You may never have heard of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory before, called CRREL for short. It's a mouth full of an acronym, but located in Hanover, New Hampshire. CRREL is replicating the world's most deadly environments in a laboratory setting to help the military design new technologies.
Their lab contains chambers that can simulate the extreme cold temperatures found in the Arctic, getting down to -60 degrees. Recently, they used the lab to host a tech competition to try to overcome three main challenges: Warfighter Medical, Health and Nutrition Challenge; the Staying in the Fight Challenge; and the Cyber Challenge.
CRREL develops all types of cold weather technologies, including "antifreeze" concrete, to extend the construction season in arctic conditions.
“The cold temperature capabilities at minus-60 degrees emulate the environments that we believe we will see in operations around the world,” Stephen Luckowski, an advanced manufacturing associate at CRREL said. “This is a unique capability in the United States, and the only place where we could actually execute this type of work.”
Some of the technologies demonstrated in the competition this year including 3D printing and a platform to help the military maintain cyber security, according to an Army press release.
"Since the event, I’ve talked to several researchers who’ve been invited to engage on numerous topics, including participating in events this winter with SOCOM, holding trainings for our staff in Picatinny, and collaborating with researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Natick Soldier Center," explained Dr. Orian Welling who is the chief of CRREL’s Force Projection and Sustainment Branch.
It is hoped that the competition continues to spur public-private partnerships in which industry partners help the U.S. military build technologies that help warfighters operate in the world's deadliest environment.