March 29, 2024
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UMaine lab to do work for Army $6.2M contract enables construction research

ORONO – The University of Maine, forging a new relationship with the U.S. Army, announced Friday a $6.2 million research contract to develop and construct buildings and bridges with wood and synthetic composites.

The military is looking for prefabricated, lightweight, portable buildings and reinforced tents that would protect troops from rocket attacks and shrapnel and be easy to transport and put together.

The two-year contract brings UM one step closer to becoming an Army Center of Excellence, a designation that would enable the campus to have a permanent place in the military budget and to be called on regularly to perform other research and development projects. That would mean millions more dollars for research and more jobs.

“We would become like an Army lab,” said Habib Dagher, director of the university’s Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center. The new program “opens the door to start working with the Army in a major way. It allows them to see what we can do.”

Dagher said that 30-35 people, including scientists, engineers, support staff and students, would be hired to work in the composites lab as a result of the new $6.2 million project.

Once field-testing of the new products is complete and the military gives a thumbs up, the goal would be to issue procurement contracts on which Maine companies familiar with the materials would have the opportunity to bid.

The coveted research grant was announced at the composites center during a ceremony attended by members of Maine’s congressional delegation, state and UM officials, U.S. Army representatives, and UM faculty, staff and students.

As part of the contract, the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center will work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center in Massachusetts to figure out how best to design and construct the composite buildings and bridges.

The UM center is the only university-based research facility in the country where new products made of synthetic and natural fiber-based composites can be taken from initial concept to prototype design, production and testing under one roof.

Coinciding with the announcement ceremony Friday, the university dedicated newly expanded laboratory space that was financed with a $4.5 million voter-approved bond in 2004. Without the addition, it would have been difficult to take on the large military project, officials said.

The expansion “represents the state’s commitment to university research,” said UM President Robert Kennedy. “Because of this, we could talk seriously with the Army about bringing research opportunities to Maine.”

The U.S. Army project will give students additional opportunities to learn through research; provide the university increased national visibility; and offer Maine residents new economic opportunities, Kennedy said.

Also cited for helping to bring about the UM-U.S. Army connection was University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal, former acting U.S. secretary to the Army. He was praised for recognizing the connection between the Army’s needs and the university’s capabilities, and for introducing UM officials to key people at the Pentagon.

Westphal told the crowd that during a visit to Kosovo as secretary of the Army, he noticed the heavy equipment and the many hours of work needed to erect the wooden structures for military housing.

Later, as UMS chancellor, he saw what was being done at the wood composites lab and realized, “We have technology here that can be really helpful.”

The university’s new relationship with the Army is a way to repay a debt to the military, according to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. “To develop materials to better protect our troops is so important,” she said. Joining Collins in praising the center were U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud and Tom Allen, and a representative from U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office.

Military officials told the group that UM’s help is needed. The Army wants shelters that can go up fast, weigh less and take up less space, said Frank Kostka, director of collective protection for the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center in Natick, Mass. Working with UM is “critical to that mission,” he said.

Toney Cummins, representing the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Miss., said the Army is still using World War II technology – stacking sandbags on roofs to protect against shelling and employing heavy lumber for buildings that require a lot of expertise to erect.

“We want to get away from things that require heavy equipment so that pretty much anybody can put them together,” he said.

Jack Cashman, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, said Maine is losing manufacturing jobs and that the state has to “change the way we do business. We can’t overemphasize the importance of the University of Maine in an effort to stay ahead of the curve,” he added.

Dagher himself was praised often during the ceremony for his tenacity and his optimism as he led the effort to create a relationship with the military. Kennedy called him a “creative ball of productive energy,” while Collins labeled him a “supernova.”


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