The Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments Collaborative Research Alliance (MEDE CRA) culminated its 10-year program with a virtual capstone event, co-hosted by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) and Johns Hopkins University. More than 180 people participated in the event, including principal investigators and students from consortium universities, Army researchers and industry partners. Representatives from U.S. Army Futures Command, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, Office of Naval Research, National Ground Intelligence Center, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and other DEVCOM subordinate organizations participated as well.

The MEDE CRA is a basic research program led by Johns Hopkins University. The program includes a consortium of 25 university and research partners located in 13 states and three foreign countries. MEDE has developed a materials-by-design strategy, which has resulted in innovative protection materials and computational design codes for armor applications. These new concepts will support the Soldier Lethality and Next Generation Combat Vehicle modernization priorities. According to DEVCOM ARL Dr. Patrick Baker, MEDE successfully achieved its mission by focusing on the three key elements of a basic research program: relevance, team, and science.

Maj. Gen. Edmond “Miles” Brown, DEVCOM commanding general, highlighted the capstone with a keynote address. He described a multinational force that was attacked while on patrol during a deployment to Afghanistan. The body armor they wore provided the necessary protection to survive the attack and make it back home safely. Additionally, Brown described the evolution of body armor from the time he entered the U.S. Army to present day, and the importance of basic research programs like the MEDE CRA.

Sen. Ben Cardin and Sen. Christopher Van Hollen of Maryland expressed their congratulations to the MEDE CRA. Cardin noted that MEDE has graduated 76 PhD students and transitioned 55 postdoctoral fellows. More than 200 undergraduates participated in research activities; 62 of whom were from HBCUs and minority serving institutions. This highlights the program’s real dedication to inclusivity and diversity, he said. Van Hollen added that MEDE will help save American lives and keep troops safer for years to come.

Officials said a hallmark of the MEDE CRA is its impact on workforce development. Including the university faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, and DEVCOM ARL researchers, over 600 individuals have been involved in the MEDE research. These individuals include high school and undergraduate student apprentices sponsored through DEVCOM’s Army Educational Outreach Program, and the Army Research Office’s partnered research initiative for HBCUs and minority serving institutions. The MEDE CRA ensured these valuable opportunities were incorporated into the core research program.

Prof. Lori Graham-Brady of Johns Hopkins and Dr. Sikhanda Satapathy for DEVCOM ARL presented the numerous accomplishments of the MEDE CRA. According to Dr. Satapathy, the goal of the program was to look at the materials or different material classes at different scales, starting from the atomistic scale to the application scale. To achieve this, the MEDE program developed a rigorous mechanism-driven materials-by-design strategy that resulted in new magnesium alloys, boron carbide, and glass-epoxy composites.

In each material, MEDE was able to achieve a weight reduction and improved performance. These discoveries were translated into computational design codes which assisted in validating the experimental data. Industry partners were able to scale-up the laboratory produced materials for ballistic evaluation at DEVCOM ARL.

Graham-Brady said by improving these armor materials they will have a real impact on keeping people safe, which, she said, motivated much of the research.

The capstone included a MEDE CRA video, which provided an overview and successes of the program.

The impact of MEDE to the broader science community will be felt for years, Graham-Brady said. To date, MEDE university personnel and DEVCOM ARL researchers have authored 478 peer-reviewed journal articles. These articles have been cited over 8,000 times. To ensure the legacy of the MEDE CRA, special edition journals featuring MEDE research have been published.

Johns Hopkins University President Ronald Daniels expressed his appreciation to the U.S. Army for sponsoring the MEDE CRA. Johns Hopkins’ partnership with the Department of Defense was seeded in 1940 with the creation of the National Defense Research Committee. MEDE’s innovations will continue to shape the future of the government-university research through the doctoral students and postdocs now working in DOD and national laboratories, academia and global industry.

As s federally-funded program, the Center for Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments is featured in the Hopkins on the Hill event – a biennial showcase of the range, value, and impact of federally-funded research and programming at Johns Hopkins University.

This year, the event was held virtually with different segments for each program. “How Will Extreme Materials Save the World?”, was held on May 19th and included information from each program within the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI).  CMEDE director Lori Graham-Brady was joined by Prof. Tim Weihs, director of the Materials Science in Extreme Environments University Research Alliance, to discuss their programs and how federal funding contributes to each program’s success.

Below is a video overview used to describe MEDE’s research and workforce development efforts.

The Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments Collaborative Research Alliance (MEDE CRA) conducted its Fall Meeting on October 15th, 2020. As the lead research organization of the CRA, Johns Hopkins University hosts and staffs the event. Due to COVID-19, the annual, closed event was completely virtual this year.

The MEDE Fall Meeting brings the entire MEDE CRA together for program overviews, collaborative activities, and discussion. In 2020, the event was attended by 130 individuals including special guests from the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the U.S. Army CCDC Army Research Laboratory, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Army CCDC Soldier Center, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Command,  the Office of Naval Research, and the National Ground Intelligence Center. Professor K.T. Ramesh (JHU) and Dr. Sikhanda Satapathy (CCDC ARL) led the meeting, which highlighted the research accomplishments for new metallic, ceramic, and composite protection materials, as well as new computational design codes and tools for armor applications. The meeting also featured a virtual poster session with 55 presenters including ARL researchers, university faculty, graduate students, and postdocs from within the MEDE CRA.

The MEDE CRA is an integral part of the ARL’s Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials. The objective of the MEDE CRA is to develop the capability to design, optimize, and fabricate material systems exhibiting revolutionary performance in extreme dynamic environments. The approach is to realize a mechanism-based, “materials-by-design” capability that focuses on advancing the fundamental understanding of materials in relevant high-strain-rate and high-stress regimes. Model materials in the areas of metals, ceramics, composites and polymers are being investigated to improve protection for soldiers and vehicles.

The MEDE Fall Meeting highlights research from partners around the world.

In January 2020, the Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials, or EMRM, conducted its biennial Research Management Board (RMB) review at Johns Hopkins University.

The EMRM is comprised of the Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments, known as MEDE, and Multi-Scale Modeling of Electronic Materials, or MSME, collaborative research alliances who work with U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory’s internal energetics program. The MEDE and MSME CRAs are led by Johns Hopkins University and the University of Utah respectively, and include a consortium of over 20 universities.

The RMB review focused on scientific discoveries in the areas of electronic and protection materials. Currently, the enterprise is studying such electronic materials as electrochemical energy devices, hybrid photonic materials and heterogeneous electronics. Protection materials under investigation include metals, ceramics and composites for military armor applications.

The event was chaired by Dr. Alexander Kott, ARL’s chief scientist. The 16-member board included senior executives and senior research scientists from ARL, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology), U.S. Army CCDC Armaments Center, U.S. Army CCDC Chemical Biological Center, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Command, and representatives from the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation

More than 80 people participated in the meeting, including principal investigators and students from consortium universities, and ARL researchers.

The Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments Collaborative Research Alliance (MEDE CRA) conducted its Fall Meeting on October 17th, 2019. As lead research organization of the CRA, Johns Hopkins University hosts and staffs the event.

The MEDE Fall Meeting is an annual, closed event that brings the entire MEDE CRA together for program overviews, collaborative activities, and discussion. In 2019, the event was attended by 120 individuals including special guests from the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory; the U.S. Army CCDC Soldier Center; the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Command; Office of Naval Research and the National Ground Intelligence Center. Professor K.T. Ramesh (JHU) and Dr. Sikhanda Satapathy (CCDC ARL) led the meeting, which focused on technical collaboration across the alliance and program planning for the upcoming year. Research accomplishments for new protection materials as well as new computational design codes and tools for armor applications were showcased through presentations and posters.

The meeting also provided the opportunity to thank Dr. John Beatty, former MEDE cooperative agreement manager, who retired recently. The group presented Beatty with an official note from the CCDC ARL’s Director of the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate and a letter of recognition from Dean Ed Schlesinger of the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.

The MEDE CRA is an integral part of ARL’s Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials. The objective of the MEDE CRA is to develop the capability to design, optimize, and fabricate material systems exhibiting revolutionary performance in extreme dynamic environments. The approach is to realize a mechanism-based, “materials-by-design” capability that focuses on advancing the fundamental understanding of materials in relevant high-strain-rate and high-stress regimes. Model materials in the areas of metals, ceramics, composites and polymers are being investigated to improve protection for soldiers and vehicles.

The 2019 Mach Conference, held last week in Annapolis, MD, brought together representatives from academia, government and industry to share their work in the field of materials, with an emphasis on advancing the fundamental science and engineering of materials and structures in extreme environments.. The conference’s plenary speakers included Dr. Benji Maruyama (Air Force Research Laboratory), Dr. Jonathan Almer (Argonne National Laboratory), Prof. Gilbert “Rip” Collins (University of Rochester), Prof. William A. Curtin (EPFL), and Dr. Dennis Dimiduk (BlueQuartz Software, LLC and The Ohio State University.)  Conference-goers attended lectures, presented on research, and socialized with their peers in the discipline.

Next year’s conference will be held on April 1-3, 2020. For more information, visit www.machconference.org.

The Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments Collaborative Research Alliance (MEDE CRA) conducted its Fall Meeting on October 10th, 2018. As lead research organization of the CRA, Johns Hopkins University hosts the event.

The MEDE Fall Meeting is an annual, closed event that brings the entire MEDE CRA together for program overviews, collaborative activities and discussion. In 2018, the event was attended by 130 individuals including special guests from the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory; US Army Engineer Research and Development Center and members of the MEDE Science Advisory Board. Professor K.T. Ramesh (JHU) and Dr. John Beatty (ARL) led the meeting, which focused on technical collaboration across the MEDE CRA and program planning for the upcoming year.

The MEDE CRA is an integral part of ARL’s Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials. The objective of the MEDE CRA is to develop the capability to design, optimize, and fabricate material systems exhibiting revolutionary performance in extreme dynamic environments. The approach is to realize a mechanism-based, “materials-by-design” capability that focuses on advancing the fundamental understanding of materials in relevant high-strain-rate and high-stress regimes. Model materials in the areas of metals, ceramics, composites and polymers are being investigated to improve protection for soldiers and vehicles.

On April 3, 2018 Dr. Kimberly Sablon, director of Basic Research, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) made a visit to the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She was accompanied by Ms. Cindy Bedell, director of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory’s (ARL) Computational and Information Sciences Directorate.

During the visit, the pair received presentations on the Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments Collaborative Research Alliance, or MEDE CRA. The presentations were led by Professor K.T. Ramesh from Johns Hopkins and Dr. John Beatty of ARL.

The MEDE CRA is an integral part of ARL’s Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials, officials said. The objective of the alliance is to develop the capability to design, optimize, and fabricate material systems exhibiting revolutionary performance in extreme dynamic environments. The approach is a mechanism-based, “materials-by-design” capability that focuses on advancing the fundamental understanding of materials in relevant high-strain-rate regimes. Model materials in the areas of metals, ceramics and composites are being investigated to improve protection for Soldiers and vehicles.

In addition to the updates, Dr. Sablon toured the state-of-the-art facilities which support MEDE research activities. The tour included the 3-dimension characterization, laser shock, Kolsky-bar and plate impact facilities. These facilities can simulate forces from a blast and ballistic event, can determine the composition of a material sample undergoing these types of high impact events.

The visit concluded with a lunch session with current doctoral students. The doctoral students included Army researchers who are attending John Hopkins under the DoD SMART scholars program. Ms. Bedell was the featured speaker and she provided career advice and insights into working at the Army Research Laboratory.

Registration is now open for the 2018 Mach Conference. Sponsored by HEMI, the Mach Conference is an annual, open event that showcases the state of the art of multiscale research in materials, with an emphasis on advancing the fundamental science and engineering of materials and structures in extreme environments. The conference will be held April 4-6, 2018 in Annapolis, MD.

This year, plenary speakers include:

Thomas Duffy Princeton University

Jean-François Molinari EPFL, Switzerland

Naresh Thadhani Georgia Tech

Paul Voyles University of Wisconsin

Xijie Wang Stanford University

For more information topics being presented at the conference and to register, visit machconference.org.