/
DOE, National Lab, University Join Forces for Energy Storage Workforce Development
Published on
DOE, National Lab, University Join Forces for Energy Storage Workforce Development

The Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Youngstown State University will collaborate on a potential $1 million project to establish a center in the Midwest region for training workers in the battery and electric vehicle manufacturing industry.

“We are in a period of tremendous advancement in battery technologies, presenting new opportunities for electric vehicles and energy storage systems,” said DOE Secretary Dan Brouillette. 

DOE said Wednesday the Energy Storage Workforce Innovation Center will be built to develop skilled labor that can support “Voltage Valley,” the northeast portion of Ohio where a number of EV and battery companies intend to make investments.

The vehicle technologies and advanced manufacturing offices under DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will serve as project sponsors.

Development of the workforce development center supports the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, an effort by the department to accelerate battery production and commercialization.

"With these new technologies and growing industries, it is essential that we prepare a workforce that will lead the next generation of energy storage technologies into practice," Brouillette added.

/
Maj. Josh Benson: USMC Eyes Marine Littoral Regiment Formation in FY 2022
Published on
Maj. Josh Benson: USMC Eyes Marine Littoral Regiment Formation in FY 2022

Maj. Josh Benson, a spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps, said the service plans to establish the first Marine Littoral Regiment in fiscal year 2022, as part of its strategy to counter peer competitors in the Indo-Pacific with small maneuvering units, USNI News reported Wednesday.

“Experiments, wargames, modeling and simulation will play a key role in the phased approach to the MLR development. First, the formation will be built, mainly from units that already exist in Hawaii, then the capabilities flowed in,” Benson told the publication. 

“The largest muscle movements between now and the standup of the MLR will be structure and manpower adjustments. While this is taking place, further refinement of associated capabilities and concept development will occur in order to ensure the first MLR is capable of contributing to the continued Force Design Phase III efforts,” he added.  

In 2020, the Marine Corps started testing the MLR concept with the 3rd Marine Regiment in Hawaii. According to the service’s early plans, the MLR will have 1,800 to 2,000 Marines and sailors and feature a littoral anti-air battalion, littoral logistics battalion and a littoral combat team.

“The MLR will be uniquely designed to maneuver and persist inside a contested maritime environment where its primary mission will be to conduct sea denial operations as part of a larger Naval Expeditionary Force,” Benson said. “The MLR being built in Hawaii over the next three years will be the first of its kind in the Marine Corps."

//
Will Roper Unveils Guidance for U.S. Air Force ‘e-Series’ Digital Engineering Criteria
Published on
Will Roper Unveils Guidance for U.S. Air Force ‘e-Series’ Digital Engineering Criteria

Will Roper, assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, has released a guidance to help program heads achieve an “e-Series” designation for digital engineering programs.

The Air Force said Tuesday the guide details 14 principles required for e-Series programs which apply practices in digital engineering that enable virtualization and automation of real-world functions According to Roper, the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program met the criteria for e-Series programs and serves as an “e-Plane” effort

NGAD operates as a sixth-generation demonstrator and follows the Air Force’s first e-Plane known as the eT-7A Red Hawk, which was constructed within 36 months through digital methods. The Air Force and Space Force must now work to apply such practices on a broader scale, Roper noted.

“E-Series should guide the Air Force and Space Force’s analog-to-digital metamorphosis,” he said. “Given the adversaries and challenges these two Services face, that metamorphosis had better be fast.”

 

//
DOE, DOD Ink Space Cooperation Agreement; Mark Menezes Quoted
Published on
DOE, DOD Ink Space Cooperation Agreement; Mark Menezes Quoted

The Department of Defense (DOD) and Energy (DOE) have entered into an agreement to augment research and development efforts that could support the U.S. government's national space policy. 

Initially discussed at the Pentagon in October 2020, the memorandum of understanding will tackle space propulsion as well as dual-use critical and emerging technologies associated with areas such as quantum information science, future computing ecosystems and artificial intelligence, DOE said Tuesday.

The agreement also intends to create a senior-level executive forum that will build working groups and roll out a framework for potential joint programs. The partnership aims to enhance scientific exchange activities between the department's laboratories and the U.S. space innovation base.

"This MOU lays out the framework for DOE to harness the world’s greatest science and technology researchers at DOE’s National Labs, and program offices, to augment DOD’s critical national security space mission and will play a crucial role for future space developments across the two departments," said Mark Menezes, deputy secretary at DOE.

/
AFRL, Korean Partners Solicit Quantum Information Science Research; Shery Welsh Quoted
Published on
AFRL, Korean Partners Solicit Quantum Information Science Research; Shery Welsh Quoted

U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and its partners intend to award three-year grants for quantum information science and technology research. AFRL said Friday it partnered with a Korea-based information research institute and the Asian country's national research foundation to jointly launch a solicitation for the grants.

The partnership between AFRL's Asian Office of Aerospace Research, Korea's NRF and Institute of Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation aims to offer research opportunities to scientific and technical professionals in both the U.S. and Korea. The solicitation continues the past 11 years of collaboration between IITP, NRF and the U.S. military.

“Our international program officers create programmatic opportunities to discover bold, high-risk, high-reward research that will modernize our Air and Space Forces," said Shery Welsh, director of AFRL's Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Interested parties may submit white papers, three pages long at most, which contain descriptions of planned proposals. AFRL would then select finalist teams that will be eligible to turn in full, formal proposals.

//
DOE to Back Wind Turbine Generator Dev’t Projects
Published on
DOE to Back Wind Turbine Generator Dev’t Projects

The Department of Energy (DOE) has earmarked $8 million in funds to support eight projects that will cover the development of lightweight wind turbine generators for offshore and tall wind usage. The awardees will design generators that can reach up to 10 megawatts and support offshore applications.

DOE noted American Superconductor Corp. and General Electric will build generators that will use superconducting windings to yield stronger magnetic fields while WEG Energy will develop a magnet direct drive lightweight generator that will employ less rare earth materials.

The department seeks to lower the cost of wind generation by 10 to 25 percent and produce generators that are 50 percent smaller and lighter through the effort. Each awardee will secure $500,000 in funds, while one project may receive up to $6.5 million to assemble and test a scaled prototype within a wind turbine.

/
Rep. Mike Gallagher, In-Q-Tel’s Sarah Sewall on Need for US-Allied Minerals Production Efforts
Published on
Rep. Mike Gallagher, In-Q-Tel’s Sarah Sewall on Need for US-Allied Minerals Production Efforts

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., has said the U.S. must work to foster partnerships with “Five Eyes” allies to mitigate reliance on China for critical mineral components, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

Gallagher, who co-chairs the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC), said at a recent webcast that he considers a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that he co-authored as a “small victory” in prioritizing the procurement of minerals from domestic and allied resources.

Speaking on his recent trip to Western Australia with the seapower committee chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Gallagher said the U.S. needs to fortify its relationship with Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand which previously earmarked significant allocations for rare earths supply.

According to Gallagher, Congress is taking Chinese threats seriously and have had positive developments in driving production in the domestic information and communications technologies supply chains

Sarah Sewall, executive vice president of In-Q-Tel, noted that the CSC made good recommendations in its white paper on securing the U.S. supply chain’s mineral resources.

She noted that the nation needs to avoid transitioning all production processes to onshore operations and “accept the fact that you’re going to still rely on external components in some cases.”

Australia also has a number of skilled experts in quantum computing and the U.S. needs to be more open on coalition efforts to combine expertise, said Sewall.

/
Biden Administration Names New Executives to GSA Leadership Positions
Published on
Biden Administration Names New Executives to GSA Leadership Positions

The Biden Administration has appointed new General Services Administration (GSA) officials to spearhead key initiatives, including COVID-19 relief, economic recovery, racial equity and climate, GSA reported on Wednesday.

Of the appointments, Katy Kale, former assistant to the President for Management and Administration under President Obama and GSA Chief of Staff, will be the deputy administrator and will serve as the acting administrator.

During the first term of the Obama Administration, Kale served as the deputy assistant to the President for Management and Administration and the special assistant to the President and Director of White House Operations.

She also served as the director of Operations for the Obama-Biden Transition Project. Before her tenure with the Obama Administration, Kale served in the U.S. Senate for nearly a decade. With the Senate, she focused her efforts on operational and legislative issues.

Sonny Hashmi, former chief information officer of GSA, will be the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) commissioner under Biden’s Administration. Hashmi will join the agency from Box, where he served as managing director of Global Government. With the company, he is responsible for marketing, brand and product strategy.

Hashmi began his career with GSA as deputy CIO and chief technology officer, where he supervised the agency’s Technology Portfolio as part of the Office of the Chief Information Officer Executive team. As CIO with GSA, managed GSA’s approximate $540 million annual IT investment portfolio.

In addition to the appointments of Kale and Hashmi, Biden’s team named nine additional appointments, including:

/
Dewberry Promotes Four Executives to Vice President
Published on
Dewberry Promotes Four Executives to Vice President

Dewberry has promoted Chris dePascale, Jean Huang, Stephen Kalaf and Mathew Mampara to vice presidents, the company reported on Tuesday. The promotions will further Dewberry’s ongoing expansion of engineering, architectural and consulting services. 

Throughout his career, dePascale successfully developed, managed and delivered infrastructure projects in the public, education and healthcare markets. He is skilled in managing design, developing contract documents, administering construction, managing contracts, exercising financial control, managing client relationships and mentoring direct reports. 

dePascale currently serves as a client manager for the mid-Atlantic site/civil group. He is a licensed professional engineer in Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Virginia, and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 

Huang is experienced in leading large multi-discipline teams to meet client goals and objectives. She supervises projects related to flood hazard engineering and mapping, climate change adaptation, stormwater management, environmental compliance, and other related water resources projects.

Huang serves as the program management director for the resilience solutions group. She is a licensed professional engineer in Maryland, New York and Virginia. Huang is also a certified floodplain manager and project management professional. 

Kalaf is the executive director of quality assurance. In the role, he leads Dewberry’s quality program and is a senior project manager in the resilience solutions group. Kalaf is a certified floodplain manager and project management professional. 

He has more than four decades of experience with the National Flood Insurance Program in a wide variety of roles, and has deep experience across all aspects of flood hazard and risk identification. 

Mampara is the director of innovation for the resilience solutions group. He is a licensed professional engineer in Maryland and is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) and ASCE.

/
Cypress International Names Hon. Kevin Fahey as President, COO; LTG David Halverson Quoted
Published on
Cypress International Names Hon. Kevin Fahey as President, COO; LTG David Halverson Quoted

Cypress International has appointed Hon. Kevin Fahey, assistant secretary for acquisition at the Department of Defense (DOD), as president and chief operating officer (COO), effective April 12, the company reported on Wednesday. 

“Kevin returns to us after serving in the Administration with over 35 years of extensive experience in defense acquisition leadership roles,” said LTG David Halverson, USA(Ret), chairman and chief executive officer of Cypress. “Kevin’s recent assignment as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition will also be of tremendous value to our clients.”

With DOD, Fahey advises the under secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD(A&S)), the deputy secretary of Defense, and the secretary of Defense on DOD Acquisition System, acquisition program management and the development of strategic, space, intelligence, tactical warfare, command and control and business systems. 

Prior to his position in the federal government, Fahey served as vice president of Combat Vehicles and Armaments with Cypress. He has also served as the director of System of Systems Engineering and Integration in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology). 

Fahey previously served as the program executive officer for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, as well as program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems. Additionally, Before that, Fahey was deputy program executive officer for Ammunition. 

“His demonstrated expertise in the disciplines of program management, test and evaluation, transformation, industrial base, and systems engineering will be an excellent addition to the Cypress team,” Halverson added. 

Fahey recently delivered the opening keynote address during GovConWire’s Defense Digital Acquisition and Modernization Forum on Dec. 1, 2020. During the event, Fahey discussed the DOD’s acquisition process, as well as federal policies and procedures. 

With DOD, he has led recent efforts to improve contracting, focusing on bettering modeling and analytics of cost and pricing. Another line of effort is ensuring a resilient and secure industrial base. “We have to get better insight into the industrial base and multiple tier levels to improve supply chain risk management,” Fahey added. 

If you missed the Defense Digital Acquisition and Modernization Forum, you can still access the OnDemand Footage by visiting GovConWire’s Event Archive. 

1 … 1,248 1,249 1,250 1,251 1,252 … 2,671