Chemistry and Biological Sciences
ECBC is the premier resource for chemical agent analysis and method development, environmental fate studies, forensics, attribution and agent science support to the defense, intelligence, law enforcement and compliance communities. ECBC’s goal is to provide basic scientific understanding of chemistry and bioscience aspects of chemicals, toxins and biological organisms that may have potential as biological or chemical warfare materials. ECBC is equipped with the expertise and extensive equipment/facilities that enable the organization to perform the necessary research and analysis required to determine the impact of toxic chemical and biological materials on warfighters and their equipment. ECBC’s capabilities include the ability to determine inhalation toxicology, aerosol physics, environmental fate/effect and decontamination, filtration science and CB agent spectroscopy and algorithm develoment. ECBC is the only Department of Defense nonmedical research laboratory designated to handle the enduring and emerging CB warfare agents.
Expertise and/or capabilities:
Toxicology | Aerosol Physics | Filtration Sciences | Spectral Analysis & Algorithm Development for CBRNE Detection | Decontamination & Protection |
Smoke, Obscuration & Pyrotechnics
Latest News:
ECBC Receives Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for TAC-BIO
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The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) received an Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for its work on the Tactical-Biological Detector (TAC-BIO) in 2012. The TAC-BIO program resulted in five patents addressing state-of-the-art optics and optical interrogation techniques. It provides a biological agent detector that, when compared to other detectors, costs nearly 10 percent less, is 50 percent smaller, weighs 80 percent less and uses only four percent of the energy.
The low-cost, compact TAC-BIO is a biological agent sensor designed by ECBC to rapidly detect the presence of an airborne biological threat, and to provide an early warning to minimize exposure and casualties to U.S. Armed Forces.
Prior to the TAC-BIO, most biological agent detectors used large and costly ultraviolet (UV) lasers to extract optical signals from threat aerosols. However, a shift toward a low-cost detector began in 2002 when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began to develop Semiconductor Ultraviolet Optical Sources (SUVOS), a type of light-emitting diode that could replace UV lasers.
TAC-BIO began with funding from DARPA to explore the potential development of a biological agent detector based on SUVOS technology. Funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency allowed ECBC scientists and engineers to advance the design toward a mature, Technology Readiness Level 6 product.
“I’m very proud of the work our Research and Technology Directorate and Engineering Directorate teams have done on the TAC-BIO and the paradigm shift it has driven to low-cost biological agent detectors,” said David Sickenberger, a Supervisory Chemist with the Research and Technology Directorate who led the TAC-BIO team.
ECBC transitioned the TAC-BIO into industry, specifically General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products and Research International, Inc., in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The ECBC Technology Transfer team played an integral role in these transitions by managing the licensing process and engaged a Department of Defense partnership intermediary, TechLink, for resources on publicizing the availability of the system to interested industry organizations.
Work continues to make the product simpler, more durable in all weather conditions and more capable. Other potential licensees continue to be interested, which will allow for further modification of the TAC-BIO system prior to wide distribution and fielding.
Fifth National Bio-Threat Conference Focuses on Solving Real-world Problems
The Fifth National Bio-Threat Conference, a collaborative interagency effort held March 27 through 29, 2012, provided a forum for dialogue between government, industry, academia and first responders to address critical issues in environmental sampling, bio-detection, clinical diagnostics and biosurveillance.
“What makes this conference stand out from others is its focus to solve real-world problems of service members and emergency responders,” said Peter Emanuel, Ph.D., one of the conference organizers and chief of Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC)’s BioSciences Division. “Each organization showcased research and technologies that ensure our service members, first responders and laboratory technicians are prepared and well-equipped against emerging biological threats.”
According to Emanuel, much of the discussion revolved around biosurveillance, a collection of programs and capabilities that allow experts to recognize an outbreak before it becomes a pandemic.
“For a topic as complex as biosurveillance, it is key to use a multidisciplinary approach, share information and collaborate,” he stated. “There is no better place than the Bio-Threat Conference to harness the brightest ideas, because we always have world-class experts from many different disciplines and organizations contribute to leading-edge biological defense solutions.”
He said that conversations at this conference are vital to identify and react to biological threats proactively.
“ECBC has a long tradition of solving problems for emergency responders,” he said. “We’ve always been a key player in developing smart solutions to counter emerging biological threats.”
One of ECBC’s closest partners, the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD), co-hosted the conference and led multiple discussions that addressed next-generation biosurveillance techniques and improvements.
“This conference was very valuable to what we are trying to accomplish within the Department of Defense,” said Lt. Col. Jennifer Nicholson, JPEO-CBD director for Biosurveillance Strategic Initiatives. “The biosurveillance mission is very diverse, and therefore it is beneficial to have a wide range of organizations here that look at problems from various angles.”
Sponsors and major contributors to this conference included the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency and the JPEO-CBD’s Joint Project Manager (JPM) Biological Defense and JPM Guardian.
Senior Scientist Advises NATO Panel on Sensing, Builds International Collaboration Opportunities
Augustus W. Fountain, III, Ph.D., Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s (ECBC) Senior Research Scientist for Chemistry, is garnering international recognition for ECBC while helping to advance defense science and technology.
Fountain was appointed in 2009 to serve a three-year term as the U.S. representative at large to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Sensors and Electronics Technology Panel. One of just five U.S. representatives to the panel, Fountain advises NATO countries—as well as members of the Partnership for Peace—on technical approaches to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive sensing.
“Participating on the Sensors and Electronics Technology Panel provides a great forum for us to identify international opportunities for collaboration and cooperation,” said Fountain.
Fountain serves as the panel mentor for a biological background study that is being led primarily by Norway. “The United States, Canada, Germany and Turkey are participating, and Australia is also involved,” he said. “We’re about a year into the study, and the group is putting together a report to provide NATO with guidance on future of biological aerosol sensing.” ECBC’s Dottie Paterno is the U.S. representative on the study.
Service on the Sensors and Electronics Technology Panel involves semiannual meetings accompanied by frequent virtual communication throughout the year. The meetings concentrate on a theme and involve a technical conference, RTO business and collaboration discussions focused on NATO’s technology needs.
“At the fall 2011 meeting, I was asked to write a technology watch paper on graphene-based sensors for chemical sensing,” Fountain said. “Technology watch papers focus on topics of interest that help advise NATO on what technology areas they should be monitoring—whether for defensive reasons, their own advantages or new capabilities that a nation is trying to propose.”
As part of his involvement in the panel, Dr. Fountain completed a technology watch paper on grapheme-based sensors for chemical sensing. The function of a technology watch paper is to keep NATO informed of areas of technology that they should be monitoring, whether it be for defense purposes or a capability that a nation is developing.
“This effort is an excellent opportunity for ECBC to be better known as a trusted expert internationally,” said Joseph L. Corriveau, Ph.D., director of Research and Technology at ECBC. “I’m very happy that Dr. Fountain is such an integral member of the panel and is building international collaboration.”
Tragedy Spotlights DTRA Technology Development Supported by ECBC
A catastrophic event spotlighted a technology being developed by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) and others that garnered a 2011 DTRA Director’s Annual Team Award (Large Team) in recognition of its noteworthy contribution to the agency.
On March 11, 2011, tragedy struck Japan when a massive earthquake-driven tsunami flowed over the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing power outages and dangerous radiation contamination. DTRA received a request for forces from U.S. Pacific Command to conduct airborne radiation detection and monitoring of Fukushima.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction Aerial Collection System (WACS) was one of several U.S. capabilities identified and requested by name by the government of Japan as a potential technology to rapidly and effectively stabilize the situation at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The system was ready to deploy in only six days.
“WACS is the first all-in-one chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear [CBRN] unmanned aircraft system for locating, intercepting and collecting CBRN materials,” said Britt Kelley, Unmanned Aircraft Systems integration manager and WACS program manager at DTRA.
The original chemical collection with real-time chemical detection/identification work was conceived and developed by the Center’s Research and Technology Directorate Chemical-Biological Point Detection Branch in collaboration with Science Applications International Corporation and Smiths Detection-Watford, with assistance from the ECBC Engineering Directorate. ECBC’s “rapid prototyping” accelerated engineering and manufacturing ability enabled the team to machine the shell and wing pods that contain the system components in only a few days in response to the Fukushima disaster.
Though ultimately WACS was not employed, the Japanese Minister of Defense personally thanked DTRA during a visit in 2011 for its willingness to provide support in a time of crisis.
The outstanding performance of the WACS system provided the basis for Kelley to initiate a technology transition agreement and proceed with a plan to transition WACS to the U.S. Army. U.S. Forces Korea has already signed a WACS concept of operations to implement the system into its procedures.
