/
DARPA Seeks Proposals for 6 New Research Programs Under Electronics Resurgence Initiative
Published on
DARPA Seeks Proposals for 6 New Research Programs Under Electronics Resurgence Initiative


DARPA Seeks Proposals for 6 New Research Programs Under Electronics Resurgence InitiativeThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has released broad agency announcements to seek research proposals for six new programs under the Electronics Resurgence Initiative.

ERI is a program that will allocate $75 million in fiscal 2018 funds to support research efforts across the six new programs in the areas of system architectures, materials and integration and circuit design over the next four years, DARPA said Wednesday.

Each thrust area will back two separate programs.

The materials and integration thrust includes:

  • Three Dimensional Monolithic System-on-a-Chip or 3DSoC program
  • Foundations Required for Novel Compute or FRANC program

The architectures thrust covers:

  • Software Defined Hardware or SDH program
  • Domain-Specific System on a Chip or DDSoc program

The design thrust includes:

  • Intelligent Design of Electronic Assets or IDEA program
  • Posh Open Source Hardware or POSH program

ERI will also earmark $141 million in FY 2018 funds to the Joint University Microelectronics Program and other existing initiatives such as the Circuit Realization at Faster Timescales and Common Heterogeneous Integration and IP Reuse Strategies programs.

“These new ERI investments, in combination with the investments in our current programs and JUMP, constitute the next steps in creating a lasting foundation for innovating and delivering electronics capabilities that will contribute crucially to national security in the 2025 to 2030 time frame,” said Bill Chappell, director of DARPA’s microsystems technology office and ERI head.

DARPA will hold proposers days for the SDH and DSSoC programs on Sept. 18 and 19 in Arlington, Virginia.

Proposers days for design area’s POSH and IDEA programs will take place on Sept. 22 in Mountain View, California, while DARPA will hold a webinar on Sept. 15 on the FRANC program.

The agency will also hold a proposers day for the 3DSoC program on Sept. 22 in Virginia.

/
Navy-Led International Team Deploys Buoys to Collect Weather, Oceanographic Data
Published on
Navy-Led International Team Deploys Buoys to Collect Weather, Oceanographic Data


Navy-Led International Team Deploys Buoys to Collect Weather, Oceanographic DataA U.S. Navy-led international team has deployed buoys in the Arctic ocean to collect weather and oceanographic data as part of the International Arctic Buoy Program.

The U.S. National Ice Center launched Air Expendable Ice Beacons from the Danish air force’s C-130 aircraft to gather data that can help develop environmental models and boost forecasting capacities in the Arctic region, the Navy said Tuesday.

USNIC worked alongside the Office of Naval Research, Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, the Danish joint Arctic command, Environmental and Climate Change Canada and the University of Washington to perform the IABP mission.

“The buoys will provide data for 3-5 years providing operational and scientific community’s access to the in-situ observations available to all forecasters and researchers through the International Arctic Buoy Program,” said Lt. Emily Motz, coordinator for the Arctic Buoy Program at the U.S. National Ice Center.

Cmdr. Ruth Lane, commanding officer at the U.S. National Ice Center, said that the data gathered from the AXIB buoys can potentially aid the numerical weather prediction activities of the IABP team.

The Navy noted that the buoy mission will also provide data to support the Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys program under the ONR Arctic and Global Prediction Program.

/
U.S. Federal Govt to Hold Tech & Cyber Job Fair in November
Published on
U.S. Federal Govt to Hold Tech & Cyber Job Fair in November


U.S. Federal Govt to Hold Tech & Cyber Job Fair in NovemberThe U.S. federal government will host a recruitment event for cyber and technology jobs on Nov. 6 and 7 in Silver Spring, Maryland, the Hill reported Thursday.

The General Services Administration said the event will help fill open positions in various federal agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management and the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services.

The FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will also participate in the event but would require job seekers to apply directly with the agencies before the event to schedule interviews.

A senior government official told reporters that individuals who pre-register for the event and go through pre-screening may receive tentative job offers on the spot, Nextgov reported.

Available jobs will be posted on USAJobs.com between Sept. 15 and 29 and will include data architects, computer scientists, cyber analysts, engineers, mathematicians and project managers.

Interested individuals should apply in advance to give time for screening, the report noted.

House OKs $1.2T Fiscal 2018 Spending Package
Published on
House OKs $1.2T Fiscal 2018 Spending Package


House OKs $1.2T Fiscal 2018 Spending PackageThe House voted 211-198 Thursday to pass a potential $1.2 trillion spending package to fund government operations for fiscal year 2018, The Hill reported Thursday.

The appropriations package contains four bills the House approved in July and eight new spending measures and its approval came a week after Congress passed a three-month continuing resolution that would fund the government at current spending levels until Dec. 8.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) said the package’s approval marks the first time the lower chamber has passed on time all 12 appropriations bills since 2009.

The budget package would allocate $621.5 billion for defense operations, $511 billion in nondefense discretionary funds and $87 billion in overseas contingency operations funds.

Politico also reported that the spending package would appropriate $1.6 billion in funds to construct structural barriers along the border between the U.S. and Mexico and allocate $47.4 billion for the State Department and overseas operations.

The departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security are among the agencies that would see budget increases under the 12-bill package.

The fiscal 2018 spending bill is not expected to be signed into law by the start of fiscal 2018 on Oct. 1 as House lawmakers need to reach a compromise on the package with the Senate, the report added.

/
Senate Advances $700B Defense Policy Bill for Fiscal 2018
Published on
Senate Advances $700B Defense Policy Bill for Fiscal 2018


Senate Advances $700B Defense Policy Bill for Fiscal 2018The Senate has voted 84-9 to forgo debate on proposed amendments to a spending bill that would authorize $700 billion in Defense Department spending for fiscal 2018, Washington Examiner reported Thursday.

The report said the upper chamber aims to hold a final vote Monday on the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that includes a provision that seeks to eliminate budget caps.

Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) agreed to include 100 amendments to the NDAA but were unable to negotiate with senators about the scheduling of votes on the proposed changes, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

McCain said he and Reed would try to reach a deal on another package of amendments for the NDAA.

The Senate and House must unite their versions of the defense policy bill before Congress submits the finalized legislation to President Donald Trump for signature.

/
NASA Picks 5 Research Proposals to Determine Commercial Space Devt Opportunities
Published on
NASA Picks 5 Research Proposals to Determine Commercial Space Devt Opportunities


NASA Picks 5 Research Proposals to Determine Commercial Space Devt OpportunitiesNASA has picked five research studies that seek to analyze investment drivers in the space economy and identify new commercial space development opportunities.

The agency said Wednesday the five proposals were selected through a competitive process for this year’s NASA Research Announcement and will cover various topics such as the economic and societal impacts of space weather events; space-based solar power generation; and roadmaps for commercial space technologies.

“The results of these studies provide insights into the potential economic impacts of new space-based capabilities and applications which in turn helps guide our investments in technology development,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA’s space technology mission directorate.

L.K. Kubendran, portfolio executive for NASA’s commercial partnerships, said the agency received 23 proposals and those submissions seek to reflect the space community’s interest to advance commercial space development.

NASA selected the proposals from companies and academic institutions that include:

  • Colorado School of Mines
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Planetary Resource Engineering
  • University of Illinois, Urbana
  • Vision Foresight Strategy

/
Walter Copan Nominated NIST Director, Commerce Undersecretary for Standards & Tech
Published on
Walter Copan Nominated NIST Director, Commerce Undersecretary for Standards & Tech


Walter Copan Nominated NIST Director, Commerce Undersecretary for Standards & Tech
Walter Copan

President Donald Trump has nominated Walter Copan, president and CEO of IP Engineering Group, to serve as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and as commerce undersecretary for standards and technology.

Copan is also a founding board member at Rocky Mountain Innovation Partners, a nonprofit organization that offers assistance services to entrepreneurs, federal laboratories and academic institutions.

He previously served as managing director of technology commercialization and partnerships at the Energy Department‘s Brookhaven National Laboratory and principal licensing executive at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

His industry career has also included time as executive vice president and chief technology officer of Clean Diesel Technologies Inc.; president of TAEUS International; and CEO and chairman of Impact Engineered Wood.

Copan spent 28 years at Lubrizol Corp. where he led research, development and business management functions.

/
DoD Units, Universities Test Air Platforms in GPS-Denied Environment
Published on
DoD Units, Universities Test Air Platforms in GPS-Denied Environment


DoD Units, Universities Test Air Platforms in GPS-Denied EnvironmentA group of Defense Department organizations and U.S. universities has tested various aircraft in an environment where global positioning system signal is degraded.

The U.S. Air Force said Wednesday the week-long demonstration dubbed Developmental Test Navigation Festival was carried out in Edwards Air Force Base, California to evaluate aerial system performance in a GPS-denied area.

DT NAVFEST involved the 412th Test Wing’s Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force; the 411th, 416th, 419th and 461st Flight Test Squadrons; the U.S. Army‘s Special Operations Command; Stanford University; and the University of Illinois.

James Cook, KC-46A project manager at the 418th Flight Test Squadron, said the test sought to “provide a locally, more realistic GPS jamming environment in which aircraft platforms and [remotely piloted aircraft] could evaluate their performance under a degraded GPS signal.”

Cook added that other locations across U.S. provide GPS-denied environments, but the availability of such setup in Edwards AFB will eliminate the need to deploy aerial systems to other sites.

Wei Lee, a test safety engineer at the 412th Test Wing, said DoD needs to support academic institutions’ research and development efforts since it is “extremely difficult” for academic laboratories to work with the Federal Aviation Administration and first responders to obtain live GPS jamming data.

Universities were called to join DT NAVFEST on a trial basis and the Air Force aims to extend the opportunity to other institutions, Lee added.

/
DHS Issues Directive to Remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus Software From Federal Data Systems
Published on
DHS Issues Directive to Remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus Software From Federal Data Systems


DHS Issues Directive to Remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus Software From Federal Data SystemsElaine Duke, acting secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, has released a binding operational directive that requires federal agencies to discontinue the use of AO Kaspersky Lab’s anti-virus platforms and related products on their information systems within 90 days.

DHS said Wednesday the measure seeks to protect federal data systems from security vulnerabilities associated with the use of Kaspersky’s anti-virus software.

The department has expressed concerns about the potential ties of Moscow-based Kaspersky to the Russian government that could exploit the company’s products to compromise federal data infrastructure.

“DHS is providing an opportunity for Kaspersky to submit a written response addressing the department’s concerns or to mitigate those concerns,” the agency added.

DHS issued the directive nearly three months after the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its fiscal 2018 defense policy bill that would ban Kaspersky’s anti-virus software from Defense Department systems.

Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker: Defense Spending Modifications Affected Naval Aviation Enterprise Readiness
Published on
Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker: Defense Spending Modifications Affected Naval Aviation Enterprise Readiness


Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker: Defense Spending Modifications Affected Naval Aviation Enterprise ReadinessVice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander of the Naval Air Forces, said at the 61st Annual Tailhook Convention held Saturday that the ripple effects of defense spending cuts have impacted readiness efforts across the Naval Aviation Enterprise.

He told audience during the convention that a proposed $1 billion budget increase for naval aviation programs would help the service branch sustain readiness, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.

At the same event, Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, said he expects NAVAIR’s efforts to modernize Naval Aviation Enterprise fleet readiness centers to result in the production of approximately 500 basic aircraft during 2017.

He added that additional funds will help the Navy update technical publications and training equipment as well as hire additional technology representatives and engineers who can support the flight line.

1 … 2,144 2,145 2,146 2,147 2,148 … 2,597