Abstract: A thermal management system for transferring heat to and from a heat source. The system includes a thermal conductor thermally coupled to the heat source, a pressure dependent thermal conductance element thermally coupled to the conductor, and a heat sink thermally coupled to or thermally separable from the thermal conductance element. An actuator is configured relative to the thermal conductor, the thermal conductance element and the heat sink that controls the compression of the thermal conductance element between the thermal conductor and the heat sink so as to control the transfer of heat therebetween. The thermal conductance element can be compressible TIM element, such as a nanowire array, carbon nanotube forest, polymeric gasket, etc.

Abstract: A crystal printer for fabricating a crystalline part, where the printer includes a crucible for holding a magnetic material that will be fabricated into the part. The printed also includes a heat sink being operable to cool the crucible and a plurality of shaped induction field generators disposed around the crucible and being operable to generate time-varying shaped magnetic fields. A controller controls the plurality of induction field generators so as to generate the time-varying shaped magnetic fields in a manner so that the magnetic fields interact with the material to heat selective areas within the material so that unheated areas in the material are cooled by the heat sink to harden the part into a desired crystalline orientation.

Abstract: An optical lens assembly including a circular Fresnel lens having a plurality of contiguous radial lens sections where each lens section provides the same range of focal lengths and where each lens section includes a plurality of lens segments along a radial direction. Each of the lens segments is curved in both a radial direction and a rotational direction so that one radial edge of the section includes a relatively small curvature and large radius and an opposite radial edge of the lens section includes a relatively large curvature and small radius so that each lens segment separately provides the range of focal lengths. A light filter is positioned adjacent to the Fresnel lens and includes a plurality of radial control lines that are controlled to make the control lines opaque or transparent so that light propagates through parts of the lens sections having the same focal length.