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Commerce Dept Unveils 30 Appointees to Natl Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship
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Commerce Dept Unveils 30 Appointees to Natl Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship


Commerce-DepartmentThe Commerce Department‘s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship has selected 30 professionals from the commercial, nonprofit and academic sectors to serve as NACIE members.

DOC said Monday the appointees will provide policy and program recommendations to help  U.S. communities, businesses and workers compete in the global marketplace.

Each NACIE member will serve for a term of up to two years.

“The members of NACIE provide important counsel to the Department of Commerce on the types of federal policies that will support entrepreneurship, innovation and job-driven workforce training, all of which are critical to American competitiveness,” said Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

DOC’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship reviewed applications and chose the third set of NACIE members from a pool of more than 200 applicants.

Click here to view the full list of the 25 new and five reappointed members of the council.

The council is scheduled to hold its inaugural meeting in October 2016.

Established in 2010, NACIE operates as an independent organization under the DOC’s Economic Development Administration Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes: Air Force Eyes Near-Term Procurement of Light Attack Aircraft
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Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes: Air Force Eyes Near-Term Procurement of Light Attack Aircraft


headshot-james-holmes
Mike Holmes

The U.S. Air Force looks to test various off-the-shelf aerial platforms in spring 2017 as the service branch considers procurement of a new aircraft for light-attack missions, Defense News reported Monday.

Valerie Insinna writes Lt. Gen. James Holmes, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements at the Air Force, suggested the idea of demonstration flights to the military service’s other officials in a bid to help address pilot shortage and readiness challenges at the branch.

“We may do some experiments where we invite people to come in and show us what their airplanes can do,” Holmes told Defense News in an interview.

Holmes added a potential light-attack aircraft, dubbed OA-X, would complement the A-10 Warthog fleet in efforts to counter extremist groups, according to the report.

The report said the Air Force also plans to put off the retirement of the A-10 beyond 2022 to address concerns over cost-per-flight hour of fifth-generation fighters.

Holmes also seeks data to help Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein decide whether to push through with an OA-X acquisition program, Insinna writes.

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Army Research Lab Builds New Tools for Soldier-Robot Teams; Joseph Conroy, William Nothwang Comment
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Army Research Lab Builds New Tools for Soldier-Robot Teams; Joseph Conroy, William Nothwang Comment


Army-RoboticsResearchers at U.S. Army Research Laboratory have begun to develop new platforms and functionalities that aim to make autonomous robots work like teammates for uniformed personnel on the battlefield, the Army reported Thursday.

David Vergun writes Joseph Conroy, an electronics engineer with ARL’s electronics for sense and control team, said ARL researchers participated in a manned/unmanned teaming exercise in 2014 to determine how autonomous robotic systems could help soldiers perform missions in combat zones.

The Army Training and Doctrine Command-sponsored MUM-T exercise showed that a robot could help a warfighter detect improvised explosive devices and examine a building’s interior, according to the report.

“We want to push the level of autonomy up just enough so that there’s a specific suite of behaviors the robot can execute very efficiently and reliably based on the commander’s intent, with as little guidance as possible,” Conroy said.

Some of the research efforts launched by ARL to develop tools for use in a soldier-robot team include the development of algorithms that work to recognize and track targets, geolocation sensing tools designed to perform positioning functions in GPS-denied environments, speech recognition systems as well as data processing methods.

William Nothwang, team leader at ARL’s electronics for sensing control team, said the lab has also launched the “Continuous, Multifaceted Soldier Characterization for Adaptive Technologies” initiative that aims to develop methods designed to evaluate a soldier’s capability level, the report noted.

Profile: Mike McCord, Comptroller at the Dept. of Defense
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Profile: Mike McCord, Comptroller at the Dept. of Defense

Mike-McCordMike McCord serves as the under secretary of defense (comptroller) / chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Defense.

He serves as the principal staff assistant and adviser to the secretary of defense for all budgetary and fiscal matters, including the development and execution of the Defense Department’s annual budget.

Prior to this role, McCord served for 5 years as the principal deputy under secretary of defense (comptroller).

Prior to joining the DoD, he spent 21 years on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) as a professional staff member from 1987-2002 and from 2004 to January 2009.

McCord served on the SASC full committee staff beginning in 1987 and also, starting in 1995, as the minority or majority staff lead on the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support.

During 2003, he served as the budget analyst on defense and veterans issues for the House Budget Committee, where his primary focus was on the cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

McCord began his career as an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.

He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in economics from the Ohio State University.

Army CERDEC, South Korean Agency Partner to Establish Spectrum Mgmt Interoperability Process
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Army CERDEC, South Korean Agency Partner to Establish Spectrum Mgmt Interoperability Process


korea-partnershipThe U.S. Army‘s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center and South Korea’s agency for defense development have partnered to help spectrum managers gain a shared understanding of requirements and plans within an operational area.

CERDEC and ADD personnel demonstrated the Coalition Spectrum Management Interoperability process during a joint meeting held July 18 at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, the Army said Aug. 26.

The process is based on the Standard Spectrum Resource Format Pub 8 data exchange format approved by the Defense Department and NATO and meant to support exchange of spectrum data between the U.S. and South Korea.

“CERDEC and the Republic of Korea investigated and developed an interoperable message exchange format for force structure, equipment data, frequency requests and frequency assignments,” said Yuriy Posherstnik, coalition spectrum management technical project officer at CERDEC’s space and terrestrial communications directorate.

“The technology we developed during this effort could be applied to a tactical communications network,” noted  Jaehyun Ham, coalition spectrum management technical project manager at ADD’s 2nd R&D institute.

The Army said the collaborative project involved data generation, display mappings, development of import and export features for spectrum management tools as well as modular and tool-agnostic data translation application programming interface, implementation of operational scenarios and operational import and export demonstrations.

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Ray Mabus: DDG 125 & 126 Destroyers Named After Two WWII Marines
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Ray Mabus: DDG 125 & 126 Destroyers Named After Two WWII Marines


arleigh-burke-class-destroyerU.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has named the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers DDG 125 and DDG 126 after two former Marines who were awarded Medals of Honor for their efforts during World War II.

The service branch said Saturday DDG 125 and DDG 126 will be called USS Jack H. Lucas and USS Louis H. Wilson Jr., respectively.

Lucas was given a Medal of Honor at age 17 as a U.S. Marine Corps private first class for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima, making him the youngest Marine and WWII service member to receive the honor, according to the Navy.

The branch added Wilson received the Medal of Honor as a Marine Corps captain after he helped defeat an enemy force during the Battle of Guam.

He also pushed for the service branch’s force readiness, responsiveness and mobility programs during his tenure as Marine Corps commandant.

Huntington Ingalls Industries will build DDG 125 while General Dynamics‘ Bath Iron Works division will construct DDG 126.

Both ships are scheduled to enter service in 2023.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are designed to support various Navy operations such as peacetime presence, crisis response, sea control and power projection.

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Stephen Welby: DoD Must Gain Innovation Advantage Over Adversaries for Tech Edge
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Stephen Welby: DoD Must Gain Innovation Advantage Over Adversaries for Tech Edge


Stephen Welby
Stephen Welby

Stephen Welby, assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering, has said Defense Department must be more innovative than the U.S.’ adversaries if the country is to hold technological superiority in battle, DoD News reported Friday.

Welby discussed research-and-development efforts across the defense sector at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and outlined DoD’s strategies to further its innovation programs, Cheryl Pellerin reports.

He said technological superiority requires science and technology that helps to sustain fundamental research and make use of emerging tools in order to meet warfighter needs, according to the report.

“We need to be open and agile, to leverage all potential sources of technical advantage, from our traditional industrial base, from nontraditional suppliers and from academia to help to create competitive advantage,” Welby said at the event.

Welby also called on DoD laboratories to help translate technical capabilities into concepts that will help to address warfighter requirements to respond to threats, Pellerin reports.

As DoD’s chief technology officer, he said one of his responsibilities is to keep the department focused on its science and technology portfolio, the report says.

He cited technical focus areas of DoD that include autonomy, cyber, sensors, electronic warfare, ground and sea platforms, space, human systems, air platforms, biomedical, counter weapons of mass destruction and counter improvised explosive devices.

Welby said DoD plans to increase its use of prototypes and experiments to mature technologies, Pellerin reports.

Raquel Bono: DHA Aims for ‘Streamlined’ Military Health System
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Raquel Bono: DHA Aims for ‘Streamlined’ Military Health System


Vice Adm. Raquel Bono
Vice Adm. Raquel Bono

Navy Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency, has said she believes the agency must respond to administrative challenges in DHA’s efforts to deliver Military Health System services to patients.

DHA said Thursday Bono highlighted DHA’s responsibilities during the final leg of the 2016 Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Summit on Sept. 15.

“We want to be more streamlined so we’re serving the entire enterprise,” said Bono.

Researchers and clinicians discussed issues that impact psychological health and the treatment of TBIs at the Defense Health Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia.

Bono also explained how care advancements fit with her priorities that support the military services and optimize operations.

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Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce Bill to Give NASA’s Space Investments
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Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce Bill to Give NASA’s Space Investments


spaceA bipartisan group of three Republican and three Democratic senators has introduced a bill that aims to help NASA sustain and build on space investments to support space exploration.

The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2016 allocates $19.5 billion in funds to the space agency for fiscal year 2017, according to a press release published Friday.

Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Bill Nelson (D-Florida), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) are backing the legislation.

The bill would require NASA to submit separate reports on the agency’s plans to commercialize low-Earth orbit operations and achieve human exploration of Mars using current technologies.

The legislation also directs NASA to address oversight of information technology and cybersecurity operations and investments as well as implement related recommendations of the inspector general and the Government Accountability Office.

NASA’s administrator would also establish an agency-wide security plan to support the requirements of NASA systems; identify roles and responsibilities; and address coordination among centers, facilities and mission directorates.

The bipartisan legislation seeks to add the Journey to Mars as one of NASA’s goals and objectives and directs the agency to manage human spaceflight programs.

The act supports the use of the International Space Station until at least 2024 as well as partnerships with the private sector to help NASA deliver cargo and experiments.

The bill also reaffirms support for the development of deep space exploration programs particularly the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and the Orion crew vehicle for beyond low-Earth orbit missions.

The legislation authorizes NASA to aid astronaut medical monitoring, diagnosis and treatment programs such as scientific and medical tests for psychological and medical conditions related to human space flight.

The transition authorization act also gives recognition to NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s 340-day space mission aboard the ISS to gain insight on how the human body adjusts to conditions of long-duration space flight.

 

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SwRI Solar Observatory Lifted Aboard World View Balloon Under NASA-Funded Flight
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SwRI Solar Observatory Lifted Aboard World View Balloon Under NASA-Funded Flight


SwRI Solar Observatory Lifted Aboard World View Balloon Under NASA-Funded FlightTucson, Arizona-based space exploration company World View has carried a Southwest Research Institute-developed solar observatory aboard the former company’s high-altitude balloon into the stratosphere as part of a NASA-funded Flight Opportunities program test.

NASA said Friday World View’s Stratollite balloon has lifted the SwRI Solar Instrument Pointing Platform to an altitude of 103,000 feet from Arizona’s Benson Municipal Airport to help conduct research with optical precision.

“Using a standard optical table platform increases flexibility, allowing scientists to try new things and develop new technologies without designing a custom observatory,” Craig DeForest, SwRI principal scientist.

“SSIPP could support the development of a range of new instruments for the near-space environment,” he added.

NASA noted that future applications will include the collection of solar data through infrared, ultraviolet or visible light near the edge of space at an altitude of approximately 20 miles above the Earth’s surface wherein the observatory can mitigate image distortions.

The agency’s space technology mission directorate selects industry, academia and government technologies that will be tested on commercial launch vehicles through the STMD-funded Flight Opportunities program.

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