Research Centers
Arizona’s Commitment to A&D Research
Aerospace and defense research initiatives in Arizona are abundant, demonstrating the state’s commitment to the industry’s growth, as well as the industry’s confidence in Arizona’s employers and universities.
Below are short descriptions of a rich selection of research resources, categorized by area of specialty. Click to jump to your category of choice:
Aerospace
Adaptive Intelligent Materials and Systems Center (AIMS)
AIMS was formed in collaboration with the mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) and the electrical engineering (EE) departments at ASU to research and exploit innovative and cutting-edge technology for future “adaptive/intelligent” material and structural systems. A key objective of the AIMS Center is to develop a unified theoretical foundation for integrated intelligent systems based on the multidisciplinary research areas of its members. Research in this area will solve large-scale problems that will have a significant impact on aerospace and mechanical systems and civil infrastructures.
Advanced Composite Materials Research Laboratories
The Advanced Composite Materials Laboratory at NAU is an instructional and research facility for the fabrication, testing and analysis of composite materials, and is primarily used for work in chemical sensors and solar storage. Analytical tools used in the lab include scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy, and a full suite of deposition and vacuum systems.
Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building (AXFAB)
This 20,000-square-foot facility houses a fabrication suite, materials science lab, materials testing lab, structures lab, structural dynamics lab, space systems lab, composites lab and rapid prototyping lab. In the composites lab, students fabricate composite parts for applications in spacecraft and aircraft, and in the space systems lab, the astronautical engineering majors utilize 3-D air bearings to simulate altitude and control of spacecraft, and use vacuum chambers to simulate space environment, and transmit and receive signals from space through a ground-based communications system.
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department (AME)
AME is located in UA’s College of Engineering and offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering. AME’s research is focused in aerodynamics, active flow control, fluid mechanics, hydrodynamic stability and transition, aeroacoustics, design and testing of UAVs and MAVs, CDF, aerospace structures and materials, structural design optimization and combustion. AME is currently working with Raytheon to build a hypersonic wind tunnel, and upgrade a large wind tunnel to meet Arizona aerospace industry needs.
Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI)
AzCI is located at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park and works with developing technology companies, including aerospace, life sciences and optics/photonic, with business plan development, developing products and services, securing financing and marketing plan execution. The center provides a structured program of business development that includes access to first-class facilities plus coaching, networking and other services.
The Arizona Space Grant Consortium
Formed by ASU, UA and NAU, the consortium is a NASA-sponsored program of outreach, training and research to encourage understanding of space exploration and to provide a stream of qualified professionals for the industry.
NASA’s National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant) is a network of colleges and universities working to expand opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to understand and participate in NASA’s aeronautics and space projects by supporting and enhancing science and engineering education, research and public outreach efforts.
Center for Astronomical Adaptive Optics (CAAO)
The CAAO’s mission is to support the advancement of astronomical science by providing the means by which to exploit observations at very high resolutions. Working closely with the Air Force, CAAO explores and implements a broad range of instrumental and analytical techniques for both ground and space-based observations, focusing primarily on the development of adaptive optics techniques to enhance the resolving power of both imaging and spectrographic instruments.
Cognitive Engineering Research Institute (CERI)
CERI is an independent, not-for-profit research institute that conducts collaborative research with academic institutions, government entities and businesses. Research focuses on human factors consideration and human systems integration of large-scale cognitive and socio-technical systems, particularly the ground-control stations for unmanned aerial systems (UAS); emergency response; planning and resource allocation tasks (military, emergency response); extreme environments; and homeland and cyber security.
UA’s College of Optical Sciences is a world-premier optical institute defined by its outstanding faculty, international student body, and its innovative and unusually comprehensive research programs. The college’s research initiatives encompass a broad set of technologies and techniques for exploiting the properties and applications of light, touching virtually every field of science and industry including fiber optics, nanotechnology and quantum nano-optics of semiconductors.
Department of Astronomy/Steward Observatory
UA’s department of astronomy is the largest graduate program in the country and offers one of the top astronomy academic programs in the world. Incoming graduate students have the highest mean GRE scores on campus and only eight to 10 students per year are admitted to this highly competitive program. The department is directly associated with Steward Observatory, one of the world's leading astronomical research centers, and its proximity to the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, physics department, College of Optical Sciences and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory gives Tucson one of the largest concentrations of astronomers and allied scientists in the world.
Department of Planetary Sciences and Lunar and Planetory Laboratory (PtyS/LPL)
Dedicated to the common goal of understanding and teaching about the formation and evolution of the planetary system, PtyS/LPL’s research activities include planetary atmospheres, surface composition, climate change, global warming, mercury studies, studies of small objects (asteroids and comets), astrophysics, and ultraviolet spectroscopy and imaging. PtyS also hosts the state of Arizona Space Grant Program and conducts learning programs for children in grades K – 10.
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Aerospace engineering students on Embry Riddle’s Prescott campus have access to the 20,000-square-foot Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building and several other facilities; all housing specialized labs designed for hands-on testing and design in various AVA areas. Faculty members have been very involved with AVA research projects, including the NASA-Dryden Flight Research Center’s unmanned aviation systems, uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous helicopters, fluid dynamics, airport runways and fatigue analysis of aircraft structures.
Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering focuses on innovative education, research and solutions to produce a creative, highly educated workforce, specially trained in technically oriented careers. It is a critical source of engineers, scientists and researchers for Arizona’s ADA industry, with five of its graduate engineering majors nationally ranked among the top 30 – aerospace, bioengineering, electrical, industrial and mechanical.
King Engineering and Technology Center
This center includes a communications lab, design suite for autonomous vehicles, control theory lab, freshman engineering lab, digital circuits lab, linear circuits lab, senior design suite and power lab.
Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO)
KPNO is located on Kitt Peak Mountain, 56 miles southwest of Tucson in the Schuk Toak District on the Tohono O’odham Nation. The observatory supports the most diverse collection of astronomical observatories on Earth for nighttime optical and infrared astronomy and daytime study of the sun.
Lowell Observatory is a private, nonprofit research institution in Flagstaff, founded in 1894 by Percival Lowell and considered one of the major research facilities in the United States. Lowell astronomers utilize ground-based, airborne and space-based telescopes to conduct research on a wide range of solar system and astrophysical topics, the most recent including studies of planets forming around young stars; surveys of near-Earth asteroids; investigations of the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune; a decades-long study of the variability of the sun; and investigations of star formation and other processes in distant galaxies.
Through ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, the Mars Space Flight Facility hosts scientists and researchers who are using the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter and two Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometers (Mini-TES) on the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, to explore its geology and mineralogy. ASU is the only university to have created four scientific instruments that simultaneously send data back to Earth from another planet.
Mechanical Engineering Aerospace and Defense Research
Also through NAU’s College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences and the mechanical engineering department, its full-time faculty members and students are actively engaged in research activities in thermal/fluid sciences; renewable energy and solid mechanics, including adaptive materials and systems; advanced composites and optomechanics; and improved models for plastic deformation.
Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO)
MGIO is an operations and maintenance group that supports the needs of the astronomical research community. A division of the Steward Observatory, the research arm for the department of astronomy at the University of Arizona, MGIO operates the facilities at the remote observing site near Mount Graham in the Pinaleño Mountains in southeast Arizona.
NASA Educator Resource Center (ERC)
The only NASA ERC in Arizona is located on Embry Riddle’s Prescott campus. NASA’s resources and expertise provide K – 12 educators free access to classroom materials and resources, monthly workshops, S.T.E.M. resources, student programs, training and demonstrations through NASA websites and TV, and special events – all designed to inspire students in the S.T.E.M. areas of study.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)
NOAO is a national research and development center for ground-based nighttime astronomy, funded by the NSF and located in Tucson. NOAO is working on the next generation of telescopes, instruments and software tools necessary to improve and enhance exploration through the observable universe.
National Solar Observatory (NSO)
NSO is a federally funded observatory with headquarters in Tucson. Its telescopes on Kitt Peak include the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope Facility, containing the world’s three largest solar telescopes, the Vacuum telescope and the Razdow small solar patrol telescope.
National Undergraduate Research Observatory (NURO)
NURO is a consortium of public and private education institutions committed to training and research opportunities that inspire more students to pursue careers in science. The consortium shares 120 nights per year at Lowell Observatory’s 31-inch telescope, supported by NAU’s department of physics and astronomy, while astronomers and students collaborate on research projects or conduct private research.
Northern Arizona UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy
The department of physics and astronomy is home to active research programs in surface physics, astrophysics/planetary science and foundations of quantum mechanics. Undergraduates are provided many opportunities to conduct original research through the NASA Space Grant, the National Undergraduate Research Observatory (NURO) and Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). Current projects include cratering in the solar system, studies of near-Earth asteroids, spectroscopy of Kuiper Belt objects, transits of extra-solar planets, high-mass binary stars, dust disks around nearby stars and astrobiology.
Research for Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
NAU has been a site for the NSF-sponsored REU since 1991, conducting research in the areas of planetary science, astrogeology, stellar astrophysics, instrumentation and extragalactic research, alongside researchers from the NAU department of physics and astronomy, Lowell Observatory, the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff and the National Undergraduate Research Observatory Consortium.
The mission of UA’s space engineering places a strong emphasis on student involvement in research projects, giving numerous lectures at elementary schools and high schools throughout the Tucson area, featuring current information on national space activities and demonstrations of high-tech devices.
United States Naval Observatory, Flagstaff (USNO)
The USNO operates five telescopes at its Flagstaff station west of Flagstaff, and at the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) site on Anderson Mesa southeast of Flagstaff. The Flagstaff station is the U.S. Naval Observatory’s dark-sky site for optical and near-infrared astronomy.
University of Arizona College of Engineering
UA’s College of Engineering offers undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degrees in key aerospace and defense areas including aerospace engineering, and electrical and computer engineering, as well as online distance-study programs and student-intern programs in partnership with local high schools. The National Science Foundation (NSF) ranks UA 21st among all universities nationwide in research funding, and 14th among public universities. UA ranked third in the country in physical sciences research spending at more than $124 million.
Unmanned Aerial System Training and Simulation Center
When completed, this center will be an arm of the AZ Aerospace Institute and will be managed by CERI, and will leverage local science and technology strength in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and training and simulation areas to fill a national need for UAS training and training research.
Embry Riddle also houses the Wind Tunnel Laboratory, consisting of three specialized labs – aerodynamics, propulsion and thermal/fluid. One of four wind tunnels in the aerodynamics lab – the supersonic tunnel – is used for demonstration of aerodynamic shock at Mach 1 up to Mach 3. The propulsion laboratory facilitates advanced propulsion studies and houses the micro-turbojet used in the rockets and turbines course.
Defense
Adaptive Intelligent Materials and Systems Center (AIMS)
AIMS was formed in collaboration with the mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) and the electrical engineering (EE) departments at ASU to research and exploit innovative and cutting-edge technology for future “adaptive/intelligent” material and structural systems. A key objective of the AIMS center is to develop a unified theoretical foundation for integrated intelligent systems based on the multidisciplinary research areas of its members. Research in this area will solve large-scale problems that will have a significant impact on aerospace and mechanical systems and civil infrastructures.
Advanced Composite Materials Research Laboratories
The Advanced Composite Materials Laboratory at NAU is an instructional and research facility for the fabrication, testing and analysis of composite materials, and is primarily used for work in chemical sensors and solar storage. Analytical tools used in the lab include scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy, and a full suite of deposition and vacuum systems.
ASU facilitates aviation physiology and human factors courses approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, and is one of two universities in the United States that offers altitude chamber training courses related to recognition, treatment and prevention of hypoxia. ASU houses two chambers, both of which are capable of simulating rapid loss of cabin pressurization. Training is available to general aviation, commercial, corporate and government aircrew members.
Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI)
AzCI is located at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park, and works with developing technology companies, including aerospace, life sciences and optics/photonic, with business plan development, developing products and services, securing financing and marketing plan execution. The Center provides a structured program of business development that includes access to first-class facilities plus coaching, networking and other services.
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AI)
Located in UA’s Management Information Systems (MIS) department, AI is known for its adaptation and development of scalable and practical artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistical analysis, computational linguistics and visualization techniques. It has received more than $30 million in research funding from the NSF, CIA, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Justice over the last 20 years.
Cognitive Engineering Research Institute (CERI)
CERI is an independent, not-for-profit research institute that conducts collaborative research with academic institutions, government entities and businesses. Research focuses on human factors consideration and human systems integration of large-scale cognitive and socio-technical systems, particularly the ground-control stations for unmanned aerial systems (UAS); emergency response; planning and resource allocation tasks (military, emergency response); extreme environments; and homeland and cyber security.
Deception Detection Laboratory
Through support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Army Research Institute (ARI), the Center for the Management of Information is developing the Deception Detection Laboratory (DDL) to conduct research that may ultimately result in the development of high-performance machines to improve security at airports and other locations/events with a need for high security.
Department of Aeronautical Management Technology
ASU’s department of aeronautical management technology prepares students for careers with major and regional airlines, general and corporate aviation and the military, offering undergraduate and graduate programs in aeronautical management technology with concentrations in professional flight and air transportation management; applied science with concentrations in aviation maintenance management technology; science in technology with concentrations in aviation management technology and aviation human factors.
Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Border Security and Immigration (COE BSI)
UA co-leads the COE BSI, which consists of a team of research universities responsible for conducting research and developing technological tools and methods to enhance border security and immigration policies. The center will receive $16 million over six years to implement research related to new technologies such as surveillance, screening, data fusion and situational awareness using sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles and other technologies.
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Aerospace engineering students on Embry Riddle’s Prescott campus have access to the 20,000-square-foot Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building and several other facilities; all housing specialized labs designed for hands-on testing and design in various AVA areas. Faculty members have been very involved with AVA research projects, including the NASA-Dryden Flight Research Center’s unmanned aviation systems, uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous helicopters, fluid dynamics, airport runways and fatigue analysis of aircraft structures.
FDC is a university/industry/government collaborative venture designed to advance full-color flexible display technology and flexible display manufacturing to the brink of commercialization. Backplane electronics design, fabrication, test and integration capabilities are all located within the FDC headquarters at the ASU Research Park.
Information Assurance Center (IAC)
The IAC is located in the School of Computing and Informatics in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, and is certified as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE) by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. IAC is a multidisciplinary center focusing on both the research and educational activities to address the broad issues of developing trustworthy information systems (TIS) and ensuring the quality of information being stored, processed and transmitted by information systems and networks.
Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering focuses on innovative education, research and solutions to produce a creative, highly educated workforce, specially trained in technically oriented careers. It is a critical source of engineers, scientists and researchers for Arizona’s ADA industry, with five of its graduate engineering majors nationally ranked among the top 30 – aerospace, bioengineering, electrical, industrial and mechanical.
King Engineering and Technology Center
This center includes a communications lab, design suite for autonomous vehicles, control theory lab, freshman engineering lab, digital circuits lab, linear circuits lab, senior design suite and power lab.
Mechanical Engineering Aerospace and Defense Research
Also through NAU’s College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences and the mechanical engineering department, its full-time faculty members and students are actively engaged in research activities in thermal/fluid sciences; renewable energy and solid mechanics, including adaptive materials and systems, advanced composites and optomechanics; and improved models for plastic deformation.
Sensor, Signal and Information Processing Center (SenSIP)
SenSIP is an Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering use-inspired research trans-disciplinary force whose goal is to develop signal and information processing foundations for next-generation integrated, multidisciplinary sensing applications in biomedicine, defense, homeland security, sustainability, environmental technologies, interactive media, wireless communications and vehicular systems.
University of Arizona College of Engineering
UA’s College of Engineering offers undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degrees in key aerospace and defense areas including aerospace engineering, and electrical and computer engineering, as well as online distance-study programs and student-intern programs in partnership with local high schools. The National Science Foundation (NSF) ranks UA 21st among all universities nationwide in research funding, and 14th among public universities. UA ranked third in the country in physical sciences research spending at more than $124 million.
Unmanned Aerial System Training and Simulation Center
When completed, this center will be an arm of the AZ Aerospace Institute and will be managed by CERI, and will leverage local science and technology strength in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), training and simulation areas to fill a national need for UAS training and training research.
Aviation
Adaptive Intelligent Materials and Systems Center (AIMS)
AIMS was formed in collaboration with the mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) and the electrical engineering (EE) departments at ASU to research and exploit innovative and cutting-edge technology for future “adaptive/intelligent” material and structural systems. A key objective of the AIMS center is to develop a unified theoretical foundation for integrated intelligent systems based on the multidisciplinary research areas of its members. Research in this area will solve large-scale problems that will have a significant impact on aerospace and mechanical systems and civil infrastructures.
Advanced Composite Materials Research Laboratories
The Advanced Composite Materials Laboratory at NAU is an instructional and research facility for the fabrication, testing and analysis of composite materials, and is primarily used for work in chemical sensors and solar storage. Analytical tools used in the lab include scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy, and a full suite of deposition and vacuum systems.
Airworthiness Assurance Center of Excellence (COE)
ASU is one of nine core member universities of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Airworthiness Assurance Center of Excellence, whose objective is to collaborate with the academic community and aviation industry to accelerate research objectives, and to expedite and enhance aircraft safety.
ASU facilitates aviation physiology and human factors courses approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, and is one of two universities in the United States that offers altitude chamber training courses related to recognition, treatment and prevention of hypoxia. ASU houses two chambers, both of which are capable of simulating rapid loss of cabin pressurization. Training is available to general aviation, commercial, corporate and government aircrew members.
Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI)
AzCI is located at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park, and works with developing technology companies, including aerospace, life sciences and optics/photonic, with business plan development, developing products and services, securing financing and marketing plan execution. The Center provides a structured program of business development that includes access to first-class facilities plus coaching, networking and other services.
Cognitive Engineering Research Institute (CERI)
CERI is an independent, not-for-profit research institute that conducts collaborative research with academic institutions, government entities and businesses.Research focuses on human factors consideration and human systems integration of large-scale cognitive and socio-technical systems, particularly the ground-control stations for unmanned aerial systems (UAS); emergency response; planning and resource allocation tasks (military, emergency response); extreme environments; and homeland and cyber security.
Deception Detection Laboratory
Through support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Army Research Institute (ARI), the Center for the Management of Information is developing the deception detection laboratory (DDL) to conduct research that may ultimately result in the development of high-performance machines to improve security at airports and other locations/events with a need for high security.
Department of Aeronautical Management Technology
ASU’s department of aeronautical management technology prepares students for careers with major and regional airlines, general and corporate aviation and the military, offering undergraduate and graduate programs in aeronautical management technology with concentrations in professional flight and air transportation management; applied science with concentrations in aviation maintenance management technology; science in technology with concentrations in aviation management technology and aviation human factors.
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Aerospace engineering students on Embry Riddle’s Prescott campus have access to the 20,000-square-foot Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building and several other facilities; all housing specialized labs designed for hands-on testing and design in various AVA areas. Faculty members have been very involved with AVA research projects, including the NASA-Dryden Flight Research Center’s unmanned aviation systems, uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous helicopters, fluid dynamics, airport runways and fatigue analysis of aircraft structures.
Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering
ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering focuses on innovative education, research and solutions to produce a creative, highly educated workforce, specially trained in technically oriented careers. It is a critical source of engineers, scientists and researchers for Arizona’s ADA industry, with five of its graduate engineering majors nationally ranked among the top 30 – aerospace, bioengineering, electrical, industrial and mechanical.
King Engineering and Technology Center
This center includes a communications lab, design suite for autonomous vehicles, control theory lab, freshman engineering lab, digital circuits lab, linear circuits lab, senior design suite and power lab.
University of Arizona College of Engineering
UA’s College of Engineering offers undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degrees in key aerospace and defense areas including aerospace engineering, and electrical and computer engineering, as well as online distance-study programs and student-intern programs in partnership with local high schools. The National Science Foundation (NSF) ranks UA 21st among all universities nationwide in research funding, and 14th among public universities. UA ranked third in the country in physical sciences research spending at more than $124 million.
Unmanned Aerial System Training and Simulation Center
When completed, this center will be an arm of the AZ Aerospace Institute and will be managed by CERI, and will leverage local science and technology strength in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), training and simulation areas to fill a national need for UAS training and training research.
Embry Riddle also houses the Wind Tunnel Laboratory, consisting of three specialized labs – aerodynamics, propulsion and thermal/fluid. One of four wind tunnels in the aerodynamics lab – the supersonic tunnel – is used for demonstration of aerodynamic shock at Mach 1 up to Mach 3. The propulsion laboratory facilitates advanced propulsion studies and houses the micro-turbojet used in the rockets and turbines course.
