At a press conference on March 13, MIT officials unveiled the five-year, $50 million contract, which will involve 35 MIT professors from nine departments in the schools of engineering, science and architecture and planning, according to the MIT News Office. Using MIT's facilities, researchers will develop state-of-the-art uniforms designed to enhance soldier survivability and protection in future wars.
In a statement released by the MIT News Office, administrators celebrated the acquisition of the ISN as an important milestone in University history.
"Now yet again the U.S. faces threats that challenge our country to capitalize on the enabling power of novel technologies," said Prof. Ned Thomas, MIT's Morris Cohen professor of materials science and engineering, who will serve as the ISN director.
"The ISN really embodies a great opportunity to create these new technologies to protect our soldiers," he added.
MIT's selection represents the culmination of a rigorous, open competition among colleges vying for the ISN contract since October. Cornell's bid, which was denied Jan. 29, proposed utilizing the area currently occupied by the Ward Center for Nuclear Sciences to host the ISN. Although future plans for the Ward site remain unclear, the decommissioning of the Center's TRIGA nuclear fission reactor is scheduled to commence on June 30, 2002.
The submission of Cornell's formal proposal to the Army Research Office in December fueled speculation among lab officials that the decision to decommission the reactor, which was approved unanimously last summer by the Board of Trustees, was induced by the University's desire to replace the Ward Center with the ISN.
Captain Amy Hannah, an Army spokesperson, said Tuesday from the Pentagon that the Army is excited about the selection of MIT and is looking forward to working with the University. Although she declined to discuss the specifics of the selection process, Hannah said that MIT was chosen on the basis of technical merit and management structure.
"MIT presented the strongest overall program and made the most compelling case," Hannah said.
While all information concerning selection procedures, including the precise number of universities that applied for the grant, remains classified, it has been widely speculated that the finalists for the contract, along with MIT, were Northwestern University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy.
According to Hector Abruña, the E. M. Chamot professor of chemistry and chemical biology, Cornell representatives will be debriefed about the selection process on April 23 in a conference call with Army officials. Abruña, who spearheaded the University's effort to host the ISN, requested a formal explanation concerning the reasons for Cornell's rejection immediately after notice was received from the Army Research Office.
The Army is required by law to provide a debriefing to those universities that applied.
According to Hannah, the ISN will focus on six key soldier capabilities: threat detection, threat neutralization (such as bullet-proof clothing), concealment, enhanced human performance, real-time automated medical treatment, and reduced logistical footprint. The researchers will develop ideas such as a uniform that is nearly invisible and soft clothing that can become a rigid cast when a soldier breaks his or her leg, the MIT News Office reported.
Although the initial contract spans five years, Hannah said that subsequent contracts will be awarded to MIT for the ISN based on the program's initial success and continued relevancy. [End] Copyright © 2002 by The Cornell Daily Sun, Inc. All rights reserved.