Ann Arbor-based Monarch Antenna Inc., in association with the University of Michigan and several collaborating companies, was one of nine teams selected to receive the 2008 NIST TIP Award (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technology Innovation Program).
The total collaborative team budget, including cost sharing, is $19 million over the next five years.
The UM-led team will focus on “developing a comprehensive system for monitoring and assessing the structural health and integrity of major infrastructure elements such as bridges on a regional basis. Innovations range from ‘smart material’-based sensors for individual structural components to Web-based data integration and interpretation for decision support at the regional level.”
Monarch’s patented Self Structuring Antenna technology will be an integral part of the project, enabling reliable wireless data sharing among the sensors.
“Wireless sensor networks installed within massive infrastructure systems -- buildings and bridges -- have historically been plagued by poor performance due to the extremely challenging RF environment," said University of Michigan professor Jerry Lynch. "Monarch’s SSA technology helps overcome this bottleneck by offering wireless sensors an adaptive, highly reliable communication channel with ultra-enhanced performance.”
Monarch expects to receive up to $500,000 over the duration of the program and is proud to help commercialize the sense and monitor system for America’s 600,000 bridges.
Under the leadership of Dr. Tayfun Ozdemir, Monarch Antenna, Inc. was formed in 2007 to commercialize the Self-Structuring Antenna technology, developed jointly by Delphi Corp. and Michigan State University. The SSA antenna alters its shape and configuration through an electric field based on feedback signals for optimum transmission and reception in real time.
Monarch has developed prototypes for WiFi and ZigBee applications. NASA under an SSTR program is currently evaluating the SSA technology for use in its expeditionary missions to the Moon and Mars in the coming decades.
More at www.monarchantenna.com.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
