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  • March

    A palladium bar after being exposed to lasers in a low-energy nuclear reaction experiment at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire. The image shows areas of silicon that were not present before the experiment. The image was taken with a scanning electron microscope at about a 1 µm resolution. The palladium bar was about a centimeter squared in area.

    Revisiting cold fusion possibilities for clean energy

    With global attention becoming increasingly focused on climate change, more and more scientific research is turning to advancements in clean energy. One researcher at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has set his sights on cold fusion.
  • Researchers with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center use new technology to directly measure soil carbon on 5,000 acres of Fort Riley training lands.

    ERDC-CERL researchers find innovative ways to measure soil carbon

    Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are collaborating with Carbon Asset Solutions (CAS), a company that holds the license to a newly developed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil scanning technology, to directly measure soil carbon on 5,000 acres of Fort Riley training lands.
  • Dr. Todd Bridges, retired ERDC senior scientist, and Ms. Pat Engler unveil the placard dedicating the conference room to her deceased husband, Dr. Bob Engler, who worked at ERDC for 33 years.

    Dr. Robert “Bob” Engler with ERDC conference room dedication

    A conference room in the Environmental Laboratory at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center was recently dedicated in memory of a longtime employee, the late Dr. Robert “Bob” Engler.

  • ERDC-CERL to test new hydrogen electrolyzer technology to support energy resilience

    In an effort to make U.S. Army installations less vulnerable to risks and hazards, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) will test new hydrogen technology in support of energy resilience.

  • President’s FY24 Civil Works Budget historic for R&D

    With the release of the Biden-Harris administration’s fiscal 2024 budget, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works held a joint press conference detailing the proposed civil works budget, including a historic $86 million for research and development with additional R&D funds spread across USACE business lines totaling more than $100 million for R&D.
  • A team of researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory and Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education developed a suite of tools to assist project teams with a low-cost, energy-saving controls retrofit for multizone heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The tools are designed to guide a project team through the entire technology adoption process. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo)

    ERDC-CERL team transitions ERDC HVAC controls retrofit technology

    A team of researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) and Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) are working to address challenges of energy efficiency for specific older heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems within the Department of Defense.
  • Dr. Andy Nelson, director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, talks with a University of Illinois student at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers R&D Day, February 22, 2023.

    USACE R&D Day at the University of Illinois a huge success

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently held a Research and Development (R&D) Day at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
  • Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District and the City of Tybee Island to measure vessel wakes near the island’s north shore in hopes of understanding which ships and operating conditions are associated with large wakes. Commercial vessels transiting the Savannah entrance channel intermittently generate large wake events on the North Beach, creating a potential hazard for beachgoers.

    ERDC-CHL researchers assess hazardous vessel wakes near Tybee Island

    Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District and the city of Tybee Island to measure vessel wakes near the island’s north shore in hopes of better understanding which ships and operating conditions are associated with generating large wakes.

  • February

    Christopher Williams, principal of Porter’s Chapel Academy; Dr. David Pittman, director U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC); and Dr. Virgil “Buddy” Strickland, principal of Vicksburg Catholic School; sign educational partnership agreements on February 17, 2023. The agreements promote collaboration between ERDC and the schools.

    ERDC announces new partnerships with Vicksburg Catholic School and Porter’s Chapel Academy

    The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) recently signed an educational partnership agreement with two Vicksburg, Mississippi schools— Vicksburg Catholic School (VCS) and Porter’s Chapel Academy (PCA). These agreements ensure collaboration and the exchange of ideas between ERDC and the schools.
  • Dr. Nathan Harms, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Environmental Laboratory research biologist, standing amongst a thick sagittaria infestation in northern Victoria during his visit to Australia to hand-deliver insects collected in the U.S. for the sagittaria project.

    ERDC researcher aids work in Australia, South Africa to combat invasive weed

    For more than a decade, Dr. Nathan Harms, a research biologist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL), has been assisting the Australian government, and more recently South Africa, with the biological control of the invasive delta arrowhead.
  • Shawniece Walker, with Mississippi Blood Services, prepares Kelly Mitchell of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.

    ERDC earns top award from Mississippi Blood Services

    The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is known worldwide for solving the Nation’s toughest challenges in military and civil engineering. However, the ERDC team has also been recognized for taking on another challenge — blood donation. Recently, ERDC was named the 2022 top business of the year from Mississippi Blood Services (MBS).
  • Dr. Ing Peter Birkner from the House of Energy e.V. and Dr. Alexander Zhivov, a senior research engineer with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory.

    ERDC-CERL organizes international conference held to fight climate change and support energy security

    An International Forum aimed “towards a secure energy supply in a net zero emission society” was held in Frankfurt, Germany, January 23-25, 2023. The event was organized by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL), along with the House of Energy e.V. to fight climate change and support energy security on the local level.
  • Dr. Benjamin Trump named U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Researcher of the Year.

    ERDC scientist named USACE Researcher of the Year

    Dr. Benjamin Trump, a research social scientist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL), was recently named U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Researcher of the Year.

  • January

    The National Technical Committee for Ordinary High Watermarks (OHWM), made up of researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), the Environmental Protection Agency, regulators from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other academic institutions, stand in front of a waterfall following a field test of an interim OHWM identification data sheet.

    ERDC Releases New Data Sheet for Identifying Ordinary High Watermarks

    For 10 years, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has  led research on the development of a national manual and data sheet to identify the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) across the United States. The national manual was released as an interim draft and describes the OHWM, which is used to define the boundaries of aquatic features for a variety of federal, state and local regulatory purposes.
  • Kate Trubac, a Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory research general engineer, oversees an in-situ burn experiment conducted with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The burns are testing the efficiency of a new system designed to improve oil spill clean up.

    CRREL researchers test new crude oil spill method, tools

    When it comes to oil spills, efficient methods of cleanup play a vital role in mitigating damage. Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) are testing the effectiveness of a new tool aimed at cleaning up spills called the fire-boom.
  • Terry Winschel, historian at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), gives a tour of the ERDC-Vicksburg site to Susan Vogel Wilson and her husband, Bruce Wilson. Wilson is the granddaughter of the late Lt. Herbert Vogel, who served as the first commander of the Waterways Experiment Station

    Granddaughter of first Waterways commander visits ERDC-Vicksburg

    When Susan Vogel Wilson was growing up, she thought of her grandfather as a loving man with a priceless sense of humor who always brought back fun souvenirs from his travels. To the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Wilson’s grandfather is remembered as the man who started it all— the first commander of the Waterways Experiment Station. Wilson’s grandfather, Herbert D. Vogel, was a world leader in engineering and retired as a brigadier general for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At the age of 29, after earning a doctorate in hydraulic engineering in Berlin, Germany, Lt. Vogel was selected to oversee the construction of a new hydraulics laboratory in Vicksburg. Today, the Waterways Experiment Station (WES) has grown into ERDC—seven laboratories across four states, home to approximately 2,100 employees and a $1 billion annual research program.
  • Dr. Benjamin Trump, a research social scientist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Environmental Laboratory, was recently awarded the Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award by the Society for Risk Analysis.

    ERDC researcher recognized for outstanding service in risk analysis field

    Dr. Benjamin Trump, a research social scientist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL), was recently awarded the Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award by the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA).
  • ERDC Virtual Library

    Books to bytes: ERDC Library goes fully virtual

    VICKSBURG, Miss.— A new effort will transform the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Library by adding an unexpected capability: virtual reality. A team at the ERDC Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) is working to create a fully-immersive, interactive experience that is as realistic as physically walking into the Mississippi-based library with an ultimate goal of enhancing information and data discovery for team members around the world.
  • Treat Island, Maine facility for testing coatings

    New cold weather facilities established to test coatings that mitigate ice adhesion, corrosion

    VICKSBURG, Miss. — The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire, announced the creation of three new facilities on Treat Island, Maine; in Fairbanks, Alaska; and in Hanover for the testing of coatings to withstand — and even mitigate — ice adhesion and corrosion.
  • The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineer Research Laboratory (CERL) Robotics for Engineering Operations (REO) team recently participated in Project Convergence 2022 (PC22).

    Robotics for Engineering Operations team participate in Project Convergence 2022

    The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineer Research Laboratory (CERL) Robotics for Engineering Operations (REO) team recently participated in Project Convergence 2022 (PC22).