ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (March 29, 2016) -- New Mexico state officials visited the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to discuss cooperative agreements March 24.
New Mexico Lt. Gov. John Sanchez led a state delegation to ARL's Rodman Materials Research Laboratory and Vehicle Technology Laboratory facilities to learn about working with Army scientists and engineers.
ARL Director Dr. Thomas Russell explained his organization's partnership initiatives with academia and industry. The lab launched Open Campus at its Adelphi, Maryland, and APG facilities last year to bolster cooperation.
"We're interested in partnerships. We have a presence in New Mexico, and we want to build on that," Russell said.
The organization has 152 cooperative research and development agreements, known as CRADAs, across the country, which represents a significant increase since 2010.
"It's about creating an environment and changing the culture," Russell said.
To ensure the United States maintains technological overmatch over potential adversaries, the Army needs the best ideas from all sectors of science and engineering, Russell said.
Sanchez and New Mexico State Rep. David Gallegos traveled to Maryland to learn about opportunities through ARL's CRADA with New Horizons Foundation, which the Lea County Commission and New Mexico Junior College created in 2011.
New Horizons Foundation is interested to learn about ARL research that is applicable to New Mexico's oil and gas drilling industry, Gallegos said.
Gallegos, who also visited ARL's APG facilities in September 2015, reiterated the CRADA is not an exchange of equipment or materials.
"The Army's expertise will help us through a transfer of knowledge to solve our problems," Gallegos said.
ARL demonstrated research areas that could assist in New Mexico's technological challenges. The briefings and tour included cold-spray technology; high-temperature materials research; tribology and lubrication research; and combustion sciences and fuel-spray research.
Russell discussed expanding ARL's partnerships with New Mexico universities and companies through White Sands Missile Range, where the lab has a significant number of employees.
ARL'S WSMR research is focused on vulnerability/assessment; countermeasures testing; infrared and electronic countermeasure support to testing of air defense missile systems; and developing next-generation mission execution forecast models.
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The U.S. Army Research Laboratory is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to ensure decisive overmatch for unified land operations to empower the Army, the joint warfighter and our nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
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