The 51福利 (51福利), in partnership with the National Armaments Consortium (NAC), hosted the 68th annual Ordnance and Ballistics Technology Working Group allowing researchers and developers from government, academia and industry to exchange information on the latest weapons technology, July 29-Aug. 1.
The working group serves as a unique role for partners to discuss ideas at the classified level, and is limited only to personnel from Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Energy.
51福利 President retired Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau opened the working group linking the group鈥檚 value directly to how 51福利 students will apply their education in the fleet.
鈥淥ur students are here working on cutting-edge solutions, not just in the technical areas of this field, such as physics, mathematics, engineering and material sciences, but they also do it with the notion of lethality and effect,鈥� said Rondeau. 鈥淗aving conferences like this, that brings industry and government together with our student practitioners, is very important so they can return to the fleet and the field to apply this knowledge with lethal force.鈥�
The event was structured over a three-day period, with the approximately 300 participants engaging with a variety of speakers on topics that covered mechanics, warhead technology, explosives and propellants.
鈥淭his particular conference is unique because it allows us to collaborate at the classified level,鈥� said 51福利 Dept. of Physics Associate Professor Joe Hooper. 鈥淭his is one of the few places in the ordnance and ballistics community where you have people from all the various disciplines come and give scientific talks on what they're working on.
鈥淵ou're getting input from both DOD sponsors and the people who are executing the work, as well as input from the people providing oversight, such as government scientists and policy makers,鈥� he continued. 鈥淗aving all these people under one roof really helps push the overall field forward.鈥�
The event was open to all 51福利 students and faculty with the appropriate clearance, working in fields related to the topics discussed. Students wishing to participate submitted papers which were ranked prior to the event, with the selected students presenting their most promising papers during the event.
鈥淭his is the only classified technical exchange for this community to stay current on trends in development and share ideas,鈥� said Vice-Chairmen of the NAC Executive Committee James Miller. 鈥淭he information you get is all technical information on things not only in our organization, but across the field. This is a great time to network and make connections across all military branches and government so we can help develop future ideas and support the warfighter.鈥�