Colloquium: Dr. Dan Cole | ARO
In-Person PHYS 401
Location
Physics : 401
Date & Time
March 4, 2026, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Description
TITLE: Extreme Materials Research at the Army Research Office
ABSTRACT: The US Army is constantly seeking novel technologies to enable new capabilities for the Soldier, e.g. advanced armor, autonomous systems, chemical/biological sensing, camouflage, optics and medical treatments. Often, these technologies need to perform in an extreme environment relative to a conventional civilian requirement, e.g. elevated temperatures/humidity/oxidizing conditions, high pressure/shear/strain rates, limited power/energy, and/or under New materials – and reliable, scalable methods for production – are frequently cited as a primary technological gap. To address these gaps and shape new concepts for advanced Soldier technologies, the Army Research Office (ARO) pursues basic research studies with some of the top materials researchers in Academia, Industry and Government.
ABSTRACT: The US Army is constantly seeking novel technologies to enable new capabilities for the Soldier, e.g. advanced armor, autonomous systems, chemical/biological sensing, camouflage, optics and medical treatments. Often, these technologies need to perform in an extreme environment relative to a conventional civilian requirement, e.g. elevated temperatures/humidity/oxidizing conditions, high pressure/shear/strain rates, limited power/energy, and/or under New materials – and reliable, scalable methods for production – are frequently cited as a primary technological gap. To address these gaps and shape new concepts for advanced Soldier technologies, the Army Research Office (ARO) pursues basic research studies with some of the top materials researchers in Academia, Industry and Government.
In this seminar, we will provide an overview of the extreme materials research at ARO. The talk will hopefully include “something for everyone,” with quick summaries of several Materials Science, Mechanics, Chemistry and Physics programs, followed by a deeper dive into some of the structural materials science projects that Dan has shaped and is now overseeing. The seminar will conclude with an overview of the ARO funding mechanisms along with best practices for contacting Program Managers and pursuing competitive basic research proposals with ARO.
Bio: Dr. Dan Cole oversees the Mechanical Behavior of Materials program at ARO, shaping basic and applied research efforts focused on extreme mechanical and thermomechanical behaviors of next generation structural materials. Prior to joining ARO in 2019, Dan spent 10 years as a researcher at ARL at Aberdeen Proving Ground, investigating the nano-/micro-scale behaviors of a variety of composites, energy storage devices, additively manufactured structures, and hybrid materials. Dan has co-authored 60+ publications, including 40+ peer-reviewed journal articles. Dan received a Bachelor’s in Physics from SUNY Geneseo in 2004 and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland - College Park in 2009.
