In the world of defense manufacturing, lightweighting is crucial for maintaining performance while maximizing the effectiveness of new vehicles, whether manned or unmanned.
That’s why Mahmood Haq, Ph.D., director of the Composite Vehicle Research Center and structural engineering and materials professor at Michigan State University, is excited to be attending and participating in AeroDef Manufacturing this year in Detroit.
“I’m passionate about what I do,” said Haq. “When I go to an event like AeroDef, I am looking forward to meeting colleagues and peers who are as passionate as I am about the things they can do for this country.
“I’m also looking at, are there possibilities for us to train workforce in these areas, and other collaborators who are looking to pick up our students and give them opportunities in these areas?”
Haq is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion at AeroDef Manufacturing on the future of composites in defense manufacturing, a field where he sees significant opportunities for growth and innovation.
“If you look at the state-of-the-art technologies, has the Army or the Defense Department used composites? And then the question comes, have they used them to their full potential? The answer would be no,” said Haq.
“With more drones, with more unmanned vehicles, we are going from what are usually considered heavy armored vehicles on the field, to our future which have become agile, nimble, lightweight unmanned vehicles. There is potential for composites in the future for opportunities that can far exceed our imagination,” said Haq. “That’s not only relevant to defense, but also to the automotive industry.
“There is something that composites can offer, and that is multifunctionality. You can use composites to do more than carry load. For example, the skin of a composite can become a radio antenna for communications, something that conventional metals could not offer.”
Haq said that in addition to lightweighting potential and multifunctionality, composites also offer the ability to tailor materials to a specific use case or purpose.
“We can tailor the composites to do more than carry load. For example, some of my colleagues at Michigan State are working on a drone, and one of the limitations is the range. The range is all dependent on the battery pack. Now if you put more batteries inside the drone, the weight goes up and the range goes down, but if you use fewer batteries you have the same problem. So what if we can remotely charge the battery? MSU has technologies and solutions to problems like these.”
In addition to participating in a panel, Haq said he is especially interested in being able to connect with attendees not only at AeroDef Manufacturing but at the other events colocated at Huntington Place, including RAPID + TCT, SAE International’s WCX and the America Makes’ Spring Technical Review & Exchange (TRX).
“The reason I’m excited is because of what we call a holistic ecosystem,” said Haq. “Having all of these conferences together is like all the stars lining up, because where else in the world will you get a chance to look at an idea at AeroDef [Manufacturing] and then you go to RAPID + TCT and say, ‘that presentation had a challenge, and they have a solution here.’
“I think we are going to create a lot of eureka moments and have a lot of light bulbs going off.”
AeroDef Manufacturing opens on Tuesday, April 8 and runs through Thursday, April 10 at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit.