NCSU to launch $2M lab for testing, improving first responder protective gear

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina State’s College of Textiles will open Monday a new $2 million lab that is designed to test and help improve protective gear worn by first responders.

The lab will focus on combating chemical and biological agents.

Called MIST, or Man-in-Simulant, the lab opens Monday at 10 a.m. on NCSU’s Centennial Campus.

MIST is funded by a $2 million Department of Defense grant that was secured by Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) Etheridge serves on the House Homeland Security Committee.

The lab was funded through a Congressional earmark by Etheridge. The project received $1 million in fiscal year 2006 and $1 million in fiscal 2007, according to a spokesperson for Etheridge.

In his description of the lab as submitted to Congress, Etheridge described the project as follows:

“Automated MIST will provide a state-of-the art chamber to evaluate protection factors for a personal protective equipment ensemble when exposed to warfare agents.

“In [fiscal year 2006], $1 million in funding was provided to begin the development of the chamber. $1 million more is requested to finish the Automated MIST project including the articulated, sensored manikin that will greatly improve the rapid prototyping process in the way that the ‘Pyroman’ manikin [also developed at NCSU] has quickened the process for burn/heat protection. and create the advanced simulation test chamber for testing chemical protective gear.

“MIST has been used to evaluate the performance of military and civilian protective clothing ensembles under realistic and dynamic conditions. The system will be constructed at the NCSU Textile Protection and Comfort Center.

“Unique features of this automated MIST system include real time monitoring of single component simulants, real-time sensored manikin interface as well as mixtures, improved testing variability and reproducibility, lower operating costs and shorter test intervals.”

Etheridge, a Department of Defense representative, and university officials will be on hand for the event.