The three-year study will develop nerve agent sensors
ALBANY -- The Department of Defense has awarded an Albany State University professor a generous grant to perform research related to national security and counter-terrorism.
Dr. Seong Seo, an associate professor of chemistry, has been given a $573,000 research grant.
The grant will allow him to conduct a three-year study to develop portable sensors that will detect chemical nerve agents and other harmful compounds. A $200,000 Scanning Electron Microscope will also be purchased for the project using the grant money.
“If you have any field that’s contaminated with a chemical agent or organophosphorous compound then you can bring the portable instrument, and hopefully you can detect that,” Seo said.
The portable sensors can be used to detect chemicals released by terrorists, he said.
This is not the first time Seo has received a grant from the federal government. Four years ago he was awarded a $350,000 grant for the first phase of his research, which studied thermoresponsive polymerized colloidal crystals.
The grant money will also be used to hire a post doctoral student and two undergraduate students who will help him in his research.
As part of the grant agreement, Seo will have to report his findings to the Department of Defense once per year. The study will start either late summer or early fall.
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