Many Layers To Building A Super Soldier; MIT Project Seeks to Outfit Fighter With Nanotechnology

Pamela Ferdinand, Special to The Washington Post

Imagine a futuristic battleground where soldier uniforms as light as paper resist bullets, treat wounds, and detect chemical and biological poisons, where soft fabrics morph into splints, and battle suit sensors relay details about a soldier's location and physical condition to headquarters.

Such is the science fiction scenario envisioned for the real 21st century world by researchers and scientists at the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, one of the nation's newest Army-sponsored research centers and the largest military defense project undertaken here at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The nearly $ 100 million project, which also involves industry partners DuPont Co. and Raytheon Co. and two Boston hospitals, is designed to develop and apply molecular materials that will help outfit American soldiers in a way that gives them a significant edge over their enemies.

"We're a bunch of problem solvers," said Edwin L. Thomas, institute director and an MIT professor of materials science and engineering. "We're not trying to make weapons. We're trying to help the soldier survive on the battlefield. . . . The Army is looking for visionary, far-out solutions."

It is a huge challenge, to be solved by research on the smallest scale. Now one of the hottest scientific fields, nanotechnology consists of the ability to engineer structures out of particles so tiny that hundreds could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.

The federal government has greatly increased its investment in nanotechnology. The National Science Foundation has predicted the market for nanotechnology services and products, such as computer memory chips, could reach $ 1 trillion by 2015.

MIT has a history of working with the military to develop commercial technology. In March, MIT won the five-year, $ 50 million "soldier of the future" contract over 50 other institutions.

As part of the deal, MIT will contribute $ 14 million and is spending $ 10 million to renovate a 28,000-square-foot facility for the institute.

Scheduled to open in April, the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies is designed to be a collision zone of science, medicine and business, hosting 150 people from diverse disciplines, including 34 MIT faculty members from eight departments. Graduate students and postdoctoral associates also are participating, alongside Army specialists, industry experts and physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Seven teams will focus on three main areas, Thomas said: protection, human performance enhancement and injury intervention and cure.

Paula T. Hammond, an associate professor of chemical engineering, compared the concept of the super-soldier uniform to a "Dagwood sandwich," the sandwich named after the "Blondie" cartoon character and piled high with a variety of meats, cheeses and condiments. Only in this case, most of the elements that comprise each microscopic layer will be invisible.

Researchers are working to develop sensor patches and reactive coating that could respond to chemical and biological agents with antidotes or determine whether a soldier is dehydrated and adjust accordingly. They are trying to make soft materials rigid, to recycle water from a soldier's body, and to create "intelligent" fabric by weaving computer and communications technology into a uniform.

Overall, the goal is to reduce uniform size and weight -- a fully equipped soldier now may carry more than 100 pounds and a dozen batteries to operate different pieces of equipment -- while creating a piece of clothing as self-contained as an automobile.

"You don't decide whether you need your radio or seat belt or room in your trunk. All that is built in the car when you get in," said Henry Everitt, the Army Research Office's executive manager in charge of the project. "We want the soldier to have the same luxury."

Military applications are likely to be transferred to the civilian and aerospace arena, participants said. Super-soldier suits could be worn by firefighters and other emergency personnel who face increasingly diverse hazards in a post-Sept. 11, 2001, world, they said.

Thomas said early successes are needed to instill confidence, and some progress in detection and reactive coatings has been made. The presence of anthrax, for example, can now be detected in three minutes, instead of 24 hours.

The challenge for researchers lies not only in determining the acceptable limits of nanotechnology, but also in mastering core science to manipulate the chemistry of materials. The integration of science and engineering is critical, and that's where DuPont, which has expertise with polymers and high-performance fibers, and Raytheon, known for systems integration, are supposed to fit in.

The companies, which are contributing $ 15 million to the institute, will be vital in engineering scientific advances out of the lab and into the marketplace at an affordable rate, Thomas said. Because the project is considered basic research and is not classified, the companies will receive advance notice of developments so they have time to file patent applications, Hammond said.

The institute also will work with the Army Research Laboratory and the Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass., in developing the 21st century American warrior.

"It's really a lot of fun, and it's also great science," said Hammond, whose team is composed of 10 students, three postdoctoral associates and a visiting scientist.

For Kristoffer Tokes, 23, a graduate student working on chemical and biological agent sensors, the super-soldier uniform is not the stuff of science fiction as much as simply a matter of time.

"It's exciting to be working on a project of this magnitude, to have a large impact not just on the military, but eventually everyday life," he said.