BSU professor Dale Russell develops remote tests for nuclear, chemical agents-Research team adapts device made in Boise

Boise State University professor Dale Russell has taken a technology she developed for color printers at Hewlett-Packard Co. and — with a team of BSU researchers — turned it into a system for homeland security.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

The project allows remote detection and analysis of nuclear components and chemical warfare agents using the process Russell developed while an engineer at the Boise HP site. Now a chemistry professor at BSU, Russell uses a special polymer coating that reacts when it comes into contact with certain materials.

At HP, ink would be attracted to the polymer coating, allowing a transfer to the ink roller. Over the past year and a half, however, Russell has adapted the chemistry involved to attract and thus detect various chemicals.

The technology has garnered interest and $600,000 from the Department of Energy; a prototype is expected to be tested at the DOE´s Nevada Test Site in May.

Other BSU professors are developing other aspects on the project, ranging from creating the microprocessor that will send results wirelessly to a remote and perhaps safer location.

The ability to use remote sensing takes away the danger of sending people into sensitive areas, said Joe Hartman, an associate professor of electrical engineering.

Hartman developed the microprocessor that allows the information to be transmitted wirelessly.

And civil engineering professor Molly Gribb designed and built the housing for the entire device and has developed a way to insert the device underground to test water.

BSU professors Jeff Jessing, Amy Moll and Bill Knowlton also are involved in various aspects of the project, as are students, a Washington State University professor and a physicist from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

Lynn Russell, dean of BSU´s College of Engineering, said the project, which also has funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, is the future direction the school wants to take.

“We want to take fundamental research and turn it into useful products,” Russell said, adding that the engineering college has $9 million in funding for current research projects.

The collaborative project has broad applications, with the sensors able test groundwater for contaminants, such as at the INEEL site in eastern Idaho. They could also be dropped surreptitiously into wastewater at factories overseas to test for chemicals used to make nuclear weapons.

Hartman said that being able to use the remote sensing technology is more convenient and safer, even in the United States.

“Some of those ground sites (around INEEL) are dangerous, and when it comes to detecting airborne chemicals, if you´re there, you´re dead,” Hartman said.

Hartman will present the technologies at a homeland security symposium sponsored by Western Athletic Conference schools in San Jose, Calif., in June.

The project is starting its second year, and researchers are applying for a third year of funding to continue the work.

Researchers estimate it will be at least another year before final products are ready for testing.

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[email protected] or 373-6618

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