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Army Research Office Funds AI-Based Energy Storage Research Project
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Army Research Office Funds AI-Based Energy Storage Research Project


Jeff Brody

The Army Research Office unveiled an initiative to validate materials that may work to modernize energy storage functions through the use of artificial intelligence, FCW reported Monday. The U.S. Army has funded a research team from Cornell University to assist in the study of potential element combinations that may yield alloy components for battery storage capabilities.

Purush Iyer, chief of Army Research Office’s network sciences division, said the approach will help researchers determine possible applications that may address gaps in material sciences.

“Research is limited by how quickly experiments materialize, data is analyzed, and results culminate from betting on the right combinations of materials that yield the right properties,” said Iyer.

Iyer added that the team seeks to field extended life battery fuel technologies within five to 10 years. 

NASA Identifies Potential Sites for Asteroid Bennu Material Sampling Mission
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NASA Identifies Potential Sites for Asteroid Bennu Material Sampling Mission


Jeff Brody

NASA has chosen four candidate areas on asteroid Bennu that may serve as sample collection sites for the Lockheed Martin-built Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer spacecraft. The selected sites measure 16 to 33 feet in radius and contain “ponds” of fine grain material that may work as samples for high-resolution observation procedures, the agency said Tuesday. 

Sites Kingfisher and Osprey are situated at Bennu’s equatorial region, while Sites Sandpiper and Nightingale are located at the asteroid’s southern and northern hemispheres respectively. OSIRIS-REx is slated to conduct analysis of the candidate sites in the fall and will perform high passes across each area at a distance of 0.8 miles to validate their eligibility for sampling.

NASA will utilize the results of the analysis to pick primary and backup collection areas in December. The spacecraft will carry out reconnaissance missions over the two remaining sites and is set to begin sample collection later in 2020 prior to its return to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.

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Octo Receives 2.5 Year Contract from NGA to Provide Geospatial Product Development; Jim Vant Quoted
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Octo Receives 2.5 Year Contract from NGA to Provide Geospatial Product Development; Jim Vant Quoted


Jeff Brody

Octo Consulting Group has received a two and a half year contract with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to provide geospatial product development under the GEOINT Services, Data Services, Core Delivery Teams (CDT) contract, Octo announced on Tuesday.

“Octo is passionate about supporting the NGA GEOINT Services initiative,” said Jim Vant, executive vice president of Defense and Intelligence for Octo. “Since 2011, Octo has helped NGA disseminate our nation’s GEOINT data to warfighters, analysts, relief workers and others who depend on this information. We look forward to supporting NGA and advancing its mission through the CDT contract,” Vant added.

The contract supports the NGA GEOINT Services effort to build open-source geospatial capabilities for the broader National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) community supporting military operations, intelligence analysis, disaster response, and commercial navigation.

Octo’s contract will support modern Agile product development of three geospatial capabilities – an open source suite of geospatial big data tools, a geospatial data packaging tool, and a vector tile streaming solution.

The company will work jointly with the government to design, develop and deploy customer-driven geospatial capabilities. Octo will use its experience with Pivotal, user experience design, and modern software development to deliver value faster to NGA’s critical customers.

About Octo Consulting Group

A premier provider of technology solutions, Octo helps federal agencies modernize faster. Octo’s combination of technical innovation and pragmatic execution unleashes new capabilities, bolsters security, and transforms service delivery. Octo specializes in scalable Agile software development, user experience design, and cloud engineering solutions to improve, modernize, and optimize government IT systems. 

Known for challenging the status quo and continually exploring new ways to deliver value, Octo’s superior outcomes are the result of a collaborative, analytical approach and customer partnerships.

Census Bureau Deploying GEOINT-Based Canvassing System for 2020 Count
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Census Bureau Deploying GEOINT-Based Canvassing System for 2020 Count


Jeff Brody

The Census Bureau is implementing a new canvassing system that uses satellite imagery data to identify addresses for the 2020 population count, Federal News Network reported Monday.

Steven Dillingham, director of the Census Bureau, said the agency has begun using the geospatial intelligence-based Block Assessment, Research and Classification Application and will launch a “full-fledged” canvassing effort using the system this month. BARCA utilizes the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s satellite imagery data to identify new developments and track changes in existing housing units. 

The bureau has used BARCA to identify 65 percent of the addresses that will receive census forms and will hire around 40,000 canvassers to verify the remaining 35 percent or 50 million addresses through mid-October. For the 2010 census, the bureau hired around 150,000 canvassers to conduct address verification activities.

CBO: DHS Requires $44M for Proposed Bug Bounty Program
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CBO: DHS Requires $44M for Proposed Bug Bounty Program


Jeff Brody

The Congressional Budget Office said the Department of Homeland Security’s potential bug bounty program would require $44M to implement, Fedscoop reported Monday.

A proposed bill, known as the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation Act, would task DHS to gather bug information via a bounty program. The program would call for researchers to provide the government with cyber vulnerability reports in exchange for financial compensation. CBO said the projected cost will be larger if DHS includes support for nonfederal systems under the bounty program.

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Lorin Selby: Navy’s Predictive Maintenance Systems Must Enable Rapid Decision-Making
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Lorin Selby: Navy’s Predictive Maintenance Systems Must Enable Rapid Decision-Making


Jeff Brody

Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, chief engineer at the Naval Sea Systems Command, said at an American Society of Naval Engineers symposium that the Navy wants to deploy a sensor-based maintenance system, USNI News reported Monday. 

Selby told attendees that he wants to implement a way of generating software code to accelerate the decision-making process based on the Enterprise Remote Monitoring system’s predictive maintenance alerts for components such as engines, turbines and various hull, mechanical and electrical systems. He added that he wants to focus on developing apps to help visualize the performance data and provide information on required courses of action for identified maintenance issues.

The Navy should also deploy the DevOps methodology that the tech industry is currently implementing, according to Selby.

“They’re continually developing software, testing it, releasing it, deploying it. You operate with it some, you monitor it, you learn things from it, you go back and change again. And that’s a continuous process,” he said.

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Unisys Announces Contract Awards in IT Support, Healthcare and Cloud; Eric Hutto Quoted
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Unisys Announces Contract Awards in IT Support, Healthcare and Cloud; Eric Hutto Quoted


Jeff Brody

The Unisys Corporation announced on Tuesday that the company secured a series of contract awards, in the second quarter of 2019, with clients across the Financial Services, Commercial and Government sectors. 

Unisys has received a renewed contract to continue providing digital workplace services for two more years for a leading financial asset management company. Unisys will assist the company’s employees with direct, seamless and secure access to the tools and information they need, enabling greater productivity, collaboration and efficiency for their employees around the globe.

In addition, Unisys signed an agreement to expand its relationship with a leading U.S. healthcare provider to increase the level of IT service desk support to hospitals in one of its largest regions in the United States. 

Unisys will also provide Data-as-a-Service in the public AWS cloud, delivering infrastructure support for the institution’s data lake to facilitate various student-graduation initiatives for a major U.S. public institution of higher learning.

“This series of contract wins highlights the outcome-driven value Unisys is providing to U.S.-based organizations through a combination of our innovative solutions and domain expertise we bring to the table across our key industry sectors,” said Eric Hutto, senior vice president and president, Unisys Enterprise Solutions. “They also showcase our continuing momentum as a company in the United States and Canada region, which is both our largest and our fastest-growing.”

About Unisys

Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments on Earth. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing.

DoD to Help VA Centralize Health Care Supply Chain; Robert Wilkie Quoted
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DoD to Help VA Centralize Health Care Supply Chain; Robert Wilkie Quoted


Jeff Brody
Robert Wilkie

The Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency agreed to help modernize the Department of Veterans Affairs’ supply chain management. VA said Monday that it will gain access to DLA’s network of suppliers across the U.S. under the new partnership. The effort would centralize VA’s ordering system to reduce risk, abuse, waste and fraud in the procurement of medical items.

“The adoption of a single health care logistics system by VA and DoD highlights the commitment of both organizations to improve military and veteran health care by increasing the access and quality of care they receive,” said Robert Wilkie, secretary of veterans affairs and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient. 

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Ella Studer, SVP of KBR, Receives ISOA Lifetime Achievement Award; Byron Bright Quoted
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Ella Studer, SVP of KBR, Receives ISOA Lifetime Achievement Award; Byron Bright Quoted


Jeff Brody

KBR announced on Tuesday that Ella Studer, the company’s senior vice president, has received the International Stability Operations Association (ISOA) Lifetime Achievement Award for her accomplishments in stability operations and commitment to the ISOA organization. 

“A big part of KBR’s success in providing reliable stability operations wherever they are needed is Ella,” said Byron Bright, president of KBR Government Solutions. “Nobody deserves this Lifetime Achievement Award more and we are fortunate to have her on our team. Transparency, ethical conduct and respect for human rights are all hallmarks of ISOA member companies and Ella exemplifies KBR’s commitment to these values and to conduct business safely and with integrity,” Bright added. 

Studer has worked in global stability operations management, strategy formation and business development for more than 30 years. In her role with KBR, Studer oversees more than 12,000 employees worldwide who perform base operations, facilities management, engineering, procurement, contingency response operations and construction services.

Prior to her tenure with KBR, Stuber served the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for 26 years and retired as a Senior Executive Service (SES) member. In addition, she’s also served as an Aerospace Ground Equipment Technician in the U.S. Air Force and Ohio Air National Guard. 

For over 75 years, KBR has helped ensure the success of U.S. government missions and military readiness in the world’s most challenging environments. KBR is a top provider of theater-opening logistics support to U.S. military forces, propositioned stock to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps and global expeditionary support services.

About KBR 

KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life cycle within the Government Services and Hydrocarbons sectors. KBR employs over 37,500 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses: Government Solutions, Technology Solutions and Energy Solutions.

KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results.

At KBR, We Deliver.

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U.S. Navy Awards $80M Contracts to Curtiss-Wright; David C. Adams Quoted
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U.S. Navy Awards $80M Contracts to Curtiss-Wright; David C. Adams Quoted


Jeff Brody

The Curtiss-Wright Corporation announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Navy has awarded $80M in contracts to provide propulsion valves for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarine and Columbia-class submarines programs. 

“Curtiss-Wright is pleased to have been awarded these important naval defense contracts, building upon our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Nuclear Navy and continuing our ongoing support of this critical naval defense platform,” said David C. Adams, chairman and CEO of Curtiss-Wright. 

“We look forward to delivering the most advanced, reliable, and vital technologies to our nation’s fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, which continues to receive strong Congressional support,” Adams added. 

The awards were received from Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI) to support ship construction and spare parts procurement and General Dynamics Electric Boat to support ship construction for Block V, which includes the new Virginia Payload Module.

Curtiss-Wright will perform this work at its facility in East Farmingdale, N.Y., a business unit of Curtiss-Wright’s Industrial division within the Commercial/Industrial segment. Engineering and manufacturing has commenced and will continue through 2024.

About Curtiss-Wright Corporation

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is a global innovative company that delivers highly engineered, critical function products and services to the commercial, industrial, defense and energy markets. Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing reliable solutions through trusted customer relationships. The company employs approximately 9,000 people worldwide.

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