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The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research pillar of the Abu Dhabi Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), announced today that its Directed Energy Research Centre (DERC) has launched a state-of-the-art facility at the Tawazun Industrial Park (TIP) is A regional hub for strategic businesses in the safety and security sector, offering world-class business infrastructure.
TIP’s DERC facility includes seven different workshops and five specialized laboratories, each dedicated to a specific research area. The seven dedicated workshops are: Mechanical Workshop, Electronics Workshop, Prototype Testing Area, Coil Winding, Armature Filling, Dielectric Testing and Acoustic Prototyping Lab. Likewise, five laboratories – each designed to support unique research requirements: Pulse Power Laboratory, Semi-Anechoic Chamber, Storm Chamber, Acoustics Laboratory and Laser Development Laboratory.
The facility also houses three mobile research laboratories that can be used in conjunction with the main laboratory or deployed in the field for outdoor testing, including two electromagnetic mobile laboratories and a mobile laser laboratory.
The TIP facility accommodates 150 researchers and visiting faculty or visiting researchers working with the DERC team. The new center is equipped with three training rooms and can accommodate up to 45 people for various seminars and trainings. Strategically located within the Tawazun Industrial Park (TIP), a safe economic zone, the DERC Center can now provide research and testing services to local and other industries.
Some of the applications that DERC can now focus on include High Power Electromagnetic (HPEM) and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing, especially immunity and emissions testing at different power levels. DERC also conducts cutting-edge research in HPEM and pulsed power, as well as prequalification testing for multiple industries in the region.
In another first in the GCC region, DERC’s new facility enables industry-leading RF testing to manufacture and characterize high-power solid-state devices. State-of-the-art laboratories offer opportunities to shape new systems and applications for local industries.
As an important area of focus, the new facility also enables highly sensitive acoustic experiments that require high isolation from ambient sound and vibration, and supports the development and characterization of unusual acoustic transmitters and sensors. A controlled environment in a dedicated laboratory helps identify involuntary sound sources in complex electronic systems that can cause side-channel leakage. DERC’s custom-developed optical vibration analysis tools can examine mechanical system behavior over a wide frequency range.
In addition, the center has broken new ground in introducing Signal Electronics and Acoustics (SEA) prototyping to facilitate local development of advanced solutions such as small/high-density RF and acoustic devices. TIP facilities are capable of welding, complex mechanical assembly and testing, while also advancing prototyping in 3D printing to optimize edge manufacturing with modern tools.
DERC’s Mobile Laser Laboratory is the first of its kind in the region to conduct laser experiments outdoors to explore the propagation of high-power lasers and study the effects on distant targets in arid bay environments. The lab fires a multi-kilowatt continuous laser with a pan-tilt-mounted telescope that focuses the beam at a distance of 200 m to 2,000 m. Connected to a generator, the mobile lab is designed for autonomous use outdoors in extreme temperatures up to 50°C.
Commenting on the new facility, Dr Ray O. Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and Acting Chief Executive Officer of ASPIRE, said: “At TII, we are committed to attracting global talent to our research centres, which is part of supporting the UAE’s commitment to Knowledge-based economy transformation. Given this priority, we are proud to witness the extraordinary achievements of DERC at this facility. Such innovation centers will attract a growing number of researchers and clients keen to draw from a variety of fields Benefit from testing capabilities – biomedical, exploration, material characterization, radar and hazmat detection are just some of the potential use cases.”
Dr Chaouki Kasmi, Principal Investigator at the Directed Energy Research Centre (DERC), said: “We are delighted to finally witness the start-up and cutting-edge capabilities of this new facility, which will give us a unique advantage while providing the UAE with much-needed efforts to ensure comprehensive testing and Autonomy in building a reliable supply chain. Due to the research area we are dealing with, the tests and activities required to build prototypes in this area are often classified as hazardous. They require special permits and approvals – very little research Institutions are equipped to deal with such administrative issues. We hope to preempt these barriers with our leading infrastructure to provide comprehensive services to our clients.”
The center’s achievement of bringing multiple core competencies under one roof will provide the opportunity to take HPEM testing to a whole new level, while also being able to test high-power lasers in a compact environment. In addition, the center brings expertise in acoustics, electronics, physics and information security to the region, advising clients and handling complex acoustic projects.
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