26 October 2009, Lubbock, TX - A Texas Tech University
researcher who developed a decontamination wipe to meet a critical need for the
U.S. military, has received the Scientist of the Year award from the Lubbock
chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation.
Seshadri Ramkumar, an associate professor and manager of the
Nonwoven and Advanced Materials Laboratory at The Institute of Environmental
and Human Health received the award on 20th October for his
invention of the Fibertect wipe during the foundation’s gala event at the
Lubbock Women’s Club.
At the event, Ramkumar explained how the product was created
from its inception to its production, testing and evaluation by Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory and patent. He was accompanied by Guy Bailey,
President of Texas Tech University.
In December 2008, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
performed an evaluation of several decontamination products including Fibertect.
Their results were published in the American Chemical Society’s peer-reviewed
journal, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.
After testing with mustard gas and other toxic chemicals,
the results showed that the Texas Tech-created dry fabric out-performed thirty different
decontamination products, including materials currently used in military
decontamination kits. The laboratory recommended Fibertect to be part of a
prototype low-cost personal decontamination system. Ramkumar was awarded a patent
for the process used to create nonwoven toxic chemical decontamination wipes
this spring.
