Texas Tech University’s Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics researchers have been instrumental in the United States Department of Defense’s (DOD) efforts to combat improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Considered the nation’s university leader in pulsed power research, the center has directed two five-year university research initiatives supported by the DOD and is participating in a third. A primary goal of the center’s research is to discover various avenues of disabling electrical systems from a distance, including IEDs and car bombs, before they maim and kill civilians.

A secondary objective of the research is to identify and investigate inexpensive, easily applied shielding methods for protection of our assets from an enemy attack in the field or from a terrorist attack at home.

With these objectives, the U.S. has a critical need to develop a center for training scientists in the fields of pulsed power and energetic materials. The information gained has proven invaluable to the DOD and the Department of Homeland Security.