Multi-Disciplinary Systems

This unique service provides clients with innovative designs, comprehensive analyses and testing programs to transition new mechanical, electrical, propulsion or multi-disciplinary product concepts through prototype and production. The main focus is to help clients realize new products regardless of what state of maturity they exist in presently, from idea to proof-of-concept or even re-engineering existing products. Each challenge is distilled to fundamentals then optimized to meet clients’ needs, striking a balance between cost, form and function. MDC engineers employ their diverse knowledge ranging from custom sensor development to signal processing and turbomachinery design to deliver alternative solutions without the limitations of "off-the-shelf" products. Devices can be ruggedly packaged, and custom codes can be embedded for portable applications. Composite laminates and even nano-engineered materials can be optimized and introduced to meet difficult goals. MDC engineers possess the creativity, experience and academic rigor to deliver innovative solutions to satisfy any client requirement set.

Propulsion Systems

Over the last 100 years of powered flight, the performance of aircraft has almost universally been constrained by the performance of the available propulsion systems. The imagination and ambition of aircraft designers has always been tempered by the low thrust-to-weight ratio, large size and poor fuel consumption of available propulsion systems. The introduction of the turbofan has completely transformed large scale aviation by providing an engine with improved thrust-to-weight ratio, low fuel consumption and excellent reliability. However, small and light weight aircraft are still restricted by their use of low performance reciprocating engines. The Propulsion Systems group at MDC is developing innovative and cost effective propulsion technologies that will make the higher thrust-to-weight ratio, low noise, low fuel consumption and reliable turbofan engine available to designers and operators of light aircraft.

Ice Protection Systems

Under Navy funding, MDC has been working to develop an integrated system capable of reliable ice-detection, de-icing and anti-icing, in addition to structural diagnostics for fixed-wing leading-edges and rotorcraft blades. The basis for this system is structured Carbon Nanotube (CNT) enhancements that can either be embedded within the composite laminates during manufacturing, or applied as a separate surface layer in a secondary process. The aligned CNTs are sufficiently long (20-30 um) to span interply matrix regions, improving electrical conductivity by a factor of a million and thermal conductivity by orders of magnitude. Overall, this system offers many benefits over current Ice Protection Systems (IPS), allowing conformal, uniform, and structurally integral heating and sensing elements, and enabling closed-loop operation, all of which contribute to a reliable, robust and durable system design. Compared to the conventional resistive heating blanket approach for de-icing, the CNT-enhanced system is more efficient, lighter weight, lower profile, and provides integral damage detection feedback.

Electro-Mechanical Design

In parallel with internal programs developing propulsion and ice-protection systems, MDC has been providing outsourced technical consulting services for electro-mechanical design for nearly a decade. Much of this derives from the expertise of MDC engineers in specific niche competencies, such as piezoelectric transducers, shape memory alloys, ultrasonic methods, energy-harvesting and power-transfer techniques, pattern and image recognition; composite, hybrid and nano-engineered materials; and general non-linear multi-physics simulation and modeling. MDC has extensive experience in the design, simulation, fabrication and evaluation of these types of complex electro-mechanical systems. The focus of this consulting service has been elevating the technical maturity of customer concepts by validating fundamental aspects through proof-of-concept experiments and embodying client innovations in prototype demonstration units. Through a trusted network of vendors and partner companies, MDC can facilitate the fabrication, assembly and testing of nearly any type of device in any conceivable range of conditions, including consumer, military and space environments.