At the U.S. Army Research Laboratory scientists and engineers have been studying how they can make higher performance materials for soldiers at lighter weights.
Army researchers want to enhance soldiers’ battlefield effectiveness without placing an extra load on their backs.
The challenge has led to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials, made up of in-house research and most recently, two cooperative agreements awarded in April.
Researchers will develop materials to protect soldiers in extreme dynamic environments; and create energy efficient devices and batteries.
Johns Hopkins University will lead the materials in extreme environments collaboration. The research lab has invested up to $90 million over 10 years for a five-year initial study that could be renewed for an additional five years. Among the major partner institutions are the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Delaware and Rutgers University.
University of Utah will head ARL’s multiscale modeling research. The research lab has awarded up to $20.9 million toward the lighter-weight materials program.
A number of institutions will work towards multiscale modeling: Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Harvard University, Brown University, the University of California (Davis), and the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy.
The goal is to bring together experts from government, academia and industry to overcome daunting obstacles to develop new materials.
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