“ You want a more-rugged radome when you ’ re in situations like that ,” he said .
Echodyne engineers also upgraded the software that runs the radars , telling it where to look and what to look at . With the upgrade , security personnel using a radar to detect drones flying over a football stadium , for example , can instruct the radar to focus on potential flying threats while ignoring the vehicle traffic moving in the stadium parking lot .
JCATI
As Northwest Aerospace News reported in June 2018 , Echodyne has received Washington State taxpayer-supported funding for research and development .
The money came as research grants from the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation , which helps Washington State aerospace companies connect with researchers at the state ’ s universities to connect research on future development products .
The goal is to stimulate research and innovation among the state ’ s aerospace companies , while also helping academics build connections with companies in the industry and , in some cases , provide students with real-world research projects to work on .
Echodyne ’ s first grant came in 2016 , when Echodyne received close to $ 100,000 to partner with Matt Reynolds , an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington , on a study of using metamaterial antennas to reconfigure airborne radar .
14 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS