Force Protection, which has built thousands of specially armored vehicles for the U.S. military, is teaming up with the Medical University of South Carolina to launch a brain research center.
The company and MUSC disclosed Tuesday that they had signed a memorandum of understanding. Financial details were not disclosed.
The center will be named after Force Protection (Nasdaq: ).
Force Protection and MUSC said they would work together to secure funding for equipment, space, faculty and employees.
Force Protection vehicles are designed to resist improved explosive devices and other explosives, such as land mines. More than 3,000 vehicles are in use in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“This effort builds on our commitment to the men and women who serve our country now and in the future,” said Gordon McGilton, chief executive officer of Force Protection. “We owe them our best effort to improve their quality of life and seek methods to prevent brain trauma so that they may enjoy the freedoms that they help to preserve.”
,While MUSC provides medical expertise, Force Protection offers engineering design experience, said MUSC President Ray Greenberg. A goal is “to produce the safest possible vehicles,” he added.
Force Protection designs and builds vehicles in Ladson, which is near Charleston. The company is also opening a production plant in North Carolina.
