The National Science Foundation awarded a team of University of Iowa College of Engineering researchers a three-year, $1 million grant to assist in the development of an improved nuclear and radioactive threat detection network for the United States, according to a UI press release.

“There is a growing recognition of the inadequacy of current capabilities with respect to threat detection and localization in a large area, for example, in the downtown area of a metropolitan city,” Er-Wei Bai, project investigator and UI professor of electrical and computer engineering, said in the release. "There already exists a number of ways to detect radioactive material in an isolated area, such as a seaport."

The project, formally titled “CPS: Synergy: A Hybrid Detector Network for Nuclear and Radioactive Threat Detection,” will be conducted in collaboration with the Argonne National Laboratory.

— by Kristen East