12/01/2014 12:00:00 AMUNT mechanical and energy engineering assistant professor Xu Nie receives grant to research safer protection for soldiers. story Helping the military develop better protection for soldiers and civilians in conflict zones is the goal of the research of Xu Nie, assistant professor of mechanical and energy engineering. This fall, Nie was awarded a grant from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, a unit of the U.S. Department of Defense, to continue his research on the way high-performance concrete materials behave when impacted by a moving projectile. Nie will help the military develop life-saving new materials for body armor and for the construction of vehicles and buildings.