ECBC Scientists Demonstrate STEM Careers to Incoming Freshman
The Bel Air High School Freshman Camp is an introduction for incoming freshman enrolled in the school’s Biomedical Sciences Program. The program exposes students to STEM professionals working in various medical and scientific fields. The aim is for students to develop an early interest in a specific STEM career. The…
ECBC Seeks Answers to Synthetic Opioid Questions
Michael Feasel, Ph.D., ECBC Toxicology and Obscurants Branch, has been studying the metabolism of carfentanil as well as the isolation and structure of the metabolites formed after introduction to the body. A 0.001 milligram dose of carfentanil is enough to incapacitate someone. Health officials in multiple states have declared carfentanil…
Machine Improves Efficiency, Safety in Processing Dilute Agent
ECBC’s Chemical Transfer Facility (CTF) manages chemical agents for research and testing, on behalf of the Army and the nation in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty. The CTF, part of the Chemical Biological Applications and Risk Reduction (CBARR) business unit, prepares the dilute agent in support of the…
ECBC Completes Two Field Operations Projects
Savanna EDS In mid-May, a 155mm mustard round was destroyed at the former Savanna Army Depot with an explosive destruction system (EDS) operated by a crew from CBARR. The munition was recovered during an environmental investigation in December 2016. ECBC’s CBARR unit supported the U.S. Army Engineer Support Center Huntsville…
ECBC’s Augustus Fountain Earns Presidential Rank Award
He was among 102 Meritorious Rank recipients from across the entire federal government. Each recipient received a framed certificate signed by the president and plus a commemorative pin. This prestigious award is given to career executives and senior civilians selected through a rigorous three-step process that includes each recipient’s agency,…
Fully Immersed
The glove box, dubbed the Big Mac II, has been created at ECBC to be used for the testing and safe-handling of extremely hazardous chemicals. Its expanded internal 1,000 liter exposure chamber allows for full immersion aerosol testing under a range of environmental conditions and fills a much-needed requirement to…
ECBC Receives Patent for Field Deployable Hydrolysis System
The system, known as the FDHS, was used in 2014 to destroy 600 tons of Syria’s declared chemical warfare material aboard a maritime vessel in international waters as part of a multinational forces effort. Patent no. 9,592,414 B1 was granted to seven ECBC employees and reads as “transportable and modular…
ECBC Celebrates a Century of Service to the Nation
With a crowd of more than 500 invited guests and workforce members assembled beneath a pavilion at the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., ECBC Acting Director Eric Moore, Ph.D., noted that while ECBC’s mission lies in the research and development of technologies to defend U.S. warfighters from chemical…
Guest Speaker: Scientific Innovation Often Takes Unexpected Paths
The speaker was Naomi Halas, Ph.D., the Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University. The title of her talk was the “The Future of Science.” Among her examples was the fact that antibiotics was discovered in 1928…
ECBC Scientists Serve as Mentors for Award Winning Graduates
Capstone projects are complex and are pursued in the mentor’s laboratory over the course of the entire school year. For example, Priscilla Lee did her project on validating a 3D human liver cell model for predictive toxicology. ECBC has been working on the development of 3D human cell models for…