University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Okanagan campus received a grant of $1.5-million to invest into research on lighter, more comfortable and all-weather resistant protective gear for the Canadian Armed Forces and first responders.
A network of 13 researchers will be spearheading the project over the next three years, directed by Dr. Kevin Golovin, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the university. Their research will be bolstered by the university’s Survive and Thrive Applied Research (STAR) initiative and financed by the Department of National Defence.
“We are working towards making the body armour more comfortable and more breathable, as well as better protected against hazardous solids, liquids and gases,” Golovin said.
“This is a network of researchers, there’s no prototype. It’s early development stage research,” he added.
Dr. Mohammad Arjmand, the Canada Research Chair in advanced materials and polymer engineering, is also a part of this project.
“I am working on development of auxetic polymers and shear thickening fluids. These can act like a shield against any external forces on body armour, such as bullets,” he said.
The faculty of mechanical engineering is also going to be involved with research and experimentation towards the creation of the body armour.
“If [the money from the grant] goes in the right place, it’s a very good development opportunity… taking UBC Okanagan forward,” said Shriya Agrawal, a third-year mechanical engineering student at UBC Okanagan.
“This was initially supposed to be a research base for UBC. This would be a good step towards equalizing competition between UBC Vancouver and Okanagan.”
Postdoctoral and graduate students will have an opportunity to get involved with the research as well, said Golvin.
“It’s on a per faculty member basis, so the team is about 13 different researchers. Each one is allowed to choose whoever they want to work on the research,” he said.
“Currently, one postdoctoral fellow and one PhD student are involved in this project. They work on nanomaterials synthesis, polymer nanocomposite preparation, and nanomaterial and polymer nanocomposite characterization,” Arjmand added.
The research will be carried out in eight parts over the course of the next three years. It is early-stage research and hence, there are no expected results.
Featured image provided.
