Johns Hopkins-led team seeks to revolutionize protective armor

In April, Johns Hopkins was awarded $90 million by the U.S. Army to lead a team of researchers in developing new lightweight materials to better protect soldiers and vehicles. To achieve that goal, Johns Hopkins launched the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI), which is directed by K.T. Ramesh, professor of mechanical engineering at the Whiting School of Engineering.

On Sept. 17, Fox News aired a report on the institute and the work it will be doing.

Using specially designed instruments and machines in the lab at the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute, Dr. Ramesh and his team can measure the impact of a bullet or other projectile. Their findings help them to improve the material used in body armor.

"We have instruments, cameras, measurement devices that allow us to look at things very, very quickly," Ramesh said. "Look at it this way, in the time that it takes you to blink your eye, I can take a million pictures so I can see things that you can't see -- and that allows me to know exactly what's going on during that event."