT Composites: Lightweight, High Strength Materials for Space.”
The goal of this project is to demonstrate 3D weaving as a promising method of manufacturing ultra-strong carbon nanotube (CNT)-yarn based composites. Thanks to its remarkable mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties, CNT holds great potential as the backbone of ultra-high strength lightweight materials, which are materials planned to be developed for the purpose of transporting humans to Mars and beyond. Guest and Weihs aim to utilize CNT yarns as well as carbon fiber (CF) provided by collaborators at NASA Langley Research Center for their project, and show the efficiency and effectiveness of weaving the two to create hybrid CNT/CF based composites using a 3D weaving loom.
Space@Hopkins connects the array of Johns Hopkins University divisions, departments, and collaborative institutions in their common pursuit of civilian space research. Its seed funding program, which began in 2016, awards grants of up to $25,000 that enable Hopkins researchers to test new ideas and provide an initial boost for them to obtain external funding for space-related projects. All Space@Hopkins seed grants provide undergraduate research opportunities as a program requirement.
This year, Space@Hopkins selected five teams to receive seed grants to support their work. One of these teams is made up of Prof. Guest and Prof. Weihs, who together represent the Whiting School of Engineering. You can find the full list of awardees and their projects here.
Congrats again, Profs. Guest and Weihs!
