Dr. Fabio Durante Pereira Alves is a Professor of Physics at the Naval Postgraduate School, where his research focuses on terahertz sensors, photonics, and acoustic sensing technologies to support naval operations in space, on the surface, and underwater. He began his career in the Brazilian Air Force, serving as a pilot in a Search and Rescue squadron before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electronic engineering from the Aeronautical Institute of Technology (ITA). As a Major, he attended NPS as an international student, completing a master’s degree in electrical engineering and advancing work on quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIP).
Following a PhD in physics at ITA, Alves became a permanent military professor and co-founded a postgraduate program in Operational Applications, awarding MS and PhD degrees in Electronic Warfare, Operational Analysis, and Command and Control. After retiring from the Air Force in 2010, he returned to NPS as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow to develop terahertz sensors and later joined the Physics Department as faculty, earning tenure in 2023. He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers, holds multiple patents, and has advised more than 65 graduate students at NPS.
From my alumni perspective, the value of the Naval Postgraduate School lies in its ability to provide education that is both academically rigorous and readily applicable to real-world missions. The opportunity to work alongside peers from across the U.S. services and allied nations broadened my perspective, enhanced my problem-solving skills, and prepared me to tackle operational challenges with innovative approaches. When I was a student here, I had a great personal experience and, more importantly, a unique education, tailored for military officers. My classes and thesis work had a connection with my professional activities and the relationships made with my fellow students from many different countries have perdured to this day.
From my faculty perspective, I see the Naval Postgraduate School as a unique bridge between advanced research and operational application. Faculty and students have the opportunity to engage directly with actual defense problems, conducting research that is not only technically sound but also mission relevant. The classroom becomes a laboratory where officers from partner nations learn how to work together while also generating solutions that strengthen interoperability and collective security.
My academic career has been devoted to studying interesting physical phenomena and utilizing them in sensors for practical applications. Specifically, quantum, photonic and acoustic sensors where the response can be tailored (engineered) to match the signatures of the sources to be detected, according to the demands of Navy and the Department of Defense. In my lab, the Sensor Research Lab (SRL) we develop sensors for three domains of naval operations: underwater, surface and space.
Terahertz focal plane arrays (cameras) are being developed for space remote sensing of the upper atmosphere. These sensors are based in artificial materials, metamaterials, specifically designed to detect atmospheric phenomena of interest of the intelligence community with potential use in global early warning systems. An instrument using such sensors is under development in a joint effort between the Physics Department and the Space Systems Academic Group to be deployed on the International Space Station in 2027. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) acoustic sensors are also under development to be operated underwater and on the surface. These sensors were inspired in a hearing system of a parasitic fly and are of the size of a fingernail. They can be designed based on the acoustic signature of the intended sources and allow determination of the direction of the incoming sound with great accuracy. Applications such as gunshot detection and small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) localization have been performed with success. Underwater applications of naval interest are also being considered. Several other sponsored research projects of direct interest of the Navy are being conducted as well. All these projects are intrinsically multidisciplinary and have had engagement from students from several NPS department and academic groups.
The objective of this project is to leverage NVIDIA technologies to advance mission operations for a terahertz imaging camera (TIC), scheduled to fly aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the STP-H12 mission in late 2027. In the initial phase, supported by the Digital Trident AI Challenge, we will conduct functional testing between the flight payload and the ISS data simulator to validate compatibility. Concurrently, we will develop a baseline concept of operations (CONOPS) for tasking the TIC payload and downlinking terahertz imagery. These efforts will provide the foundation for utilizing the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 to evaluate machine learning algorithms for TIC image processing. Research outcomes will help determine the feasibility of employing small form-factor THz sensors for DoD mission applications. To support this, in subsequent phases of the project, NVIDIA Jetson Nano platforms will be integrated with a flight-like camera base as the payload computing stack. Machine learning algorithms will then be implemented within this testbed to assess the benefits of edge-based THz data processing in a proliferated, space-based warfighting architecture.
This project is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on collaboration between the Department of Physics and the Space Systems Academic Group (SSAG), as well as external partnerships with DoD and industry through the Space Experiments Review Board (SERB). Leveraging NPS’ advanced technological resources, we anticipate sustained and expanding campus-wide engagement. This collaboration will strengthen our capabilities in critical defense domains—including optics, metamaterials, sensor microfabrication, mechanical and thermal analysis, space-based electronics, signal and image processing, and artificial intelligence—while providing hands-on educational experiences through real flight opportunities.
