Harry Hilton, NCSA senior academic lead for structural and solid mechanics, and research assistant Daniel Lee have received a two-year $100,000 grant from Boeing.

The grant will pool expertise from Boeing and employ Hilton's material properties code, which identifies the properties a material should have for optimum performance.

Hilton's code will be used to identify the optimum material and structural properties for Boeing's warp-knit fabric, which is used in various parts of aircraft like wings or fuselage. They will also identify the best lineup of the fibers in the different layers of the fabric.

"If along the road we find something we didn't expect, we'd certainly pursue that in addition to that's proposed here," says Hilton.