/
Marine Corps Systems Command Launches Directorate to Track Network Risks, Changes
Published on
Marine Corps Systems Command Launches Directorate to Track Network Risks, Changes

The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command has formed a directorate out of its Task Force Aquila to evaluate the performance and security of an enterprise infrastructure that interconnects network elements, people, processes, architecture and cyber functions across the service branch.

MARCOSYSCOM said Friday the formation of the Technical Management and Analysis Directorate aligns with planning guidelines set forth by Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger.

USMC first activated the task force in March 2021 to help identify technical risks to the Marine Corps Enterprise Network prior to the implementation of any change proposals from the more than 50 entities under the Department of Navy that support the information technology platform.

Luis Velazquez, chief technology officer of systems engineering and acquisition logistics directorate at MARCORSYSCOM, said the MCEN works to help connect tactical mission personnel to garrison.

“We’d like to be able to get to a place where connectivity can be built in real-time for a specific purpose and then torn down once it’s no longer needed,” said Keegan Mills, the command’s lead for TMAD IT and cyber technology.

“The MCEN should ensure that critical messages sent across the network are accurate, haven’t been tampered with, and haven’t been intercepted.”

Air Force to Brief Vendors on Homeland Defense Over-the-Horizon Radar Requirement
Published on
Air Force to Brief Vendors on Homeland Defense Over-the-Horizon Radar Requirement

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center will host an industry day on Dec. 6 to discuss with industry representatives the service branch’s acquisition and deployment strategy for an over-the-horizon radar system.

A notice posted on SAM.gov states that the Air Force anticipates releasing a solicitation for its HLD OTHR procurement effort by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023.

U.S. Northern Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command and Air Combat Command could use the HLD OTHR in homeland defense missions, the Air Force said.

The service branch intends for the system to reach initial operational capability in fiscal 2027.

U.S. defense contractors and international entities that have the capacity to demonstrate production-ready OTHR systems ahead of the FY 2025 Military Construction program are encouraged to attend the event.

/
Kurt DelBene: Digitization Key to Address Challenges in VA Service Delivery
Published on
Kurt DelBene: Digitization Key to Address Challenges in VA Service Delivery

Kurt DelBene, chief information officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs, said that digital products developed by the VA’s Office of Information and Technology have significantly improved customer service and workforce efficiency especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Nextgov guest piece published Friday, DelBene urged the department to continue using innovations such as solution-focused engineering and collaboration to devise practical solutions that address its mission challenges.

At the start of the pandemic, the OIT was able to increase VA’s telehealth capacity from 40,000 a month to as many as 40,000 a day after deploying online-based critical care.

The department was also able to transition 400,000 employees and contractors to home-based work by procuring 200,000 laptops and upgrading other capabilities despite disruption in the global supply chain, DelBene said.

He emphasized that the demand for digital VA services will continue to grow and the agency must prioritize vision-driven execution, operational excellence in IT products, exceptional customer IT experience, and advancement of competitive workforce development.

DelBene, who has been in his CIO post for 10 months, said some of his objectives down the road are to implement technical platforms necessary to modernize the department’s electronic health record and integrated financial and acquisition management systems.

He intends to lead the establishment of products for VA employees that boost productivity and veteran-facing products that are tailored from actual input of the end users.

/
Pacific Northwest National Lab Employs AI & ML in Nuclear Nonproliferation Studies
Published on
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.

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

/
Navy Taps University of South Carolina for Digital Twin Research Project
Published on
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.

//
DoD Seeks to Establish Regional Tech Hubs Through Microelectronics Commons; David Honey Quoted
Published on
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
Published on
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.

//
Isaac Porche Named Mission Area Executive at Johns Hopkins APL
Published on
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.

/
Mitre, MassChallenge Partner to Launch Social Innovation Mentorship Program; Stephanie Turner Quoted
Published on
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.

1 … 697 698 699 700 701 … 2,623