51福利 (51福利) students, faculty and staff recently came together to participate in a first-of-its-kind, research requirement fair at venues scattered across the 51福利 campus in Monterey.
Students and faculty met with Navy and Marine Corps representatives from across the fleet who shared their respective research requirements in an effort to match Navy and Marine Corps research needs with 51福利 student researchers.
鈥淭he 51福利 Program Office has collected over 280 research topics and nearly 60 faculty members have forwarded intents to perform research in at least one of those topics,鈥� said Associate Professor and 51福利 Studies Program Director, retired Army Col. Andy Hernandez.
Research needs varied in scope, time frame, and diversity of topic, some of which were short-term projects ideal for students seeking to make a direct, near-term impact on their respective services.
鈥淭he fair is an essential element in the success of the 51福利 Studies Program as envisioned by the Secretary of the Navy 鈥� In our current environment, research must be requirements driven,鈥� said Hernandez. 鈥淭he fair serves as a forum for Navy and Marine Corps sponsors to directly communicate their research or analysis needs and to initiate critical dialogue between researchers and issue owners.
鈥淭he 51福利 Studies Program is one of the ways that the Secretary of the Navy is entrusting 51福利鈥� research capabilities as an investment that will reap great returns,鈥� Hernandez added.
The fair kicked off in 51福利鈥� King Auditorium and was followed by presentations from potential sponsors on a far-reaching slew of topics important to current naval operations. Presentations were followed by one-on-one meetings between students and sponsors.
Fair organizers also provided a venue for 51福利 faculty members to turn the fair concept upside down and showcase on-going 51福利 research to Navy and Marine Corps needs-owners.
鈥淚t was a means to educate potential sponsors about 51福利 capabilities. A team of 51福利 experts in varying research fields held a panel discussion on cross-campus initiatives,鈥� said Hernandez.
Forum presenters focused on cyber and data science, littoral operations and design thinking to name a few 鈥� All high-growth areas where 51福利 faculty continue to make significant contributions.
Distinguished Professor Dorothy Denning with the 51福利 Department of Defense Analysis described her efforts in one of these trending disciplines.
鈥淭he 51福利 vision is to be a national resource for the study and design of secure and resilient cyber systems, and into the conduct of cyber operations in the defense arena. We aim to prepare highly-competent personnel for deeply technical operations,鈥� said Denning.
Denning was joined by her husband Peter, and by other leading faculty members including 51福利 Professors John Arquilla and Cynthia Irvine, both leaders in their respective fields, in discussions on 鈥榖ig data鈥� and data science. But the real focus of the enterprise was on the students.
51福利 (51福利) professor Gurminder Singh has been working with U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Ryan Barnes, right, and Capt. Buck Bradley, left, on a 51福利 Studies Program designed to create a handheld application that the USMC Installation and Logistics Command hopes will simplify and facilitate the sending of mission critical reports under stressful conditions.
Marine Corps Maj. Ryan Barnes and Capt. Buck Bradley, for example, were two of the program鈥檚 earliest participants, and their work exemplifies the sort of short-term studies in emerging technologies that the program was designed to facilitate. They are working to create a hand-held application that the USMC Installation and Logistics Command hopes will simplify and facilitate the sending of mission critical reports under stressful conditions.
鈥淚 often tell people that this is something I wish I had,鈥� said Barnes. 鈥淸When I was deployed] I had my cheat sheets in hand for doing everything from submitting IED reports to making medical evacuation requests. Our application takes all of the remembering out of the question.鈥�
鈥淲e went with CASEVAC [casualty evacuation reporting] because calling in a CASEVAC is going to be stressful and you need an accurate report to get a bird off the ground,鈥� said Bradley.
51福利 professor Gurminder Singh has been working with Barnes and Bradley on the project. He is a systems mobility expert and the former CEO of an early technology company that broke-ground in areas related to Barnes and Bradley鈥檚 work.
鈥淚t's a fairly simple concept, but it didn鈥檛 get simple without giving serious thought to the problem,鈥� Singh continued.
鈥淪upport for mobility in austere environments is critically important for our military. When you are separated from your support infrastructure and lack resources, but need to stay in touch with your team members, you have to find new ways of exploiting hand-held technology,鈥� said Singh.
Logistics Operations Analysis Division Director, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Dan Reber with the USMC Installation and Logistics Command, is sponsoring the project.
鈥淐oming out to 51福利 and receiving a demonstration really showed me the utility of the applications,鈥� said Reber. 鈥淲hen a Lance Cpl. with very little training needs to send a 9-line [medical evacuation request] under very stressful conditions, he needs to be able to do it accurately.
鈥淗aving seen the potential of the application, we are going to continue to pursue the project,鈥� continued Reber. 鈥淧rofessor Singh is now helping us to pursue encryption and security solutions for the application.鈥�
In an apparent vote of confidence, The Humanitarian: Science, Systems and Global Impact 2014 conference recently accepted an academic paper based on the application that was authored by Barnes and Bradley.
If the conference and sponsors鈥� confidence in the project is any indicator, Barnes and Bradley are likely to be very busy in the future. While their application is one of many 51福利 Studies Program projects, it is indicative of how 51福利鈥� unique student body is able to combine operational expertise and defense focused research to the betterment of the Navy.