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News Headlines
| 2009 Articles |
| 2009 Draper Prize Recipient Dr. Robert Dennard Presented with IEEE Medal of Honor for Inventing DRAM |
| Brady and Buckley Honored by NASA with Exceptional Public Service Medal |
| Draper joins with MIT to celebrate Apollo 40th |
| Vice President for Programs Darryl Sargent Honored as Fellow by AIAA on May 12-13, 2009 |
| Heather Clark Describes 'Nano Tattoo' for Diabetics on Earth & Sky Radio Series |
| Avram Tetewsky Named to 50 GNSS Leaders to Watch List by GPS World Magazine |
| Draper Cuts Ribbon on New Huntsville, Ala. Facility |
| Work on Micro- and Nanofabrication for Tissue Engineering by Jeff Borenstein, Draper Team Cited in ACS Nano |
| Work in Tissue Engineering by Jeff Borenstein, Lisa Freed, and Draper Tissue Scaffold Team Cited in May Scientific American |
| Jasjit Heckathorn Profiled in Diversity/Careers in Engineering Magazine April/May 2009 Issue |
| Jose Trevejo to Speak at TB Seminar Cosponsored by Draper on April 28, 2009, at Broad Institute; Register online |
Draper responsible for Monitoring and Validation of Air Force's Initial Broadcast of the L5 Demonstration Signal from
GPS
IIR-20(M) Satellite |
| High School Biomedical Summer Internship Announced for Cambridge Residents |
| Phil Hattis Presents AIAA Position on Using Aerospace Technology to Monitor Climate Change |
| Astronaut Greg Chamitoff Visits Draper Laboratory |
| Jason Fiering's Design and Development of Microfluidic Device for Sepsis Treatment Cited in Lab on a Chip and MedGadget |
| Heather Clark's Development of a Glucose Monitor Featured on WBZ TV and Other Local CBS Affiliates |
| Jose Trevejo's Editorial, "Global Health: Medical Tests for Poor Countries Need to be Properly Field-Tested", Featured in Technology Review |
| Dennard Receives 2009 Draper Prize |
| New Educational Website Celebrates the Accomplishments of Engineers |
| Draper Announces University Call for Proposals for Fiscal Year 2010. Submission Deadline is Feb. 27, 2009 |
| Heather Clark's Development of a Nanosensor for Glucose Monitoring Featured in Technology Review |
| Dale Larson’s Method of Removing Frozen Samples without Thawing Cited in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News |
| Draper Summer Technical Internships Announced |
| Inventor of Dynamic Random Access Memory to Receive 2009 Draper Prize |
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| 2008 Articles |
| Draper Identified as a Member of "Mystery Team" Competing for Google X Prize |
| Draper's Work on a 3-D MEMS Endoscope Featured on Discovery Channel Online |
| Sargent Named Fellow of AIAA |
| Draper's Personal Navigation System Technology Featured on Discovery Channel Online |
| Draper Staff Members Receive NASA Group Achievement Award for Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle |
| Draper Part of MIT Team Developing Scaffolding for Engineered Heart Tissue |
| Len Polizzotto Named 1 of 10 Tampa Bay Business Leaders to Watch |
| General John A. Gordon Elected as Chairman of the Board of Draper Laboratory |
| Draper Laboratory and Employees Honored for Philanthropy Sept. 5, 2008 |
| Trevejo Honored as One of 20 on the Move by Boston Business Journal & El Planeta |
| Draper Laboratory Names Elizabeth Mora as New Vice President for Finance & Administration |
| MEMS-based Device Proposed By Draper Researchers Could Improve Bioartificial Kidney Technology |
| Bedrossian Receives NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal |
| Draper Laboratory to Establish Bio MEMS R&D Center and Multi Chip Module Center in Tampa Bay |
| Jose Trevejo, M.D., Chats Online with Discovery Editor: "Diagnosing TB Via a Breath Analyzer" |
| Robert Seamans, 89: NASA Administrator During Apollo Era Was A Protégé of Charles Stark Draper |
| Draper's Work Supporting NASA-Funded Mars Soil Research Highlighted in Mass High Tech |
| Jana Schwartz Awarded National
Reconnaissance Office Fellowship |
| Draper Laboratory Fellow Jason Furtado Wins MIT 2008 Reintjes Award |
| Draper's microfluidic work featured in Technology Review, May 23 |
| Jana Schwartz Profiled in Diversity/Careers in Engineering Magazine April/May 2008 Issue |
| Draper is Member of Two Teams Selected by DARPA for Vulture Air Vehicle Program |
| Director of Biomedical Engineering Center profiled in Mass High Tech |
| Draper part of MIT-led Team to Create Gecko-Inspired Adhesive Bandage for Surgical Use |
| DARPA Urban Challenge article in National Defense includes Draper Engineer |
| Draper’s Tissue Engineering Work Featured in National Defense Magazine |
| Fuhrman Honored with New England Achievement Award by
National Engineers Week Committee of Boston |
| 2008 Draper Prize to be Awarded to Rudolf Kalman for his development of the Kalman Filter |
6/25/2009
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2009 Draper Prize Recipient Dr. Robert Dennard Presented with IEEE Medal of Honor for Inventing DRAM
2009 Draper Prize Recipient Dr. Robert Dennard will be presented with the IEEE Medal of Honor for inventing DRAM in LA on June 25 at 6:00 p.m. PDT. IEEE will broadcast its Honors Program live on the Web through IEEE.tv.
For more information, visit
http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/IEEEtv/about.html |
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6/11/2009
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Draper Joins with MIT to Celebrate Apollo 40th
Draper is joining with MIT to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing through the Giant Leaps Event taking place June 10-12. Events include a symposium and tour, and a special exhibition at the MIT Museum of rare Apollo artifacts, including the Apollo Guidance, Navigation and Control system lent by Draper Laboratory in its first ever public-showing.
For more information, visit
http://apollo40.mit.edu/index.html and http://web.mit.edu/museum/ |
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6/03/2009
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Vice President for Programs Darryl Sargent Honored as Fellow by AIAA on May 12-13, 2009
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 Vice President for Programs Darryl Sargent (right) was honored May 12-13, 2009, for his election as a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is pictured with AIAA President George Muellner. Photo provided by AIAA. |
Vice President for Programs Darryl Sargent was honored at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellows Dinner on May 12, 2009, in Virginia and at the Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala in Washington, D.C., on May 13 for his election as a Fellow of the AIAA. On May 12 he was presented with a pin and a certificate that reads, “In recognition of professional distinction and notable and valuable contributions made to the arts, sciences, and technology of aeronautics and astronautics, the Officers and Directors of the Institute declare that Darryl Sargent has been elected to the grade of Fellow.” |
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5/21/2009
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Work on Micro- and Nanofabrication for Tissue Engineering by Jeff Borenstein, Draper Team Cited in ACS Nano
Work by a Draper team led by Dr. Jeff Borenstein, director of Draper's Biomedical Engineering Center, was cited by Dr. Robert Langer in an article entitled "A Conversation with Robert Langer: Pioneering Biomedical Scientist and Engineer" published in ACS Nano in April 2009 by the American Chemical Society. Dr. Langer highlighted how Draper has provided key innovations in nanostructured scaffolds that have enabled critical advances towards the realization of vascularized tissues. Draper's development of micro- and nanofabrication techniques to enable formation of blood vessels in lab-grown tissues has been performed independently and through collaborative projects with Dr. Langer and others and has been funded by Draper internal research and development. Such vascularized tissue could be used to grow replacement organs or to build organ-assist devices in the future. |
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5/1/2009
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Work in Tissue Engineering by Jeff Borenstein, Lisa Freed, and Draper Tissue Scaffold Team Cited in May Scientific American
The development of microfluidic polymer scaffolds and nanopatterned surfaces for growing tissue and building artificial organ assist devices that was performed by a Draper team led by Dr. Jeff Borenstein, director of Draper’s Biomedical Engineering Center, is cited in the May 2009 issue of Scientific American magazine. The article cites Lisa Freed’s work in cardiac tissue engineering reported in Nature Materials in 2008 when she was at MIT; she has joined Draper Laboratory’s technical staff.
View article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-grow-new-organs
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4/7/2009
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High School Biomedical Summer Internship Announced for Cambridge Residents
The Draper Laboratory High School Summer Internship program is soliciting applications from high school students that are Cambridge residents interested in participating in an 8 week paid summer research internship. The internship provides an opportunity for students to work with mentor scientists on a research project studying in vivo glucose monitoring with fluorescent nanoparticle sensors while obtaining professional experience in support of academic preparation for a career in engineering or related science.
Please refer to the 2009 Internship Guidelines and the 2009 Internship Application.
Completed applications must be received at the Lab no later than Friday, April 24, 2009.. |
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4/6/2009
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Phil Hattis Presents AIAA Position on Using Aerospace Technology to Monitor Climate Change
Draper Technical Staff Member Phil Hattis participated in an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) press conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on March 17.
As the AIAA’s national Vice President for Public Policy, Hattis was responsible for leading the AIAA position formulation and press conference presentation for using and advancing aerospace technology to monitor and mitigate Global Climate Change (GCC).
GCC is an area of great current interest to Hattis. He recently has been heading a team of Draper staff to explore how Laboratory capabilities can facilitate more comprehensive and effective monitoring of GCC.
Additional topics covered in the AIAA press conference included assuring a future US aerospace workforce that is both highly capable and sufficient in number, and addressing the key energy and environmental issues facing global aviation. Other participants included George Muellner (the AIAA President), Robert Dickman (The AIAA Executive Director); Prof Mark Lewis (Univ. of Maryland, formerly Air Force Chief Scientist), and Carol Cash (Chair of the AIAA Public Policy Committee’s Aeronautics Subcommittee). This press conference is the third annual event of its kind. |
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3/12/2009
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Astronaut Greg Chamitoff Visits Draper Laboratory
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 Astronaut Greg Chamitoff (right) presents Draper VP of Programs Darryl Sargent
with the
Draper-developed MEMS gyroscope hecarried with him to the International Space Station. |
NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff visited Draper Laboratory on March 12 to discuss the six months he spent in space on the International Space Station Expedition 17-18, June - Nov. 2008. He spoke about his extensive preparation for the long-duration mission, showed clips from the expedition, and formally returned to the Laboratory a Draper-developed MEMS gyroscope that he took with him into orbit. Chamitoff performed his Ph.D. thesis work at Draper from 1985-1992 as part of the Draper Fellows program .
Following his presentation about the mission, Chamitoff was briefed on the Laboratory’s current space systems programs, had an opportunity to fly the Lunar Lander simulation Draper is developing for NASA, and met with current Draper Fellows. |
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2/18/2009
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Dennard Receives 2009 Draper Prize
 Robert H. Dennard was awarded the 2009 Charles Stark Draper Prize "for his invention and contributions to the development of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM),” on February 17, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
DRAM is used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems. It is a form of computer memory that puts bits of data into capacitors – energy-storage devices within a miniaturized electronic circuit – and periodically recharges the capacitors so that the information in them is not lost. His one-transistor design was a vast improvement over the six-transistor cell in use at that time. Dennard’s ability to use only a single metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor – a device that conducts electricity, amplifying the charge as the electricity is passed along – allowed his memory cell to be much smaller and simpler in design than its predecessor.
In addition, Dennard and associates developed the set of consistent scaling principles for miniaturizing MOS transistors and the integrated circuits using them, which are the basis for today’s electronic microprocessor and DRAM chips. In the early 1970s the industry was concerned with how far MOS transistors could be miniaturized without affecting their switching ability. Dennard’s IBM group introduced a theory – called constant-field scaling – which addressed these issues. This scaling allowed for computers to run faster on significantly less energy and thus be less costly to operate and is a major driver of the industry. His 1974 paper on MOS transistor scaling is universally referenced and has been reprinted as a “Classic Paper” in the Proceedings of the IEEE.
The availability of cheap, high-density memory that has come about due to the invention of the DRAM cell has enabled tremendous growth in computing over the past 40 years. The DRAM market is estimated to have totaled $420 billion in sales through 2008.
After earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Southern Methodist University and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1958, Dennard spent his entire professional career in various positions at IBM, including the prestigious title of IBM Fellow beginning in 1979. He was elected to the NAE in 1984.
The Charles Stark Draper Prize is a $500,000 annual award that honors engineers whose accomplishments have significantly benefited society. It is engineering’s highest honor and considered the Nobel Prize of engineering. |
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2/12/2009
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New Educational Website Celebrates the Accomplishments of Engineer
Cambridge, Mass. --- To coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the Draper Prize, Draper Laboratory, in conjunction with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), has developed a new website for students and adults to learn about the impact engineers have had on our daily lives, and to celebrate the accomplishments of the 32 engineers who have been awarded “Engineering’s Nobel” since 1989.
The website, www.draperprize.org, will bring visitors through several scenes of “daily life” and highlight the Draper Prize-winning engineering technologies that help a person through his or her ordinary day. These technologies include GPS, the Internet, the Personal Computer, and Satellite Communications. The site also will educate visitors about the history and background of the prize, and provide information about the Prize’s namesake, Dr. Charles Stark Draper.
“Many of today’s greatest engineering innovations are so commonplace that they are taken for granted. The Draper Prize and its accompanying website celebrate the technological advances that have dramatically affected how we live. We hope that recognizing these achievements will inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists to continue to explore and innovate,” said Jim Shields, President and CEO of Draper Lab.
One of the world's preeminent awards for engineering achievement, The Charles Stark Draper Prize was established by the NAE and endowed by Draper Laboratory to recognize innovative engineering achievements that have led to important benefits and significant improvement in the well being and freedom of humanity.
The Prize recognizes achievement in all engineering disciplines, and engineers worldwide are eligible to receive it. The Prize is awarded annually during National Engineers Week in Washington, D.C. The 2009 recipient, Robert H. Dennard, will receive his award on Feb. 17 for the invention of dynamic random access memory. |
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1/26/2009
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Heather Clark's Development of a Nanosensor for Glucose Monitoring Featured in Technology Review
Heather Clark's development of a Nanosensor for glucose monitoring is featured in Technology Review, "The Glucose Monitoring Tatoo", Medgadget.com, and The Boston Globe.
View full story: Technology Review
View full story: Medgadget.com
View full story: The Boston Globe |
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1/05/2009
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Inventor of Dynamic Random Access Memory to Receive 2009 Draper Prize
 WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced today that Robert H. Dennard will receive the Charles Stark Draper Prize "for his invention and contributions to the development of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems." Robert Dennard’s invention of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) using one-transistor cells paved the way for the worldwide explosion of computing.
The Charles Stark Draper Prize is a $500,000 annual award that honors engineers whose accomplishments have significantly benefited society. It is engineering’s highest honor and considered the Nobel Prize of engineering.
DRAM is a form of computer memory that puts bits of data into capacitors – energy-storage devices within a miniaturized electronic circuit – and periodically recharges the capacitors so that the information in them is not lost. His one-transistor design was a vast improvement over the six-transistor cell in use at that time. Dennard’s ability to use only a single metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor – a device that conducts electricity, amplifying the charge as the electricity is passed along – allowed his memory cell to be much smaller and simpler in design than its predecessor.
In addition, Dennard and associates developed the set of consistent scaling principles for miniaturizing MOS transistors and the integrated circuits using them, which are the basis for today’s electronic microprocessor and DRAM chips. In the early 1970s the industry was concerned with how far MOS transistors could be miniaturized without affecting their switching ability. Dennard’s IBM group introduced a theory – called constant-field scaling – which addressed these issues. This scaling allowed for computers to run faster on significantly less energy and thus be less costly to operate and is a major driver of the industry. His 1974 paper on MOS transistor scaling is universally referenced and has been reprinted as a “Classic Paper” in the Proceedings of the IEEE.
The availability of cheap, high-density memory that has come about due to the invention of the DRAM cell has enabled tremendous growth in computing over the past 40 years. The DRAM market is estimated to have totaled $420 billion in sales through 2008.
After earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Southern Methodist University and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1958, Dennard spent his entire professional career in various positions at IBM, including the prestigious title of IBM Fellow beginning in 1979. He was elected to the NAE in 1984. |
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12/17/2008
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Draper Identified as a Member of "Mystery Team" Competing for Google X Prize
Next Giant Leap (www.nextgiantleap.com) publically revealed itself at a press conference on Dec. 17 at NASA’s Ames Research center as the “Mystery Team” – the fourth team to register for the Google Lunar X-Prize. In addition to Draper, “Mystery Team” members include MicroSat Systems, MIT, Busek, and Aurora Flight Sciences. .
The Google-sponsored X-Prize competition was announced in the fall of 2007. To win, a privately funded team must be able to send a spacecraft to the moon, land safely, and then move at least 500 meters across the surface; while there, it must send high-resolution images and video back to Earth. Twelve teams are currently registered for the competition.
Press Release |
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12/03/2008
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Sargent Named Fellow of AIAA
Draper Vice President of Programs Darryl Sargent was elected as one of the AIAA’s 2009 Fellows. According to the AIAA, “The distinction of Fellow is conferred by AIAA and its Board of Directors upon those members of the Institute who have made notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics.”
More Information |
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11/13/2008
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Draper Staff Members Receive NASA Group Achievement Award for Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle
Four members of the Draper technical staff supporting the development of NASA's Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle were recently recognized with a Group Achievement Award.
Bob Brown, Nick Harrison, Roger Racine, and Gary Schwartz were selected as Draper recipients for the Ares I Avionics Reference Architecture Team and were recognized by NASA for "engineering excellence associated with analysis and development of the Ares I Avionics Reference Architecture." The NASA Group Achievement Award is given in recognition of outstanding accomplishments which have been made through the coordination of individual efforts and has contributed substantially to the accomplishment of the NASA mission.
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10/29/2008
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Len Polizzotto Named 1 of 10 Tampa Bay Business Leaders to Watch
 "Newcomer cutting-edge tech firms SRI of California and Draper Laboratory of Cambridge, Mass., claim ties to Stanford and MIT, respectively. But what they also have in common is Len Polizzotto, now Draper's head of business development. His roots can be found years ago at Polaroid where, as new business development chief, he helped lead the painful journey from a business model based on the quick-developing snapshot to the digital world. He was SRI vice president when that company negotiated economic development incentives from the city and state, leading to SRI putting down roots in St. Petersburg. Now at Draper, which has plans for both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, Polizzotto's helping show off the company's technology, from robotics to microelectromechanical systems, at an open house this Tuesday (1-4 p.m.) and Wednesday (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at USF, 3802 Spectrum Blvd. in Tampa."
View full article: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article860277.ece |
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10/09/2008
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General John A. Gordon Elected as Chairman of the Board of Draper Laboratory
 Cambridge, Mass. -- The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. announced today that General John A. Gordon (retired, U.S. Air Force) will be its new Chairman of the Board. He replaces retiring chairman Dr. John R. Kreick.
Currently a private consultant, Gordon served as the President’s Homeland Security Advisor from June 2003 until June 2004. From June 2002 to June 2003 he was the Deputy National Security Advisor for Counter Terrorism and the National Director for Counter Terrorism for the National Security Council. Prior to these White House appointments, he was the first administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and Under Secretary of Energy, responsible for the entirety of the nation’s nuclear weapons program.
As an Air Force four-star general, he was the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from October 1997 until June 2000. Gordon’s 32-year Air Force career included significant concentration on research and development, strategic planning, missile and space operations, intergovernmental operations, and international negotiations.
“John has a remarkable depth and breadth of experience across the spectrum of national security and a strong technical background. We look forward to the insight and perspective he will be able to provide to Draper in the coming years,” said Draper President & CEO Jim Shields.
Gordon holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Missouri (1968), an M.S. in Physics from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (1970), and an M.A. in Business Administration from New Mexico Highlands University(1972).
Draper Laboratory is a non-profit engineering research and development laboratory dedicated to serving the national interest in applied research, engineering development, advanced technical education, and technology transfer. Areas of technology development include guidance, navigation, and control: inertial, strategic and tactical systems; miniature low-power systems; information & decision systems; complex, reliable systems; and biomedical engineering. |
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09/12/2008
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Draper Laboratory and Employees Honored for Philanthropy Sept. 5, 2008
Draper employees were recognized as the tenth most generous in Massachusetts based on their charitable payroll deductions in 2007 by the Boston Business Journal (BBJ). In a separate ranking Draper Laboratory was recognized by the BBJ at its Corporate Citizenship Summit on Sept. 5, 2008, as one of the area's largest corporate charitable contributors based on donations made in Draper fiscal year 2007.
BBJ compiled its list of most generous employees in Massachusetts by comparing total employee charitable payroll deductions in 2007 for philanthropic organizations in Massachusetts from employees in Massachusetts. The deductions by Draper employees that fit the criteria for BBJ's survey were for United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley (UWMBMV); deductions directed to other United Way organizations, deductions by Lab employees outside Massachusetts, and donations to UWMBMV made by check or cash did not qualify for inclusion in BBJ's formula. By BBJ's calculations, during 2007 charitable payroll deductions by Draper employees in Massachusetts averaged $166.
Ranked by cash donations during 2007, Draper Lab placed #72 out of 78 in a list published in a supplement to the Sept. 5-11 issue of the Boston Business Journal. To be included in the list, companies had to have contributed at least $100,000 to Massachusetts nonprofit agencies in their 2007 fiscal years. Draper Laboratory's corporate cash contributions in DFY07 totaled $168,150. Included in that total was $125,000 disbursed through Draper's Corporate Contributions Program; a $10,000 grant to the Math, Science and Technology Initiative of the UWMBMV; Draper's in-kind donations; and other contributions made within the state of Massachusetts. |
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09/12/2008
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Trevejo Honored as One of 20 on the Move by Boston Business Journal & El Planeta
Jose Trevejo has been named one of 20 on the Move by Boston Business Journal and El Planeta through their inaugural awards recognizing Hispanic executives making a difference in Boston. The recipients will be honored at an event on Oct. 17, 2008. Trevejo, a physician researcher, is the principal investigator for the rapid and sensitive Tuberculosis Diagnosis Project at Draper Laboratory’s Biomedical Engineering Center. He and his team are developing a portable device to detect TB metabolites in sputum and perform diagnostic analysis in the field, particularly in resource-poor settings around the globe. This project is funded in part by the World Health Organization, Draper’s internal research and development program, and private industry. Trevejo holds a joint appointment at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he sees patients in the infectious disease clinic.
Trevejo makes time to mentor and encourage Hispanics and other members of minority groups to pursue careers in medicine, science, and engineering. With the Northeastern University biology student he currently is mentoring, Trevejo will represent Draper at the national conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science in October. He serves on Draper’s Diversity Team, working closely with the director of Draper’s Education Office to attract minority students to the Draper Laboratory Fellow Program for graduate students. Previously in his career and education, Trevejo actively supported such diversity outreach activities at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
For more information about 20 on the Move, visit http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/08/25/daily21.html
Press Release: click here |
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08/26/2008
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Draper Laboratory Names Elizabeth Mora as New Vice President for Finance & Administration
 The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., has selected Elizabeth (Beth) Mora as its new Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer. In this role, Mora will be responsible for all financial, contracts, legal, security, facilities and information technology activities of the Laboratory. She will report to President & CEO Jim Shields.
Mora was most recently the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Finance at Harvard University, where she was responsible for overseeing the university’s $3 billion operating budget and coordinating the financial affairs of Harvard’s eleven schools. In her more than decade long career at Harvard, she was also the Associate Vice President, Research Administration and the Director of the Office of Sponsored Research, where she was responsible for all management, financial and compliance matters for over 7,000 research grants totaling over $650 million. Prior to joining Harvard, Beth was one of the founding members of Coopers and Lybrand’s national regulatory consulting practice (now Pricewaterhouse Coopers).
“Beth brings to Draper the experiences from a very successful career,” said Shields. “She is very familiar with the contract research and government compliance aspects of our business in addition to being a seasoned finance professional."
Draper Laboratory is a non-profit engineering research and development laboratory dedicated to serving the national interest in applied research, engineering development, advanced technical education, and technology transfer. Areas of technology development include guidance, navigation, and control: inertial, strategic and tactical systems; miniature low-power systems; information & decision systems; complex, reliable systems; and biomedical engineering.
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08/25/2008
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MEMS-based Device Proposed By Draper Researchers Could Improve Bioartificial Kidney Technology
Jeff Borenstein, director of Draper’s Biomedical Engineering Center, and Eli Weinberg, a former Draper Fellow, are authors of a new study proposing a MEMS-based bioartificial device that could replicate the function of a single nephron. Their design could present a large improvement in bioartificial kidney technology.
Read study: Click here |
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08/11/2008
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Bedrossian Receives NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal
 In the past, large angle rotations of the International Space Station (ISS) have required significant usage of propellant. A 180 degree maneuver of the space station could use over 100 pounds of propellant at a cost of about $10,000 per pound. Dr. Nazareth Bedrossian, a Group Leader for Manned Space Systems at Draper, knew that this was an area where NASA could use his help.
Enter the Zero Propellant Maneuver (ZPM), a technique to rotate the ISS without using the stations thrusters and consuming propellant. "I had three Draper Laboratory Fellows work with me on this over the years and an opportunity arrived where they had to rotate the station," said Bedrossian, who recently was honored by NASA with an Exceptional Public Service Medal. "It was a Draper invented capability. We convinced them to try it out and they tried it out twice - first in November 2006 and then in March 2007."
The first flight demonstration rotated the station by 90 degrees and the second by 180 degrees. ZPM was developed by Bedrossian and Sagar Bhatt, a graduate student supported under the Draper Laboratory Fellow program, in collaboration with Dr. Yin Zhang, a professor of computational and applied mathematics at Rice University. ZPM is a new attitude control concept that takes advantage of the orbital environment - gravity and aerodynamics - to perform maneuvers with the ISS Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). It has demonstrated how a non-propulsive maneuver can be accomplished using system dynamics. NASA describes it as being similar to the way a sailboat would tack against the wind.
Bedrossian, who has been involved in spacecraft simulation development, control system design and verification for over 15 years at Draper, is recognized by his colleagues as both a bright mind and a generous mentor for the next generation of aerospace engineers. "ZPM typifies Nazareth's ability to have an innovative technical solution and have it applied to a flight program and train the next generation of engineers," says Seamus Tuohy, Draper's Space Programs Director. By reducing propellant consumption, Tuohy notes that ZPM will allow for less stress on the ISS supply and logistics chain. The maneuver also avoids the solar array plume impingement and contamination issues associated with thruster firings.
Bedrossian has not had an easy road to success. He was born and raised in Cyprus, which was invaded by Turkey in 1974. Bedrossian was living in refugee camps before immigrating to the US as a teenager in 1977.
Upon arriving in the States, he lived with an uncle in northern Virginia while working and taking classes. Just as he was getting settled in his new country, another obstacle arrived. Bedrossian had contracted Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. He had to undergo chemotherapy and it took a year for him to recuperate.
Once he was healthy, Bedrossian fit everything he owned in his car and went to Florida to join friends. He hoped to gain admittance to the University of Florida but was not accepted the first time he applied; the school suggested that he attend community college and then transfer. His persistence ultimately paid off. After a year and a half of community college, Bedrossian was accepted by the University of Florida. He graduated with high honors in 1984, earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
The next step would be graduate school and Bedrossian was accepted by both MIT and Stanford. However, no scholarships were available, posing yet another challenge. "I stayed in Florida in 1985, looking for funding, and then I took a trip up to MIT to visit some professors and see if there were any TA positions available," said Bedrossian. "Most of them didn't have anything. However, one professor, Warren Seering, said there's a place called Draper that offers support for graduate students under the Draper Laboratory Fellow program, and maybe you ought to apply to them."
Bedrossian visited Draper and talked with a number of staff, including current Vice President of Programs Darryl Sargent. He was ultimately awarded a Draper Laboratory Fellow appointment and began working at the lab during the summer of 1985. Even the move to Boston had an inauspicious start. "Darryl likes to tell the story about how I came up there. Housing wasn't available and for two weeks I lived in a campsite in Littleton, a KOA," said Bedrossian. "It was pretty fun. I enjoyed it there, sleeping in a tent."
Bedrossian earned his Masters and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. "Essentially, Draper paid for school. You can't get a better deal than that," said Bedrossian. "I also worked a couple summers as staff. That was actually nice earning extra money." Once he finished his PhD work, Bedrossian became a full-time staff member. He moved to Houston in late 1991, working for Sargent's Space Systems group.
As NASA acknowledges his public service, Bedrossian is still making vital contributions to the agency and its future plans. Project Constellation, which aims to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, is relying upon a new generation of rockets - Ares I, which will carry astronauts into space aboard an Apollo-like capsule, and Ares V, an unmanned heavy-lift cargo ship. Draper is designing the controller to fly this next generation of NASA rockets. Bedrossian serves as task leader for the Ares I launch vehicle attitude control design and Draper is helping the Marshall Space Flight Center design avionics and flight software for the platform. The technical challenges are daunting. Ares I has a long, slender body - the ratio of height to body diameter is 18:1 - which will actually bend as it moves in flight. "It's a very flexible, tall body that you need to steer," says Tuohy. Bedrossian is applying his knowledge in control of flexible structures to keep the Ares 1 stable during its flight.
As always, Bedrossian is focused on both his projects and what is being done to prepare the next generation of aerospace engineers. In 1998, he established a Draper Laboratory Fellow program at Rice University in Houston and the program has been a huge success with 13 graduates. For 2008, the program has 7 fellows.
And Bedrossian hasn't stopped there. He is looking to soon establish a fellow program at Draper's new location in Huntsville, Alabama. "The Draper Laboratory Fellow program provides another means by which Draper serves the national interest by developing the next generation of guidance, navigation and control talent," said Bedrossian, who is now giving back to the program which offered him such a tremendous opportunity. |
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07/28/2008
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Draper Laboratory to Establish Bio MEMS R&D Center and Multi Chip Module Center in Tampa Bay
Cambridge, Mass. --The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., announced today that it will be establishing a BioMEMS R&D Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa and a Multi Chip Module (MCM) Center in St. Petersburg. These facilities will enable Draper to better meet the needs of its customers for advanced, highly complex MCMs and to further its achievements in the biomedical arena.
“These centers will provide an excellent opportunity for Draper Laboratory to further its work in developing technology solutions to some of the nation’s most critical problems in healthcare, security, and energy,” said Draper President & CEO James D. Shields. “We look forward to working with USF, the Tampa Bay Partnership, Cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg, Progress Energy, and the economic development team in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and the State of Florida in executing our mission to serve the national interest.”
Between these two facilities, Draper will create 165 new high wage jobs. Furthering the educational aspect of its mission, Draper will sponsor two Draper Lab Fellows (DLFs) at USF each year, paying for their graduate education and co-advising their thesis research.
BioMEMS R&D Center
The BioMEMS R&D Center will be working in partnership with USF and its medical school for the application of MEMS technologies to medical and biological problems. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are miniature mechanical devices built using semiconductor manufacturing techniques. MEMS components measure 1 to 100 micrometers -- the average human hair is 50 micrometers in diameter. BioMEMS applications include diagnostic tools, surgical instruments, tissue repair, artificial organs, and drug delivery systems. BioMEMS technologies could address pressing global challenges ranging from the detection of infectious disease to the organ shortage.
“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to work with the people of the University of South Florida to develop BioMEMS-based solutions for critical problems in healthcare,” said Dale Larson, Draper’s director of biomedical engineering.
Multi Chip Module Facility
The Multi Chip Module (MCM) pilot facility in St. Petersburg will allow Draper to meet the increasing demand from its government customers for highly complex, technologically advanced systems in small packages. Multi chip modules are specialized electronic packages where multiple integrated circuits, semiconductor dies and other components work together. Through this integration, MCMs dramatically reduce the size and weight of complex electronic systems.
“For applications in which size and weight are at a premium, this is the best technology available,” said Paul Rosenstrach, Draper’s special operations director.
Draper Laboratory as Collaborator
The USF relationship will extend Draper’s practice of partnering with academic institutions and medical research organizations. Draper is a founding member of the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), joining organizations such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and many others.
To translate its intellectual property into commercial applications, Draper has entered into licensing agreements and spawned startup businesses based on its intellectual property. For example, Sionex Corporation is an independent, for-profit company commercializing field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) technology developed at the Laboratory. Draper’s FAIMS technology has a number of applications, including a portable diagnostic device under development to analyze breath to detect the presence of tuberculosis.
Click below for additional information:
http://www.flgov.com/release/10126
http://www.draper.com/mems_background/ |
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07/09/2008
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Robert Seamans, 89: NASA Administrator During Apollo Era Was A Protégé of Charles Stark Draper
 Robert C. Seamans Jr., a leading NASA administrator during the Apollo program and former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, died on June 28 at his home in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. He was 89.
Seamans, a graduate student of Doc Draper and teaching assistant for him at MIT in the 1940s and 1950s, maintained close ties to his mentor and the Draper Laboratory throughout his life. He became a Member of the Corporation in 1973, served on the Board of Directors from 1973-1974 and 1977-1978, and became a Member Emeritus in 1988.
Dr. Seamans was a 1939 engineering graduate of Harvard University, and earned a master’s degree in aeronautics from MIT in 1942. He completed his doctorate in instrumentation (guidance equipment) in 1951, with Draper supervising his work. During the 1950s, Seamans taught aeronautical engineering at MIT and also entered the private sector from 1955-1960, serving as chief engineer of RCA’s Airborne Systems Lab and Missile and Controls Division.
Seamans became NASA’s associate administrator in 1960 and was instrumental in helping put men on the moon and return them safely to Earth during the Project Apollo effort. He and Doc Draper remained in close contact during this time. Draper even approached him about becoming an astronaut. “Following up our various conversations of recent days, I would like to formally volunteer for service as a crew member on the Apollo mission to the moon, and also for whatever suborbital and orbital flights that may be made in preparation for the lunar trip,” wrote Draper to Seamans in a letter dated November 21, 1961. “I realize that my age of 60 years is a negative factor in considering my request, but General Don Flickinger tells me that this is no sure bar to my selection as a crew member. I will gladly undergo any physical examinations and tests that may be prescribed and will take any courses of training that may be recommended.”
Doc Draper further believed that by volunteering, he would show his utmost confidence in the Apollo guidance work that the Instrumentation Laboratory was performing for NASA. “If I am willing to hang my life on our equipment, the whole project will surely have the strongest possible motivation and discussions of general design and details will be most responsible to my inputs,” wrote Draper.
Replying shortly thereafter, Seamans assured Draper that he would bring his request to the attention of the right people. “It is most reassuring to have the Instrumentation Laboratory working with us on the Apollo project and the tremendous value of your own personal interest is most appreciated,” wrote Seamans. While NASA did not ultimately take Doc Draper up on his offer to fly to the moon, the Instrumentation Laboratory delivered on its promise of building a top notch guidance and navigation system.
During an interview conducted with Seamans in December 1987, he recalled the reaction of then NASA administrator James E. Webb to Doc Draper’s offer. Doc “always found it was important that the people who designed and developed equipment had a chance to use it, and they were there at the time it was first being used, and (he said) he was available to go on the first lunar trip,” recalled Seamans. “I took this (letter) in and showed it to Webb, and he thought it was terrific. As far as he was concerned, he was going to go over and see the President and say, ‘There may be some scientists in the country that aren’t for the program, but here’s one that’s not only for it, he wants to go.’”
After leaving NASA in 1968, Seamans returned to his alma mater of MIT and served as a visiting professor. But he returned to government shortly thereafter, becoming the ninth secretary of the Air Force in 1969. During his four year tenure, he helped push for new Air Force weapons systems even as the US was withdrawing from Vietnam and military spending was being reduced. In 1974, he transitioned to another government post, becoming the first administrator of the new Energy Research and Development Administration.
From 1978 until his retirement in 1984, Dr. Seamans served as dean of MIT’s engineering school. Even after his retirement, Seamans would return to the classroom to teach freshman seminars in aeronautics. He was active right up until his death – as recently as two weeks ago, Seamans was playing tennis and looking forward to trips on his sailboat.
There will be a memorial service at a time to be announced at Harvard’s Memorial Church. |
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06/30/2008
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Jana Schwartz Awarded National Reconnaissance
Office Fellowship
Jana Schwartz has been awarded a 2008-2009
Technology Fellowship from the National Reconnaissance Office
(NRO). During this one year assignment which begins July
1, she will work to develop a system for evaluating the synergistic
operations of overhead sensors. She also will participate
in the Technology Fellows Enrichment Program, gaining knowledge
of government operations through tours of government facilities,
prime contractor facilities, national laboratories, and visits
with military customers. The NRO Tech Fellows Program supports
the development of future technology leaders and aims to
stimulate industry participation in the R&D areas critical
to NRO and the intelligence community. This is the second
year a Draper engineer has participated in the program, with
Technical Staff Member Dorothy Poppe serving as a Fellow
during 2007-2008. Poppe’s project involved the evaluation
and analysis of specific satellite constellations. |
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06/03/2008
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Draper Laboratory Fellow Jason Furtado Wins MIT 2008 Reintjes Award
 Draper Fellow Jason Furtado (left) received the Reintjes Award from MIT Prof. Joel Schindall during the EECS Annual Spring Fling and Awards Presentation held May 18, 2008, at the MIT Museum. Photo provided by Patricia Sampson of MIT.
Draper Fellow Jason Furtado received the J. Francis Reintjes Excellence in VI-A Industrial Practice Award on May 18, 2008. It was presented during the MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Annual Spring Fling and Awards Presentation, held at the MIT Museum. The award is presented to students in VI-A who have demonstrated “outstanding performance” in a VI-A work assignment and/or “exceptional quality” in a master’s of engineering thesis performed at a company affiliated with the VI-A program.
The award is named after a past director of the MIT EECS VI-A M.Eng. Thesis Program with Industry. Winners are selected by a VI-A Awards Committee organized by the VI-A director. Furtado split this year’s $1,000 award with Doris Lin, who works at Analog Devices.
The EECS curriculum is also known as course 6 at MIT, from which arises the name of the VI-A program. This EECS program enrolls undergraduate students who plan to pursue MIT’s master of engineering degree. It places undergraduate students at affiliated companies, where they start as interns; once they begin the master’s program, the students start work on their thesis projects at the companies.
Furtado began work at Draper as an undergraduate in 2005 under the supervision of Autonomous Mission Control Group Leader Lauren Kessler. Furtado’s MIT advisor and Kessler nominated him for the award. Kessler describes Furtado as “highly innovative, attentive to detail, and has a strong sense of perspective.”
Furtado’s thesis research at the Lab has focused on helping to design the Human Interactive Mission Manager (HIMM). This software will enable people to intervene in real time as mission planning is being performed autonomously by control software. Although the default state of a system to which this software is applied would be autonomous, the software would allow for human supervisory control and immediate intervention in case a problem was identified. In a letter to the VI-A director recommending Furtado for the Reintjes Award, Kessler wrote that his “software design and implementation for the Human-Interactive Mission Manager are both elegant and creative, and will be extended into the precision lunar landing technology program at NASA.”
According to Furtado his work at Draper allowed him to apply his technical knowledge to a real-world project. Commenting on his receipt of the Reintjes Award, Furtado said he is honored that Kessler and his MIT advisor took the time to nominate him and that the award “was a nice ending to my time as a Draper Fellow.”
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05/28/2008
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Draper's microfluidic work featured in Technology Review, May 23
"Microfiltering Sepsis: A microfluidic device may effectively filter out pathogens that trigger septic shock" discusses Draper's miniature filtration device that can clear infectious agents from blood in the case of sepsis. This work is being developed under funding from CIMIT and in collaboration with Children's Hospital. Draper PI Jason Fiering, Jeff Borenstein, Mark Mescher, Mathew Varghese (formerly of Draper), and three co-inventors from Children's Hospital have a patent application pending.
Click below for full story:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20816/
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04/23/2008
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Draper is Member of Two Teams Selected by DARPA for Vulture Air Vehicle Program
Draper Laboratory will be part of two of the three teams selected by DARPA to complete Phase1 concept development of an unmanned aerial system that will be able to stay aloft for five years.
Draper will be part of the Aurora Flight Systems’ team developing a design called “Odysseus” and a separate team led by Boeing. DARPA has awarded a third Phase 1 contract to Lockheed Martin.
The Vulture program’s objective is to create an aircraft with “pseudo-satellite” capabilities that can carry a 1,000-pound, 5-kilowatt payload and is able to stay airborne for an uninterrupted period of at least five years while maintaining its on-station position 99 percent of the time.
According to DARPA, a system able to remain on station for five years could have utility in a variety of missions such as communications relay, surveillance and reconnaissance, and signals intelligence.
Click below for full stories:
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q2/080421d_nr.html
http://www.darpa.mil/body/news/2008/vulture.pdf
http://www.aurora.aero/Communications/Item.aspx?id=apr-210 |
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02/27/2008
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Draper part of MIT-led team to create gecko-inspired adhesive bandage for surgical use
The biodegradable bandage has the same kind of nanoscale hills and valleys that allow the lizards to cling to walls and ceilings. A thin coating of glue is layered over this to help the bandage stick in wet environments. Draper was responsible for fabricating the nanomolds involved in the work, which is described in the Feb. 11 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Click below for full stories:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/adhesive-0218.html
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/short/105/7/2307 |
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02/27/2008
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DARPA Urban Challenge article in National Defense includes Draper Engineer
National Defense Magazine’s article, “Robots Ger Smarter, But Who Will Buy Them?” about applying the technology developed for the DARPA Urban Challenge to commercial and military applications quotes Draper engineer Paul DeBitetto.
Click here for full story:
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/issues/2008/March/RobotsGet.htm |
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02/21/2008
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Fuhrman Honored with New England Achievement Award by
National Engineers Week Committee of Boston
Draper’s Education Department Director Linda Fuhrman was the recipient of the New England Achievement Award 2008 by the National Engineers Week Committee of Boston at the 51st Annual National Engineers Week Awards Luncheon, held Feb. 15, 2008.
The New England Achievement Award recognizes outstanding achievement in advancing engineering in New England and fostering measurable and beneficial change. In a letter to Fuhrman notifying her of her selection as the award winner, Co-chair of Boston NEW Katie Moulton wrote, “We feel that you are very deserving of this award through your great efforts at both Draper Lab and JPL, balancing your design projects with community, and particularly educational, outreach. You were selected because you are an inspiration to other engineers, displaying both dedication and excellence in your technical work and your commitment to professional societies and your community.”
The citation presented to Fuhrman reads, “Ms. Fuhrman has been active in public education and outreach about science and engineering throughout her career, and has participated at the local, regional, and national levels in efforts to advance science, technology, engineering, and math education. As Director of Education at Draper Laboratory, she has worked with students, science teachers, guidance counselors, and other groups to promote technical education, and raise awareness of aerospace as a career through discussing her own work and NASA’s current space exploration programs.”
Fuhrman spoke briefly about what inspired her into engineering when accepting her award. Citing the people who influenced her interest in engineering, she encouraged audience members to share their enthusiasm for engineering with youth to cultivate the next generation of engineers.
Draper Laboratory was a gold sponsor for 2008 NEW Boston, and participated in the NEW Boston Students’ Career Fair, held Feb. 14.
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01/07/2008
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2008 Draper Prize to be Awarded to Rudolf Kalman for his development of the Kalman Filter
Rudolf Kalman will receive the prestigious Charles Stark Draper Prize -- a $500,000 annual award that honors engineers whose accomplishments have significantly benefited society -- "for the development and dissemination of the optimal digital technique (known as the Kalman Filter) that is pervasively used to control a vast array of consumer, health, commercial, and defense products."
Read full article:
http://www.nae.edu/nae/awardscom.nsf/weblinks/JMAN-7A4HZV?OpenDocument |
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