Cambridge Polymer Labs, LLC

Cambridge Polymer Labs, LLC was a pre-War company operating the Cambridge Polymer Labs. It had multiple lucrative contracts with the United States military, specializing in nanotechnological research and robotics.

Background
Cambridge Polymer Labs, LLC was a privately-owned company established by Jon Elwood, Ericka Elwood-Woolum, and Wilfred Bergman in 2074 to research experimental smart materials that could be used to enhance the functionality of existing suits of power armor. It was made possible by a generous grant from Colonel George Kemp and the Defense Experimental Research Project Initiative, after their research into nucleostrictive and piezoelectric polymers caught their eye.

Its last military contract before the war was the development of piezonucleic lining for power armor, allowing the power armor's lining to convert ionizing radiation into electrical energy fed directly into the suit's batteries. Initial studies led the research team under Jon's wife, D.Eng Ericka Elwood-Woolum, to hypothesize that by taking a known piezoelectric material, Lead Zirconium Titanite (PZT), and properly applying a polymer of Gold and Lithium Hydride might produce the desired effect. Initial tests proved the method is sound. Radioactive energy harvest was 15x higher than current automotive fusion engines. Unfortunately, the ionic excitation in the gold that produces the harvestable electrons also created a build-up of thermal waste. The heat was not substantial from a macro perspective, but due to the low shear modulus, the gold suspension in the nano weave started to break down quickly under extended use. In short, the weave destroyed itself rapidly, making it unsuitable for an extended deployment. The team changed the dosing pattern on the gold to produce thinner strands through the material. The increased surface area would help dissipate the thermal energy, much like a heat sink.

This approach successfully created an efficient material with a lifetime of years, rather than days, at a negligible cost to harvest rate. Unfortunately, the new material was only technically successful: Colonel George Kemp, the military liaison for the project, rejected it out of hand, as the new material shredded under intense use. It was unsuitable for use as power armor lining and the Colonel threatened to pull funding. The team returned to the drawing board.

The project would remain unfinished for centuries, as delays mounted and the team scrambled to find a way to resolve the challenges. The Great War made the completion impossible, as while Cambridge received a direct nuclear hit, the laboratory building was spared the nuclear devastation. Elwood immediately issued an e-mail to the entire team, mandating overtime and lying that the project was nearing completion. In the meantime, he scrambled to find a ham radio and re-establish contact with the military, as all external connections were fried by the EMP. Only one person on the team was privy to the truth: His wife. He asked her to maintain the lie to avoid a panic among the researchers and ensure the completion of the project, as it was the only thing the military was willing to accept in return for extraction. Conning them was out of the question, as lying about the possession of vital military assets or intelligence was tantamount to treason.

The team scrambled in vain to produce a working prototype, but a combination of various factors, including Elwood's injuries and the deteriorating mental state of Wilfred Bergman culminated in total destruction of the company on January 16, 2078, 4:17 AM, when Bergman triggered the automated defenses, ensuring the demise of everyone associated with the project and the company.

Known products

 * Piezonucleic Lining Project
 * Piezonucleic power armor chest

Appearances
Cambridge Polymer Labs, LLC appears only in Fallout 4.