INSIDE THIS ISSUE

DIRECTOR EYES ‘ART OF THE POSSIBLE’RDECOM director speaks at TARDEC, Page 2

RDECOM NEWSBRIEFSNews and information from across the organization, Page 4

CSM VISITS AMRDECRDECOM’s senior NCO hits the road, Page 5

TECH DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHTMeet Dr. Gerardo Melendez from ARDEC, Page 6

ARL SEEKS STRONGER MATERIALS FOR SOLDIERSArmy Research Laboratory embarks on new cooperative agreement, Page 8

FED BRAVO PUTS FUEL EFFICIENCY IN SPOTLIGHTTARDEC engineers craft the future, Page 10

NATICK SCIENTISTS DEFEND AGAINST UNSEEN ENEMIESResearch leads to safe, hygienic technologies, Page 16

ENGINEER SERVES IN AFGHANISTANSpotlight on CERDEC’s Mike Zalewski, Page 17

ECBC SCIENTIST REFLECTS ON 43 YEARS OF SERVICEDr. Baker began his Army career in 1969, Page 23

RDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Summer is quickly coming to a close as students return to school and we head into cooler weather and autumn. The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command is focused on celebrating the traditional end of summer with a safe extended holiday weekend.

America celebrated its first Labor Day in New York City Sept. 5, 1882 when Matthew Maguire, a union machinist, serving as secretary for the Central Labor Union, initially proposed the holiday.

That first Labor Day consisted of about 10,000 workers taking an unpaid day off to parade from City Hall to Union Square publicizing their social and economic achievements to society. After the parade, they celebrated with everyone by enjoying food and being outdoors.

Then, on June 28, 1894, the U.S. Congress officially designated the first Monday of every September as a federal holiday and encouraged Americans to celebrate the

contributions of their fellow workers.Today, our Labor Day holiday is set aside as a

time to honor workers in private and government sectors as well as those belonging to traditional labor unions, for contributing to the strength and wealth of our economy and for enhancing the standard of living and well-being of our country as a whole.

“As with any holiday weekend, there will be more traffic on the roads and more people participating in recreational activities,” writes RDECOM Director Dale A. Ormond in his Labor Day safety message. “Please take these factors into consideration when

Have a safe, happy Labor Day 2012

SEPTEMBER 2012ISSUE NO. 3

RDECOM’s Dr. Erin Davis (left) and Dr. Wesley Gordon work at the Advanced Chemistry Laboratory at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (U.S. Army photo by Tom Faulkner)

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

“Please take these factors into consideration when planning your Labor Day event.”

— Dale A. Ormond

2 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

By Dan DesmondTARDEC Public Affairs

The U.S. Army established the Research, Development and Engineering Command to coordinate its science and technology activities just eight years ago, but Director Dale Ormond recently declared that the organization already faces its first crossroads.

“We have made progress in last eight years while the country’s been at war, and the Command’s developed the ability to generate a great deal of quick turnaround support for our warfighters, but there is more to do,” Ormond said in a speech to the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium in Troy, Mich. Aug. 14-16. “There is more to achieve in our ability to deliver decisive technologies and capabilities in the coming era to smaller armies and with lower budgets. This is the challenge we face today.”

As global conditions evolve, RDECOM must coordinate its research and development efforts to create fully integrated products that enable the Army to remain dominant in future conflicts. “This will force more, not less, innovation if we are to be successful.” Ormond stated. “RDECOM is well positioned to be an excellent partner in this area.”

As a subordinate command under Army Materiel Command, RDECOM manages seven different R&D centers and laboratories employing 16,000 people and, in partnership with industry, spans the technical spectrum from ground vehicles, to ground systems equipment, to communication and electronics technology, to Soldier gear, to armaments, missiles, and chemical and biological elements. Ormond delivered his comments to an influential group of government, industry and academic leaders who comprise the military technology, research and manufacturing enterprise.

“I think this group is quite familiar with the expression, ‘if it shoots, moves or communicates.’ Now and in the future, RDECOM is focused on the research, development and engineering that makes it a reality. And affordability keeps us on leading edge,” he told them.

“Our vision centers on the phrase ‘knowing the state-of-the-art and the art of the possible.’ That sums up what we bring to Army— we are at the leading edge of the materiel process, making scientific discoveries and innovations that define state of the art. We then turn innovative ideas into technologies that we can put into hands of Soldiers. We move these technologies into development and then the product phase and continue on through the acquisition process.”

RDECOM also embeds S&T advisors in combat zones where they hear direct feedback from Soldiers and Marines on how to improve their ground vehicles, equipment and firepower.

“We bring those [battlefield] lessons learned back into the laboratories to make things better,” Ormond explained. “No other organization can bring together the expertise of those who make the scientific discoveries with those who build the capability from it and those who support it through its life cycle, including scientists and engineers.”

SHIFTING STRATEGIESTo foster innovation, and keep the results

affordable, further collaboration with private industry and academic experts will be imperative.

“Partnership will become more important going forward, not just because it brings new perspectives and capabilities to bear on technical problems but because our Army is shrinking while our enemies continue to challenge our nation and our allies all around the world,” Ormond observed. “Beyond the partnership and collaboration, we will need to rely on our allies to work with us.

“The nonlinear battlefield, in which a whole country is a war zone, has erased any distinctions between vehicles built to protect the infantry and those built to move supplies. Combined with an all-out emphasis on force protection, this is a challenge that calls for nothing less than a complete rethinking of how we build vehicles.”

The Army’s vehicle designers have already adopted a new design palette, referred to as the occupant-centric platform. Rather than developing vehicles and putting Soldiers in them, they focus on the Soldier first and design vehicles around them.

“We’re using 2010 and ’11 field data on mobility injuries and other factors as a baseline,” Ormond explained. “Between this fiscal year and 2015, the Army expects to invest more than $180 million on the effort to design and formulate a science and technology program to improve existing platforms or develop new platforms that increase protection from current and emerging threats, optimize space for Soldiers and gear, decrease platform weight, maintain maneuverability and design for all operations.”

To accomplish this goal, Ormond has directed RDECOM’s centers and labs to work in conjunction with each other. He described the comprehensive collection of abilities available in RDECOM’s agencies.

“In order to build something to put our Soldiers in, one must consider what the Soldier wears and carries, how to protect Soldiers inside the vehicle and how to detect and respond to threats outside the vehicle,”

RDECOM director eyes ‘art of the possible’

RDECOM Director Dale Ormond speaks at the Detroit Arsenal during the assumption of leadership ceremony for newly installed TARDEC technical director Aug. 13. Ormond also spoke the following day at the 2012 GVSETS in Troy, Mich. (U.S. Army photo)

“We have made progress in last eight years while the country’s been at war, and the Command’s developed the ability to generate a great deal of quick turnaround support for our warfighters, but there is more to do.”

— Dale A. Ormond

“Our vision centers on the phrase ‘knowing the state-of-the-art and the art of the possible.’ That sums up what we bring to Army that no one else can or does.”

3RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

he explained. “So the overall design makes us immediately think of the tank automotive center [TARDEC]. The focus on the Soldier means collaborating with our Soldier center [NSRDEC]. Materials means our research laboratory [ARL], sensing and defending against threats means our communications and electronics center [CERDEC] and our chemical-biological center [Edgewood]. For an armed vehicle — now we’re in the armaments center [ARDEC]. Arm the vehicle with missiles, and now you’re in the domain of our aviation missiles center [AMRDEC]. This breakdown just scratches the surface of what our centers across RDECOM can contribute to a wide-ranging project.”

FUELING SOLUTIONSIn addition to designing vehicles with full

integration of capabilities around the Soldier and crew, RDECOM must apply its expertise to boosting fuel efficiency.

RDECOM’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center made important strides in this arena with the Fuel Efficient ground vehicle Demonstrator program — funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the urging of the Pentagon’s Energy Security Task Force. The FED teams took advantage of dual-use technologies to reduce fuel consumption and increase energy efficiency in light tactical vehicles, developing FED Alpha and FED Bravo demonstrator models capable of performing the same operational mission as a HMMWV but with up to 90 percent better fuel efficiency. They also trained the next generation of engineers in fuel efficiency processes and tools.

“The FED program has leveraged TARDEC’s internal modeling and simulation experts to quickly and inexpensively understand the [vehicle’s] capabilities and predict performance,” Ormond commented. “This [collaborative] relationship also allowed us to transition successful fuel-efficient technologies to vehicles across the Department of Defense.”

Ormond acknowledged that energy advances aren’t simply cost-effective — they benefit Soldiers assigned to guard fuel resupply convoys when they “could and should be doing other things.”

“In today’s non-linear battlefield, supply lines mean convoys that are vulnerable to ambushes and IEDs, and once those Soldiers are stopped, they’re vulnerable to the same threats that dismounted infantry has traditionally faced,” Ormond stated. “Every gallon of fuel saved is an important one for an Army that deploys tens of thousands of vehicles in every kind of location from hostile urban centers to isolated mountain passes. It means fewer vulnerabilities and a greater strategic and tactical freedom.”

This supply line risk is compounded by the accessibility of modern technology. During the course of recent operations, enemies have acquired new capabilities, such as night vision devices and precision-guided munitions.

“Technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous,” Ormond observed. “It enables our enemies to adjust faster than ever before. We have to design vehicles that can operate inside this constant cycle of move and counter-move. Our adversaries, who cannot compete head-to-head with our military, specialize in adapting to our innovations. Commercialization of technology such as global positioning systems, mobile communication networks and the Internet lend individuals capabilities that few governments could boast of just a few decades ago.”

Mastering the skills for rapid adaptability means RDECOM scientists and engineers must also explore new initiatives. They must not lose their ability to innovate and try new concepts that could lead to the next battlefield breakthrough, Ormond noted.

“Henry Ford famously made this clear when he said, ‘If I had asked my customers what

they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.’” Ormond used the example of drones — unmanned aerial vehicles — which Army scientists began studying back in the 1980s.

“Military leaders at the time didn’t show a lot interest in what was then a laboratory experiment. But our researchers kept at it. The experiment became a prototype that become a fielded capability and now is one of our country’s premier intelligence collection and power-projection platforms. Drones now play a key role in everything from reconnaissance on the battlefield, to execution of the fight itself and, finally, to battle damage assessment.”

Even though RDECOM now faces the significant challenge of delivering smart technology and capabilities to a smaller Army with a smaller budget, it has the resources and versatility to find solutions.

“Collaboration will bring the contribution of our partners together and integrate our efforts into a single coherent pool that is greater than sum of its parts,” Ormond concluded. “We must find ways to collaborate at every opportunity. I believe at RDECOM we are moving in the direction of greater collaboration and a united effort. This is how we will achieve success now and in the future.”

RELATED LINKSBiography: http://go.usa.gov/vK8Facebook: http://on.fb.me/MKsWloTwitter: http://twitter.com/DaleOrmond

“I believe at RDECOM we are moving in the direction of greater collaboration and a united effort.”

FED Bravo is a demonstrator vehicle — one of two in the FED program — that will help engineers evaluate fuel-efficient systems applied to a military platform. TARDEC engineers worked with industry partner ASRC Primus to produce a military demonstrator vehicle that could perform the same mission as a HMMWV but with 90 percent better MPG ratings. (U.S. Army photo)

4 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

AMC GETS NEW COMMANDING GENERALThe U.S. Army Materiel Command hosted a change of command ceremony Aug. 7 at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody relinquished command to Gen. Dennis L. Via. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno presided over the ceremony. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of AMC.

ARMY ANNOUNCES NEW RDECOM DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERALBrig. Gen. Daniel P. Hughes, System of Systems Integration director, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., will become U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command deputy commanding general and senior commander, Natick Soldier System Center, Natick, Mass. in a Sept 14 ceremony. The current DCG, Brig. Gen. John J. McGuiness, will become program executive officer for PEO-Ammunition and commanding general, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.

AMRDEC SUPERVISOR GETS AWARDSteve Low (left) Aviation Weapons Capability Area Lead at the Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, is presented with the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service by Mike Eison, AMRDEC System Simulation and Development Directorate acting director.The Army recognized Low for “his exemplary leadership demonstrated during the first precision guided weapon release from a Shadow Unmanned Aircraft System from December 2011 to March 2012.”Low credited AMRDEC and the prime

RDECOM Newsbriefs

The Defense Laboratory Office’s John Fischer, Ph.D. (left) presents Warren Gardner, Ph. D. with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence at the Town Hall July 24.

Leticia Pacheco (left) and Angel Castro will be recognized at a national conference in Florida in October. (U.S. Army photos)

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT RECOGNIZES EDGEWOOD SCIENTISTThe Department of Defense recognized an outstanding RDECOM Army scientist July 24.Dr. Warren Gardner, Ph.D., from Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence for his support to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering), Defense Laboratory Office and Research Directorate at a town hall meeting.Gardner distinguished himself through leadership and exceptional service to ASDR&E where he was working from 2011 to 2012. His expertise and knowledge of defense laboratory policy development and implementation helped lead the development of key policies for the revitalization of the U.S. defense laboratory system.In this role, he executed the duties of the director by providing assistance and expertise to ASDR&E’s Research Directorate functional staff in multiple complex tasks. Some of his specific actions included drafting new policies governing laboratory technology programs, preparing congressional reports and developing implementation mechanisms for new legislation impacting DoD laboratories. He also assisted in analyzing alternative governance models for the DoD Laboratory system and updating and rewriting two DoD instructions governing the DoD Laboratory system.

STEM GROUP TO HONOR RDECOM ENGINEERSGreat Minds in STEM is set to recognize two RDECOM engineers for their achievements and dedication to protecting and serving the nation.Leticia Pacheco, an engineer with the Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Army Research Laboratory, and Angel Castro, an engineering technician with

RDECOM’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, will receive awards at the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference Oct. 11-13 in Orlando, Fla.Great Minds in STEM, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization, is dedicated to advancing STEM education.Castro is being recognized as a Military Luminary, which according to HENAAC, share three common factors: they are highly respected by their peers and management; they are valuable authorities in their fields; and they are blazing the trail for future generations of engineers and scientists.“Mr. Castro, a retired Army noncommissioned officer, continues to be a day-to-day mentor to our engineers and scientists,” said Alvin Thornton, Director of ECBC Engineering Directorate. “He brings a Warfighter’s perspective to our mission.”Pacheco will be recognized by HENAAC during the STEM military and civilian heroes dinner at the conference.“Dr. Pacheco believes in giving back to the community,” said Laurel Allender, director of ARL’s Human Research and Engineering Directorate.“[She creates] opportunities for students to have a rich educational experience,” she added. “Not only is Dr. Pacheco the consummate leader and professional, she is also an excellent science, technology, engineering and math role model.”

contractor for success in this effort and specifically recognized the teams of Scott Speigle, Rob King, Mike Cole, Laurie Fraser and Chris Lofts.“I’m a supervisor. I don’t do much work. I try to lead others to do great things,” he said.The Commander’s Award for Civilian Service is the fourth highest honorary award presented by the Department of the Army to civilian employees for commendable service or achievement.

5RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

RDECOM’s top NCO visits Redstone Arsenal

(Above) Norm Myers, senior system analyst and SAIC support contractor (left), and Joe Moran, senior systems engineer at AMRDEC’s System Simulation and Development Directorate (center), provide an overview of the force protection programs at AMRDEC’s Soldier Protection Lab to Command Sgt. Maj. Lebert Beharie (right) during a recent tour.

(Right) Command Sgt. Maj. Lebert Beharie checks out one of 100 ATVs being modified at AMRDEC’s Prototype Integration Facility during a July 10 visit to Redstone Arsenal.

Command Sgt. Maj. Lebert Beharie of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command takes a closer look at the Surface Launched Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile system, or SLAMRAAM, during a July 10 visit to AMRDEC’s Prototype Integration Facility, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.(U.S. Army photos by Ryan Keith, AMRDEC Public Affairs)

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s senior noncommissioned officer visited the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center July 10.

AMRDEC is the Army’s focal point for providing research, development, and engineering technology and services for aviation and missile platforms across the lifecycle.

AMRDEC has a long history of providing unparalleled service to its aviation and missile customers, while always striving to provide the greatest service to its ultimate customer, the warfighter, by providing technology and weapon system solutions to ensure his/her victory on the battlefield.

AMRDEC is a world-class facility with approximately 2,500 employees, including more than 1,900 scientists and engineers who provide technical services and conduct scientific research and development in disciplines that support AMRDEC customer platforms and weapons systems. AMRDEC conducts operations in approximately 1.7 million square feet of facilities with a total investment exceeding $975 million per year. As a result of the vast resources that AMRDEC can bring to bear to support its customers, AMRDEC’s annual revenue exceeds $1.5 billion.

AMRDEC provides a wide array of technologies, hardware and software applications, and products and services that run the gamut from game-changing technologies to detect and destroy threats, enhance performance, lethality, survivability and reliability of aviation and missile systems, along with programs to miniaturize missile and aircraft components, provide modeling and simulation applications for these technologies and systems, and the associated training applications. Also, AMRDEC serves as the Department of Defense lead for Rotorcraft Science and Technology and the DoD lead for Gel Propellants. In addition, AMRDEC has one of the few Capability Maturity Model Level 4 software engineering facilities in the Army, certified by the world-renowned Software Engineering Institute. Add to that the enormous capability provided by the AMRDEC Prototype Integration Facility which has quickly become “The Army’s Premier Rapid Response Organization,” and you gain a sense of the breadth of end-to-end capability that the AMRDEC provides to its customers.

6 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — The INSIDER September spotight is on U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center Technical Director Gerardo J. Melendez. The Army brought Melendez into the Senior Executive Service in February 2005. He is responsible for management of more than 3,600 people. What follows is a Q&A session with Melendez.

As RDECOM recalibrates, what do you see as the future role of armament research and development?

So long as we have armed services we will have armament systems and the research, development and engineering to support the constantly evolving battlefield. That means that armament research, development and engineering has been and will remain an enduring need for the Army, the joint services and the nation. To use your term, as “RDECOM recalibrates,” one of the key initiatives that is picking up momentum

is the acknowledgement of RDECOM’s mission to coordinate and synchronize research, development and engineering activities to provide integrated capabilities to the Warfighter. We are actually taking that integration function further into the planning and execution of programs. I see this in the discussions we have at the Board of Directors meetings and in some of the operating documents that are being developed as part of the “RDECOM recalibration.” For example, in the Draft RDECOM Campaign Plan, seven Lines of Effort are defined. Of those, four are directly tied to the concept of RDECOM as an integrating function. These are Programs and Engineering, Technology Enabled Capabilities Demonstrations, Enterprise Efficiencies, and Strategic Communications. The other three Lines of Effort are better enabled by an integrated RDECOM. In this context, we are taking steps to develop armament solutions with more of a mindset toward an integrated approach. That’s RDECOM’s thrust, but more importantly there is a growing realization

all around that for us to succeed in our mission–to empower, unburden and protect the warfighter – we have to think integrated from the beginning and keep it embedded into our processes. Otherwise, the result is nonintegrated capabilities that burden the Warfighter. We recognize that for the most part, armament systems don’t stand alone. They operate on platforms, they integrate with networks, they fit into many more systems and subsystems -- mechanical as well as people systems. Even individual weapons and mortars, which one might think of as stand-alone, are made more capable within the context of other systems such as command and control and logistics. So there is a growing recognition that the integrated approach simply delivers better results. Fortunately, at ARDEC we have several mature strengths that will help us move out along those lines. We have a very mature and well-staffed Systems Engineering competency with processes that are embedded throughout the organization. I believe Systems Engineering will be one of the

Tech director spotlight: Dr. Melendez leads armament research

Dr. Gerardo Melendez answers questions about the future of Army research and development from his perspective as U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center technical director at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. (U.S. Army photos)

7RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

key enablers as we try to integrate systems from across the commodities into capabilities. We also have been operating as an enterprise internal to ARDEC and with our Life Cycle Management partners and the program executive offices. This has taught us the value of operating as a team while providing us experience in how to do so.

How do you encourage collaboration and sharing across RDECOM?

My observation is that the ARDEC workforce is motivated, first and foremost, by the desire to support the Warfighter. Other very strong motivators include the enjoyment that comes from going through the process of discovery that leads to innovation, and by the desire to continuously improve the processes and the organization. All three motivators are a source of pride that is evident in my discussion with the ARDEC workforce. One of the ways that naturally leads to collaboration and sharing across RDECOM is to understand and explain how a solution made up of integrated capabilities from across different RDECOM organizations better supports the Warfighter, can increase the richness of viewpoints that often leads to innovation and can provide opportunities for process improvement. Ultimately, increasing collaboration will come from top down and from bottom up. At all points in between we have to become more aware that collaboration provides us not a threat but an opportunity to provide better capabilities to the Warfighter. An approach I often use is to make the benefits that come from collaboration palpable with several examples and by being consistent on the message of collaboration as part of the organizational mantra.

What are the biggest challenges facing your workforce and RDECOM as a whole?

At ARDEC we continuously monitor the workforce strength level and composition to make sure we can meet the needs of the organization. Doing so in the current environment has become very difficult, mostly because of the lack of clarity as to what will happen in the next few years. On the downside we understand the issues with the struggling economy, the certainty of reduced budgets, the uncertainty of how the budget will be reduced and the possibility of sequestration. On the upside, we are seeing growth in specific areas where customers are coming to us because of a continued need for ARDEC armament solutions and expertise. These discrepancies and the lack of clarity create risks that for the most part are manageable. Nevertheless, the challenge is to avoid making

an irreversible decision based on a scenario that does not come to pass and which creates risk or a missed opportunity for the Army. Ultimately, the goal is to adapt to the current budget realities while avoiding the mistakes of past downsizing efforts that left us grasping for straws when we tried to reconstitute our strength in the face of a new conflict. That’s our biggest challenge, and I suspect that for RDECOM they have that same challenge, although it manifests in different ways.

What are the things that excite you about the future?

The ARDEC workforce has a tremendous desire for public service. They want to be involved in something bigger than themselves. I see that desire being sustained into the future by the new generation of employees. These new employees are coming into a place where the culture was geared to the Warfighter long before I arrived. If you look around the offices here, where you might expect to see awards and certificates you see instead pictures or sometimes actual weapons parts – items that were conceptualized, created and developed by the people at ARDEC—that ultimately delivered a capability to a Soldier that enabled them to accomplish their mission and come home alive. You see that pride. “ARDECians” are zealots to deliver for Soldiers. That’s the culture here. So you are given this legacy of employees who are very Warfighter-oriented and add to the mix this new generation of very public-minded people who bring the fruits of the most recent education. And, of course, they’re very comfortable with Web 2.0 technologies. Then, you mix in the new

technologies that we’re growing the capacity to explore - directed energy, nanotechnology, non-lethal weapons, insensitive munitions, modeling and simulation – and that makes the future very exciting indeed. Personally, to be given the opportunity to serve such a dedicated group is not only exciting but also humbling and an honor.

What advice do you have for the next generation of researchers, engineers and developers? How about long-time employees wondering about the future?

I have the same advice for the next generation, the greybeards and anyone in between. First, figure out your goals, whether career, personal or life in general. With a clear understanding of those, you can define what success means for you, as success is attainment of your goals. Specific advice for your career is to keep pushing your education and experience. At the risk of sounding like an engineer, my formula is, “success = preparation + opportunity + action.” The goal is to maximize the potential for success. To do so you maximize preparation through education, training and a continual assessment of where you stand. You also maximize opportunity by taking on the hard assignments, particularly those that take you out of your comfort zone. Then, when preparation meets opportunity, and there is an element of luck here, you take action. Sounds simple.

RELATED LINKSBiography: http://go.usa.gov/rRG9ARDEC: http://www.ardec.army.mil/

Melendez says people “maximize opportunity by taking on the hard assignments, particularly those that take you out of your comfort zone.”

8 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

Army researchers seek stronger materials for SoldiersBy Joyce BrayboyARL Public Affairs

ADELPHI, Md. — Army Research Laboratory scientists and engineers are studying how to make lightweight, high performance materials for Soldiers.

Researchers want to enhance battlefield effectiveness without placing an extra load on Soldiers’ backs.

At the Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials, researchers will develop materials to protect Soldiers in extreme dynamic environments; and create energy efficient devices and batteries.

“Right now ARL researchers have some understanding of the mechanical properties of materials and some understanding of the electronic properties, but over time we want to blend the knowledge,” said Dr. John Pellegrino, Ph.D., ARL acting director,

who recently served as director of the Computational and Information Sciences Directorate, overseeing the Enterprise for Multiscale Materials Research.

“It is very ambitious to say we will be able to come up with a set of models that can fully describe materials’ behavior,” Pellegrino said. “But we are hopeful we will be able to model materials well enough that we can begin to design materials using the models, and predict how they will behave. This would give us insight into a whole new class of material capabilities.”

The effort is made up of in-house Army research and two cooperative agreements with academia awarded in April.

Johns Hopkins University will lead collaboration for materials in extreme environments. The Army will invest up to $90 million over 10 years for a study that may be renewed for an additional five years.

California Institute of Technology, University of Delaware and Rutgers University are among the major partner institutions.

University of Utah will head ARL’s multiscale modeling research. The Army has awarded up to $20.9 million toward the lighter-weight materials program.

The goal is to bring together experts from government, academia and industry to overcome daunting obstacles to develop new materials.

A number of institutions will work toward multiscale modeling: Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Penn State University, Harvard University, Brown University, the University of California (Davis), and the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy.

“It’s a big deal,” said John Beatty, Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments

Daphne Pappas with the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., prepares materials for her novel plasma process. The Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials extreme environments research will explore how materials behave under extreme dynamic environments. (U.S. Army photo by Doug Lafon)

9RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

collaborative alliance manager. Beatty works for the Weapons & Materials Research Directorate at the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s ARL. “We will make significant advances in designing materials, but our focus with this enterprise is as much about changing the way people think about designing as it is anything else.”

In conjunction with ARL, the consortium will lead to a more comprehensive study of materials in the future even though each one is technically independent of the other, Pellegrino said.

The extreme dynamic environments study will be based from the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute, or HEMI, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, which has been years in the making.

The institute will focus on the behavior of materials and systems under extreme conditions, said K.T. Ramesh, the Alonzo G. Decker, Jr. Professor of Science & Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, founding director of HEMI and a professor of mechanical engineering.

“We are interested in impact and such extreme events from a very broad perspective --including high pressure and high-strain rates,” Ramesh explained.

The science is fundamentally close enough to address a range of related problems, like homeland security, asteroid impact and nuclear threats.

“What affects the material is the huge amount of energy landing all at once,” Ramesh said. “You can’t develop a new protective material until you can understand what happens to it in extreme environments.”

Ramesh wants the joint university-ARL team to both understand fundamental mechanisms and be able to articulate the findings to anyone coming on board.

“That is one of the measures of success,” he said.

Each of the partner institutions involved in the extreme dynamic environments research brings a unique perspective that combines for a multidisciplinary approach to solving the problem.

For instance, Caltech will use a range of tools they have developed over 20 years to accurately model the behavior of materials from the subatomic level all the way to the scale of bulk materials.

“Right now we don’t have a predictive model for designing advanced materials,” said Kaushik Bhattacharya, Caltech’s lead and the Howell N. Tyson Sr., Professor of Mechanics and professor of materials science. “We have some theories that

guide us, but they really are not fully predictive.”

Scientists have to understand the complete hierarchy of the advanced materials and how all of the pieces fit together, then how the levels of hierarchy change during a high-velocity impact, Bhattacharya said.

“We hope to increase the speed of development as well as the strength of materials through such rigorous analysis,” he said.

The undertaking may seem huge considering the time frame for incorporating new classes of materials into applications now can take as long as 20 years from initial research to first use.

There are many risks associated with finding a material that serves the function you need. One major challenge is even if you succeed, it often doesn’t diminish the cost of similar research going forward, said Pellegrino.

“Another challenge is that the complexity of materials has grown,” explained Pellegrino. “Edisonian-approach research has given us spectacular results in the past. We have gotten better armor than

before, different electron devices, including batteries, than we have ever had. All of that is great, but what we need now is far more complex than we have ever needed.”

Soldiers are carrying up to 32 pounds of batteries to power their technological devices in the field these days.

This is one of the concerns that the University of Utah-led consortium will address.

“We want to help the Army make advances in fundamental research that will lead to better materials to help our Soldiers in the field,” says computing Professor Martin Berzins, principal investigator from the University of Utah.

Besides batteries, partners, such as Boston University, along with others, will look closely at developing new approaches for designing smaller and more efficient electromagnetic devices that meet military needs.

The design simulation research is based on a five-year plan that could be extended for an additional five years if it is successful.

“What we are looking for is a materials-by-design capability that is done by validated modeling from the smallest to the largest relevant scale,” said Meredith Reed, collaborative alliance manager for the consortium, and member of the Sensors & Electron Devices Directorate at ARL. “We want better control and prediction of transport phenomena in order to get the desired properties to develop new Army technologies.”

The focus of the program is well-aligned with the White House Materials Genomes Initiative, or MGI, that has been underway for about a year to drastically increase advanced materials design, Reed said.

A White House blog posted May 14 mentioned that achieving the MGI vision demands an “all hands on deck” approach, with dedicated involvement from academic institutions, industry, professional societies, as well as government.

“The MGI white paper talks about creating an ecosystem where manufacturing and development come together and are more streamlined so that discoveries might not have to take 20 years to make it to market,” Pellegrino said. “Having that ecosystem increases the chance of collaboration not only in military-specific problems, but the scientific understanding of advanced materials design will grow that much faster across the board.”

RELATED LINKSWhite House Blog: http://go.usa.gov/7EvARL: http://www.arl.army.mil

“We have gotten better armor than before, different electron devices, including batteries, than we have ever had. All of that is great, but what we need now is far more complex than we have ever needed.”

— Dr. John Pellegrino

The Enterprise for Multiscale Research of Materials is a collaboration designed to increase the speed of bringing stronger, lighter protective equipment to Soldiers. (U.S. Army photo)

10 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

By Dan DesmondTARDEC Public Affairs

DETROIT ARSENAL, Mich. — In the automotive world, concept vehicles show what is possible when car companies unleash designers and engineers to present new ideas and gauge public reaction. The Army’s latest Fuel Efficient ground vehicle Demonstrator — FED Bravo — has a similar purpose, but this vehicle explores new concepts in fuel efficiency and composite design for military vehicles and its customers — Soldiers and Marines.

FED Bravo’s public debut at the recent Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress and Exhibition in Detroit, April 24-26, created the kind of auto show appeal and interest that a commercial vehicle might generate. In fact, one of the most frequently asked questions was, “When is it going into production?”

“This is a concept vehicle,” Lead Engineer Carl Johnson clarified from the floor of TARDEC’s SAE exhibit, where a steady stream of visitors sat in the FED vehicle and fired off questions about its fuel economy systems. “The vehicle itself won’t go into production, but the components, technology and lessons learned will be transitioned to the current fleet and allow us to improve the future fleet. The FED vehicles were built to evaluate whether existing fuel efficiency solutions will be effective on military platforms.

”Funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and coordinated by the U.S. Army

Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, the FED program has now produced two demonstrator vehicles — FED Alpha and FED Bravo — to evaluate, test and eventually transfer new systems, processes and applications. Johnson and fellow engineer Rachel Agusti, FED Program Coordinators, explained that the two demonstrator vehicles provide similar capabilities to a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle but with significantly improved miles-per-gallon ratings.

“FED Bravo can perform the same mission as a Humvee, but with 90-percent better fuel efficiency,” Agusti explained.

The vehicles will undergo performance and durability testing at proving grounds throughout the year, and then program managers can determine which components and systems can be applied to other military platforms. For instance, FED Bravo is equipped with a road-coupled parallel hybrid-drive system. The front axle is powered by an electric motor and operates on its own two-speed transmission, while the rear-wheel-drive is linked to a hybrid diesel-fuel-powered and electric system mated with a six-speed automatic transmission.

LIFE-SAVING IMPLICATIONSA hybrid system such as this has never been

installed on a military vehicle and helps give the FED Bravo an estimated 9.58 combined MPG, which represents a mixture of urban mission and convoy escort (highway) driving. The current HMMWV model the FED uses

for comparison generates about 4.8 MPG. That increase in fuel mileage has profound significance for Soldiers deployed in fuel delivery escort convoys to forward operating bases in the field. Secretary of the Army John McHugh has stated that those escort units report one casualty for every 46 convoys sent on refueling missions.

As the military reduces fuel consumption and achieves higher MPG ratings for its vehicles, the need for those dangerous convoys will decrease.

“[Improved fuel efficiency] means less time securing fuel convoys and doing IED [improvised explosive devices] sweeps, which leaves more time for fighting the enemy and helping train the Afghanis,” commented TARDEC Special Programs Office Associate Director MAJ Joseph Morrison. “The amount of effort that goes into getting every gallon of fuel to the Soldiers is tremendous, with thousands involved from Port to COP [combat outpost]. When you take that into account, that gallon of fuel is fairly expensive by the time it gets there. Better fuel efficiency will allow the military to use taxpayer dollars more wisely by being able to allocate troops and money to other missions.”

Bear in mind that the Army cannot omit the third “P” in the fundamental ground vehicle equation: performance, payload and protection. Because ground vehicles have to provide an armor skin to protect Soldiers and Marines in the crew compartment who

FED Bravo puts fuel efficiency in spotlight

11RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

may get attacked on patrols, the performance trade-off for the armor’s added weight will always be part of the equation.

To overcome that and other military vehicle requirements that enable missions but also drag down fuel efficiency numbers, TARDEC’s Advanced Concepts Team worked with a prolific cast of automotive con- tractors to design and build the two FED vehicles by two distinctly different processes.

TARDEC partnered with Select Engineering Services and Ricardo llc to create the FED Alpha, which remains in testing, and collaborated with private industry contractor ASRC Primus on the FED Bravo vehicle. The Alpha team took a more traditional approach as they identified commercially available fuel-saving, aerodynamic and safety features that would move the needle on fuel economy but continue to satisfy the Army’s requirements for a tactical vehicle.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE ARMY PROCESSFED Bravo engineers shredded the Army’s

usual approach to vehicle design in two other ways to spark innovation. They adopted the “Monster Garage” method — so named to emulate the former cable television series that turned common vehicle models into something creative and extraordinary — and they went outside the Army to an academic partner to reshape the vehicle’s aerodynamics and layout.

In the Monster Garage series, the hosts invited specialists to contribute ideas for each aspect of the vehicle. To design FED Bravo, TARDEC and Primus assembled a circle of subject-matter experts from government, industry and academia to filter through the most innovative and effective fuel-efficient technologies on the market that could be applied to a military platform. At TARDEC’s Concepts Analysis Systems Simulation and Integration group, engineers began modeling and simulation studies to examine vehicle tradeoffs using a top- down, systems-level approach with fuel efficiency and performance as primary requirements.

The team equipped FED Bravo with key features that include the following:

A dedicated two-speed transmission with E-machine design drives the front wheels. TARDEC’s M&S studies showed that this road- coupled parallel hybrid system improves efficiency.

A six-speed automatic transmission, coupled with an advanced lithium-ion battery with high energy and power density, drives the rear wheels.

Ford 4.4-liter twin turbocharged V8 diesel engine, capable of producing 268 horsepower.

Integrated starter-generator shuts off the engine during idle time and restarts it when the

driver touches the accelerator, which improves fuel economy and reduces emissions.

Open engine and hybrid controller architecture allows engineers to make source code adjustments to further optimize vehicle efficiency.

The full-power hydraulic brake system with antilock brakes is combined with the steering system to supply the hydraulic pressure demands for the steering, eliminating a second

pump to improve efficiency. Carbon ceramic brake rotors with advanced

coating for durability, plus low-drag aluminum brake calipers.

Tubular space frame chassis for better rigidity- to-weight ratio. Combined with armored cab and V-shaped hull for protection from blasts.

Goodyear custom compounded low-rolling-resistance tires, which reduce heat build-up from road friction to improve efficiency. Lightweight aluminum wheels help lower fuel consumption.

Carbon fiber body panels are used where protective armor material isn’t necessary, such as in the cargo compartment, to decrease weight.

REIMAGINING EXTERIOR DESIGNIn another aberration from standard practices,

TARDEC engaged an automotive design class at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit — the same pool of design talent that the Big Three draw from to design their passenger vehicles — to give the FED Bravo a bolder look on the outside and ergo- nomic upgrades on the inside. Military vehicles are normally designed around function and need, without much attention to industrial design or driver interface.

TARDEC engineers invited 18 CCS design students to provide their design ideas for an Army vehicle that would mimic the capabilities of

a HMMWV M1114 vehicle, but with a presence unlike anything else seen on a battlefield.

The team narrowed down the selections to three students’ ideas and then chose the design by Joel Zastrow, who was a junior at the time, to move forward. Zastrow was subsequently hired by Primus to complete the FED vehicle’s interior layout (which includes cup holders — Soldiers get thirsty in the desert). He unveiled his cre- ation on a 1/5-scale model at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

“It doesn’t look like any other military vehicle,” Johnson commented. “We’re supposed to be looking forward with this vehicle, so it’s supposed to be different.”

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?Two demonstrator vehicles can make a differ-

ence. FED Alpha and Bravo have already made their mark in the transfer of equipment and knowledge to benefit the engineering process.

“The drive cycles developed by CASSI to record performance data from the vehicle are going to be used again for other Army vehicles,” Johnson related. “The Army didn’t have its own drive cycles yet. This was a FED drive cycle designed just for this vehicle, but it can be adapted to other vehicles. Also, the data recorders we used in testing have worked so well, Aberdeen Proving Ground acquired them to continue using there.”

Another gain for TARDEC could be called the “player to be named later.” TARDEC hired CCS graduate James Scott, another automotive design student from the same CCS class as Zastrow, to work with TARDEC engineers creating designs for Army vehicles.

The ultimate objective remains the same — transfer as many of these fuel-saving technologies and improved processes to other projects and platforms to make tactical vehicles as efficient, agile and safe as possible.

“The FED Bravo gets 90-percent better fuel economy and can go 80 mph — we would have definitely traded in our truck for something like that,” Morrison added. “This vehicle has a little bit of both — efficiency and protection — when you factor in the V-shaped hull and the adjustable height on the suspension which provides more blast protection. If some of these concepts are used in other vehicles, I think Soldiers will be impressed.”

Johnson announced that the Bravo vehicle may make another public appearance at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17. Beyond that, it’s back to work for the vehicle — it undergoes testing and evaluation at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland until December.

RELATED LINKS More online: http://go.usa.gov/r5hw

“This is a concept vehicle. The vehicle itself won’t go into production, but the components, technology and lessons learned will be transitioned to the current fleet and allow us to improve the future fleet. The FED vehicles were built to evaluate whether existing fuel efficiency solutions will be effective on military platforms.”

— Carl JohnsonLead FED Engineer

12 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

TARDEC gets new technical directorTARDEC Public Affairs

DETROIT ARSENAL, Mich. — The researchers and engineers responsible for developing the next generation of Army vehicles got a new leader Aug. 13.

U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Director Dale Ormond formally presented Dr. Paul Rogers with delegation of authority during a ceremony here.

“It is very rare that civilians get this kind of opportunity,” Ormond said. “This is one of the opportunities where we hand a civilian a set of keys and say, ‘It’s yours to drive and it’s yours to manage and run.’ We don’t do that very often, so this is a very special occasion.”

Rogers previously served as Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems deputy, also at the Detroit Arsenal. Rogers managed the development, systems integration, acquisition, testing, fielding, sustainment and improvement of ground combat systems for with the Army’s transformation plan. He said the time spent with the PEO increased his knowledge of how TARDEC collaborates with its government partners and prepared him for his new role.

“I thought I understood our community when I was with TARDEC before,” Rogers said. “But for the last two years, I have gone through such an education and gained an appreciation for the complexity that [the PEOs] deal with and the difficulty of what they do. Those folks fight day in and day out to deliver combat capability and support to our Soldiers. I have gained nothing but the utmost respect for what they do and the resilience that they show. I commit myself to them to help bring TARDEC forward to help be the face of RDECOM within this community, to support them and do whatever we can to ensure their success.”

Rogers will manage a workforce of more than 1,700 engineers, scientists, researchers

and support staff, setting a strategic direction that affects more than 270 Army systems -- the largest portfolio in RDECOM.

“We are going to face some strategic conditions that will challenge us over the next year or two,” Rogers said. “We have budget pressures and major programs that are transitioning from production to sustainment. These factors have a direct impact on our community. And when I say community, it’s not just TARDEC and the entities that exist on this small piece of land in Southeast Michigan, but also the industrial base around us. I’m very aware of those pressures and I’m very sensitive to those pressures and confident that if we collaborate, pull together and work through it, we can do it in the most effective means. We can transition from where we are today to where we will be in the next couple of years while maintaining our industrial might and preserving the talent and capability within our workforce.”

Rogers said he values his history with TARDEC. Before serving at PEO GCS, he was

TARDEC’s executive director for Research and Technology Integration. Addressing TARDEC associates and the collaborative government, industry and academic partners in attendance, he vowed to continue TARDEC’s history of innovation and collaboration on Warfighters’ behalf.

“I spent 19 years as part of this organization. I recognize that I might be the director of this organization, but this organization is not here for me. I commit that I am here to support you,” he said. “I cherish this opportunity. This is a very talented workforce, a community that provides a very noble service to our country. Aside from wearing a uniform. I don’t know if there’s a nobler calling than to support those individuals and provide them with the equipment that they need to be successful and return home. I’ve seen it for the last 20 years. I will see it throughout my career and lifetime, and I look forward to being a part of it with you.”

RELATED LINKSBiography: http://go.usa.gov/rRFe

RDECOM Director Dale Ormond (left) presents TARDEC Director Dr. Paul Rogers with the delegation of authority Aug. 13 during an assumption of leadership ceremony at TARDEC. (U.S. Army photo)

TARDEC SpotlightFor more information about the U.S. Army Tank, Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, read an online publication about Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and technology: GVSET News. The center also publishes the accelerate Magazine.TARDEC also maintains a presence on popular social media sites.

RELATED LINKSTARDEC: http://tardec.army.milGVSET News: http://bit.ly/Pf0Em3accelerate: http://bit.ly/OarPAZVimeo: http://vimeo.com/tardecYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/RDECOMTARDECFlickr: http://flickr.com/tardec

http://www.facebook.com/tardec

http://twitter.com/tardec_pao

13RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

ECBC engineer strengthens chemical, biological defenseBy Dan Lafontaine RDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — A U.S. Army engineer is using the expertise of America’s military scientific community to ensure America’s allies are safe from chemical and biological agents.

Jorge Christian, with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, brings his 27 years of experience in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protection to provide the best equipment for Soldiers as well as international partners.

Christian serves as RDECOM’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s Protection Engineering Division chief within the Engineering Directorate. He supports individual and collective protection through his expertise in engineering life cycle acquisition and technical support.

After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico in 1984 with a bachelor of science in industrial engineering, he began as an Army intern in the School of Engineering and Logistics in Texarkana, Texas.

“When I was in school, I geared myself to use science and math perhaps in industry,” he said. “It never occurred to me that the Army would allow me the opportunity to use science and math. To my surprise, once I got here to the Army, I began to see how there were practical ways in which science and math were being used.”

Science and math are inherent in everything that a Soldier wears or uses, including protective masks and suits, respirators and agent detectors, he said.

“All [the equipment] has elements of science and math, from the material, to engineering, to how we will sustain the equipment,” he said.

Christian earned a master of business administration from Texas A&M University-Texarkana in 1985 and then worked as a test director for Aberdeen Test Center, formerly known as Combat Systems Test Activity, at APG. In 1988, he transferred to ECBC’s Detection Directorate as a producibility engineer before transitioning to the Physical Protection Directorate in 1992.

Christian emphasizes international collaboration and cooperation in countering the threat of CBRN attacks. He serves as head of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Joint CBRN Defense Capabilities Development Group, Physical Protection Sub-group, which is responsible for developing and maintaining operational and technical standards for individual and collective protection materiel for NATO nations.

“My role is to ensure that the position of the

United States, especially that of the Army and ECBC, transitions into the working aspects of the group,” he said. “One of the key roles that I play is the lead for many of the technical engineering publications that are pertinent to the area of individual and collective protection.”

The expertise of U.S. military scientists and engineers in CBRN matters is essential for the international community’s preparation against threats, Christian said.

“It is important for the United States to collaborate with other nations, allied nations as well as those within NATO, to counter the threat of the use of chemical warfare agents because the U.S. is at the forefront of providing capabilities, knowledge and expertise,” he said. “The threat of chemical and biological agents is one that is now global.

“We have seen a number of countries that that not only have the capability but also have the interest of harming others, including Americans. It is very important that we, together with other nations, leverage resources to ensure all the best capabilities [are] available to Warfighters and civilians to protect themselves in the event they face a chemical attack.”

The Protection Engineering Division, which Christian leads, supports the mission of the Joint Project Manager for Protection and TACOM-Life Cycle Management Command, Chemical Biological Product Support Integration Directorate. The division

provides life cycle acquisition, engineering and sustainment support to these customers.

“We ensure the equipment performs the way it is expected in the area of individual and collective protection [by] reviewing technical data, corrections to the equipment as we see it is appropriate, and also working hand-in-hand with the manufacturers to ensure that the corrections are made and equipment continues to be producible, sustainable, and survivable,” he said.

Christian described the advancements made by ECBC scientists and engineers for Soldier protection against CBRN hazards. His division is responsible for individual protection, including respirators and respirator filters, and collective protection, including filtration; barrier material; contamination control areas; and fixed-site, mobile, and transportable shelters.

“We’re looking at lighter weight, low-burden types of materials on suits,” he said. “As we go forward looking at the transition of better respirators, the ones we have fielded, like those in the Joint Service General Purpose Masks, provide technologies that allow for better eyesight, less resistance, more [comfort], more efficient drinking and communication systems, as well as an excellent platform that is suitable for the transition to advance technologies as they mature.“In the area of collective protection [for soft-walled shelters and tents], we are looking at lighter material that can serve as a barrier by itself or also having a capability of [being] self-detoxifying. That type of material will provide the added capability that will not require a separate liner-barrier material [added to the standard shelter or tent] to protect the Warfighter in that toxic-free area. In the area of filtration, we are looking at new absorbents that are going to be more flexible than the standard carbon that we [now] use and [that] also can be tailored to the specific toxic industrial chemical.”

Christian, a Puerto Rican native, said he is appreciative of his opportunities within the Army.

“As a minority, I believe that this organization has given me all the opportunities that I could imagine,” he said. “Along the way, I received the support of many mentors who cared about me and allowed me to grow.

“I never felt any kind of barriers. Instead, a number of doors opened that allowed me to become the person I am today. I consider ECBC my home. I truly believe I have more to offer and the road doesn’t end for me here. We have a mission to accomplish, and I believe that I can be one of the key players to get it done.”

RELATED LINKSWatch on YouTube: http://bit.ly/OdsNwg

Jorge Christian supports individual and collective protection through his expertise in engineering life cycle acquisition and technical support. (U.S. Army photo by Tom Faulkner)

14 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

By Dennis Neal RDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — PVC pipe, screws, an irrigation valve cover, an aluminum paint grid and a bicycle inner tube. What do they have in common? They’re all part of a kit to build a robot according to Lucas Hunter, a mechanical engineer with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center.

“This is my third year volunteering to work for the BEST competition,” Hunter said. “BEST means Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology. It’s a competition for middle and high school students that centers around robotics.”

Hunter serves as AMRDEC’s science and technology representative to the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga. He provides guidance, advice and support in the areas of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

BEST develops a new game each year with different themes such as chemistry or insects, Hunter said. Schools that field a team receive the kit free of charge. The student teams then complete the two elements of the competition.

“The first is the design, production and competition of a purpose-built robot,” he said. “The second element involves research of the theme of the game, developing a trade show style display to convey what the team has learned about the theme, marketing, presentations, Web site design, T-shirt design and documentation of the team’s overall engineering process.

“Students earn points for all elements and compete not only for the best robot, but the best overall package.”

During his three years of volunteering Hunter says he has spent 40 to 60 hours per year, mostly on weekends, supporting the local and regional competition. As a volunteer, he provides technical support but has been surprised and even learned from the students.

“I didn’t realize you could reshape PVC by heating it up with a teakettle,” he said. “In one game, the teams had to collect plastic balls and sort them by color. Most teams made a scoop to gather the balls from a bin. One team took the one-quarter inch PVC pipe, heated it with steam from a teakettle, which made the PVC pliable.

“[They] formed an auger, which they could drop into the bin, spin and pull the balls to themselves,” he said. “They were

able to save a lot of time not having to traverse the field with loads of balls.”

Hunter has enjoyed volunteering to work

with the students and feels it is extremely important.

“Our nation is losing its competitive edge on the world market because we have lost our technological edge,” he said. “We have a lot of brain power that is not being developed in our educational system, and

a lot of wasted potential. As a business-minded engineer, I see a growth market emerging where the most technically minded elements of our society can flourish, as long as they are exposed at an early age to the possibilities.”

Hunter feels the BEST competition helps provide that insight and the opportunity for those well-established in their career fields to work with the students, helping them see and reach their potential.

“If you don’t till the soil, you can’t grow good crops,” he said. “It is incumbent upon all professionals to give back, just as those before us have given to help us get where we are. If I can help one student see his or her potential each year through spending a fraction of my time with BEST, it is worth it.”

RELATED LINKSBEST competition: http://www.bestinc.org

Engineer supports students in robotics competition

Lucas Hunter, a mechanical engineer with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, volunteered for the third year to support the Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology competition for middle and high school students that centers around robotics. Hunter believes the U.S. must get students involved in engineering, science and technology in order to stay competitive in the world market. (U.S. Army photo)

“It is incumbent upon all professionals to give back, just as those before us have given to help us get where we are.”

— Lucas Hunter

15RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

A projectile fires using the Soft Catch Recovery System at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. (U.S. Army photo)

SCat Gun System saves money, speeds developmentBy Eric KowalARDEC Public Affairs

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — Why would the U.S. Army want to fire a 155 mm projectile into 540 feet of steel catch tubes and then recover the projectile at the other end?

The answer is actually quite simple: It saves time, money and helps to develop better products.

First, the forces the projectile experiences from being fired from a cannon tube can be recorded using on-board-recorders, which help engineers design robust and reliable precision munition systems and components.

That information is then transferred to a computer, analyzed and provides valuable feedback to engineers and warfighters to help in future weapons and munitions systems development.

Second, the Soft Catch, or SCat, Gun System saves money. Engineers can either catch the round and easily recover it within minutes at Picatinny Arsenal or traipse through the desert in Arizona looking for the round they just fired.

Without the Soft Recovery System facility and the Soft Catch Gun capability, the costs associated with weaponizing advanced technology increase to the point where programs are managed at high risk to fit within allocated budgets.

The facility is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s armament center.

Development programs such as the Excalibur Precision Ammunition and Precision Guidance Kits can use such a system for ongoing development, thus reducing development cycle time and cost.

“This is here to soft-catch projectiles so that we can tear them apart after we have fired them to determine what has or has not survived,”said Robert Marchak, a mechanical engineer in the Fuze Division of the Munitions Engineering Technology Center. “We are trying to increase the reliability of smart munitions when we give them to the Soldier,” he said.

The system is comprised of a 155mm Howitzer weapon with a M199 gun tube and 540 feet of catch tubes.

The hybrid system uses both pressurized air and water to help slow down projectile momentum. It is the only system of its kind in the world.

The first part of the chain of catch tubes contains only atmospheric air. The next section, 320 feet of the tubes, contains pressurized air, followed by an 80-foot section filled with water.

A small burst diaphragm seals one end of the pressurized air and a piston seals the other end.

The piston also separates the water and pressurized air sections. Researchers replace the burst diaphragm and piston after each test fire.

Once fired, the projectile achieves free flight for approximately 6 feet and travels down the catch tubes, generating shockwaves that interact with the atmospheric air section, the burst diaphragm, the pressurized air section, the piston and the water section.

In a little over one second, the projectile shock waves break the burst diaphragm. The air section is compressed and pushed forward, shock and pressure shear the piston moving it against the water (momentum transfer), all while slowing the projectile to a stop.

The piston is ejected out of the end of the system, followed by the air and water, and finally the projectile comes to rest in a mechanized brake system.

On-board-recorders inside the projectile measure the accelerations of the projectile from the gun-launch and the catch events.

With a muzzle velocity of 888 meters per second, the entire test takes a little over one second from the time the projectile is fired until it has completely stopped.

The speed of 888 meters per second is equal to 1,986 miles per hour. If a commuter plane could travel at that speed, passengers could fly from Picatinny Arsenal to Albuquerque, N.M., in one hour.

The catch tubes are made of the same steel used to manufacture the 155mm gun tube.

What makes this system attractive is the tight fit achieved just over the projectile bourlette diameter, officials said. This helps keep the projectile straight and makes for a smooth ride.

Engineers designed the system to quickly remove and replace broken parts. Having the capability to quickly turn the system around after part failures is critical in maintaining an ongoing testing capability, which in turn helps weapons programs stay on schedule.

Since the system is entirely made of metal, temperature fluctuations cause the system to expand and contract.

“This whole system during the winter--to-summer months can grow or shrink about two inches on any given day,” Marchak said.

The speed and or velocity of the projectile can be controlled by the energetic operator using a pre-determined amount of propellant, but in doing so, the amount of pressurized air and mass of water needs to be accounted for as well.

“This whole system is more or less based on the velocity of the projectile. The faster the projectile flies, the more pressurized air and water mass you need to try and slow it down,” Marchak said.

Marchak said that in order to determine the amount of air pressure and water mass used in the system, many variables need to be considered,including the outside temperature, since the density of the pressurized air changes with temperature.

“We also have a lot of instrumentation, pressure gauges, accelerometers, temperature sensors, proximity sensors,” Marchak added. “We are trying to measure and characterize how the projectile and the shock wave that comes off the projectile travels down the tube.”

Some of the items tested in the SCat gun include electronic safe and arm devices, GPS electronics boards, infrared cameras,control actuation systems, guidance and navigation units, and many more mechanical and electrical components.

A typical test day includes four to five test shots at an average cost of $28,000, which Marchak describes as a small price for helping Warfighters in the pursuit of battlefield dominance.

The first round fired from the 155mm SCat Gun System came in April 2007. Now, with 559 shots completed to date, Marchak said the system is becoming the standard for precision munitions testing.

RELATED LINKSARDEC: http://www.ardec.army.mil/

16 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

Natick scientists defend against unseen enemies

Christopher Doona of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center uses the tools of science to do battle against disease-causing microorganisms. (U.S. Army photo by David Kamm)

Bob ReinertUSAG-Natick Public Affairs

NATICK, Mass. — Christopher Doona fights unseen enemies each day in his job at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Doona, a civilian senior research chemist with NSRDEC’s Materials and Defense Sciences Division, uses the tools of science to do battle against disease-causing microorganisms. His research has led to novel technologies to make the medical facilities, textiles, kitchens, galleys, showers and latrines that serve American war fighters even more hygienic and safer.

“For us, because we tend to work more on the basic research, publications, books and book chapters, it’s kind of fascinating to see our research being more applied, patented and licensed to industry,” Doona said. “Actually, industry is already marketing a commercial product based on our inventions.

“We would like to see it procured and used to benefit the Soldier in the field -- for disinfection, decontamination, sterilization or sanitation. That’s our ultimate goal.”

Doona’s arsenal of disinfection is an ensemble of novel mixed-chemical technologies and a pair of portable, energy-independent devices that sterilize and sanitize on-site. Their ammunition: chlorine dioxide.

Chlorine dioxide is a well-known disinfectant that can be used to kill Bacillus anthracis -- the agent that causes Anthrax -- and it is environmentally friendly, as well.

Doona is a former National Science Foundation scientist in Germany and a Middlebury College professor investigating Chemical Chaos and Environmental Chemistry.

“My previous experience helped to convert complex reaction chemistry into simple applications for the military,” he said.

The Portable Chemical Sterilizer, or PCS, is a lightweight, portable, plastic suitcase that safely generates gaseous chlorine dioxide in minutes to sterilize surgical instruments at their Point-of-Use, or PoU.

Doona’s lightweight, collapsible plastic spray-bottle, called “D-FENS,” which stands for “Disinfectant-sprayer for Foods and ENvironmentally-friendly Sanitation,” also generates chlorine dioxide at PoU, to disinfect surfaces in medical units, showers, latrines, and other equipment.

Extensive laboratory testing has validated the effectiveness of both devices.

“Certainly, when tested against other (sterilants), it fared very well,” Doona said.

“Bleach also worked well, and it’s the traditional one, but you have to transport a lot of weight of a hazardous chemical.”

Doona will use any means available to win this war on microbial contamination to improve life for service members. His newest weapon, in development, is something called “D-FEND ALL,” an all-purpose system for the safe, controlled, PoU production of chlorine dioxide.

“D-FEND ALL generates dilute solutions rapidly,” said Doona, “and there are huge practical advantages for that in a number of potential applications. We validated it on textiles used in clothing and experimental fabrics. It’s very promising -- we have several

companies interested in licensing it.”These portable PoU decontamination

technologies resulted, in part, from a finding a number of years ago that was ignored during research at Natick into alternative chemical heaters.

“That’s where our original (chemical) reaction came out of,” Doona said. “The thing is, it never really worked for a chemical heater, but we knew we had something very special if we could generate chlorine dioxide. The real question was, ‘How could we harness it for use in practical applications?’”

Doona and his team have been recognized with Department of the Army Research and Development Achievement Awards and Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer for this research with practical benefit to military and civilian consumers.

“It’s just one of those great projects that we’re really fortunate to have been involved in,” said Doona, “and it’s gratifying to see the research we created be recognized in the scientific community and to be developed into inventions the Army can use.”

RELATED LINKSArmy.mil: http://go.usa.gov/rRMH

“We would like to see it procured and used to benefit the Soldier in the field -- for disinfection, decontamination, sterilization or sanitation. That’s our ultimate goal.”

— Christopher Doona

17RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

Commentary: CERDEC engineer served in Afghanistan

CERDEC engineer Mike Zalewski dons a uniform for his year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan. (Courtesy photo)

By Mike Zalewski CERDEC

As an engineer in the lab we are told about the needs of our Warfighters. We are given context and suggestions of how to better our products, how to make them more efficient or intuitive and ease the required effort from the Soldier.

Regardless of how much information we are provided, it is hard to fully understand the needs of a Soldier until you can get as close as you can to standing in their boots. My time spent at Bagram Airfield and elsewhere in Afghanistan gave me an in-depth look at what the warfighter experiences when deployed, how he or she thinks, what is expected from their equipment, and what it’s like when that equipment does not live up to expectations.

Every day, I help develop new power sources for our Warfighters deployed around the world. I am a mechanical engineer working for the Army’s Communications and Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center under the Command, Power and Integration Directorate, or CP&I.

About a year ago, the Research Development and Engineering Command circulated a call for an engineer or scientist with a power and energy background to volunteer support to the RDECOM Field Assistance in Science and Technology Center, known as RFAST-C.

After about a month, I was selected for the assignment and deployed to Afghanistan for a six-month firsthand encounter with Soldier technology in the Soldier’s environment.

I was now the first Power & Energy subject matter expert, for the RFAST-C, a special staff section of the 401st Army Field Support Brigade. My role was to act as the forward interface between U.S. Forces Afghanistan deployed units, program managers, the Training and Doctrine Command, RDECOM and its research, development and engineering centers, and the Army Research Laboratory on all matters relating to power and energy.

My task was clear: Establish a much-needed quantitative baseline for energy and fuel consumption in expeditionary operations; systematically evaluate the impact of energy initiatives like environmental control units with improved efficiency, insulating thermal tent liners, tent shades and hybrid-solar electrical power technology; and to emplace a hybrid solar power system into a Village Stability Platform site for evaluation as a stable, reliable power source for critical command and control communications and surveillance systems with a reduced fuel burden. With what little free time I had, I completed my master’s

degree in Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. Considering that the campus is in California, my first three months on the ground did not have anything close to a regular “battle rhythm.”

One of my first steps was conducting preliminary assessments of power and energy usage. Sgt. Maj. Matthew DeLay, who during his tour in Afghanistan was the RFAST-C noncommissioned officer in charge, coordinated and conducted one of the most extensive series of battlefield circulations focusing on power and energy in the field.

With his guidance, I was able to travel to areas outside of BAF and gain firsthand insight into the power utilizations and requirements of the Warfighter. During one of these trips we were able to provide a unit in the field with a 300-watt fuel cell, not only for evaluation but also unbiased direct feedback. These trips were very valuable in better understanding power expectations and utilization on the battlefield and has provided direct feedback from the user regarding different technology solutions.

Partway through my deployment, in an unexpected turn of events, I found myself

responsible for the Afghan Microgrid Project. The project, led and executed by PM Mobile Electric Power, was going to be left without a qualified project manager. The microgrid consisted of a number of technologies which were to be demonstrated on Bagram Airfield under the purview of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs.

Though this was outside of my area of responsibility, I was able to broker an arrangement with PM Mobile Electric Power and the RFAST-C office wherein I voluntarily assumed the additional responsibility for the grid in addition to my other duties and thereby prevented the proverbial “lights from going out.”

The microgrid project is a 1-megawatt microgrid which was installed and operated on Bagram Airfield. This system was the first microgrid to be successfully demonstrated in Afghanistan and represents a new paradigm for power generation architectures on the battlefield shifting from the established single source nodal network to a network consisting of multiple sources.

Through my technical experiences in operating and overseeing this microgrid, I was able to identify features which would be of little consequence in commercial or even continental U.S. applications but could have been of great utility in this instance. I also learned that if the operator becomes reliant on the system automation to identify and address warnings and faults, compliancy can result with the operator failing to notice and/or correct faults within the system, either due to the belief that the automation would address it or due to an unmonitored fault occurring.

Now that I am back in the lab, I have a greater appreciation and understanding for life as a deployed Warfighter and their reliance upon their equipment and particularly upon the need for electrical power. I am more determined to find solutions to generate and sustain the power required by Soldiers in theater. I am also more diligent in making sure a product designed to increase efficiency doesn’t inadvertently cause more problems than it solves or create more workload for the Warfighter.

It all comes back to the Soldiers—supporting them in all aspects of what we do as engineers. In Afghanistan I wasn’t simply a CP&I engineer, I was part of a collaborative team working toward a common goal. I have now come to realize that the course of success in supporting our Warfighter is found in cooperative collaboration between agencies and all of our armed services.

RELATED LINKSCERDEC: http://www.cerdec.army.mil/

“I have a greater appreciation and understanding for life as a deployed Warfighter and their reliance upon their equipment and particularly upon the need for electrical power.”

— Mike Zalewski

18 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

ARL Public Affairs

WASHINGTON — U.S. Army Research Laboratory scientists have recently developed a new method that allows a team of robots to maintain radio connectivity when executing a complex mission such as collectively mapping the interior of a building.

There are many challenges that exist in the area of mobile robotics, including maintaining radio-based connectivity in a complex environment, which is hindered by the rapid fading or fluctuation of received radio signal strength.

Jeffrey Twigg, Dr. Jonathan Fink, Dr. Paul Yu, and Dr. Brian Sadler of ARL’s Computational and Information Sciences Directorate have developed an algorithm that fulfills their goal of enabling robots to identify a radio source and map the connectivity region in an unknown, indoor environment.

The algorithm developed pairs geometric exploration of an unknown environment with a radio-source seeking behavior which drives a robot towards areas consisting of increased signal-to-noise ratio.

The robots are able to repeatedly carry out inexpensive analysis of local radio signal strength and use the information to plan their team moves in order for them to all remain networked.

The robot used in the experiments for this method, which is able to record radio signal strength indicator, is known as the Scarab, which is a small indoor ground platform equipped with a differential drive system, onboard computation, wireless communication, a Zigbee radio which is used for experimental measurements, and a scanning laser range finder used to

provide self-localization.With this development, it is possible for

robots to be guided to a signal source in an efficient manner, avoiding both random and exhaustive exploration and overwhelming the computing abilities of the small robots.

Also, due to the fact that this newly developed method does not require previous knowledge of the environment being explored, with the exception of the challenges of fading, and does not require a map prior to the start of the exploration, it can be used in a wide array of scenarios.

“Maintaining network connectivity in a complex and unknown environment is a challenge that the Army has worked on for decades, and we are working on fundamental techniques that employ autonomous agents to maintain connectivity, and continuously provide critical situational awareness services to the Soldier,” said Sadler.

Sadler also said that he and the other scientists apply the same ideas to collaborating robots that can explore an unknown area, make a map, and provide sensing such as finding biological or other threats.

“The problem is richly multi-disciplinary, combining network science, sensing and autonomy,” Sadler stated.

This new method is a significant advancement in the areas of networking and robotics, and has created great leverage for the development of effective teams of small robots for Army missions.

RELATED LINKSARL Online: http://www.arl.army.mil/

New method developed by ARL helps robots stay networked

“We are working on fundamental techniques that employ autonomous agents to maintain connectivity, and continuously provide critical situational awareness services to the Soldier.”

— Dr. Brian Sadler

By Ed Petersen and Shahram Dabiritt AMRDEC Public Affairs

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — For the past three years, the Navy’s underwater robotics program, SeaPerch, has been used to introduce local students to the art and science of engineering.

SeaPerch has had varying levels of success throughout the nation. The Picatinny Arsenal SeaPerch program has become an innovative leader in educational outreach as the program has evolved.

Scientists and engineers from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s armament center have been working with staff from the Picatinny Youth Center to continuously improve the program.

The Picatinny SeaPerch program began in 2009 and involved a group of 25 students assisted by five scientists and engineers. The technical personnel first familiarized themselves with the program by building a number of working remote controlled underwater vehicles with instructions provided by a visiting NavSea instructor.

At the start of the summer Youth Camp, students were shown functional vehicles that the technical personnel had made. The students’ mission was to build an underwater vehicle capable of maneuvering though submerged hoops and retrieving a metal plate using a magnet.

In the first year, DOTC STEM experimented with providing students extra material such as unnecessary fittings and extra lengths of pipe.

The results were mixed. Many robots that the students came up with were simply enlarged, standard designs of the SeaPerch model that had been demonstrated to them.

In the following year, the program expanded to two classes of 25 students each, supported by 10 scientists and engineers. The design aspect was further enhanced by not providing detailed instructions or a model that the students could copy. Students had to function as an Integrated Product Development Team.

Their mission was to design, develop, build, present and test unique designs to solve the underwater challenge. The variation in designs increased dramatically.

This year DOTC-STEM and the Picatinny Youth Center continued to move forward with innovative open architecture student outreach.

Three highly qualified instructors were added to the Picatinny STEM Academy. During an intensive one-week session, students worked on solving engineering problems.

Underwater robotics challenge students

19RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

By Joyce Conant ARL Public Affairs

FORT BELVOIR, Va. — The U.S. Army Research Laboratory Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate plans to conduct small-scale ammunition compartment experiments to support the development of the Army’s new Ground Combat Vehicle, which requires effective ammunition compartmentalization to survive threat ballistic events.

ARL is taking the first steps to develop the technology to analyze and evaluate ammunition compartments for the ammunition stored on the GCV. The compartments, when fully developed, will help protect the vehicle and crew from munitions reactions (fires, etc.) if the vehicle is struck with an over-matching threat to the armor. The best known vehicle equipped with ammunition compartments is the Abrams Main Battle Tank, which was built in the early 1980s.

Greg Mannix, SLAD, has worked in ammunition development for more than 16 years. He said the compartment tests are vital.

“It is all about improving the survivability of our Soldiers and reducing GCV vulnerability,” said Mannix.

Once the small-scale experiments are completed, SLAD’s next step will be to perform larger scale compartment experiments, but these experiments require a significant amount of ammunition -- more than 1,000 30 mm air burst munitions at an estimated cost of $2.1 million.

Determined to save Army resources in an austere budget environment, Mannix and Jerry Watson, SLAD contractors with Altus Engineering, Churchville, Md., identified a viable Air Force surrogate munition with the same propellant and net explosive weight.

“The older ammunition is not as high-tech as the newer, more expensive ammunition, but it has the properties we need for the experiments,” said Watson. “A hidden advantage of the surrogate munition is that it is better than using the real rounds, because it eliminates range safety issues.”

Mannix and Watson reached out to engineers at Picatinny Arsenal and item mangers at the Air Force Ogden Air Logistics Center to acquire the munitions at a reduced cost.

As a result, Mannix and Watson gained the Air Force item manager’s approval and acquired 1,150 munitions for the GCV ammo compartment experimentation at a total cost of $2,700. The savings to the GCV program is valued at more than $2 million.

“The assistance we received from Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey and Hill Air Force Base in Utah was incredible,” said Mannix. “They were extremely collaborative and agreed to provide the munitions for the shipping costs.”

The surrogate ammunition arrived at Aberdeen Proving Ground on June 8. Mannix said the test rigs have been fabricated and integrated to existing range infrastructure and that the instrumentation is available.

“I’m confident our engineers, analysts, and range technicians will bring the state-of-the-art forward yielding improved infantry fighting vehicle ammo compartment survivability for our Soldiers,” said Mannix.

Watson said that the initial experiments will be a parametric study where a matrix of experiments will be performed.

“In this matrix, both the treat energy and the quantity of 30 mm ammunition will be varied while the blast output is measured,” said Watson. “The blast information will then allow the SLAD analysts to determine the level of reaction a compartment will experience for a variety of configurations, shot-lines and threat energy inputs. They will be able to effectively analyze and critique competing contractor designs while making suggestions for improvements.”

The larger follow-on experiments will also be a parametric study where compartment parameters (vent size, free volume, etc.) will be varied. The need for buffers and anti-fratricide bars between the ammunition components will also be investigated at this time to determine what is necessary to mitigate the reaction to its minimum level by preventing the sympathetic response between munitions in the compartment.

“Once completed, this study will produce the information that will enable the engineers to design a vehicle that has the best vehicle vulnerability and crew survivability characteristics possible to protect our troops while they are fighting,” said Watson.

RELATED LINKSARL Online: http://www.arl.army.mil/

ARL improves Soldier survivability and reduces vulnerabilities

Thomas Adkins, SLAD, (right) shows Greg Mannix (left) and Jerry Watson (center) the 30mm munitions that were provided by the U.S. Air Force for the cost of shipping, which was $2,700, an saved nearly $2 million. (U.S. Army photo)“It is all about

improving the survivability of our Soldiers and reducing GCV vulnerability”

— Gregg Mannix

20 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

By Dan Lafontaine RDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Army scientists are researching improved technology to detect chemical hazards to ensure the safety of Soldiers against emerging threats.

Rod Fry, a chemist with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, is helping to lead the effort for RDECOM’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.

ENLISTED SOLDIER BECOMES RESEARCHER

Fry described his atypical path that led to a career as a scientist conducting sophisticated military research.

“Throughout high school, I was never a

very good student. I wasn’t very focused,” he said. “After high school, I had very little interest in going to college, [so] I enlisted in the Army as I was a combat medic.”

“I initially went in as a Reservist. It’s great work, very hard work. I was working 70-plus hours a week at a couple of different jobs. I realized what my life may end up being like if I didn’t go to college. The Army whipped me into shape.”

Because science and math came easy to him and his brother was studying chemistry, Fry began his academic career in chemistry and quickly fell in love with the subject. He earned a bachelor of science in chemistry with minors in mathematics and military science from the State University of New York at Brockport.

Fry then completed a doctorate in physical chemistry from Penn State

University, followed by a post-doctoral position for a year-and-a-half at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

The chance to re-join the Army, now as a scientist, to protect Soldiers from dangerous chemical threats enticed Fry to pursue a position at ECBC, he said.

“During my post-doctoral position at Los Alamos National Laboratory, I was working on a materials synthesis project,” Fry said. “It was interesting, but it didn’t have much of an excitement factor associated with it.

“When I heard about this job opportunity at ECBC, the thought of working with chemical warfare agents to help the Warfighter sounded like a very exciting opportunity. I previously was enlisted in the Army, so it was an opportunity to work again with an organization that I knew a lot about.”

Chemist helps bolster Army’s detection of emerging threatsRod Fry (right), a chemist with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, discusses the results of data collected on a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer instrument with chemist Edgar Gonzalez at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (U.S. Army photos by Tom Faulkner)

21RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

Rod Fry, a chemist with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, discusses his work at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

“I wanted to push my comfort level and get into the engineering side of [chemical and biological] defense. It’s been an excellent opportunity.”

— Dr. Rod Fry

After two years of working for a defense contractor supporting ECBC, Fry took a position as an Army civilian three-and-a-half years ago. He has supported the center’s Engineering Test Division for the last year-and-a-half as a scientific consultant focused on emerging threats.

“It takes a very special chemist to want to work with these compounds. Plenty of chemists would be too fearful to get in the lab and do the work needed to protect the Warfighter,” he said.

IMPROVING CHEMICAL DETECTORSThe Army initiated the Multi-Mission

Multi-Threat Detection, or M3TD, program to improve the performance of chemical detectors against enduring and emerging threats. ECBC is working with the Joint Project Manager for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Contamination Avoidance and private industry on the project.

For the last year Fry has focused on the M3TD program by coordinating efforts across ECBC’s Research and Technology, Engineering, and Program Integration directorates to ensure the organization successfully executes the detector testing.

M3TD allows companies that manufacture chemical-agent detectors to use Army expertise and laboratories to test their detectors against a broad range

of chemical challenges, he said.“The program provides an opportunity

for a large number of companies that develop chemical-agent detectors to improve their technical knowledge base, and update and improve their technologies toward enduring and emerging threats,” Fry said. “The focus is developing the next-generation chemical detector that the Warfighter can use to detect the full range of chemical threats.”

JPM NBC-CA purchased 19 detectors from 16 participating companies for testing. The program has two phases -- data collection and technology assessment.

After data collection is completed, the companies can add the spectral data to their detector libraries and improve their

algorithms in an effort to detect and identify enduring and emerging threats. JPM NBC-CA will then assess the detectors, with continued ECBC support, for technical and performance maturity in the technology assessment phase.

EXPANDING SCIENTIFIC REACH TO SUPPORT SOLDIERS

The strong reputation of ECBC scientists and engineers throughout the scientific community prompted Fry’s interest in the organization.

“There was a bit of an excitement factor associated with coming to work for ECBC, but I also knew about the reputation of ECBC,” he said. “Colleagues of mine from grad school work here, so I had that connection. [It was] an opportunity to work with a lot of top-notch scientists in addition to state-of-the-art analytical platforms and instrumentation. After my initial interview, I was sold.”

Fry also emphasized that he has been allowed to expand his scientific focus beyond his specific area of expertise

within chemistry. This freedom creates better capabilities and solutions for the end user -- Soldiers.

“The opportunity to work at ECBC has been quite different from what I originally expected. Most chemists who get their PhD will have their niche where they are often a world expert in a certain topic,” he said. “I wanted to push my comfort level and get into the engineering side of [chemical and biological] defense. It’s been an excellent opportunity if you don’t want to focus on a very narrow portion of the bigger picture.

“It’s easy to work for ECBC, earn the respect of the people here, and then branch out and get involved in any project that you want to. I haven’t been told, ‘You’re a chemist. You don’t really fit on this project.’ I have been embraced, and they often find ways to tap into the knowledge you have from your previous background and use your different perspectives to help achieve a better product for the Warfighter.”

RELATED LINKSYouTube: http://youtu.be/anXes6ozOIk

22 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

TO: Installation Managers and Employees

With the election season upon us and the 2012 presidential election right around the corner, I think it is very important that all federal employees are aware of the Hatch Act and the severe penalties associated with a Hatch Act violation.There are two employee categories that apply to the Hatch Act, “less restricted employees” and “further restricted employees”. Most employees at APG are “less restricted employees.” Pro-vided below are links to lists of partisan activities that “less restricted eEmployees” may and may not engage in:

n Permitted Activities - http://www.osc.gov/haFederalLessPermittedActivities.htm

n Prohibited Activities - http://www.osc.gov/haFederalLessRestrisctionandActivities.htm

Some employees fall into the “further restricted employee” category. Employees in this cat-egory work in intelligence and enforcement type positions. The category also includes mem-bers of the Senior Executive Service. Provided below are links to lists of partisan activities that “further restricted employees” may and may not engage in:

n Permitted Activities - http://www.osc.gov/haFederalFurtherPermittedActivities.htm

n Prohibited Activities - http://www.osc.gov/haFederalFurtherRestrisctionandActivities.htm

Although the Hatch Act does not prohibit employees from expressing opinions about political matters in the workplace, I believe a safe practice for most individuals is to simply not engage in any political discussion at all. If an employee does decide to engage in political discussion, he must make sure that his opinions do not turn into formal endorsements for a particular political party, because such discussions could have serious repercussions to the career of the employee.For information about the Hatch Act, I recommend visiting the U.S. Office of Special Counsel’s website and their “questions and answers” page (links provide below). Anyone at Aberdeen Proving Ground with questions should direct them to Chris Gomez of my office. He can be reached at (410) 306-1713, Christopher.Gomez1.civ@mail.mil.

n http://www.osc.gov/hatchact.htm

n http://www.osc.gov/haFederalfaq.htm

Respectfully,

Leslie Lovick, Aberdeen Proving Ground Civilian Personnel Advisory Center

From the CPAC Director’s Office

23RDECOM’s THE INSIDER

By Dan Lafontaine RDECOM Public Affairs

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. —After more than four decades of scientific inquiry and leadership with the U.S. Army, Jim Baker considers his colleagues to be a second family.

“Working at [Edgewood Chemical Biological Center] has been a wonderful experience for me,” he says. “I’d like to leave here and [have] people say, ‘I knew Jim Baker, and he was a really nice guy. I really enjoyed working with him. He seemed like a fair and honest individual.’ It’s a great place to work.”

Baker’s 43 years of commitment to America’s Soldiers, first as an active-duty officer and then as a civilian scientist, has yielded significant improvements for defense against chemical and biological threats. In a variety of research and management positions, Baker’s work has produced better protective masks, collective protection shelters and personal decontamination kits.

BEGINNINGS OF A CAREER Baker began working here in 1969. After

completing his doctorate, he began active duty as a first lieutenant chemical officer at Chemical Systems Laboratory, which is now known as ECBC.

He described his first duties at Edgewood as establishing that the agent sarin could be safely incinerated.

“When I walked in here, the day after Thanksgiving 1969, my civilian boss said to me, ‘Graduate degree in organic chemistry. Have I got a job for you.’ They had told the colonel who ran the place that the way to get rid of the GB (nerve agent sarin) stockpile was to incinerate it,” Baker said. “There was good reason to do that, and it made good sense, but they didn’t have the data to show that it could be done safely.”

“They sent me to a building on Beach Point Road, and I built an incinerator. I burned up liter quantities of GB to prove that we could do it safely and that no GB made it through the incinerator. It was organic chemistry but in reverse. That became the process to get rid of the stockpile.”

Baker said he developed an interest in chemistry at an early age in rural Illinois that continued through his academic and professional careers. He earned a bachelor of science in chemistry at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1964 and then continued his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin.

When his faculty adviser moved to Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Baker followed and

completed his doctorate in organic chemistry.“When I was a kid, I used to play in my

mother’s kitchen with the spices and stuff from the cabinets and mix things up. I think I was meant to be a chemist from an early age but never really figured it out until I got into college,” he said.

Baker had a two-year commitment with the Army through the Reserve Officer Training Corps, but the Army released him early because of downsizing to the active-duty force at the end of the Vietnam War era.

Baker said he did not know what he wanted to do as a profession after leaving active duty.

“The Army put me out on what is probably the worst job market since the recent recession. I wrote -- on a manual typewriter -- 140 letters to companies inquiring about the possibility of employment,” he said. “Only seven of them even had the courtesy to write me back and say they really weren’t offering any jobs.

“I had one interview near Atlanta with a company that makes contact paper, the sticky stuff that you put on kitchen cabinet shelves. They introduced me to their research and development department. I was really not impressed. I had been offered the possibility of a position here. It just wouldn’t materialize for a couple of months. I’ve been here ever since,” he said.

FOUR DECADES OF BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY

Baker, who currently serves as ECBC’S associate director, continues to support Soldiers 41 years after joining the Army as a civilian scientist. His areas of expertise are decontamination and individual protection.

Baker moved quickly to management positions after a short time in the laboratory as a chemist. He has held numerous positions, including chief of Decontamination and Individual Protection Branch, chief of Decontamination Systems Division, and chief scientist and deputy director of Research and Technology Directorate.

Significant advances in biology and chemistry during the last 40 years have changed how ECBC scientists support America’s national defense, he says.

The sequencing of the human genome has been one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in this arena, Baker said. ECBC now has a laboratory that sequences genomes to assist the organization’s research and development of chemical and biological detectors.

“It gives us insight into how someone could genetically engineer a material and make a bacteria or virus that our detectors might not be able to detect,” he said. “We have to make sure we are staying on the cutting-edge of the science to make sure the basis of our detection systems is soundly based in science so that we can’t be fooled or tricked into missing something.”

PROTECTING SOLDIERSAdvances in technology, equipment,

materials and computing have revolutionized scientific and engineering processes since his days in the laboratory, Baker said. He described improvements from ECBC in the fields of skin decontamination kits, protective masks and detectors.

“When I was the head of the decontamination division, we helped the medical community develop a new dry decontaminant for skin. We had been using a wet kit, which was

ECBC scientist reflects on 43 years of service

Jim Baker serves as associate director of the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. (U.S. Army photo by Tom Faulkner)

“When I walked in here, the day after Thanksgiving 1969, my civilian boss said to me, ‘Graduate degree in organic chemistry. Have I got a job for you.’”

— Dr. Jim Baker

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

24 SEPTEMBER 2012 – ISSUE NO. 3

Contact UsThe INSIDER is an internal information product of RDECOM G5/Public Affairs 3071 Aberdeen Blvd., Room 103, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005.(410) 306-4539

G5 Director: Linda Longo, linda.longo@us.army.mil

Public Affairs Officer: Joe Ferrarejoseph.ferrare.civ@mail.mil

Editor: David McNallydavid.mcnally@us.army.mil

Please send us your feedback!

Go to http://facebook.com/USArmyRDECOM — also search for Dale Ormond

Go to http://twitter.com/rdecom to follow also search @DaleOrmond

planning your Labor Day event.”nAllow yourself plenty of time to travel to your destinationnPlan for possible traffic delaysnDrive defensively, and never drive while fatigued or under the influence of alcohol or medication.

“Some people will use the holiday as an opportunity to work around the house and yard,” Ormond said. “Those who take on home improvement projects need to practice sound risk management skills. Also, inspect your work area to include clearing your work space of tripping hazards, increasing your awareness of potential hazards, and ensuring someone monitors your status in the event of an emergency.”

Safety officials encourage all RDECOM employees to be safe, enjoy the holiday, and take especially good care of family members. In the U.S. Army, Labor Day is the final extended weekend of the “101 Critical Days of Summer” campaign. Many people plan to spend time with family and friends celebrating before the start of school and the onset of cooler weather.

“I hope that you will return from your weekend feeling rested, energized, and full of renewed enthusiasm for the important work you do every day to support our Warfighters,” Ormond said. “Always remember, Army Safe is Army Strong!”

Jim Baker poses for a high school portrait before embarking on a 43-year journey with the U.S. Army. (Courtesy photo)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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effective, but it also had some drawbacks,” he said. “It was a little bit caustic, a little bit corrosive. It left your skin in bad shape. The new material [that] came along was a sorbent resin and became the standard. Now it’s used for equipment decontamination as well as skin decontamination.”

The Joint Service General Purpose Mask, also known as the M-50, is an example of Army research and development leading to a significantly improved product for all military branches, Baker said. The Navy and Air Force, whose previous generation masks were badly outdated, have fielded more than 400,000 M-50 masks through the program manager for protection.

“That’s a success story for us. That program started here. The technology started here. The development was done by engineers in support of the program manager,” he said. “Interestingly, the Army hasn’t started to adopt that mask yet because the mask that preceded it, the M-40, is a very good mask, also developed here. It’s a logistics issue. They are both good masks. The Army will eventually start fielding the M-50.

“The mask has improved greatly since I first had one in the laboratory, which was an M-9. It worked, but it was rather clumsy looking compared with today’s technology.”

Better chemical detectors in today’s laboratories also make for a safer work environment, he says.

“Ion mobility spectrometry and mass spectrometry has greatly increased the sensitivity and selectivity,” Baker says. “When I worked in the laboratory and I spilled agent in the hood, there was a gas chromatograph that monitored the hood.

“Today, we have small DAAMS, tubes and other things [that] do that monitoring with much more accuracy and efficiency.”

BOLSTERING ECBC’S FUTURE One of Baker’s responsibilities as ECBC

associate director is professional staff development. He emphasized his confidence for the organization’s future as he has worked with its young scientists and engineers.

“One of the reasons that I haven’t retired yet is that I get to work with a lot of young people. They just simply light up my day,” he says. “It’s so nice to look at the young people here and say, ‘There’s a future for this place.’ That’s invigorating.

“We must bring young people into the organization because, otherwise, a bunch of old fogies like me will retire, and we’ll take our knowledge with us, and we won’t have transferred it to anybody. With the young people coming in, we get a chance to mentor them and help them learn about what we think we know about this business.

“Our first goal in the strategic plan has to do with people -- mentoring our people and making sure we have the right people at the place at the right time,” he says.

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