/
DOE Launches R&D Competition on Microbatteries
Published on
DOE Launches R&D Competition on Microbatteries

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory on March 8 started administering a prize challenge seeking individuals and teams that could help accelerate microbattery advancement and adoption in the United States.

NREL said Wednesday the two-phased Microbattery Design Prize will be an avenue to award a total of $1.1 million in federal funding and performance and safety testing services with DOE laboratories in support of the American-Made Challenges program.

Competitors will initially conceptualize technical designs for the first phase of the challenge. Idea phase winners will then compete in the second or test phase to create prototypes and undergo performance, safety and cost evaluation.

The grand prize winner will be awarded $300,000 while two other winners will receive $175,00 apiece.

“Supporting the prototyping and testing of more microbattery designs can provide the key link between potential system developers, users, and battery manufacturers to spur their adoption and increase manufacturing capacity for batteries of this size,” remarked Paul Syers, technology manager at DOE.

/
Virginia Rone, USDA Assistant Inspector General, Becomes Executive Director of Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Published on
Virginia Rone, USDA Assistant Inspector General, Becomes Executive Director of Pandemic Response Accountability Committee

Virginia Rone, assistant inspector general for analytics and innovation at the Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, has been named executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

She was selected by Mark Lee Greenblatt, chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, which oversees the committee, PRAC announced Wednesday.

The committee was established in 2020 to ensure proper spending of more than $5 trillion in funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and related legislation. It is currently led by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz as chair and NASA Inspector General Paul Martin as vice chair.

Rone joins PRAC after working for five years in USDA. She spent most of her 20-year career in government service, including as chief oversight advisor at the Office of Management and Budget. Prior to that, she was deputy assistant commissioner of debt management services at the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service.

“I look forward to working with the extraordinary PRAC staff and the oversight community to continue to conduct meaningful oversight, to enhance transparency, and to publish products that demonstrate the power of government analytics,” Rone remarked.

/
NASA, DOE & UC Berkeley Collaborate to Devise Moon Pathfinder for Studying Dark Age
Published on
NASA, DOE & UC Berkeley Collaborate to Devise Moon Pathfinder for Studying Dark Age

An experiment led by NASA and the Department of Energy is working toward a scientific pathfinder that can be used on the Moon’s surface at night to measure radio wave signals from the Dark Age of the universe.

DOE’s Office of Science and Brookhaven National Laboratory, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory collaborated for the Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment – Night, NASA announced Wednesday.

The LuSEE-Night instrument is being developed to withstand harsh lunar nights, which can reach up to negative 280 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists are depending on the pathfinder to obtain radio wave data and for the first time, gain an understanding of non-luminous matter that existed 380,000 to 400 million years after the Big Bang phenomenon.

The team plans to deploy the device on a commercial payload services flight to the Moon, avoiding radio interference from the Sun and other planets during signal measurements.

/
IRS CIO Nancy Sieger to Join Treasury Department as Chief Technology Officer
Published on
IRS CIO Nancy Sieger to Join Treasury Department as Chief Technology Officer

Nancy Sieger will step down from her role as chief information officer of the Internal Revenue Service on March 17 to assume the position of chief technology officer at the Department of the Treasury, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

Sieger was selected to serve as CIO of the IRS in February 2021. She served in the role on an interim basis since June 2019.

As CIO, she led efforts to advance the use of technology in support of IRS employees and taxpayers, oversaw the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, managed upgrade work to the agency’s infrastructure to support remote work and led the development of the agency’s information technology strategic plan and IT workforce strategy.

Sieger’s four-decade career at the IRS included time as deputy CIO for filing season and tax reform, acting deputy CIO for operations and associate CIO for applications development.

Jeffrey King, who has been serving as the Treasury’s deputy CIO since September, will join the IRS to serve as acting CIO, according to FNN.

/
HHS Releases NIST Cybersecurity Framework Implementation Guide for Health Care Sector
Published on
HHS Releases NIST Cybersecurity Framework Implementation Guide for Health Care Sector

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Health Sector Coordinating Council have issued a framework to guide the implementation of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework across the health care industry.

The implementation guide outlines risk management standards, principles and best practices for aligning health organizations’ cybersecurity measures with the NIST framework, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response said Wednesday.

Andrea Palm, deputy secretary of HHS, said cyber incidents could jeopardize the ability of health care organizations to deliver patient service and pose risks to the sector’s intellectual property and research efforts.

“The release of this guide will help health care organizations become better equipped to assess and improve their cybersecurity,” Palm said.

HHS ASPR developed the implementation guide in collaboration with the HSCC Cybersecurity Working Group.

“This Framework Implementation Guide joins a growing list of jointly produced resources that are aligned with the NIST framework – allowing organizations of all sizes to implement cybersecurity best practices, protect their patients, and make the sector more resilient,” said La Monte Yarborough, chief information security officer at HHS.

HHS Releases NIST Cybersecurity Framework Implementation Guide for Health Care Sector

Yarborough is set to speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s Enhancing Cybersecurity for Critical Civilian Infrastructure Forum scheduled on March 30. Click here to register and hear from a panel of speakers about the U.S. government’s efforts to improve cybersecurity for federal civilian agencies.

DOE Launches $6B Industrial Decarbonization Funding Program
Published on
DOE Launches $6B Industrial Decarbonization Funding Program

The Department of Energy has unveiled a $6 billion funding program to reduce carbon emissions across the industrial sector, which represents approximately one-third of the nation’s carbon footprint.

The Industrial Demonstrations Program will fund projects to focus on the deep carbonization of industries with the highest emissions including aluminum, iron and steel, chemicals and refining, food and beverage and other sectors involving cross-cutting technologies, DOE said Wednesday.

“Today’s announcement is yet another exciting step in the race to fully decarbonize our heavy industries, and will help drastically reduce harmful pollution while ensuring America’s manufacturing sector is strong and competitive,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is allocating $430 million to the program and the Inflation Reduction Act is providing $5.46 billion to support the initiative.

DOE said it will prioritize a portfolio of projects that could achieve deep decarbonization, meet funding timelines, spur follow-on investments and offer community benefits.

Organizations interested to apply for funding have until April 21 to submit concept papers.

/
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas Nominated as Director of Naval Intelligence
Published on
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas Nominated as Director of Naval Intelligence

President Biden has nominated Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet, to be the next deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence.

Thomas also received a nomination from Biden for reappointment to the rank of vice admiral, Lloyd Austin, secretary of defense and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, announced Wednesday.

If confirmed by Senate, Thomas would replace Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, who assumed responsibility of the Navy’s information warfare efforts in June 2020.

Prior to his current appointment, Thomas was director of the 21st Century Sailor Office, Task Force 70 Commander for Carrier Strike Group 5 and assistant deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans and strategy.

Thomas commanded USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20).

He previously worked in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, where he coordinated the Unmanned Air Systems Task Force.

/
Executive Mosaic Honors 2023 Wash100 Award Winners Dave Wajsgras & Steve Arnette
Published on
Executive Mosaic Honors 2023 Wash100 Award Winners Dave Wajsgras & Steve Arnette

On Thursday, Executive Mosaic celebrated the accomplishments of two 2023 Wash100 Award winners: Intelsat CEO Dave Wajsgras and Steve Arnette, executive vice president and president of the critical missions solutions business at Jacobs.

The Wash100 Award is bestowed annually on the top 100 most elite and impactful executives working in the government contracting field. Each year, Executive Mosaic honors all 100 awardees with individual profiles detailing their accomplishments and forecasting their anticipated future contributions to the GovCon ecosystem.

Dave Wajsgras was selected to this year’s Wash100 list for his leadership in satellite communications innovation and his commitment to delivering seamless connectivity to government customers. As a seven-time winner, Wajsgras is in the top tier of the Wash100’s distinguished roster of recognized executives. Read more about the Intelsat CEO’s achievements here.

This year marks Steve Arnette’s first Wash100 Award win, which he earned through spearheading Jacobs’ continued government contracting work and supporting NASA missions in particular. Arnette has led Jacobs’ CMS business for nearly a year — he succeeded fellow Wash100 awardee, Dawne Hickton, who previously headed the business unit. Read Arnette’s full Wash100 profile here.

Wajsgras and Arnette are contenders in the exciting 2023 Wash100 popular vote competition! Voting is heating up as 100 executives vie for the number one spot, which will be announced in April. Cast your votes for Wajsgras and Arnette as your favorite Wash100 Award winners at Wash100.com.

/
DARPA to Sponsor Webinar on Near-term Practical Uses of Quantum-Classic Computer Tandem
Published on
DARPA to Sponsor Webinar on Near-term Practical Uses of Quantum-Classic Computer Tandem

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is hosting a webinar to gather insights on combining the functionality of classic and quantum computers.

The Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow webinar, which will take place on April 11, is part of DARPA’s Advanced Research Concept initiatives to speed up technological innovation, the agency said Tuesday.

The agency is looking for near-term uses of integrated quantum and classical computers in defense, national security, and industry. The IMPAQT webinar will enable quantum hardware providers to share ideas with government and academic experts about DARPA’s vision.

“Building on successes of DARPA’s ONISQ (Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices) program, the webinar’s goal is to spark innovative ideas and discuss new concepts for making near-term intermediate scale quantum computers, as well as sought-after fault tolerant processors, practical and useful for solving real problems,” said Alex Place, DARPA innovation fellow and webinar leader.

Interested participants can register for the event online through April 7.

DARPA to Sponsor Webinar on Near-term Practical Uses of Quantum-Classic Computer Tandem

Hear government and GovCon leaders share perspectives and insights at the ExecutiveBiz Quantum Technologies Forum on April 5. Sha-Chelle Manning, chief of commercial strategy at DARPA, will deliver a keynote address to the virtual event. Register here.

/
Quantum Detector Developed by Caltech & NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab Achieves Record Photon Counting Rate
Published on
Quantum Detector Developed by Caltech & NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab Achieves Record Photon Counting Rate

A quantum detector developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech was able to count quantum data at a record rate of 1.5 billion photons per second.

The Performance-Enhanced Array for Counting Optical Quanta detector shows promise in the ability of quantum computers to exchange massive quantities of data despite long distances, NASA said Friday.

The detector was built with an aim to create a dedicated communications network to overcome distance barriers between the supercomputers. The network could have nodes that generate entangled photons in pairs to relay data hundreds or thousands of miles apart on the ground, according to the study.

PEACOQ is only 13 microns wide and is made up of 32 niobium nitride superconducting nanowires, each of them 10,000 times narrower than a human hair. The device is kept at a cryogenic temperature of minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain the superconducting state of the nanowires.

“Transmitting quantum information over long distances has, so far, been very limited,” said PEACOQ project team member Ioana Craiciu. “In the near term, PEACOQ will be used in lab experiments to demonstrate quantum communications at higher rates or over greater distances. In the long term, it could provide an answer to the question of how we transmit quantum data around the world.”

1 … 687 688 689 690 691 … 2,703