FOR developing a special kind of smart fibre, reinforced, composite material that will help advance research in security especially in helmet technology, Dr. Udo Igwe, a Manchester-based Nigerian, has received an award in a national competition, which held recently in the United Kingdom (UK).The competition was organised by the Institute of Minerals, Materials and Mining's (IOM3); Defence, Safety and Security Commi-ttee, in association with the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network (Materials KTN) with the aim of bringing together researchers from across the country to find new designs for the next generation of police and combat helmets.Igwe, who represented Bolton University's IMRI programme, competed with some of UK's most renowned academic institutions in the field, such as the UK Defence Academy, Liverpool University's School of Engi-neering and Loughborough University's Sports Techno-logy Institute. These were joined by some of the world's biggest defence organisations, including BAE Systems, The Ministry of Defence and The Swedish Defence Research Agency. While presenting the award, the panel that organised it said that Igwe was rewarded for his contribution to safety and defence, especially in the designing of a new combat protective helmet based on electro-rheological fluid and fibre-reinforced composites, an innovation in the industry.Udo's composite material, according to the award panel, can absorb impact energy through the use of an electrorheological fluid material which are capable of turning from a liquid state to a solid mass in milliseconds and vice versa.Simply put, the panel explained that Udo had developed a composite material that could absorb and dissipate massive amounts of energy on impact, more consistently and quickly than materials currently used. This makes it ideal for protective equipment, such as safety helmets and body armour, they revealed..A composite material is an engineered or natural material that contains at least two compoundsthat have significantly different physical and chemical properties. They have many functions and are used in everything from road works to more advanced applications such as the space programme. .The body noted the Nigerian's ingenious spirit and professional contributions to security and defence, which started manifesting in 2005 when he joined The University of Bolton, UK to obtain Masters Degree in Science (M.Sc) in Advanced Material Science. There he researched on the synthesis of technical, medical and geo-textiles, which culminated in the design of fire/heat resistant materials and flame retardant composites.His imaginative spirit and greater quest for knowledge in improving safety in transportation, defence and energy distribution became more evident as he pursued his Ph.D at the Institute of Materials Research and Innovation, University of Bolton in the UK. As a result, he embarked on a research that focused on lightweight composite structures for ballistic applications, including body armour and defence structures.The success led to the designing of smart fibre-reinforced composites and the introduction of sensual-actuation mechanism in composites, which make impact energy absorption controllable, a source from the body said.Igwe, who is currently a consultant for companies and institutes involved in defence materials and systems for bullet proofs and anti-ballistics, was born to late Captain Igwe E. Udo on November 5, 1976. He is one of the bright products of Government College, Umuahia (the old Fisher High School) in Abia State and obtained his Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) in Polymer and Textile in 2001 at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State before travelling out of the country.
Click here to read full news..
