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Biden Administration Appoints 15 Experts to Quantum Initiative Advisory Panel
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Biden Administration Appoints 15 Experts to Quantum Initiative Advisory Panel

President Joe Biden on Friday announced the 15 members of the new National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee.

The inter-agency initiative aims to maintain U.S. leadership in the field of quantum information science, which the administration deemed “a critical and emerging technology.”

NQIAC is expected to provide guidance on research, development, standards, commercialization and the economic, academic and national security applications of QIS. 

The advisory panel will be led by co-chairs Kathryn Ann Moler, dean of research at Stanford University, and Charles Tahan, assistant director for QIS and director of the National Quantum Coordination Office under the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The other appointees are:

  • Jamil Abo-Shaeer
  • Fred Chong
  • James Clarke
  • Deborah Ann Frincke
  • Gilbert Herrera
  • Nadya Mason
  • William Oliver
  • John Preskill
  • Mark Ritter
  • Robert Schoelkopf
  • Krysta Svore
  • Jun Ye
  • Jinliu Wang

They will convene their first meeting on Dec. 16.

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Gen. Anthony Cotton Starts Strategic Command Leadership Role
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Gen. Anthony Cotton Starts Strategic Command Leadership Role

Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton, who has led the Air Force Global Strike Command since August 2021, assumed duties as the new head of U.S. Strategic Command at a ceremony that took place Friday at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, DOD News reported.

He was nominated by President Joe Biden to lead Stratcom in June and replaced Charles Richard, who retired from the U.S. Navy with the rank of admiral after a four-decade military career.

As Stratcom’s 12th commander, Cotton will lead the organization that provides command-and-control support to the U.S. president, defense secretary, combatant heads and other national leaders.

“Strategic Command is here to deter conflict and keep the peace, and that means a safe, secure and effective U.S. nuclear arsenal as the ultimate backstop to deter strategic attacks on our country and our allies,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a two-time Wash100 Award recipient, said during the Stratcom change of command ceremony.

Cotton started his military service in 1986, when he joined the U.S. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He has since helmed different Air Force squadron, group and wing units.

Cotton earned his oak leaf clusters and rose to the rank of major in 1990. He became brigadier general in 2011, and was promoted to four-star general in August last year.

Some of his notable assignments include as deputy director of the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force Executive Action Group, and senior military assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He also held senior positions at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, and Patrick AFB in Florida.

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Ukraine War Prompts DOD to Reassess US Munitions Stockpile; William LaPlante Quoted
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Ukraine War Prompts DOD to Reassess US Munitions Stockpile; William LaPlante Quoted

The Department of Defense is conducting a review of its stockpile of artillery shells, missiles and other munitions amid the large volumes of U.S.-built weapons supplied to Ukraine to support the Eastern European country’s counteroffensive against Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Defense officials and company executives said the huge quantities of munitions fired by Ukrainian forces against Russia, along with supply chain issues and workforce shortages, have resulted in the depletion of U.S. stocks of some ammunition and highlighted underinvestment in munitions production and procurement.

William “Bill” LaPlante, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment at DOD and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, said the war in Ukraine offers an opportunity for the Pentagon to address such challenges.

“You have to have almost a political environment like we have now, where people see the urgency for it,” said LaPlante. “Because in times of peace and times of prosperity, it’s one of the first things that falls off the budget.”

According to the report, Russia has consumed so much of its weapons systems in its war with Ukraine and DOD intends to determine whether it could hold less ammunition in its arsenal given Kremlin’s current status.

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BAE Systems Wins $294.7M Award for Navy Ship Maintenance and Modernization; Mike Bruneau Quoted
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BAE Systems Wins $294.7M Award for Navy Ship Maintenance and Modernization; Mike Bruneau Quoted

BAE Systems has secured a $294.7 million U.S. Navy award for the maintenance and modernization of the amphibious USS Kearsarge assault ship.

Beginning in June, the ship will be drydocked for almost a year at BAE Systems’ Norfolk shipyard for the contract’s tasks to be executed, the U.K.-based company announced from Norfolk, Virginia on Monday.

“The extended sustainment period onboard the USS Kearsarge provides a great environment to apply BAE Systems’ substantial experience with ships of the same class and considerable production skills, and supports job stability across our shipyard and supply base,” stated Mike Bruneau, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair.

Under the contract, BAE Systems will be responsible for delivering expansive hull, tank and mechanical work, as well as rehabilitating all crew and embarked Marine living compartments on the ship and inspecting its boilers. The vessel will be available for maintenance starting in April.

The 29-year-old, 843-foot-long USS Kearsarge is the third ship in the USS Wasp class of Navy amphibious assault ships. BAE Systems is currently executing a similar initiative aboard the Wasp.

Work under the contract is expected to be completed in 2025.

“Through our maintenance and modernization efforts, the Kearsarge will be ready to deploy for many years to come,” Bruneau added.

This award follows BAE Systems’ numerous Navy contract wins for ship maintenance within the past year. Most recently, the enterprise was tasked with maintaining and modernizing the USS Ross under a potential $123.8 million contract with the same performance location.

Earlier, BAE Systems was awarded a potential $95.2 million contract for similar tasks on the USS Mustin as well as a $1.9 million contract for work on the USS Mitscher, both of which are guided missile destroyers.

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Baird’s Alex Sevilla Outlines Impacts of GRSi Acquisition by DLH
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Baird’s Alex Sevilla Outlines Impacts of GRSi Acquisition by DLH

On Thursday, it was announced that technology health and human services company DLH Holdings acquired Grove Resource Solutions Inc. for $185 million.

The latter, Bethesda, Maryland-based organization specializes in cybersecurity and cloud-based enterprise modernization, as well as systems engineering, technology insertion and other information technology support services aimed at the public sector, GovCon Wire reported Friday.

Baird was the financial advisor for GRSi on the transaction.

“The DLH acquisition of GRSi is highly strategic – the combined companies create a mid-tier powerhouse in strategic consulting and digital transformation to federal health agencies and beyond,” said Baird Managing Director of Global Technology and Services Alex Sevilla in an exclusive comment to ExecutiveGov.

The move was seen as part of an effort by DLH to deepen its portfolio of IT modernization, digital transformation and cybersecurity capabilities in its work with the federal government. GRSi is set to provide approximately $140 million of annual revenue as a wholly owned subsidiary of DLH going forward. The primary existing leadership of DLH are expected to remain in place.

GRSi brings a customer base of agencies and service branches such as the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and the National Institutes of Health to its new ownership.

According to DLH, the deal’s funding was made possible via an amendment to its secured credit facility. The purchase price consists of $178 million in cash and $7 million of equity. First National Bank of Pennsylvania was a participating agent and F.N.B. Capital Markets, Atlantic Union Bank and M&T Bank served as joint lead arrangers.

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13 Teams Selected to Build Grid Optimization Technologies in ARPA-E Challenge
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13 Teams Selected to Build Grid Optimization Technologies in ARPA-E Challenge

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has selected 13 teams to compete in the third challenge of the Grid Optimization Competition that aims to develop software management technologies designed to solve problems related to the electric power grid. 

ARPA-E said Thursday the GO Competition Challenge 3 will expand the real-world problem covered in the first two challenges by including time series data for weather, unit commitment constraints, intermittent generation and consumption.

Challenge 3 will involve new models for emerging technologies, such as distributed energy resources, storage, consumer participation and renewables, and new temporal constraints and considerations. Participating teams hail from 11 different states.

Scheduled to kick off in early 2023, the competition offers up to $750,000 in cash prizes.

Jennifer Gerbi, acting director and deputy director for technology at ARPA-E, said that technologies developed through the competition will “help the U.S. ensure grid flexibility, reliability, and resiliency, as well as incorporate the new clean energy technologies that create the grid of the future.”

Transportation, S&T Officials Suggest Cross-Over Between ARPA-I, Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative
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Transportation, S&T Officials Suggest Cross-Over Between ARPA-I, Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative

The Department of Transportation’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Infrastructure could further its objectives of transforming the sector through various opportunities in a new net-zero carbon emission initiative, government officials said Wednesday.

In a commentary published on the White House website, DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Robert Hampshire, and Office of Science and Technology Policy deputy directors Kei Koizumi and Sally Benson made their case for ARPA-I’s potential benefit to the Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative.

ARPA-I is the latest research projects unit created for a U.S. executive department and is awaiting initial budget approval from Congress.

The net-zero initiative includes research and development proposals focused on clean and efficient transportation systems, smart mobility, next-generation construction of infrastructure construction and advanced electricity and clean fuel infrastructure.

The three experts said that ARPA-I could fulfill its transformation and climate change goals by supporting the R&D efforts. For instance, smart mobility could lead to widespread adoption of electric, autonomous and virtually connected vehicles. This vision aligns with ARPA-I’s purpose to “contribute significantly to improving the safe, secure, and efficient movement of goods and people.”

Koizumi is OSTP’s principal deputy director for policy and Benson is OSTP’s deputy director for energy.

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NSA Issues 4 Technical Reports to Help DOD Secure Microelectronics
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NSA Issues 4 Technical Reports to Help DOD Secure Microelectronics

The National Security Agency has unveiled four reports that seek to help the Department of Defense safeguard programmable microelectronic components from adversary influence and cybersecurity threats.

The cybersecurity technical reports issued by the Joint Federated Assurance Center Hardware Assurance Lab at NSA intend to ensure the security of field-programmable gate arrays during production, programming, acquisition and initial device attachment processes, the agency said Thursday.

The document FPGA Overall Assurance Process offers information on the process used by NSA JFAC to come up with threat categories and mitigations and seeks to help teams mimic the assurance work for other microelectronic device types.

The other three reports are the Field-Programmable Gate Array Best Practices-Threat Catalog; Field-Programmable Gate Array Level of Assurance 1 Best Practices and Third-Party IP Review Process for Level of Assurance 1.

NSA JFAC provides remediation capabilities, vulnerability detection and analysis support to help DOD strengthen microelectronics hardware assurance for its programs.

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DOD, SBA Sign Agreement to Strengthen Small Business Development
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DOD, SBA Sign Agreement to Strengthen Small Business Development

The Department of Defense and the Small Business Administration will work together to strengthen and broaden the development of U.S. small businesses and better meet the needs of such enterprises under a memorandum of understanding, DOD News reported Wednesday.

“One of the things that we want to make sure that we’re doing is providing resources and support to small businesses who are looking to do business with DOD, with other federal agencies, with state and local government and really reduce barriers to entry,” said Farooq Mitha, director of small business programs at DOD.

Mitha and Mark Madrid, associate administrator of SBA’s office of entrepreneurial development, signed the MOU Friday at the Maryland Procurement Technical Assistance Center in College Park.

Maryland PTAC is one of the more than 90 DOD-funded centers that seek to help small businesses find and secure contracts from the Pentagon and other federal agencies. PTACs will be rebranded as APEX Accelerators, which seek to promote innovation and establish resilient supply chains in support of the defense industrial base.

SBA operates more than 1,000 small business development centers.

“Today was about breaking down silos and working together because we’re all in it for the same reason,” Madrid said.

Madrid noted that the two agencies will explore ways to facilitate integration of trainings that SBDCs and APEX Accelerators offer and host at least one national event each year.

SBA and DOD also launched a joint effort, called the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies Initiative, to drive investments in critical technologies that are key to national security.

GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan Endorses New Federal Building Performance Standard
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GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan Endorses New Federal Building Performance Standard

U.S. General Services Administrator Robin Carnahan has expressed her support for the Biden administration’s new Federal Building Performance Standard to decarbonize government facilities.

The guideline, which the White House announced on Wednesday, requires upgrading the government’s 30,000 existing buildings to make them more energy efficient.

“The new standard advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s leadership in making the federal government a model for decarbonization and clean energy innovation,” Carnahan said in statement. “GSA is excited to help lead the way toward a net-zero federal footprint that will save money for taxpayers, reduce harmful emissions, and help spur demand for next-generation clean energy technologies,” she added.

She previously pledged to not install any more fossil fuel-powered equipment on any of GSA’s facilities, over 20 percent of which now run solely on electricity.

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