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Leidos Joins Team to Provide Mission Critical Research for NSF, Antarctica; Pete Hoene, Ed Spitler Quoted
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Leidos Joins Team to Provide Mission Critical Research for NSF, Antarctica; Pete Hoene, Ed Spitler Quoted
Leidos Joins Team to Provide Mission Critical Research for NSF, Antarctica; Pete Hoene, Ed Spitler Quoted

Leidos has announced on Friday that the company has teamed with Artel and SES GS to deliver vital connectivity solutions to Palmer Station, Antarctica, operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  The satellite-based service will share year-round scientific research from the field to the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) data center.

"The Antarctic Treaty provides the framework for scientists from all over the world to peacefully come together and better understand our planet. We're glad to follow suit and collaborate with our industry partners to provide crucial and resilient satellite connectivity to Palmer Station," said Pete Hoene, President & CEO of SES Government Solutions. 

Leidos will help integrate Artel’s newly engineered solution into NSF’s research base. Artel has leveraged the C-band coverage provided by the SES-14 satellite, with backhaul from the SES Government Solutions Teleport through terrestrial circuits also engineered by Artel. 

The rapid data connection ensures the reliable transfer of data for the scientific community. The software will also allow scientists to investigate and present the far reaches of Antarctica for the public through their station and penguin webcam live streams.

"We look forward to supporting the Leidos team in continuous delivery of mission-critical satellite-based data connectivity services to Palmer Station," said Ed Spitler, head of SATCOM Programs at Artel.

Palmer Station's location on the Antarctic Peninsula, due south of Argentina, has given the USAP a unique perspective to provide leading research on global issues such as climate change and the effects on wildlife and surrounding ecosystems. The transmission of this data from the isolated environment to the global population has become pertinent to the NSF and USAP mission. 

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500® information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 34,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $10.19 billion for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2018.

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NASA Names Dennis Andrucyk Director of Goddard Space Flight Center; Ben Cardin, Jim Bridenstine Quoted
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NASA Names Dennis Andrucyk Director of Goddard Space Flight Center; Ben Cardin, Jim Bridenstine Quoted
NASA Names Dennis Andrucyk Director of Goddard Space Flight Center; Ben Cardin, Jim Bridenstine Quoted

Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator ans 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, has appointed Dennis Andrucyk director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, effective immediately, the agency reported on Thursday. 

"Dennis brings leadership skills to this job that are critical as NASA enters a new era of exploration," said Bridenstine. "His experience in NASA's science and technology spheres and his continual pursuit of excellence will serve Goddard and the agency well as we work together to return America to the Moon and then to Mars." 

Prior to his appointment, Andrucyk served with NASA as deputy associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) since Aug. 1988, bringing over 30 years of experience to his new role. As deputy associate administrator, he was responsible for developing new partnerships with other government agencies, academia, industry and international organizations. 

Andrucyk has also assisted to streamline policies and procedures and reduce the overhead required for achieving the agency’s scientific goals. He has also created new processes for lower cost missions that ultimately increase SMD’s scientific return on investment.

He served as NASA’s acting chief technologist while working as deputy associate administrator between March 2010 and April 2015. In the role, he provided overarching leadership of Goddard’s Engineering Directorate. This 1300 civil servant organization represents 40% of the Goddard workforce and is supported by 2000 contractors. 

He was also responsible for end to end engineering capability for all Goddard’s mission, spacecraft, instrument, ground system, and science processing developments for orbital and suborbital missions. He supervised the center’s engineering technical division, ensuring project technical capability and performance requirements are met.

Before joining NASA in 1988, Dennis served at the National Security Agency, Naval Research Laboratory, Westinghouse, Northrop and General Electric.

Andrucyk has twice been the recipient of the Senior Executive Service Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the Goddard Outstanding Leadership Honor Award, and the Goddard Exceptional Achievement Award in Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity. 

"I look forward to working with fellow Terp Dennis Andrucyk in his new role as the director of the Goddard Space Flight Center. We are glad to have him back in Greenbelt," said Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland. "Strong, thoughtful leadership at Goddard is essential for its 10,000-strong workforce of employees and contractors, who play such an important role in the exploration projects that are at the heart of NASA."

About Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is a major U.S. laboratory for developing and operating unmanned scientific spacecraft. The center manages many of NASA's Earth observation, astronomy, planetary science and astrophysics missions. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is home to the nation's largest organization of scientists, engineers and technologists who build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study Earth, the sun, our solar system and the universe.

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Leidos Appoints Michael Jackman as New Health Group COO; Jon Scholl Quoted
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Leidos Appoints Michael Jackman as New Health Group COO; Jon Scholl Quoted

Leidos Appoints Michael Jackman as New Health Group COO; Jon Scholl Quoted

Leidos has announced Michael Jackman, healthcare information technology industry veteran, will serve as the Health Group chief operating officer (COO), the company announced on Thursday.

“Michael is a growth-minded leader with decades of executive experience in healthcare systems optimization,” said Jon Scholl, Leidos Health Group president. “His previous administration of digital transformation and healthcare R&D initiatives will be instrumental in our long-term growth strategy.”

As COO with Leidos, Jackman will oversee the daily operations of the Health Group and work in close collaboration with the group’s leadership team to deliver a range of solutions and services designed to meet today’s healthcare challenges.

Prior to his position at Leidos, Jackman served as an operating partner with Ardan Equity since March 2019. In the position, he collaborated with health executives to build platforms designed to accelerate company growth.

He also worked with Mach7 Technologies from Aug. 2017 to April 2019. His primary responsibilities in the role include the delivery of an intelligent software workflow platform and consolidation of patient data to improve patient care, reach compliance goals and deliver clinical and operational support enterprise wide.

Additionally, Jackman served in a variety of senior leadership roles with GE Healthcare between Dec. 2011 and Jan. 2017. In his most recent role with GE, Americas Region CEO of Healthcare Digital HCIT, Jackman supervised advanced visualization, radiology, cardiology and perinatal and high acuity solutions including workflow software and services. He was also responsible for customer success organization and all commercial resources for the Americas region.

Before he began his career with GE, Jackman served as executive vice president of Global Operations with ISOFT Health Group from Dec. 2009 to Dec. 2011. He was responsible for research and development with product management, program management, CIO and global services.

Between Dec. 2005 and Nov. 2009, Jackman served in multiple presidency roles with Carestream Health. Most recently, he served as president of global sales and services where he  was responsible for the full $1.8 billion that came from the sale and service of medical films, printing solutions and digital medical solutions. The Global Sales organization also is responsible for the sales of Dental Solutions in Japan, China, Asia and Latin America.
Jackman worked as chief technology officer (CTO) with Eastman Kodak from Dec. 2002 to Jan. 2005 and began his career at IBM where he worked as vice president of System Technology for the Personal Systems Group between 1980 and 1998.

“I am thrilled to join an organization that leverages technology to enhance the continuum of care from research laboratory to patient bedside,” said Jackman. “I look forward to introducing expertise that will further improve clinical, operational, and financial outcomes for our customers’ important work.”

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500® information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world’s toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company’s 34,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $10.19 billion for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2018.

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DWMR Selects Jacobs to Design Commercial Waste Building; Jan Walstrom Quoted
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DWMR Selects Jacobs to Design Commercial Waste Building; Jan Walstrom Quoted

DWMR Selects Jacobs to Design Commercial Waste Building; Jan Walstrom Quoted

Jacobs has been selected by the Sacramento County Department of Waste Management and Recycling (DWMR) to provide consulting and design services for a new commercial waste building at the county’s North Area Recovery Station (NARS) the company stated on Friday.

“This is a multifaceted solid waste project that requires optimization of current as well as future facilities,” said Jacobs People & Places Solutions Senior Vice President and Global Environmental Market Director Jan Walstrom. “Our design will incorporate construction phasing to meet the accelerated schedule while minimizing impacts to existing operations.”

Jacobs will develop critical infrastructure for DWMR to address the waste increase in the greater Sacramento region, and help the department meet requirements of California Senate Bill (SB) 1383, which requires organizations to reduce greenhouse gases and increase organic waste recycling.

The company will also assist DWMR design new commercial waste building while supporting infrastructure. Specifically, Jacobs will develop the geotechnical design of ramps and a trench adjacent to the new facility, a trench drain storm sewer design, and the design of an air filtration system to treat odors from the building.

The company, with subcontractor JR Miller & Associates (JRMA), will deliver more than 150 transfer station designs and more than 100 working solid waste transfer, processing and organics facilities in California.

To achieve these objectives and proactively address the resulting compliance dates, DWMR requires the new commercial waste building to be operational by fall 2021.

Jacobs recently announced another environmental initiative on Jan. 22, 2019 to increase global sustainability. The company donated $467,230 to the Water For People nonprofit organization to help end the global water crisis with sustainable solutions.

Jacobs’ inaugural contribution will help drive Water For People’s journey to Destination 2030. The 10-year initiative to support low and middle-income countries obtain United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6. The goal will ensure available and sustainable management of water and sanitation.

“With Jacobs support, we will help Water For People find new ways to scale their work to meet Destination 2030 and elevate their Everyone Forever model to positively impact millions more people in the next 10 years,” said Jacobs chair and CEO, Steve Demetriou.
About Jacobs 

At Jacobs, we’re challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world’s most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of approximately 52,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector.

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Modernization of Coast Guard MH-65 Helicopters Underway
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Modernization of Coast Guard MH-65 Helicopters Underway
Modernization of Coast Guard MH-65 Helicopters Underway

The U.S. Coast Guard is reconfiguring its MH-65 short-range recovery helicopter platform as part of service life extension and avionics modernization efforts.

USCG said full-rate production of the helicopter's E configuration commenced Nov. 21 at the Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, N.C. The service branch delivered two more units to the facility last month and a third unit earlier this month.

New helicopter systems include a digital weather and surface search radar technology; a common avionics architecture system for the digital flight deck and; an integrated command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance suite.

The service branch aims to expand the service life of its SRR helicopter fleet by 10K flight hours through the replacement of five key structural parts. Ninety-eight MH-65 helicopters are slated for upgrades through fiscal 2024.

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Brig. Gen. Evan Dertien Assigned as Air Force Research Lab Head
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Brig. Gen. Evan Dertien Assigned as Air Force Research Lab Head
Evan Dertien
Evan Dertien

Brig. Gen. Evan Dertien, director of air, space and cyberspace operations at Air Force Materiel Command, has been appointed as commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff at the U.S. Air Force and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, announced Dertien's new assignment in a press release published Thursday.

In his new capacity, Dertien will oversee science and technology program and externally funded research-and-development programs at the AFMC-run laboratory at Wright-Patterson AF Base in Ohio. He started his military career in 1993 and served in three combat deployments as an F-15 pilot after completing  a Euro-NATO joint jet pilot training program.

Dertien previously worked as an initial cadre instructor pilot for the first operational F-22 aircraft. The AF Test Pilot School graduate also led the 96th Test Wing in Florida. He has logged more than 3,000 flight hours, including more than 180 hours in combat missions.

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DoD’s Peter Ranks on Cloud’s Role in Software Modernization
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DoD’s Peter Ranks on Cloud’s Role in Software Modernization
Peter Ranks
Peter Ranks

Peter Ranks, deputy chief information officer for information enterprise at the Department of Defense, said he believes cloud could be used as a platform by DoD to facilitate software modernization, Federal Times reported Thursday.

“I really think that this cloud portion of the modernization strategy ought to be focused on software modernization, or, more specifically, software agility,” Ranks said Thursday at MeriTalk’s Smart 2020 event.

Ranks discussed in his speech several DoD initiatives that seek to speed up the delivery of software updates and one is the CIO office’s move to change policy to facilitate a more iterative process in acquisition.

He also mentioned plans to come up with a continuous authorization to operate to allow the Pentagon to deliver software patches in real time without having to go through the update approval process.

Ranks said DoD also intends to amend the acquisition language this year and that there has been “good progress” in advancing a policy that “encourages a bias in the delivery of software toward delivery of small amounts of capability."

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DISA Offers Cloud-Based Storage Service ‘milDrive’
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DISA Offers Cloud-Based Storage Service ‘milDrive’

DISA Offers Cloud-Based Storage Service 'milDrive'

The Defense Information Systems Agency is devising a strategy to help interested users transition to milDrive, its cloud-based storage service for desktop users, the Department of Defense reported Thursday.

DISA has been offering milDrive for almost a year now and Carissa Landymore, a program manager at DISA, said there are approximately 18K users across 20 organizations using the cloud service.

“There’s quite a large user base in the queue right now that’s interested, and we are currently piloting with and developing a migration strategy for them,” said Carissa Landymore. “The need is definitely there.”

The milDrive service is available for DoD Information Network users and allows them to access data from any government-issued devices using their common access cards and store documents containing personally identifiable information.

Jeremiah Collins, information technology services deputy director at Army Futures Command, said the cloud service has helped the command achieve cost savings and a reduction in IT workload.

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DHS to Evaluate Capability of AI Prototypes to Gain Insights From Contractor Past-Performance Records
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DHS to Evaluate Capability of AI Prototypes to Gain Insights From Contractor Past-Performance Records

DHS to Evaluate Capability of AI Prototypes to Gain Insights From Contractor Past-Performance Records

The Department of Homeland Security is set to test in late January nine system prototypes as part of the first phase of a project that seeks to develop artificial intelligence-based platforms that can be used to collect, analyze and visualize information in a governmentwide system containing contractors’ past-performance data, FedScoop reported Thursday.

Accenture, IBM’s Global Business Services – US Federal, CORMAC, Hangar Government Solutions, ElectrifAi, Strongbridge, TrueTandem, Federal Government Experts and World Wide Technology will demonstrate the capability of their AI-based prototypes to find an offeror’s past performance records in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System and predict the vendor’s capacity to deliver on a contract.

“What we want is the output from the solution,” said Polly Hall, acquisition innovation advocate director of the Procurement Innovation Lab at DHS. “We want that output in the form of a CPARS AI report or maybe a subscription service with a dashboard and other visualization capabilities to help us extract, analyze and visualize the data.”

DHS expects each company to explain their AI methodology and recommend ways to improve the data quality in CPARS. The department plans to award follow-on contracts worth up to $50K.

“Our intent is to maintain as much competition as makes sense as we move forward into the next phase — likely more prototyping with a more robust, larger data set,” Hall added.

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JAIC to Launch ‘Joint Warfighting’ AI Lethality Effort; Dana Deasy Comments
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JAIC to Launch ‘Joint Warfighting’ AI Lethality Effort; Dana Deasy Comments
Dana Deasy
Dana Deasy

The Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center plans to incorporate algorithmic processing to combat operations as part of its Joint Warfighting initiative slated to begin next year, C4ISRnet reported Wednesday.

Dana Deasy, the DoD chief information officer and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, told the publication that the effort will serve as JAIC’s “first lethality project” in the joint warfighting domain.

Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesperson for JAIC, said the project may involve areas such as targeting capabilities, operations center workflows, command-and-control, sensor technology and autonomous platforms for ground surveillance and reconnaissance.

He added that JAIC is coordinating with “a variety of commercial tech firms” for the initiative and that the center is yet to release information on contracting activities.

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