ASU is in the heat of a high-stakes competition with three other universities for a $43.8 million U.S. Army contract to research and develop flexible display technology.
The technology will be used to provide soldiers, or "war fighters," as the Army calls them, with lightweight flexible computer displays that can be worn on the wrist.
This will aid in "full situational awareness" on the battlefield, so combatants know the locations of both friend and foe, said Gregory Raupp, associate vice president for research at ASU and one of the principal developers of the proposal, which will be submitted Oct. 7.
"The competition is fierce," Raupp said, "but there are very good reasons to choose ASU."
The other three schools in the final four are Princeton, Cornell and the University of Texas at Dallas.
Raupp said ASU's greatest strengths dovetail with the Army's priorities.
"We're strongest in what's behind [flexible display technology]," Raupp said. "To make the thin film transistors that drive the electro-optic devices is our greatest strength, and it's also what the Army considers most important."
ASU's second strong point is manufacturing and technology integration, which Raupp said is the Army's No. 2 priority.
ASU currently doesn't own a "core facility" that could be used for flexible display technology research, which is another Army requirement. But, Raupp said, if ASU wins the contract, it would buy Motorola's FED Process Building in the ASU Research Park in Tempe at a price "well below market."
"This is a one-of-a-kind facility," Raupp said. "It was designed specifically to do this kind of work."
ASU spokesman Keith Jennings said this proposal falls under one of ASU President Michael Crow's eight design imperatives for ASU, "Pasteur's Principle," which promotes social considerations in research.
"This is research that would provide a jolt to the local economy," Jennings said. "It's also multidisciplinary. It will create synergy among faculty, and it might spin off something else."
"What's exciting is that it could be much bigger than it is on its own," Raupp said.
If ASU wins the contract, he said, the University would bring in industry partners, leasing space to them and working in "intense co-development."
Raupp said UA's Optical Sciences Center, the University of Arkansas and the University of Waterloo also are involved in the ASU-led proposal.
The Army will announce its decision in November. If ASU's proposal is accepted, it will be just one of many defense-related projects at ASU. The University receives a "substantial amount of funding" from defense and intelligence agencies, Raupp said. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Office of Naval Research and the Department of Defense are working with ASU in cyber security, nanoelectronics and supersonic aerodynamics, he said.
Reach the reporter at jesse.christopherson@asu.edu.
