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NIST Develops Interactive Tool for Military Fire Extinguisher Agent Calculations
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NIST Develops Interactive Tool for Military Fire Extinguisher Agent Calculations

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created an interactive spreadsheet to help military personnel calculate the amount of chemicals needed to suppress ground and aerial vehicle fires. 

NIST said Tuesday that the application is an updated version of the PROperties of FIre Suppressant SYstems (PROFISSY) tool, a Microsoft DOS-based computer program that works to determine how much fire-extinguishing agents can be combined with nitrogen to prevent unintended explosions.

The spreadsheet includes a link that will direct the user to NIST's Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database containing information about fire suppressants, environment-friendly halon alternatives and chemical and mixture properties.

Jiann Yang, deputy chief of NIST's fire research division, said he believes many U.S. military and commercial aircraft manufacturing companies have used PROFISSY to design and produce fire suppression systems.

“We've been using PROFISSY for many years to facilitate design of fire extinguishers for test and evaluation, especially with non-halon and low-GWP fire suppression agents where off-the-shelf products are not available,” said Steven Hodges, a member of the U.S. Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center Fire Protection Team. 

Hodges added the branch is exploring the use of low global warming potential chemicals to put out fire.

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DHS S&T Partners With Law Enforcement Community to Study Police-Citizen Interactions
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DHS S&T Partners With Law Enforcement Community to Study Police-Citizen Interactions

The Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS S&T) has partnered with Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) and Dallas Police Department to study how interactions between officers and citizens affect conflict management.

DHS said Tuesday its study aims to develop conflict resolution strategies that prevent personal interactions from escalating into damaging events. Researchers will classify behaviors and identify engagement patterns based on video footage of police encounters.

S&T and FLETC will build on previous assessments conducted in April 2017 for the centers' conflict management training course. FLETC’s Behavioral Science Division and Innovation Operations Branch worked together to develop a conflict management and de-escalation strategy.

FLETC is also working with the DHS Center of Excellence at the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency within the Arizona State University to explore the potential of developing conflict management models based on police behaviors. They plan to publish the results of video coding and analysis by the middle of summer, with the help of ASU’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Now, the S&T-FLETC team will evaluate the feasibility of an automated coding system designed to help law enforcement officers and researchers study personal officer-citizen interactions. Jim Grove, FLETC portfolio manager at S&T, said they hope to convert manual coding into an algorithm for automation.

“We want to learn what helps to keep a situation from escalating or what helps to de-escalate a situation,” said Laura Zimmerman, a senior researcher at FLETC.

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FAA to Test UAS Security Systems at Five U.S. Airports
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FAA to Test UAS Security Systems at Five U.S. Airports

The Federal Aviation Administration has named five host airports that will test new security systems designed to boost security against drone threats.

FAA said Tuesday its Airport Unmanned Aircraft Systems Detection and Mitigation Research Program will use the gathered input to implement new standards and technologies for airport protection against unauthorized UAS.

The program's researchers will run tests on 10 or more technologies in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Alabama and Washington, through 2023. Tests will commence later this year.

The selected airports are:

  • Atlantic City International Airport in Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, Alabama
  • Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio
  • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington
  • Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York

The facilities meet the testing requirements of the agency and demonstrate operating conditions of airports across the U.S.

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Deep North Secures DHS Funds for Airport Video Analytics Project
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Deep North Secures DHS Funds for Airport Video Analytics Project

California-based startup company Deep North has secured a $196,880 grant from the Department of Homeland Security to implement video analytics technology in the Transportation Security Administration’s passenger screening procedure at airports.

DHS said its science and technology directorate awarded the funds as part of the “Emerging Needs: COVID-19 Response & Future Mitigation initiative under the Silicon Valley Innovation Program.

Deep North proposed updating its current technology to develop and integrate a video analytics platform into self-screening portals for TSA personnel to manage airport security and physical contact with travelers.

The company plans to use artificial intelligence to support full video and feedback processing in real time, the department noted. DHS expects the self-screening system to assign a unique identifier while the passenger is being screened and to make the UID invalid once the individual leaves the checkpoint area.

Phase I of the project will also look to incorporate automated body and baggage scanning software into the system.

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GAO Adds Small Business Emergency Loans, Drug Misuse to High-Risk List
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GAO Adds Small Business Emergency Loans, Drug Misuse to High-Risk List

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has added national initiatives to respond to, recover from and prevent drug misuse and emergency loans for small businesses to its “high-risk list” or areas in federal operations that require major reforms to reduce waste and address fraud, mismanagement and abuse.

The addition of the two new areas to the 2021 list brings the total number of high-risk areas to 36, GAO said in a report published Tuesday. The agency evaluated the high-risk areas based on leadership commitment, agency capacity, action plan, monitoring efforts and demonstrated progress. 

GAO removed the area related to the Department of Defense’s support infrastructure management after DOD reduced its infrastructure footprint and use of leases and made improvements in its use of military installation space and installation agreements.

Several areas showed improvements, including federal real property management, governmentwide personnel security clearance process, DOD’s financial management and NASA’s acquisition management.

The congressional watchdog also identified high-risk areas that require attention, including the U.S. Postal Service’s financial viability, Decennial Census, cybersecurity, strategic human capital management and the Environmental Protection Agency’s process for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals.

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Defense Innovation Unit Transitioned 11 Commercial Prototypes in 2020
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Defense Innovation Unit Transitioned 11 Commercial Prototypes in 2020

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) said in its annual report that it launched 23 new projects in 2020, which reflects a year-over-year increase of 35 percent, and transitioned 11 prototypes to Department of Defense partners for large-scale procurement.

DIU received 944 commercial proposals and awarded 56 prototype other transaction agreements to companies in 2020, bringing the total number of prototype OTAs issued to 208, according to the agency’s 2020 annual report.

The agency has transitioned a total of 26 commercial platforms to DOD partners since it started facilitating prototype projects in 2016. To date, 43 percent of its projects have generated at least one prototype that moved to commercial production.

“Additionally, 51 DIU projects have ongoing prototypes that will be eligible for transition to production if successfully completed,” the report’s executive summary reads.

DIU listed some of its key achievements in the previous year, such as making five small unmanned aerial systems available for federal procurement on the General Services Administration schedule as part of the Blue sUAS program, scaling the predictive maintenance platform to additional Air Force and Army partners and aircraft and launching advanced energy and materials as the sixth technology portfolio in addition to artificial intelligence, cyber, autonomy, space and human systems portfolios.

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Army Researchers to Help DARPA Develop Coronavirus Detector; Matthew Coppock Quoted
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Army Researchers to Help DARPA Develop Coronavirus Detector; Matthew Coppock Quoted

Army Research Laboratory (ARL) will help the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) compose a bio-aerosol monitor designed to detect the coronavirus. DARPA leads an 18-month effort to develop the monitor based on a combination of different technologies, the U.S. Army said Monday.

ARL joins Georgia Tech Research Institute, the University of Georgia and Cardea Bio to prototype a system that can identify the SARS-CoV-2 virus' presence in the air. The system would produce information to help communities prevent indoor infections.

“ARL’s biodetection technology is a crucial enabler for persistent biosensing in operational environments,” said Matthew Coppock, a chemist and team leader at ARL.

His team uses Protein Catalyzed Capture agents or PCC biodetection technology, originally made by California Institute of Technology's Jim Heath Laboratory.

Coppock said PCCs mimic the mechanism through which antibodies attach. The technology also allows for rapid production, with a development period of two to three weeks.

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Connecticut-Based Educator Miguel Cardona Confirmed to Lead Education Department
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Connecticut-Based Educator Miguel Cardona Confirmed to Lead Education Department

Miguel Cardona, President Biden’s nominee for leadership over the Department of Education, has received Senate confirmation for the role, NPR reported Monday.

Cardona, who most recently was Connecticut’s education commissioner, won the Senate’s favor to become the secretary of education with a 64-33 vote on Monday.

His career includes work as a teacher and principal within the U.S. public school system, and as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut where he taught educational leadership.

Cardona, in Feb. 2020, had his confirmation hearing, where he said the administration must assess student performance levels to address educational issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. His swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

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Norfolk Naval Shipyard to Begin Migration to Maritime Systems Environment
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Norfolk Naval Shipyard to Begin Migration to Maritime Systems Environment

Norfolk Naval Shipyard will migrate its applications and data into a new environment April 9 as part of efforts to comply with Naval Sea Systems Command's mandate to update corporate platforms.

The migration into the Maritime Systems Environment (MSE) will modify all corporate tools into web-based applications while platforms such as Supervisor Desk and Advanced Industrial Management/Execution Priorities will receive minor enhancements, NAVSEA said Monday.

"While a few of the applications have some new bells and whistles, the overwhelming majority of the applications are exactly the same," said Kyle Alexander, deputy for MSE at NNSY operations department's implementation support group.

MSE will feature a training reporting local tool and a single sign-on-enabled common access card to remove the use of user identifications and passwords.

Once the migration is complete, the team will move to incorporate the Electronic Technical Work Document to allow management of task group instructions for deckplates. NAVSEA noted the transition of the applications to a remote data server will not affect their performance.

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DLA Uses Robotic Automation to Simplify Supply Chain Activities; Terra Nguyen Quoted
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DLA Uses Robotic Automation to Simplify Supply Chain Activities; Terra Nguyen Quoted

The Defense Logistics Agency is using robotic process automation to streamline supply chain management activities and reduce employee workload, DOD News reported Monday.

Frank Wood, RPA program manager at DLA, said the technology allows personnel to focus on the more complex activities in supply chain operations.

DLA Information Operations also uses a bot to process purchase requests and leases for thousands of devices, providing the agency's equipment management solutions team more time to perform other billing-related tasks.

Terra Nguyen, chief of the EMS division, said the bot addresses inefficiencies brought by missing bills, which according to her are tedious to manually deal with.

"Thanks to the integration of the bot, our EMS billing specialists have additional time to communicate with customers, research other billing issues and concentrate on additional work-related tasking," she said.

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