History

The ISN is an Army-sponsored University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC). It is a product of the Army’s vision to explore the potential power of nanotechnology to enable unprecedented advances in Soldier protection, survivability, and mission capabilities. The ISN was designed to collaborate on basic and early applied research with Army and industry partners, and to enable the rapid and efficient transitioning of promising results.

 

On March 12, 2002, the Army announced that it had selected MIT’s proposal from a host of submissions by some of the nation’s best colleges and universities, and the ISN was officially founded two days later on March 14, 2002.

The opening ceremony of the ISN’s dedicated facility was held on May 22, 2003. It was attended by Prof. Charles Vest, who was MIT President at the time; as well as then-Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Claude Bolton; and then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology/Army Chief Scientist Michael Andrews.

For the first four years of its original five-year contract (ISN-1), the ISN was led by Founding Director Prof. Edwin L. Thomas. After becoming Head of the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 2006, Prof. Thomas stepped down from his leadership position at the ISN and Prof. John D. Joannopoulos was selected to succeed him as Director. They presided over a robust and varied research portfolio including approximately 45 principal investigators (PIs) leading nearly 50 core projects throughout the life of the contract, arranged into seven research areas:

  • Strategic Research Area 1: Energy Absorbing Materials
    • Project 1.1: Novel Molecular Architectures for Ultra-Strength Energy Absorption
    • Project 1.2: Ultra Lightweight Nanorelief Networks, Self-Assembled Microtrusses and Photopatterned Nanocomposites
    • Project 1.3: Mechanics of Active Materials
    • Project 1.4: New, Mechanically-Enhanced, Functional, Nanostructured Polyurethane Systems for Soldier Applications
    • Project 1.5: Single-Shot Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of Ballistic Impact Events
    • Project 1.6: Mechanical Property Amplification In Natural Materials
    • Project 1.7: Dynamic FTIR Microstructural Evaluation
    • Project 1.9: Hierarchical Materials Assemblies for Ballistic and Blast Protection
  • Strategic Research Area 2: Mechanically Active Materials and Devices
    • Project 2.1: Nanostructured Actuator Polymers
    • Project 2.2: Optimization Of Conducting Polymer Actuators: Materials, Design and Devices
    • Project 2.3: Liquid Crystalline Thermoplastic Elastomers for Actuator and Electromechanical Applications
    • Project 2.4: Chemically-Switchable Magnetic Materials
    • Project 2.5: Model-Based Control of Mechanically Active Materials
  • Strategic Research Area 3: Sensing and Remediation
    • Project 3.1: Microbicidal Fabrics and Other Materials
    • Project 3.2: IR Detection Systems for Optical Sensing
    • Project 3.4: Viral/Peptide Bio-Array Sensing Systems
    • Project 3.5: Dendrimer/Nanoparticle Assemblies As Chemical Toxin Deactivation Coatings
    • Project 3.6: High Sensitivity Sensing Based on Conducting and Semiconducting Organic Molecules and Polymers
    • Project 3.8: Self-Organizing Anisotropic Nanoelectronic Structures
    • Project 3.9: High Performance Sensors for Unknown Infectious Agents
    • Project 3.10: Agile Acousto-Optic Photonic Bandgap Surfaces
    • Project 3.11: Engineering Cellular nano-dynamics in the development of a Physiomic LiverChip Sensor for Infectious viruses
    • Project 3.12: Computation, Prediction and Fabrication of Photonic and Phononic Properties of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites
    • Project 3.17: Nanostructured Surfaces for Live Cell Pathogen Sensors
  • Strategic Research Area 4: Biomaterials and Nanodevices for Soldier Medical Technology
    • Project 4.1: Switchable Surfaces
    • Project 4.2: Non-Invasive Diagnostic And Delivery Of Injury Intervention Agents
    • Project 4.3: Semi-Active Variable-Impedance Materials: Biomechanical Design And Control
    • Project 4.4: Nanostructured Biomedical Fiber Constructs
    • Project 4.5: Field-Responsive Fluids for Load Transfer in Splints and Other Medical Devices
    • Project 4.6: MEMS based device for the prevention of hemorrhagic shock
  • Strategic Research Area 5: Processing and Characterization
    • Project 5.1: Processing Of Fibers And Fibrous Materials
    • Project 5.2: Nano-scale Multilayer Films Processing, Properties and Morphology
    • Project 5.3: Field-Responsive Fluids and Microstructures For Adaptive Energy Adsoprtion Applications
    • Project 5.4: Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Polymers For Soldier Suit Interconnection
    • Project 5.5: Three dimensional integration of microfluidic devices and fiber networks
    • Project 5.6: Low Pressure Material Deposition by Misted Solution Transport
    • Project 5.7: Nanostructured Origami 3D Fabrication And Assembly Process
    • Project 5.9: Hard Ductile Nanocomposites
  • Strategic Research Area 6: Modeling and Simulation of Materials and Processes
    • Project 6.2: Understanding, Designing, And Tuning The Response Of Nanomaterials And Nanodevices To Target Mechanical, Electronic And Chemical Properties
    • Project 6.3: Induced-Charge Electro-Osmotic Microfluidic Devices For Portable Labs-on-a-Chip
    • Project 6.4: First-Principles Description Of The Structural, Mechanical, And Electronic Properties Of Conducting Polymer Actuators
    • Project 6.5: Dissipative particle dynamics studies of nanocomposite morphology
    • Project 6.6: Multiscale modeling of nanocomposite mechanical properties
    • Project 6.8: Modeling And Simulation Of Deformation And Failure Behavior In High Performance Fabrics
    • Project 6.9: Simulation Of Behind-Armor Effects Of Ballistic Threats
    • Project 6.10: High Performance Simulation Of Blast-Soldier Interactions
  • Strategic Research Area 7: Systems Integration and Technology Transitioning
    • Project 7.1: Virtual Human Project – Continuum Model to Determine Physiological Responses
    • Project 7.3: System Architectures For Optimal Use Of Nanotechnologies

 

An in-depth review process beginning in 2006 resulted in a second ISN contract (ISN-2) that became active in 2007 and continued into 2012. Under ISN-2, the Army funded 30 core projects guided by 44 principal investigators (PIs) and organized into five research areas:

  • Strategic Research Area 1: Light Weight, Multifunctional Nanostructured Fibers and Materials
    • Project 1.1.1: Surface Active Multifunctional Fabrics
    • Project 1.2.1: Integrated Microfluidic Synthesis of Nanostructures
    • Project 1.2.2: Quantum Dot Photodetectors
    • Project 1.2.3: Smart Quantum Dot Sensors
    • Project 1.3.1: Engineering Carbon Nanotubes for Trace Sensing & Dramatically Increased Individual Lengths
    • Project 1.4.1: Active Multi-material Fibers
    • Project 1.5.1: Functional and Responsive Elastomers
  • Strategic Research Area 2: Battle Suit Medicine
    • Project 2.1.1: Nanostructured Actuators — First Principles to Fabrication
    • Project 2.2.1: New Controlled Release Films and Functional Surfaces for Battlefield Medicine
    • Project 2.2.2: Environment-Sensitive Nanomaterials for Non-Invasive Drug Delivery
    • Project 2.3.1: MEMS based Device for the Prevention of Hemorrhagic Shock
    • Project 2.3.2: Non-invasive Drug Delivery and Sensing
    • Project 2.3.3: Integrated Amplifying Fluorescent Polymer Biosensory Systems
  • Strategic Research Area 3: Blast and Ballistic Protection
    • Project 3.1.1: Molecular Approaches to Mechanical Properties for Ballistic Protection
    • Project 3.1.2: Ultralight Weight Microtrusses and Photo Patterned Nanocomposites
    • Project 3.1.3: Mechanical Property Amplification in Natural Materials
    • Project 3.1.4: Top Down Placement and Assembly of Graphene Chainmaille Structures — Toward Flexible Armor & Ultra-light Composite Laminates
    • Project 3.1.5: Nanoscale Superelastic Alloys for Integration into Flexible Armor
    • Project 3.1.6: Microfluidic Synthesis and Rheological Characterization of Non-Spherical Nanostructures
    • Project 3.2.1: Materials and Structures for Blast Damage and Injury Mitigation
    • Project 3.2.2: Nanoscale Chemomechanics of Soft Tissue Impact-trauma behind Rigid vs Flex Armor
    • Project 3.3.1: Light Nanocrystalline Alloy Fibers for Impact and Blast Protection
  • Strategic Research Area 4: Chem/Bio Materials Science — Detection and Protection
    • Project 4.1.1: Chemically Vapor Deposited (CVD) Functional Polymeric Nanocoatings
    • Project 4.1.2: Switchable Surfaces and Novel Elastomers for Improving Cell Function and Device Performance of Cell-based Biosensors
    • Project 4.1.3: Microbicidal Coatings
    • Project 4.2.1: Fluorescence Microscopy at Sub 5-nm Scale
    • Project 4.3.1: Nanostructured Origami
  • Strategic Research Area 5: Nanosystems Integration
    • Project 5.1.1: Nanoelectronics
    • Project 5.1.2: Graphene Devices for Future Multifunctional Battle Suits
    • Project 5.2.1: Fabric Systems That See
    • Project 5.3.1: Laser-to-Uniform Directed Optical Communications

 

The 2012 expiration of the ISN-2 contract led to a renewal of the ISN under its third contract (ISN-3, 2012–2017), comprising 32 projects under 42 PIs arranged in five research areas, closely evolved from ISN-2:

  • Strategic Research Area 1: Lightweight, Multifunctional Nanostructured Materials
    • Project 1.1.1: Hybrid Quantum Dot-Based Imagers & Emitters with Broadly Tunable Spectral Characteristics
    • Project 1.2.1: Graphene Devices for Next-Generation Night Vision Systems
    • Project 1.3.1: Nanostructured Hybrid Interfaces
    • Project 1.3.2: Responsive Surface Texturing and Coloring
    • Project 1.3.3: Enabling Architectures and Technologies for Next-Generation Fiber Devices
    • Project 1.4.1: Tailored Nano-particles for Obscurant Applications
  • Strategic Research Area 2: Soldier Medicine — Prevention, Diagnostics and Far-Forward Care
    • Project 2.1.1: Nanotechnology for Stimulating, Sampling, and Monitoring Immunity
    • Project 2.2.1: Rapid Reconstitution Packages of Lyophilized Medicines
    • Project 2.3.1: Nano-structured Biomaterials for Treatment of Hemorrhagic Shock
    • Project 2.3.2: Multi-component Nanolayer Assemblies for Soldier Wound Healing & Remediation
    • Project 2.3.3: Delivery of Brain Lipid Nanoparticles Using Microtech Devices for Treatment of TBI
    • Project 2.3.4: Complementary Wound-Healing Strategies Enabled by Synthetic Biology and Nanotechnology
  • Strategic Research Area 3: Blast/Ballistic Threats — Damage, Injury Mechanisms, and Lightweight Protection
    • Project 3.1.1: Nanocomposite Metamaterial Architectures for Guiding Energy Dissipation & Wave Propagation
    • Project 3.2.1: Grain Boundary Engineering Strategies for Lightweight Protection
    • Project 3.3.1: Blast-Induced TBI — Connections Among the Physical, Biological, and Behavioral Dimensions
    • Project 3.3.2: Electromechanical Interactions in Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury
    • Project 3.3.3: Molecular to Macroscale Exploration of Fundamental Properties of Gels
    • Project 3.3.4: Predictive Multi-scale Deformation and Injury of Soft Tissues
    • Project 3.4.1: Advanced Computational Tools for Multi-scale Modeling & Simulation of Multi-threat Protection
    • Project 3.4.2: High-Performance Woven Fabrics & Woven Reinforced Composites for Soldier Protection
    • Project 3.5.1: Biological & Bio-inspired Reconfigurable Flexible and Protective Joints
    • Project 3.5.2: Design & Synthesis of C-Based Chainmaille Structures for Flexible, Ultra-lightweight Protection
  • Strategic Research Area 4: Hazardous Substances Sensing — Mechanisms and Identification
    • Project 4.1.1: Graphene Sensing for Detection of Foodborne and Other Pathogens
    • Project 4.1.2: Resistivity-Based Microfluidic Biosensing
    • Project 4.1.3: Rugged, High-Sensitivity Integrated Photonic Chemical Sensing
    • Project 4.1.4: Molecular Recognition Using CNT Adsorbed Polymer & Biopolymer Phases — Synthetic Antibodies
    • Project 4.2.1: Chem/Bio Analyte Sensing with Hybrid Quantum Dot Constructs
  • Strategic Research Area 5: Nanosystems Integration — Flexible Capabilities in Complex Environments
    • Project 5.1.1: Ferroelectric Acoustic Fibers
    • Project 5.2.1: Multifunctional Integrated Fabrics
    • Project 5.2.2: Enabling Novel Lightwave Phenomena
    • Project 5.2.3: Spatial Awareness Around Corners
    • Project 5.3.1: Novel Thermal Radiation Management Using Advanced Photonic Crystals

 

The fourth ISN agreement (ISN-4, 2018–2022) brought a significant reconfiguration of the research portfolio. Sixteen projects and 27 PIs, which in the course of the contract became 14 projects and 26 PIs, were arranged into three research areas:

  • Strategic Area 1: Soldier Protection, Battlefield Care, and Sensing
    • Project 1.1: Advanced Multiscale Methods for Modelling of Fracture in Novel Nanomaterials
    • Project 1.2: Shock Mitigating and Reinforcing Molecular Nanocomposites
    • Project 1.3: Design & Testing of Polymers for Improved Soldier Protection
    • Project 1.4: Superelastic Granular Materials for Impact Absorption
    • Project 1.5; Rapid Hemostasis for the Treatment of Incompressible Wounds
    • Project 1.6: Empowering Future Vaccines & Immunotherapies with Nanotech-Based Adjuvants
  • Strategic Area 2: Augmenting Situational Awareness
    • Project 2.1: Uncovering Chemical Stability & Charge Transfer Mechanisms at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces
    • Project 2.2: Mid- & LW-Infrared Detector Arrays on Flexible Substrates
    • Project 2.3: Room Temperature LWIR-THz Detection via E-Field Enhancement-Induced Quantum Dot Upconversion
    • Project 2.4: Particulate Fluid Fiber Processing for Novel Fabric Architectures
    • Project 2.5: Nano-Plasmonics for Soldier Applications
  • Strategic Area 3: Transformational Nano-Optoelectronic Soldier Capabilities
    • Project 3.1: Solid State Power Generation at Millimeter Scales
    • Project 3.3: Nanophotonics Enhanced Systems for the Soldier
    • Project 3.4: Applications of Novel Topological Phenomena