A team of West Point graduates recently launched a $1 million crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to build a device that detects and identifies improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from a safe, standoff distance.
The device uses newly-patented, cutting-edge terahertz technology, known as SEED (Stimulated Emission Enhanced Detection), to actively search the molecular structure of materials and identify those that contain explosive compositions.
The team, organized under ALVA Labs and led by retired Army Lieutenant Colonel John Lock, seeks to reduce the threat of IEDs and suicide bombers that threaten the United States and its allies.
To date:
- More than 6,780 members of the US Armed Forces have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- Nearly half of them were killed by IEDs, and many others were left wounded with traumatic and debilitating injuries.
- SEED offers the US military the ability to combat, and possibly even defeat, IEDs.
In a recent interview, Lock explained the mission behind the product:
“Team ALVA’s mission is to bring this ground breaking and lifesaving SEED technology to the commercial market to provide society greater security against terrorism.” Lock continued, “ Because SEED can discern between hazardous materials, it will enable a vast range of security capabilities, which include everything from identifying IEDs while on patrol to streamlining security screenings in airports.”
Professor Xi-Cheng Zhang, PhD, a former Chairman of the NATO Sensors & Electronics Technology (SET) THz Technology Exploratory Team, observed SEED’s capabilities in a lab environment, confirming:
“I can unequivocally state, that the phenomenology required for success [of SEED] has been observed. In fact, this observation is very similar to the prediction from ALVA Labs!”
In addition to Dr. Zhang’s consultation and mentorship, ALVA Labs cites two retired Army Lieutenant Generals on its board, both of which are former Directors of JIEDDO (the US Department of Defense’s Joint IED Defeat Organization).
The campaign is set to close on April 25th.
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