NSRI at UNL awarded $1 million contract for research into safety at military entry control points

The National Strategic Research Institute at UNL has received a $1 million award from the U.S. Stragetic Command to continued research on incorporating traffic calming elements and roadway geometry to enhance security and safety at military entry control points.

Laurence Rilett, the director of the Nebraska Transportation Center and a professor of civil engineering, will serve as principal investigator and will lead the UNL research team. The grant was awarded through the 55th Contracting Squadron on behalf of U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM).

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, United States military installations at home and abroad have implemented additional security measures to protect military and civilian personnel from terrorist threats, Rilett said.

"The Department of Defense is funding research to make the design and operation procedures for entry control points safer and more efficient," Rilett said. "These procedures use roadway design, passive barriers, active barriers, and detection technology to slow traffic, to identify threats earlier and, ultimately, to mitigate the threat.

"UNL's research team will provide detailed information about the delays produced by specific traffic control devices including speed humps and curbs. They have developed sophisticated computer simulations based on tests of vehicles interacting with these devices. Our faculty and staff at the Nebraska Transportation Center are well positioned to provide the expertise that USTRANSCOM requires."

Air Force Lt. General Bob Hinson, the NSRI executive director Bob Hinson, said the capability of delivering research solutions through this project and will "enhance USTRANSCOM's ability to determine the latest breaking solutions to protect and defend our controlled entry facilities nationwide."

The NSRI, a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), located at the University of Nebraska, is one of 13 established UARC's across the nation, delivering relevant and timely research solutions directly impacting DoD operations and national security.

Founded in 2012, the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska is the only University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) in the country dedicated to delivering solutions for combating weapons of mass destruction to U.S. Strategic Command and across other federal agencies.

NSRI provides research and development for the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and other governmental agencies in multiple mission-critical competency areas — including development of medical countermeasures to weapons of mass destruction, nuclear detection and forensics, consequence management, chemical and biological weapons detection, and space, cyber, and telecom law.