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Pacific Northwest National Lab Employs AI & ML in Nuclear Nonproliferation Studies
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Pacific Northwest National Lab Employs AI & ML in Nuclear Nonproliferation Studies

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are developing software tools that incorporate artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to accelerate the detection of potentially threatening nuclear materials.

The research team has received backing from the Department of Defense, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Mathematics for Artificial Reasoning in Science Initiative to conduct several projects to help strengthen nuclear nonproliferation and safeguards, PNNL said Thursday.

In one of the projects, PNNL worked with Sandia National Laboratories to create an ML model capable of detecting data patterns that indicate the diversion of nuclear materials in a simulated reprocessing facility. 

The study aligns with practices by the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that used fuel and other byproducts are not used to build atomic weapons, according to PNNL.

Another team of researchers is focused on simplifying nuclear materials research by employing ML and artificial reasoning. They designed a platform they called artificial judgement assistance from text, a sophisticated search engine that can retrieve evidence-supported documents to answer scientists’ questions specific to the domain.

“Preventing nuclear proliferation requires vigilance. It involves labor, from audits of nuclear materials to investigations into who is handling nuclear materials. Data analytics-driven techniques can be leveraged to make this easier,” said Benjamin Wilson, PNNL nonproliferation analyst and researcher for both projects.

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DOE to Upgrade National Labs With $1.5B From Inflation Reduction Act; Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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DOE to Upgrade National Labs With $1.5B From Inflation Reduction Act; Jennifer Granholm Quoted

The Department of Energy’s office of science has received $1.55 billion in fiscal year 2022 funding through the Inflation Reduction Act to build and modernize U.S. national laboratories.

DOE said Friday the funding will be used to upgrade scientific facilities and infrastructure and manage deferred maintenance projects at national labs.

“Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, these world-class institutions will receive $1.5 billion—one of the largest ever investments in national laboratory infrastructure—to develop advanced energy technologies and groundbreaking tools like Argonne National Laboratory’s powerful new supercomputer, Aurora, that we need to advance new frontiers, like modeling climate change and developing vaccines,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

The Inflation Reduction Act will provide $303.6 million for high energy physics construction projects; $294.5 million for basic energy sciences projects; $280 million for fusion energy sciences construction initiatives; $217 million for nuclear physics construction; and $163.8 million in funds for advanced scientific computing research facilities 

Isotope research and development facilities will get $157.8 million in funds through the law, while science lab infrastructure projects will receive $133.2 million in funding.

Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee, for instance, will receive about $491 million to pursue advances in exascale computing and next-generation neutron science capabilities, among others.

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in Livermore, California, will use $196.6 million in funds to update its X-ray light source and deliver supercomputing resources and nanoscale science-related capabilities.

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Navy Taps University of South Carolina for Digital Twin Research Project
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Navy Taps University of South Carolina for Digital Twin Research Project

The U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research has awarded the University of South Carolina a nearly $10 million contract to study the potential of digital twin and advanced control system technologies in boosting the performance of shipboard power and energy systems.

USC will provide science and technology research services to the Digital Twins for Resilient Power and Energy Systems project over a 36-month period, the Department of Defense said Friday.

The goals of the project are to apply DT technology to automate the prediction of system component interactions in unplanned events or power disruptions, improve the system recovery rate and increase coordination of the components in routine operations.

ONR used the service branch’s fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation funds to cover the full obligated amount.

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DoD Seeks to Establish Regional Tech Hubs Through Microelectronics Commons; David Honey Quoted
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DoD Seeks to Establish Regional Tech Hubs Through Microelectronics Commons; David Honey Quoted

The Department of Defense is launching a program that seeks to facilitate sustained partnerships between manufacturing facilities, emerging technology sources and interagency partners and build up a talent pipeline to support the growth of the domestic semiconductor workforce and local economies.

The Microelectronics Commons initiative will receive funding through the CHIPS and Science Act and establish a network of regional technology hubs to enable industry leaders to guide DOD’s microelectronics development efforts, the Pentagon said Friday.

According to the National Security Technology Accelerator, each regional hub will focus on one or more of the six tech areas: secure edge/internet of things computing; quantum technology; 5G/6G technology; electronic warfare; artificial intelligence hardware; and commercial leap ahead technologies.

“The effort to establish the Microelectronics Commons is the culmination of years of effort at DoD,” said David Honey, deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. 

“The funding provided by the CHIPS Act will put us on a path to faster lab-to-fab production and strengthen American microelectronics development and production capacity,” Honey added.

NSTXL will host a webinar on Nov. 9 and an industry day on Dec. 7 and 8 in the Washington, D.C. area to provide information on the initiative.

Lockheed Delivers Final AC-130J Gunship to Air Force Special Operations Command
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Lockheed Delivers Final AC-130J Gunship to Air Force Special Operations Command

Lockheed Martin has delivered the final AC-130J Ghostrider aircraft to the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, paving the way for a full transition from AFSOC’s legacy gunship fleet.

The 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico received the 31st delivery of the fifth-generation gunship that carries a range of weapon systems and provides warfighters with close air support, armed reconnaissance and air interdiction, the Air Force Thursday.

AC-130J is a heavy ground-attack variant of the Lockheed-built C-130J Super Hercules aircraft that is installed with a precision strike package, which includes standoff precision-guided munitions, electro-optical/infrared sensors, a communications suite and a fire control system.

“The future is going to be different than what we have experienced for the last 20 years, but one thing I’m certain of is this airplane will be relevant to whatever the future operating environment brings,” said Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, commander of AFSOC.

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Isaac Porche Named Mission Area Executive at Johns Hopkins APL
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Isaac Porche Named Mission Area Executive at Johns Hopkins APL

Isaac Porche, a more than three-decade research and engineering industry veteran, has been appointed to serve as mission area executive for national security analysis at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, effective Nov. 21.

In this role, Porche will be responsible for guiding experts in developing emerging technologies and capabilities designed for national security applications, Johns Hopkins APL said Thursday. 

Porche most recently served as deputy director of the Applied Research Lab at the Pennsylvania State University and head of the Communications, Information and Navigation Office.

His industry career included roles such as research scientist and chief engineer at General Dynamics’ missions systems business division and senior scientist and program director at RAND Corporation.

Porche began his career at General Motors Electric Vehicles as an engineer in 1992.

“Isaac brings a wealth of valuable experience and leadership ability, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with him on a vision for the future of the National Security Analysis Mission Area,” said Matt Schaffer, head of APL’s National Security Analysis Department.

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Mitre, MassChallenge Partner to Launch Social Innovation Mentorship Program; Stephanie Turner Quoted
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Mitre, MassChallenge Partner to Launch Social Innovation Mentorship Program; Stephanie Turner Quoted

Mitre has partnered with MassChallenge, a Boston, Massachusetts-headquartered startup accelerator, to develop a new mentorship program to help remove systemic barriers that hinder underrepresented founders from accessing resources for growth.

The program will run from January through March 2023 and will be open to underrepresented founders who operate start-ups that focus on advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity or digital health, Mitre said Thursday.

Ten participants will be selected to receive mentorship from subject matter experts to expand their knowledge of the government market, get access to key resources and connect with potential investors and end users.

“Through this program, we aim to elevate the next generation of innovators through mentorship and access to resources by lowering barriers of entry for underrepresented entrepreneurs,” said Stephanie Turner, vice president of diversity, inclusion and social innovation at Mitre.

Interested parties have until Nov. 18 to submit applications for the new mentorship program.

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Rancher Government Solutions Secures Second DISA STIG Approval; Lynn Chamberlain Quoted
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Rancher Government Solutions Secures Second DISA STIG Approval; Lynn Chamberlain Quoted

Rancher Government Solutions’ Secure Technical Implementation Guide for RKE2, the company’s Kubernetes distribution, has been authorized and published by the Defense Information Systems Agency.

The confirmation distinguishes RGS as the sole company to offer a DISA-approved Kubernetes distribution STIG, the Reston, Virginia-based company announced on Tuesday.

“This DISA announcement validates our commitment to ensuring that the open source and Kubernetes products we deliver meet the highest security standards of the U.S. Federal Government,” said RGS CEO Lynne Chamberlain.

STIG approval consists of a security review and configuration standard that certifies the compliance of technology products and the agencies using them with Department of Defense regulations.

DISA-validated STIGs are a crucial part of protecting DOD networks and government information systems from cybersecurity threats and attacks by bolstering baseline security configurations.

RKE2 is a secure Kubernetes distribution with a simple installation process designed to meet compliance standards sanctioned by the U.S. government. The tool is Federal Information Processing Standards-enabled and SELinux-supported. It is already being used by the DOD, various civilian agencies and others in the Intelligence Community.

As the U.S. government seeks to modernize the way it builds, secures and deploys applications for improved scale, security and speed, containerized applications arranged with Kubernetes have quickly gained popularity.

RGS CTO Brandon Gulla commented on the federal government’s prioritization of security.

“We are honored to support the warfighter with products that meet them at their mission in the most secure way possible,” he said. 

RGS received an earlier DISA validation for its Rancher Multi-cluster Manager version 2.6 STIG in April. The product enables the integration of cluster deployment on bare metal, public and private clouds, vSphere and at the edge.

DISA’s approval of multiple RGS programs supports the company’s future collaboration with the agency in validating and publishing new releases of its platform.

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Jessica Rosenworcel to Establish Space Bureau, Office of International Affairs at FCC
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Jessica Rosenworcel to Establish Space Bureau, Office of International Affairs at FCC

Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, said she will reorganize FCC by establishing a space bureau as part of efforts to meet the needs of the satellite industry, advance long-term technical capacity to address policies and enhance coordination with other agencies.

Under the plan, Rosenworcel will work to integrate the international bureau into the space bureau, FCC said Thursday.

“A new Space Bureau at the FCC will ensure that the agency’s resources are appropriately aligned to fulfill its statutory obligations, improve its coordination across the federal government, and support the 21st century satellite industry,” Rosenworcel said.

She also announced plans to form an office of international affairs as part of efforts to enable experts to focus on international communications licensing and regulatory matters.

“Across the board we are working to update our rules, bulk up our ranks at the FCC, and speed up the satellite licensing process. We are also making more spectrum available to fuel our space ambitions,” Rosenworcel said at an event Thursday.

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DARPA Seeks Abstracts for AI Tools for Adult Learning Program
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DARPA Seeks Abstracts for AI Tools for Adult Learning Program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is soliciting ideas for a program that seeks to develop artificial intelligence tools meant to improve adult learning of complex subjects needed for national security such as cyber defense and AI engineering.

DARPA said Thursday the AI Tools for Adult Learning program seeks to come up with AI technologies that could provide tailored learning experiences to improve skills development among adults who have finished postsecondary education. 

“In addition to a post-pandemic economy, the need to improve access to education and upskilling for historically marginalized learners is more important than ever. AI tutoring could dramatically improve learning success, particularly in increasingly common remote and self-directed learning environments,” said Joshua Elliott, AI Tools for Adult Learning program manager at DARPA’s Information Innovation Office. 

The agency is asking technologists, digital learning tech developers, researchers and other interested stakeholders to submit proposal abstracts through Dec. 18.

DARPA officials and industry experts will assess the submitted abstracts and pick a subset of proposers that will move to the second phase and then review the proposals for technical merit. With the third phase, the finalists will present their concepts before a panel.

DARPA will award $750,000 in total funding to winners to further develop their concepts.

The agency will host an info session on Nov. 10 to provide interested participants information on the program.

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