Industry/University Cooperative Projects Center
| Agilent | COBE Cardiovascular | Ford Motor Company | Lockheed-Martin |
| Ball Aerospace | Coors | IBM | Micro Motion |
| Ball Packaging | CTD | ICAST | Nastic Actuator Development |
| Boeing | CONMED | Intel | Sikorsky |
CTD(Composite Technology Development)
CTD is a small, relatively new company that invents, develops and produces lightweight, high strength aerospace structures that are made of composite materials. They work for other companies such as Lockheed-Martin, Ball Aerospace, and Starsys, as well as various government agencies such as NASA.. They are located in Lafayette, CO and have grown at 50% per year for the past 3 years.
Composite Release Mechanism
Spacecraft require a variety of separation and release devices to accommodate separation from the launch vehicle and deployment of solar arrays and other appendages. Pyrotechnic release devices produce high shock and contamination, are hazardous and costly to handle, and are not re-settable (i.e., can only be used once).
Mechanical release devices can overcome most of these disadvantages, but they tend to be complex and costly. CTD is interested in developing a very low shock, thermally actuated release mechanism. The key active element in this device is a high-strength, Elastic Memory Composite (EMC) material.
The project will entail developing a locking mechanism that will hold two ‘bodies’ together during severe conditions such as lift off, but will also be able to release one of those bodies from the other via the application of heat.