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Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MRE) heating technology developed at RIT

March. 19, 2003

Steaming hot entre selections like Pasta with Alfredo Sauce and Thai Chicken could be straight from the menu of any five-star restaurant--but on the battlefield?

Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs, are served in the deserts of the Middle East and throughout the world, providing sustenance, and a taste of home, to U.S. troops.

MRE heating technology making hot meals possible was developed by researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology. Further, RIT is developing similar technology for hot drinks and thermal sterilization of surgical instruments on the battlefield, as well as "tub rations" that will permit hot meals for groups of soldiers.

Here's how it works: magnesium combined with water produces heat, says Satish Kandlikar, RIT professor of mechanical engineering and director of the university's Thermal Analysis and Microfluidics Laboratory. Water added to a plastic pouch containing a magnesium-and-salt mixture makes a "heater" for MREs, he explains. Kandlikar notes his students helped develop the technology to optimize heat generation and delivery in MREs. The device has been part of every MRE used by U.S. troops since the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

"Applying high-tech research tools to enhance support of soldiers in battlefield conditions is something for which we're very proud," says Kandlikar.

Rochester Institute of Technology
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