BREAKING THE ICE
To assist in these efforts and in support of the 2024 DOD Arctic Strategy, the U.S. Army’s Arctic Strategy (Regaining Arctic Dominance) and additional joint service strategies, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched the Ice Control for cold Environments (ICE) program. ICE has a mission to “develop solutions for extreme cold weather DOD operational challenges by discovering and optimizing biologically-sourced or inspired molecules to enable tuned inhibition or nucleation of ice crystallization, propagation and adhesion.”
In layman’s terms, the ICE program is exploring biologically- enabled materials for ways to control and manipulate ice to protect military personnel and assets. “Te overall goal of the ICE program is to basically use molecules and materials that cold- adapted organisms already employ to help them survive and take [those] materials … and then use them in operational environ- ments to help our warfighters operate more effectively in cold Arctic conditions,” said Christopher Bettinger, Ph.D., DARPA program manager in the Biological Technologies Office. “Essen- tially, we’re learning from nature, right? What is and specifically how does nature control and modulate ice?”
ICE IS A HOT TOPIC Te U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) plays an important role in the program by serving as the Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) partner, as well as supplying partner institutions with novel microor- ganisms adapted to cold conditions. Te DARPA ICE program launched in January 2024 with a two-day kickoff held at ERDC- CRREL in Hanover, New Hampshire. Emily Asenath-Smith, Ph.D., a research materials engineer at ERDC-CRREL and founder of the Advanced Materials Team, is leading the IV&V effort for the ICE program. Asenath-Smith’s research has focused on ice materials science for 10 years. Materials science is a field that researches and develops materials along with studying mate- rial behavior. Tese studies can lead to the modification and improvement of existing materials or even development of new and enhanced materials.
“We actually make ice in the laboratory and then use various material science strategies to see if we can manipulate the proper- ties,” Asenath-Smith said. “So, can we make ice not melt as fast? Can we make it stronger? Can we make it more or less reflective?
ICY CAPABILITIES
Emily Asenath-Smith, Ph.D., research materials engineer at ERDC-CRREL, demonstrates CRREL laboratory capabilities to performer team members of the ICE program in January 2024. ICE is a DARPA program that aims to manipulate ice material properties to safeguard military assets and personnel. (Photo by Justin Campfield, ERDC-CRREL)
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Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2025
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