The future is now for Vt. firm
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By Peter Hirschfeld VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: June 29, 2009
NORTHFIELD – A Northfield research facility will soon begin preliminary work on the protective military suit of the future.
Norwich University Applied Research Institute has landed a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study the cutting-edge sciences and materials that will one day be used to protect U.S. servicemen from 21st century biological and chemical warfare.
"The Department of Defense has been making evolutionary changes to its biochemical defense suits for a period of 100 years," says Phil Sussman, president of NUARI.
The primitive rubber suits of yesteryear, Susmann says, have been replaced by carbon-impregnated rubber suits of today. Defense officials are now looking to harness the latest technologies to revolutionize protective equipment that could play an increasingly important role in armed conflict.
"The Department of Defense is looking for the next big jump – the revolutionary change to create a set of materials that would handle those issues," Susmann says.
The $770,000 grant won't fund actual development of the suit, rather NUARI's team of experts will evaluate breakthroughs in the academic and private sectors to determine which materials and technologies offer the greatest potential.
"We are putting together forecasting methodology to be able to look at a set of emerging sciences to suggest which sets of sciences, based upon where they are today, have a realistic opportunity," Susmann says. "This is all high-risk, so it's looking to quantify those risks."
The Applied Research Institute, a Nothfield-based nonprofit with ties to the neighboring Norwich campus, survives largely on grants and contracts from the federal government. Until now, the facility's highest-profile work has come in the area of cyber-security and visual-augmentation systems. The institute's 18-member staff will jump to about 30 when two government grants begin to take effect later this summer.
"This particular grant is new for us, a new venture and an exciting venture and it is a little bit of a reach," Susmann says.
The nanotechnology, bioengineering, information management, and cognitive sciences Susmann and his team will investigate sound like the stuff of science fiction. Nanospheres and nanocytes – microscopic self-contained systems created in laboratories – have the potential to neutralize lethal or harmful contaminants within the suit.
Other technologies could allow the wearer's central nervous system to interface with the suit itself.
"It could indicate the presence of certain things to them, in the same way as when you put your hand on a burner and get a nerve response, that sort of direct brain interface," Susmann says. "It's not necessarily something you have to see through a screen."
Comfort and mobility also will figure chiefly in the utility of any future suit, according to Susmann.
"Human performance issues are a big concern because when you presently wear this equipment it's hot and hard to maneuver in," he says. "This suit … would increase human performance and keep the wearer cool while progressing to this type of environment."
NUARI was chartered by the federal government in 2002 under legislation sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy. Susmann, a Norwich alumnus and former chief information officer at the university, says the symbiotic partnership with Norwich offers real-world experiences to students and low-wage labor to NUARI.
"If you go to any major research institute, they're spending $1.10 to $1.20 for every dollar of research they bring in," Susmann says. "The way they're able to exist is doctoral students or masters students working slave labor … to conduct the research activity."
Susmann says the suit won't be worn on battlefields for some time. NUARI's team for the project will be based out of northern Virginia.
"We're looking for emerging science for technology between 12 and 15 years out," Susmann said.
Still, the work NUARI does today will inform major government investments later.
"We are science evaluators," Susmann says. "We'll look at emerging sciences … to report places where government should be making investments."
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