Southern Research Vice President of Engineering Michael D. Johns has been inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in recognition of his contributions to game-changing technologies in support of NASA, the Department of Defense and others.

Since joining Birmingham-based Southern Research in 1997, Johns has established a reputation as an expert on advanced composite materials, played an important role in the development of strategic defense technologies, and expanded the scope of the organization’s engineering activities.

Those who have worked with Johns say he has made lasting impacts on the engineering field in Alabama.

“Johns represents the best of what it means to be an engineer — his technical expertise is deep, his leadership has been proven time and time again, and his actions to help others make him someone worthy of emulation,” said C. Stephen Cornelius, senior vice president at Kord Technologies Inc. in Huntsville.

Robert M. Lightfoot Jr., vice president for strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin Space, worked with Johns while at NASA and considered him an ideal industry partner.

“His engineering depth made him a strong voice when advocating for key technologies this nation needed to develop,” Lightfoot said. “Mike demonstrates an innate ability to effectively communicate the value of engineering technology and research at all levels.”

Johns has served as a member of the NASA Advisory Council Technology, Innovation & Engineering Committee since 2014, supporting the advisory needs of the NASA administrator, the Office of the Chief Technologist, and NASA Mission Directorates.

He joins Coultas “Colt” Pears, an innovator who led the development of Southern Research’s high-temperature materials laboratory, in the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. The lab, renamed for Pears, and Southern Research itself are also recognized in the Hall of Fame.

In 2017, Southern Research’s Stuart Starrett, who is credited with making significant contributions to the development of reentry nosetips for U.S. ballistic missile systems, was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.

Starrett, who remains a consultant, said the Engineering division, under Johns’ leadership, continues to “celebrate technological successes in landmark contributions to our nation’s defense” while also expanding in other areas.

Johns’ induction into Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame took place Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Bryant Conference Center at The University of Alabama.

The Hall of Fame was founded in 1987 to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of individuals, projects, and corporations/institutions that have brought and continue to bring significant recognition to the State of Alabama.

ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP

Johns has served as vice president of Southern Research’s Engineering division since 2004. Under his leadership, the unit has grown in technical fields including advanced materials, aerospace engineering, composite structures manufacturing, automotive technology development, nuclear energy technologies, airborne sensor systems, hypersonics and additive manufacturing.

Steve Cook, executive vice president at Huntsville-based Dynetics, said he has gotten to know Johns through work on the U.S. Navy’s hypersonic glide body program.

“Mike’s engineering skills and leadership approach have already enabled extensive technological innovation in hypersonic glide body technologies, specifically reentry thermal protection systems,” Cook said. “His involvement will undoubtedly continue to shape the hypersonics renaissance in the country, helping the United States to once again become a world leader in advanced hypersonic flight systems.”

At Southern Research, Johns has directed and managed high-profile research and commercial projects in areas such as solar energy, municipal solid waste to energy conversion, water research, automotive engineering, space exploration  and  hypersonics.

During his tenure at Southern Research, Johns also directed the organization’s Transportation Systems division and served as department head of the Materials Characterization Group. In this latter role, he was responsible for materials research programs for NASA and the Department of Defense, as well as emerging areas of automotive research in the Southeast.

He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Alabama and an MBA from UA’s Manderson Graduate School of Business. He is of the current chair of the University of Alabama’s College of Engineering Leadership Board and the member of the engineering leadership board at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, among many other departmental advisory boards across the state.

Southern Research’s unique high-altitude HD video recording system provided NASA with dramatic close-up images of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as it descended through Earth’s atmosphere for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean in March.

The Airborne Imaging and Reconnaissance System, or AIRS, mounted on a NASA WB-57F research aircraft flying at 18,000 feet, recorded the unmanned spacecraft on its March 8 return after a critical test mission to the International Space Station.

Tony Casey, engineering project leader for Southern Research, said the AIRS cameras filmed Crew Dragon’s descent for 12 minutes, capturing key moments such as when its drogue parachutes opened to slow the craft after reentry.

In addition, images recorded by the system’s infrared camera will allow NASA to estimate temperatures of various parts of the vehicle, he said.

“The high-definition video and infrared images captured by the AIRS platform on the WB-57 will help fill in the overall picture of how the spacecraft performed on a mission that could shape the future of the American space program,” said Casey, who is based in Houston, home of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Since the AIRS technology debuted in 2005, it has played an important role in many missions for NASA and other government agencies, said Michael D. Johns, vice president of the Engineering Division at Southern Research.

“When it comes to the issues of space flight, there is no margin for error,” Johns said. “Over the years, our team working on the AIRS technology has responded to each new challenge with innovative solutions that have helped advance the WB-57 program.

“This mission for NASA is another illustration of the versatility and value of the AIRS platform in support of a great partner,” he added.

DEMOSTRATION MISSION-1

Last month’s mission, known as Demonstration Mission-1, or DM-1, was seen as a significant step for SpaceX, the private space flight company, and NASA. The agency wants to launch its astronauts to the orbital laboratory from the U.S. aboard an American-built spacecraft — something it has not been able to do since retiring the Space Shuttle eight years ago.

The first-of-its-kind mission was designed to test Crew Dragon’s equipment, including its docking gear, as well as its systems for life support and re-entry, in an overall demonstration of its capabilities.

DM-1 began March 2, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft docked autonomously with the orbital laboratory on March 3. Throughout the flight, it carried a sensor-filled mannequin named Ripley to provide data about conditions inside the cabin.

Following Crew Dragon’s splashdown off the coast of Florida, scientists from NASA and SpaceX will now review the systems and flight data, including the AIRS recordings, to prepare for crewed flight.

Before that can happen, there will be an inflight abort test – and NASA’s WB-57 aircraft equipped with Southern Research’s AIRS turrets will again play a role in recording the critical moments in HD video for analysis.

The in-flight abort test will demonstrate the ability of Crew Dragon to safely deliver astronauts back on Earth in case of a problem after lift-off, Casey said.

After that, the AIRS cameras will capture images of Crew Dragon’s DM-2 mission, which will carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The milestone mission is targeted to take place this summer.

“We consider it an honor to support NASA and advance its core mission of exploration and discovery because that is exactly what Southern Research is all about,” Casey said.

EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY

Southern Research provides ongoing support of the AIRS platform on the WB-57F research planes based at Johnson Space Center under a contract with NASA that stretches back to 2011.

Southern Research’s engineers began working on the AIRS technology in 2003 in an effort to develop a high definition video imaging system capable of monitoring the NASA STS-114 Return to Flight shuttle launch following the Columbia accident.

Since the AIRS-equipped WB-57s were first used to provide full motion video of that mission in 2005, they have since monitored numerous launches and re-entries for government agencies such as NASA, as well as commercial launches.

From a height of 50,000 feet, the AIRS technology aboard a pair of NASA WB-57s captured spectacular visible light and infrared images of the total solar eclipse over the U.S. in August 2017.

Don Darrow, a Southern Research communications engineer who operated AIRS in one of those planes that day, was on the support team for the DM-1 mission.

Southern Research announced today that Robert Amaro, a mechanical engineer with expertise in metallurgy and solid modeling, will spearhead an expansion of the organization’s activities in additive manufacturing, a technology revolutionizing how complex aerospace parts and other industrial components are made.

Amaro, Ph.D., joins Birmingham-based Southern Research from The University of Alabama, where he conducted federally funded research on how metals behave in environments that contribute to structural problems such as fatigue, fracture and large-scale deformation.

In his new role as manager of Advanced Materials Technologies, Amaro will help companies in aerospace, energy and other industries better understand the physical properties and performance capabilities of parts produced using additive technologies.

Jim Tucker, director of Materials Research for Southern Research’s Engineering division, said expanding the advanced materials group’s expertise in additive manufacturing will complement its longstanding focus on composites.

For decades, Southern Research has been considered a world leader in the high-temperature evaluation of composite materials used in heat shields and other components in NASA spacecraft and ballistic missiles.

“Just as composites did, additive manufacturing is changing the whole concept of how high-performance parts are designed and manufactured,” Tucker said. “Southern Research intends to stay at the center of materials testing for a range for industries, and Robert will help position us for the next-generation of advanced materials.”

ENSURING PRECISION

Additive manufacturing – sometimes called 3-D printing – involves techniques that create three-dimensional objects by depositing one superfine layer of material over another. The process is controlled by computer-aided design (CAD) software and can involve laser or electron beams.

Manufacturers are embracing additive technologies because they can rapidly produce intricate parts that are lighter and stronger than ones fabricated using conventional means such as machining.

Because the techniques are so new, however, there can be questions about the structural integrity of components built with additive technologies that require extensive post-build testing.

Amaro said his primary focus will be on coupling Southern Research’s expertise in non-destructive evaluation with process parameter optimization techniques to create in-situ additive manufacturing build process parameter optimization routines.  The data collected as part of the closed-loop AM build control routine will then be used to create a digital twin of the AM build.

Ultimately, the AM build data collected for process parameter feedback, coupled with the AM component digital twin, will aid companies and organizations using additive technologies to ensure consistent component builds and high-precision industrial production while simultaneously minimizing and quantifying build defects.

“Basically, we will offer a component build-to-solid model infrastructure that closes the gap between what it is that is being built through additive manufacturing and what is being put into service,” Amaro said. “If we can decrease the amount of time from part inception to the insertion of that part into service, then we have been successful.”

As with composites, the Southern Research team will be able to consult with both manufacturers using additive techniques and end-users of AM-produced parts on the structural integrity and performance characteristics of materials.

RESEARCH FOCUS

Amaro has served as principal investigator for research projects supporting NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST.

His research for NASA focused on modeling friction stir welding processes to achieve optimal welds, while he examined hydrogen-assisted fatigue and failure in pipeline steels and pressure vessels for NIST.

Before arriving in The University of Alabama, Amaro worked in the Colorado School of Mines’ Mechanical Engineering Department and in the Materials Reliability of NIST’s Structural Materials Group. He is the former co-owner of design-build engineering firm and managed projects to construct themed attractions in Tokyo and Berlin.

Amaro holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field.

Could 3-D printers transform the International Space Station into a manufacturing hub and one day function as the heart of an on-demand machine shop in space that enables NASA to mount crewed missions deep into the solar system?

Engineers at Southern Research are helping NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center explore the capabilities of additive manufacturing technologies that have major logistics implications for the nation’s ambitious future space missions.

“When NASA sends a crew to Mars, there can’t be a resupply mission. There is just no way to send them replacement parts if equipment breaks or a part fails in deep space,” said Madison Parks, an advanced mechanical engineer in Southern Research’s Engineering division.

“On a mission to Mars, a 3-D printer will have to go with the crew. A part failing in orbit can be replaced after a resupply mission, but a resupply mission to a craft on the way to Mars would be too costly and may result in a loss of the mission. The crew will need to be entirely self-sufficient,” he added.

Parks is working with Marshall’s engineers to come up with an answer to a critical question facing NASA’s plans for space-borne three-dimensional printing: Are parts manufactured in zero-gravity going to behave just like those produced on Earth-bound 3-D printers?

The ISS is already equipped with a 3-D printer. In 2014, California-based Made in Space sent a polymer printer to the space station, followed two years later by a more advanced device. It’s been used to print plastic tools used around the station, along with other non mission-critical items.

To help NASA understand the properties of materials printed in an in-space 3-D polymer printer, Parks and his team are testing specimens of materials printed in space and comparing them to similar specimens produced on Earth.

Along with tension and compression tests on these materials, Southern Research will be performing digital image correlation (DIC). DIC is a non-contact optical method that employs tracking and image registration techniques for accurate 3-D measurements of changes on the surface during a mechanical or thermal loading.

Measuring full-field displacements and strains during the mechanical tests will help engineers understand the material behavior and overall effect of print passes and how they relate to zero-gravity 3-D printing versus Earth 3-D printing.

“For safety reasons, NASA has to understand the materials before they use them,” Parks said. “You have to understand where and how these parts, which are manufactured in space, can be used. Doing otherwise could lead to parts and systems failing prematurely.”

Southern Research’s Engineering division, which specializes in analyzing how materials perform in extreme environments, has collaborated with NASA for decades.

Its engineers analyzed the thermal and mechanical properties of potential heat shield materials for the Apollo program and provided crucial support for the Space Shuttle, particularly in the “Return to Flight” missions after the Columbia accident.

Today, Southern Research is involved in the Space Launch System, or SLS, the massive rocket NASA is developing for planned Mars missions.

For NASA, three-dimensional printing offers a fast and inexpensive way to manufacture parts on a spacecraft, exactly when they’re needed. That’s a huge benefit to long-term missions and has the potential to fundamentally change how NASA plans logistics operations for human spaceflight.

“Right now, there are thousands of parts for the International Space Station sitting in NASA storage, and most of them will never be used,” Parks said. “But they have to have all these parts on hand to launch to the ISS in case something breaks or fails.”

“What Southern Research and NASA are working together on is a foundational effort with the goal of the ISS crew being able to print the parts they need as they need them, which will help the astronauts accomplish their missions,” he added.

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