Fibertect Wipe Receives Additional Funding from U.S. Military

The Fibertect nonwoven textile wipe developed at Texas Tech University (TTU), Lubbock, Texas, USA, and invented by Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar of TTU, has received additional funding from the U.S. Army. The funding, part of a major research program by the Zumwalt Program at TTU, is aimed at enhancing Fibertect wipe's applications.

The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) at Texas Tech recently received a $1.1 million research award from the U.S. Army's Research Development and Engineering Command to continue funding the Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. National Program for Countermeasures to Biological and Chemical Threats. Ron Kendall, director of TIEHH, said this was the first funding cycle of a new three-year contract for the program, which was chartered at Texas Tech in 1999.

"This will allow us to continue our work in countermeasures to chemical and biological threats – in other words, counterterrorism measures," Kendall said. "The program has enjoyed a lot of success in working with the Army in the last several years, publishing more than 100 scientific publications, a major textbook and critical patents such as the Fibertech decontamination wipe."

Specifically, Fibertect has received $90,000 for a one year project. Recently, cotton-carbon Fibertect was found to have oil absorption capabilities. More information is available online.

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