Brian Lattimer, Department Head and Nicholas and Rebecca Des Champs Chair in Mechanical Engineering, sat down with WDBJ-7 to talk about his team's research in developing environmentally-friendly firefighting foams. 

The currently used foams contain PFAS, a classification of chemicals that do not easily break down over time and can stick around long after they have been deployed in the environment. This means they can find their way into the water we drink and the soil we grow our food in. Lattimer's team has been developing new foams that also extinguish fires without the potentially harmful environmental effects.

Watch the interview