FLINT -- Representative Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) will tour Kettering University's research facilities Friday. Kettering's Chemical Fate Agent Research Project has received more than $4 million in federal funds since 2005. In addition, Rep. Kildee secured a $1 million earmark for the project in the Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2008.

Kettering University is a key partner in the U.S. Department of Defense's Agent Fate Program, which uses indoor and outdoor experiments to help better protect our troops against chemical warfare agents in the field. The program develops computer models that can accurately predict how long the chemicals will remain harmful after they are deployed.

Agent Fate data has already begun to show positive effects on military operations. The U.S. Air Force has utilized new advancements in the physical transfers of chemical weapons. Agent Fate will allow military planners to take full advantage of the research to evaluate the severity of a contaminated environment in which they must operate.

He'll start the tour at 4:00pm.