By, Paris Carter
In the vast vacuum of space, Earth-bound limitations no longer apply. And that’s exactly where UF engineering associate professor Victoria Miller, Ph.D., and her students are pushing the boundaries of possibilities.
In partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Florida engineering team is exploring how to manufacture precision metal structures in orbit using laser technology.
“We want to build big things in space. To build big things in space, you must start manufacturing things in space. This is an exciting new frontier,” said Miller.
An associate professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, Miller said the project called NOM4D – which means Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design – seeks to transform how people think about space infrastructure development. Picture constructing massive structures in orbit, like a 100-meter solar array built using advanced laser technology.