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Kathleen Henry Joins MITRE as VP of Corporate Finance, Accounting and Treasury; Wilson Wang Quoted
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Kathleen Henry Joins MITRE as VP of Corporate Finance, Accounting and Treasury; Wilson Wang Quoted

Kathleen Henry has been appointed vice president of corporate finance, accounting and treasury at MITRE, where she will manage a $2.2 billion budget.

In this role, Henry will be responsible for MITRE’s company-wide financial planning and budgeting, treasury, financial operations and accounting, the McLean, Virginia-based organization announced on Tuesday.

“I am pleased to welcome Katie to MITRE and know that her skills and vision will be integral to advancing MITRE’s Good Growth strategy while also driving change and transformation,” said Wilson Wang, the organization’s senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer.

Prior to joining MITRE, Henry spent 18 years at Booz Allen Hamilton. In her most recent position as vice president of finance, she oversaw everyday financial operations including strategic planning and forecasting, operational and management reporting and modeling and analysis for the enterprise’s national security portfolio while leading a team of 80 people.

Before assuming her previous role, Henry was the firm’s financial planning head, during which time she managed an $8 billion budget and led its finance transformation program, heading up a complete overhaul of the cost management approach.

While at Booz Allen, the executive created a dynamic infrastructure to organize the company’s cost structure, support processes and enable technologies to adapt to the expansion of Booz Allen’s business areas. Henry additionally led strategic initiatives regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also served as an advisor to senior management on numerous business issues and played an important role in many firm-wide task forces erecting standards for budgeting, reporting and profit loss calculations.

Additionally, Henry was a key developer in the creation of an internal financial management training program for Booz Allen’s finance department.

In 2017, she created and implemented a 26-week junior staff training program for the organization, which now has over 200 employee graduates.

“Katie will bring new insights and innovation to achieve our corporate and financial goals and enhance collaboration across MITRE’s diverse sponsor engagements and project teams,” Wang predicted of Henry’s contributions to MITRE.

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DOE Requests Info on Acquisition, Financial Assistance Forecasting Tool Enhancement
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DOE Requests Info on Acquisition, Financial Assistance Forecasting Tool Enhancement

The Department of Energy has begun seeking information on a program that aims to enhance a web-based tool designed to provide a forecast of contract and financial assistance opportunities across DOE. 

A notice posted Tuesday on SAM.gov states that DOE is looking for industry sources capable of adding new features, such as alerts, artificial intelligence tools, data analytics and vendor management and matching, to the acquisition and financial assistance forecasting tool. 

The DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is collaborating with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Partnership and Acquisition Services to identify short and long-term improvements to increase the visibility of contract opportunities for companies looking to do business with the agencies.

DOE will use the information from the market research to inform the development of a performance work statement and acquisition strategy. 

Interested parties have until Dec. 21 to respond to the request for information.

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OSTP, Energy Department Call on Electric Utilities to Share More Power Outage Data
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OSTP, Energy Department Call on Electric Utilities to Share More Power Outage Data

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Energy have launched a call to action urging electric utilities and their data system partners to take part in a national initiative by providing standardized power outage data.

DOE’s Outage Data Initiative Nationwide was established through a public-private partnership over the last eight years and is backed by over 60 electric utilities in 26 states, according to a White House blog post published Tuesday.

Denice Ross, U.S. chief data scientist at OSTP, co-wrote the blog post with Tom Wilson, assistant director for electricity at OSTP, and Chris Irwin, program manager at DOE’s office of electricity.

The ODIN data standards seek to facilitate data sharing to provide local emergency responders visibility into outages, speed up response times and save lives.

OSTP and DOE are encouraging utilities to use the ODIN standards to share data by Dec. 9. 

The two agencies will announce the utility companies that have made ODIN data sharing commitments at the White House Electrification Summit on Dec. 14.

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NASA Seeks to Address Aviation Emissions Through Aircraft Design Competition
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NASA Seeks to Address Aviation Emissions Through Aircraft Design Competition

Aircraft makers are exploring blended-wing bodies, transonic truss-braced wing models, double-bubble concepts and other unconventional plane designs for passenger aircraft and NASA is advancing that to help improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions through a competition launched in June, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The NASA competition is seeking U.S. aircraft manufacturers that could help design and develop a full-scale demonstrator that could transport 150 passengers.

The agency expects to have an aircraft prototype ready by 2027 and transition to mass production in the next 10 years.

According to the report, submission of proposals for the aircraft design contest closed in September and NASA intends to announce in January the winning design with plans to use a portion of its space budget to fund construction and testing work on the selected aircraft.

“If we don’t do this there will never be change,” said Rich Wahls, mission integration manager for NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership program, which covers the plane-design competition. “We have to get this into the fleet quickly to make a climate impact.”

Wahls noted that offerors should demonstrate that their aircraft designs could lead to the production of 60 units a month.

Boeing and NASA are already working on a transonic truss-braced wing model, according to the report.

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DARPA Unveils Project to Reduce Heat, Boost Capacity of Radio Frequency Systems
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DARPA Unveils Project to Reduce Heat, Boost Capacity of Radio Frequency Systems

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is launching a project intended to reduce thermal resistance in high-power density transistors.

The Technologies for Heat Removal in Electronics at the Device Scale program would help boost the electronic capacity of radar capabilities, especially when applied in the military’s mission-critical and situational awareness operations, DARPA said Wednesday.

Gallium nitride and other wide bandgap transistors have proved effective in increasing power output by more than fivefold, according to Thomas Kazior, the agency’s program manager for THREADS. However, the technology is prone to excessive waste heat.

“If we can relax the heat problem, we can crank up the amplifier and increase the range of radar. If the program is successful, we’re looking at increasing the range of radar by a factor of 2x to 3x,” Kazior explained.

DARPA has issued a broad agency announcement for THREADS and is hosting a Proposers Day on Nov. 30.

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GSA Presents Student Design Competition to Build All-Inclusive Federal Workspace
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GSA Presents Student Design Competition to Build All-Inclusive Federal Workspace

The General Services Administration has launched a competition for students in architecture and design programs to create a federal workspace that eliminates barriers to achieving an all-inclusive experience. 

The Access for All design competition invites students to integrate universal design ideas into government facilities to advance accessibility and enhance inclusivity for federal employees and the general public, GSA said Tuesday. 

Through the competition, the GSA Office of Design and Construction aims to encourage equal opportunities for all communities in support of the Biden administration’s goal to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the federal workforce.

“The Access for All Challenge.Gov competition is part of an ongoing effort to generate new ideas about how we address universal design and accessibility issues in federal facilities and provide positive examples of what is achievable,” commented Nina Albert, commissioner of the Public Buildings Service at GSA.

Open until May 2, 2023, the challenge offers $4,500 in total cash prizes.

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Report: China Eyes Lunar Base by 2028
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Report: China Eyes Lunar Base by 2028

China intends to establish its first outpost on the lunar surface by 2028 with plans to expand it into an international research station, Bloomberg reported Friday.

The country’s Chang’e 6, 7 and 8 missions would develop the lander, orbiter, rover and hopper that would make up the lunar base’s basic configuration.

According to Caixin, nuclear energy is likely to power the lunar base.

China, which became the first country to send a rover to the moon’s far side in 2019, also plans to bring astronauts to the moon in a move to challenge NASA’s edge in space exploration.

“Our astronauts will likely be able to go to the moon within 10 years,” Wu Weiran, chief designer of China’s lunar exploration program, told state broadcaster CCTV in an interview.

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Navy Integrates New Unmanned, AI Systems Into Middle East Operations
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Navy Integrates New Unmanned, AI Systems Into Middle East Operations

The U.S. Navy has launched a new event in the Middle East that aims to integrate artificial intelligence and unmanned systems into the U.S. 5th Fleet operations in the region.

The three-week Digital Horizon event, managed by Task Force 59 in Bahrain, will include 15 different types of unmanned systems—10 of which will operate in the area for the first time—as well as several AI and data integration systems, the Navy said Wednesday. 

Some of the featured systems include Elbit Systems‘ Seagull unmanned surface vessel, L3Harris Technologies‘ Arabian Fox MAST-13 autonomous vessel, Marine Advanced Robotics’ WAM-V watercraft and Ocean Aero’s TRITON autonomous underwater and surface vehicle. 

Digital Horizon will also employ unmanned surface vessels from Maritime Tactical Systems, Ocius, Open Ocean Robotics, Saildrone, Seasats and SeaTrac as well as unmanned aerial vehicles from Aerovel, Shield AI and Easy Aerial.

Other companies participating in the event are Accenture Federal Services, BigBear.ai and Silvus Technologies.

“By harnessing these new unmanned technologies and combining them with artificial intelligence, we will enhance regional maritime security and strengthen deterrence,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.

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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy Black Discusses Changes to Improve Personnel System
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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy Black Discusses Changes to Improve Personnel System

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy Black said he intends to redesign the service’s personnel system by updating their technical skills, modernizing their technologies and upgrading compensation plans for the soldiers and their families.

In an interview with Government Matters, Black referred to Talent Management 2030 and the Marine Innovation Unit as two of the programs through which the changes will be implemented.

Talent Management 2030 will involve using novel algorithms to match servicemen to the job that best fits them, Black explained. They are also conducting additional tests to assess the Marines’ technical capabilities, particularly in digital applications.

Regular and reserve personnel with technology backgrounds will be processed through the new Marine Innovation Unit, Black noted.

To retain people with experience, Black stated that the branch is incentivizing its top talent and speeding up reenlistment processes. The sergeant cited these programs as the reasons why they achieved their retention goal for the first time in 10 years.

For fiscal year 2023, Black pledged to prioritize personnel by reviewing the base pay scale of enlisted members and investing in mechanisms to help their families.

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FCC Bans Telecom, Surveillance Equipment Produced by Companies in Covered List; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted
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FCC Bans Telecom, Surveillance Equipment Produced by Companies in Covered List; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted

The Federal Communications Commission is banning telecommunications and video surveillance equipment manufactured by a number of Chinese and Russian companies that have been declared as a threat to national security.

The agency announced Friday that it amended its equipment authorization program to prohibit the importation or sale of the identified equipment in the U.S., as well as their authorization through the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity process.

“The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here,” Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. “These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications.”

In connection with the Report and Order, the commission is seeking comment on possible revisions to the rules and procedures governing “covered” equipment authorization prohibition, as well as action needed on current approval processes. It is also soliciting opinion for potential changes to its competitive bidding program.

The companies involved were previously included in FCC’s Covered List of products and services found to pose unacceptable U.S. security risk. They are:

  • AO Kaspersky Lab
  • China Mobile International USA
  • China Telecom (Americas)
  • China Unicom (Americas) Operations Ltd.
  • Dahua Technology
  • Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology
  • Huawei Technologies
  • Hytera Communications
  • Pacific Network
  • ZTE Corporation

Subsidiaries of these organizations are also banned under the new FCC rule, which is being implemented under the Secure Equipment Act of 2021.

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