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New gear for a good cause
March 9, 2009 - 5:36am
FederalNewsRadio
Seven Washington area universities are stepping up their role in national security. They are the recipients of 16 new grants from the Army to purchase equipment aimed at research defense-related science.
Q: Which local universities are involved?
A: The Army just gave grants to professors at Johns Hopkins, University of Virginia, University of Maryland, Virginia Polytech, George Mason, and Virginia Commonwealth, and Georgetown University. Grants average about a quarter of a million dollars, so that amounts to about four million research dollars.
Q: What are the grants for?
A: The Army has a special program called the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, or DURIP. It helps research professors purchase expensive equipment they need to do defense-related research. Nationwide, this year's program amounted to $52 million, so our area received a disproportionate amount.
The universities buy some really exotic equipment, such as instruments to map the bottom of the ocean to building computing networks that are fail-proof.
Q: What are some of the areas of research these instruments will help?
A: Quite a variety. Maryland, for example, is studying how to combine biological danger sensors with communications networks. Virginia Polytech's grants will help them study new radio systems for battlefield or emergency use. George Mason researchers are looking at computer networks that heal themselves if something goes wrong, as well as new ways of stopping phishing e-mails.
The grants aren't part of the economic stimulus, but they will have a small stimulus effect.
For more information, see the Department of Defense press release: DoD Awards $52.5 Million To Universities For Research Equipment
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