Posted by Courtney Howard
MCLEAN, Va., 9 Feb. 2010. QinetiQ North America is working with Brewer Science and Applied Systems Intelligence on a program to develop an autonomous, self-deploying sensor that will serve as a roving, early-warning detector of biological warfare activity.
The program is being funded by the U.S. Army Research Office.
Work on the project will be performed primarily at the Jordan Valley Innovation Center (JVIC) at Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo., and the Waltham, Mass., office of QinetiQ North America's Technology Solutions Group. All three companies involved in the project are members of JVIC.
Dr. Ryan Giedd, the executive director of JVIC, says: "The development of this mobile early-warning robot sensor in Springfield is a great opportunity for Missouri State, its students and our community. JVIC has now progressed to the point where we are value-adding to the most sophisticated of advanced technologies known while providing job opportunities in the near future for advanced manufacturing."
The program is designed to meet a stated Department of Defense need for a tactical chemical and biological defense, as well as an intelligent network that can communicate and direct sensors so they provide real-time notice of a threat.
Brewer Science, Rolla, Mo., will provide biological agent sensor elements based on carbon nanotechnology.
Applied Systems Intelligence (ASI), Alpharetta, Ga., will develop software to integrate sensing, detection, identification and alerts for the system.
QinetiQ North America will be responsible for building and qualifying the detector, integrating the systems, and testing the sensor.
"This project will help create a new and advanced chemical and biological threat detection capability for the military and for homeland defense," says JD Crouch, president of the QinetiQ North America's Technology Solutions Group.
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