ERDC again named Army's best

10 Oct 08 -- Vicksburg, Miss. -- For the second year in a row, ERDC has been named the Army Large Research Laboratory of the Year.  Dr. Thomas Killion, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, made the announcement Sept. 21.  It is the fourth time in seven years – since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) – that ERDC has won the prestigious honor of being the Army’s top research laboratory.

ERDC R&D provides critical support to the military, not only through technology development, but also by working directly with Soldiers on the battlefield and at military installations.  ERDC has many dual-use technologies that transfer into the civilian sector, where customers such as the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security can tap into the same expertise as that used by the Department of Defense.

“Our mission is to support our Armed Forces and the nation to make the world safer and better,” said Dr. James Houston, ERDC Director. “We are proud of the research we conduct and we think we do a great job.  This award is proof that others feel the same way.”

ERDC has now won the Lab of the Year award 10 of the last 19 years, establishing an envious history of excellence in Army research.

ERDC has many strengths that make it a top Army laboratory, including its diverse research mission and world-class facilities in which to carry out that research.  According to Houston, however, ERDC’s strongest asset will always be its people.    

“I say it every time we are recognized for our accomplishments, but I mean it as much today as the first time I said it – our people are the strength of this organization.  They are the heartbeat of ERDC.  You can have the right facilities and the right equipment, but without the right people, you may as well close your doors and go home.  It’s their knowledge and expertise that solve the challenges we’re faced with today.  This award belongs to them,” Houston said.

ERDC presented many research accomplishments to the Army in consideration for the Lab of the Year award, including its leadership of the multi-agency forensics teams that determined what went wrong with the levee system during Hurricane Katrina; tunnel detection technologies to assist the Homeland Security and State Departments; environmental work that led to the recovery of endangered species and the subsequent lifting of training restrictions on more than 140,000 acres of Army training lands; and its support to more than 2,000 “reachback” requests annually from combat engineers in Iraq and Afghanistan through ERDC-developed TeleEngineering technology.

In addition to these accomplishments, ERDC was recognized for specific achievements in research, development and in its continued support to the GWOT. 

Research

ERDC’s major research accomplishment was Carbon Nanotube Technology for Military Engineering.  With a strength-to-weight ratio 750 times that of high-strength steel, the potential of carbon nanotube use in engineering applications has held great promise for years.  Yet today, there are no commercial products made of carbon nanotubes because they can typically be grown to lengths of only micrometers up to a few millimeters, which is not long enough for weaving strong fibers.  They are also brittle, causing them to fail abruptly.  A team of researchers from ERDC and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tackled the problem of limited length of carbon nanotubes and has been able to extend their growth significantly to overcome current limitations.  Researchers are also addressing the brittleness of nanotubes and have discovered that twisting nanotubes prior to putting them under tension produces a “superplastic” effect that greatly increases the strain they can handle prior to failure.  These major research advances provide a path forward for developing carbon nanotubes that can be used for combat engineering applications.

Development

The “holy grail” of force projection is the ability to offload “a combat brigade anywhere in the world in 96 hours, and a division on the ground in 120 hours” but it has long been considered impossible to project these force levels anywhere in the world within these time frames. There are sufficient aircraft to meet the time frames but not sufficient landing and offloading capabilities throughout much of the world.

To meet these force projection objectives, landing a combat brigade would require 250 C-17 sorties (landings and takeoffs) in 96 hours, while a division would require approximately 1,000 C-17 sorties in 120 hours.  Most airfields in austere environments around the world are not equipped to handle such a monumental task.

ERDC, working with university and private sector partners, proved the “holy grail” attainable through the Joint Rapid Airfield Construction (JRAC) program.  The JRAC program provided engineering tools and systems to dramatically increase the military’s contingency airfield upgrade and construction capabilities using advanced site selection technologies, enhanced construction methods, and new materials and techniques for rapid soil stabilization.  These technologies, used separately or as part of an integrated system, focused on reducing the engineering timeline, manpower requirements, and logistical footprint, while increasing system reliability.

ERDC successfully demonstrated the JRAC program during Exercise Talisman Saber in Australia, a combined, joint military exercise involving thousands of American and Australian troops. 

“In the Outback, we had troops from all four U.S. services and the Australian Army and Air Force who had never trained together or for the mission build an airfield from scratch in 14 days, using lightweight equipment that can be air-dropped,” Houston said.  “We then demonstrated that with ERDC technology, we could triple the normal aircraft throughput in 48 hours.  Without ERDC technology, this would be impossible.”

Support to GWOT

ERDC was also recognized for saving the lives of Soldiers in theater by providing new technologies to protect them and their facilities against rockets and mortars.  The “surge” in Iraq exposed Soldiers to new threats as they left protected base camps and entered urban areas, where they came under attack from close-in armor-piercing rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and vehicle-borne explosive device attacks.

“The Army wanted a mobile system, so our researchers came up with the Modular Protective System, or MPS,” said Houston.

The MPS is a lightweight system that uses ultra high-strength, flexible concrete with ballistic performance that is comparable to ceramic armor, but at a fraction of the cost and weight.

“You set up a frame, slide these high-strength, lightweight panels in place, and very quickly have a fortification or protective shield that reaches eight feet high and ten feet long.  You can put as many segments together as needed and four people can assemble one of the sections in 15 minutes,” Houston said. “Within a couple of hours, you can put up a protective system that covers a large area and stops all kinds of weapons, from mortars to RPGs.”

Mary Miller, Director of Technology, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology said, “ERDC’s MPS is truly amazing.  Kudos to the Corps of Engineers for doing such a remarkable job.” 

The MPS was fielded in 2008, through the Rapid Equipping Force, to combat engineer units in Iraq.  ERDC also developed elastomeric sheets that Soldiers can apply, much like wallpaper, to the inside of masonry buildings that increase blast resistance by a factor of 15.

These innovations have grown out of previous ERDC-developed blast protection technologies that played a significant role in protecting America from terrorist attacks such as those on the Pentagon on 9/11.  They have been updated through continuous efforts by ERDC researchers and are now being used to protect a wide variety of buildings and structures from terrorist attack.

“Our vision is to be the world’s premier engineering and environmental sciences organization,” Houston said.  “To do that, we strive to be the best in specialized areas, to solve problems that others aren’t attempting to tackle, and to hone the skills necessary to fulfill our mission.  For ERDC, it’s all about making the Army and the nation better and safer.”

The Army Laboratory of the Year Award selection is based on a written report of specific accomplishments and approximately 60 metrics (for example, number of patents obtained in the year), an evaluation visit by selection panel members, and an oral presentation with questions.  The selection panel is comprised of national experts from various research organizations in government, academia and the private sector.

Dr. Houston accepted this year’s award at a special award ceremony in Washington, D.C., Oct. 5.