Army scientists collaborate, share research

By David McNally, ARL Public AffairsSeptember 15, 2016

Army scientists collaborate, share research
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Army scientists collaborate, share research
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Army scientists collaborate, share research
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Army scientists collaborate, share research
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ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Officials from the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command began two-days of meetings and briefings at the Army Research Laboratory.

Home-on-home style workshops bring two organizations together to share information and discover areas for potential collaboration.

"We very much want to support SMDC in whatever way we can," acting ARL Director Dr. Philip Perconti told the visitors. "That is why we think this is a really important meeting for us to have…so we can get together and you can see our areas of expertise and how you can take advantage of the research that's going on here."

The SMDC Technical Center at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, has the mission to "research, develop, test and integrate capabilities for materiel solutions in tactical space, high-altitude, missile defense, cyberspace, directed energy and other related areas of technology," according to their website.

"We want to be sure that our experts and our researchers are cognizant about what you're doing in the areas that you're working and we may be able to pull some of those technologies forward into the applied work that SMDC is doing," said William "Bill" Colson, director of the SMDC Technical Center. "Our goal is to look at where we can leverage each other."

Colson said pockets of relationships are already in place.

"If we can build on that and expand it a little bit, make sure that we have good connectivity and understanding each other in what we're doing, I believe the Army is going to benefit from that," he said. "I'm trying to look at Army [Science and Technology] as an enterprise."

Colson said he is very familiar with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, the laboratory's parent organization.

"In fact, I was here all last summer working as director of Programs and Engineering over at RDECOM for Maj. Gen. Wharton," he said. "I got to know ARL pretty well through that experience. I certainly see ARL as foundational to all the S&T efforts going on across the Army enterprise."

Scientists and engineers from both organizations gave detailed briefings on their research activities.

"I think since you're spending this much time, it's useful to think about what our expectations are for this meeting and what a potential outcome might be that looks favorable," said Dr. Jeff Zabinski, acting director, ARL Weapons and Materials Research Directorate. "We're getting together and we're talking with each other. We're opening a dialog. We're going to tell you what we do, what's important to us, what our needs are and I think, SMDC, you're going to do the same thing. You're going to tell us what you're needs are, what you're working on."

Zabinski said the hope is that the two organizations would find a way to work together.

"Somewhere in there, if we find a way to perhaps work with each other, collaborate, leverage each other in such a way that the Army gets something better than it had if we didn't meet," he said. "That's a pretty good expectation."

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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.

Army scientists collaborate, share research

Related Links:

U.S. Army Research Laboratory

U.S. Army Materiel Command

U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center

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