Air Force Funds New Generation of Energy Efficient UAVs

With AFOSR funding, a team from the University of Michigan is working on a project to integrate solar power cheaply and easily into the base materials used to build UAVs. The team is pictured above posing around a customized reel-to-reel coating apparatus they developed for making large quantities of fiber-based energy conversion devices. (Center) Max Shtein, an assistant professor working on optoelectronic materials and devices, thin-film processing (Left to Right) Kevin Pipe, an assistant professor working on thermal phenomena in materials and devices; Brendan O'Connor, a graduate student working on organic solar cells on fibers; Abhishek Yadav, a graduate student working on thermoelectric devices on fibers; and Steven Morris, a graduate student working on reel-to-reel deposition of films and devices on fibers. (Photo Credit: University of Michigan)