Homeland security research will be expanding to a new facility at ASU’s Polytechnic campus through the University’s partnership with General Dynamics C4 Systems, a government and defense technology research company.
iProject, a College of Technology and Innovation program that partners groups of ASU students with companies like GoDaddy.com to solve issues, will continue a partnership begun in August 2011 with the EDGE Innovation Center, a network of academics and technology developers sponsored by General Dynamics C4 Systems.
Scottsdale’s Federal and Civil EDGE Innovation Center, one of 11 centers worldwide researching subjects like vehicle technology, will be providing technology to students working at the Polytechnic campus to produce prototypes of a portable self-contained outpost to be used in remote areas of the world for disaster relief or rescue missions, among other possibilities.
The partnership will also produce a “living laboratory” located at the Polytechnic campus and establish a real-life desert environment for research.
With technology provided by General Dynamics C4 Systems, the “living laboratory” is expected to be built in the near future with budgets still under negotiation.
Chris Marzilli, General Dynamics C4 Systems president, said in a news release that ASU’s partnership with the company is a step toward securing the border.
“Within the unique EDGE environment, industry and academia will come together to better understand homeland security challenges, like those facing the Border Patrol, to rapidly develop solutions that will make their jobs safer and more efficient,” Marzilli said in the news release.
Bill Ross, General Dynamics C4 Systems vice president of federal systems and cyber solutions, said the partnership with ASU is collaborative.
“We’re both contributing resources, skills and expertise to jointly prove out new technologies and solutions targeting unique and challenging border security issues,” Ross said.
Since iProject and the EDGE Innovation Center partnered in August of last year, a team of about 10 students, faculty and industry members has been researching and building computer simulations of a portable, self-sustaining and energy-producing outpost to house 25 people for up to 90 days without the need for resupplying, said Benjamin Ruddell, project mentor and professor.
“The goal is to deploy something like this very easily to remote areas,” Ruddell said.
Resupplying creates an opportunity for attack in military situations and represents an added transportation cost.
To reduce the threat of attack, the outpost will be equipped with its own power grid, a system for heating and cooling, and the capabilities to produce enough power for tools and vehicles and purify and treat water.
“We have a set of requirements and specifications for all of the pieces of the structure,” Ruddell said.
Project leader Mike Gresen, a mechanical engineering and technology senior, said he has gained real-world experience by working on the project.
“We have achieved pretty much all of our goals that we set out at the beginning of the semester and plan on moving forward,” Gresen said.
The team’s next task is to create, set up and test the physical prototype of the model.
Ruddell said the outpost is estimated to be assembled and tested by summer, with the possibility of testing the self contained remote outposts in the “living laboratory” when the space is available.
Ross said the partnership will evolve with the changing needs of securing the border.
“We expect the partnership to continue as the needs and requirements in this space will evolve as new border security threats and priorities emerge,” he said.
Reach the reporter at btjohns7@asu.edu
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