The Internal Research and Development (IRAD) is run by the Office of the Center Chief Technologist (CCT) and the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). The IRAD is designed to develop strategic capabilities of interest to the Center and/or science/technology projects for targeted opportunities. The advances in science and technology and in business capabilities expected through this program will help make Ames more competitive, provide opportunities for risk reduction and/or increased cost effectiveness, and initiate potentially transformational solutions to the most challenging mission-related problems. IRAD projects have some preliminary data to justify the investment.

See past IRAD solicitation:

• FY23 IRAD

Other Ames Internal Research and Technology Funding Mechanisms

• NASA Ames Research and Technology Funding Overview
• Ames Research Innovation Award (ARIA)
• Center Innovation Fund (CIF)

Please join us in congratulating the FY23 IRAD awardees:

• Don Banfield – Mars Doppler Wind & Thermal Sounder (DWTS): Ozone Gas Cell Development
• Anthony Colaprete – Atmospheric Structure Investigation (ASI) for New Frontiers OPIS (Observatory for probing internal Saturn Atmosphere) Proposal
• Jay Feldman – Modernization of Tile Manufacturing for Reusable Thermal Protection Systems
• Kevin Fogarty – Prototype for the PIAA-Vortex Coronagraph
• Jeremy Frank – Adaptive Automated Airborne Mapping of Dynamic Flows
• Matthew Gasch – Affordable Robust Compliant TPS (ARCTPS)
• Marcus Murbach – Nano-sat Re-entry Demonstration of a Self-stabilizing Probe: In-situ Measurement of the Edney Type 4 Shock-Shock Interaction
• Raj Pai: AviateNLP, Foundation Artificial Intelligence Model for Aviation
• Richard Quinn – MICA: Microfluidic Icy-World Chemical Analyzer Technology Advancement and Risk Reduction
• Antonio Ricco – Maturing and Testing SPLIce: Demonstration of Mission-Critical Functional Performance Required for a Successful New Frontiers 5 Proposal
• Yasaman Shirazi – Quantitative microRNA sequencing on a nanopore platform
• Mary Beth Wilhelm –  Grinding Rocks in Martian Gravity: Preparing for Partial-g Flight Testing of the ExCALiBR Comminutor Subsystem with ARC UAS

Past Internal Research and Development Winners

FY21 IRAD Awardees

Please join us in congratulating the FY21 IRAD awardees:

• Thomas Bristow – A New X-ray Detector for Planetary X-ray Diffraction Instruments
• Sarah D’Souza – Entry, Descent, and Landing, or EDL, for Aeolus
• Laura Iraci – sUAS Tracking of Subtle Volcano Emissions
• David Murakami – Automated sUAS Inspection Capability for NASA’s Mission Critical Testing Facilities
• Antonio Ricco – ChIPPS: Charged Information-storage Polymer Preparation System
• Paul Wercinski – Computational Aerothermal Modeling and Simulation of Hypersonic, Low-density Flows for the ADEPT Drag Modulated Aerocapture Mission

FY19 IRAD Awardees

Please join us in congratulating the FY19 IRAD awardees:

• Ruslan Belikov – Maturing Linear Dark Field Control for Exoplanet Imaging
• David Blake – CheMin-V: Development of an XRD/XRF Instrument for the Venera-D Mission to Venus
• Anthony Colaprete – Maturing Ozone Gas Cells for Aeolus’ DWTS (Doppler Wind & Thermal Sounding) Instrument
• Stephen Dunagan – Miniature unmanned airborne Sunphotometer for Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (muSSTAR)
• Laura Iraci – Getting ALOFT: Advancing the Ames-LGR OCS FlighT instrument to Mission Readiness and Proposal Success
• David Murakami – Automated sUAS Inspection Capability for NASA’s Mission Critical Testing Facilities
• Tony Ricco – µCAFE: Integration and End-to-End Demonstration of microChemical Analysis of Fluids for Exobiology System
• Nettie Roozeboom – NAS Intercenter netWork for Research and Development
• Mary Beth Wilhelm – Novel Life Detection System Coupling Lipid Extraction with Raman Spectroscopy

FY18 IRAD Awardees

Please join us in congratulating the FY18 IRAD awardees:

• Ved Chirayath – MiDAR – Multispectral Imaging, Detection, & Active Reflectance Instrument – kW-class Transmitter & Receiver Development
• Tony Colaprete – Maturation of a Laser Nephelometer for In-Site Atmospheric Missions
• Matthew D’Ortenzio – Jigsaw: Software for Critical Event Deconfliction for Interplanetary NanoSat Missions
• Terry Fong – PHALANX – Projectile Hordes for Advanced Long-term And Networked eXploration Distributed Miniature Projectile Sensor Networks
• Tom Greene – Laboratory advancement of high precision exoplanet measurements for the Origins Space Telescope
• Raj Venkatapthy – Highly Reliable 3-D Woven TPS for Mars Sample Return Mission