A research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying the mechanics behind makeshift explosives used against U.S. troops in Iraq was recently awarded a $3 million grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to develop technology that will reduce the impact of the deadly weapons.
Under the guidance of the ONR’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, the MIT team, headed by chemistry professor Keith Nelson, will collaborate with groups from Washington State University and the Michigan Technological Institute to examine the science behind Iraqi improvised explosive devices, or IEDs
“We want more of a knowledge about the physics and chemistry behind the IEDs,” said William Lukens, the research initiative’s program manager. “This general knowledge will perhaps then give us information on how to counter them.”
The explosives, which are easily constructed from scrap metal and old artillery shells, often contain TNT, a sensitive crystal of organic molecules that, according to Nelson, is prone to detonation. According to Department of Defense documents, the highly reactive explosives have become a primary concern for the U.S. Military because they are easily camouflaged and cause significant casualties.
The grant, which allocates $3 million to the group over a three-year period, is part of the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative’s program that awards annual funds to individual researchers and research teams based on their proposals, according to Lukens.
“We have different topic areas that we solicit different responses for,” he said. “It is a very competitive process. All proposals were evaluated by the same team of professionals and [Nelson’s] came out to be the winner.”
With three MIT students already assisting with research, Nelson said he expects to field a complete team of MIT researchers that will work in collaboration with several other MIT groups that have already been researching the chemical science behind IEDs and other dangerous explosives.
“The reason that my group got this grant is because of things we [have already been doing] to unravel these issues,” he said.
Nelson said his team aims to develop a better understanding of the chemistry behind the organic material at the core of IEDs and to design mechanisms that will ultimately render the energy powering the weapons less sensitive and less destructive.
Once the research team fully masters the science behind the explosives, Nelson said the next step will be to develop ways to use chemistry to disable the IEDs from a distance before they can cause any casualties.
“Right now, we are oriented toward researching very basic science,” Nelson said. “What might be effective [in countering IEDs] and how it would work will depend on the better understanding of the chemical initiation in them.”