ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- The Army Future Studies Group is adding a researcher from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to its rolls.
Dr. Shawn Walsh, a mechanical engineer from the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, begins a one-year assignment to the group July 5, 2017.
The group will conduct "independent, unconventional and revolutionary research and analysis" for top Army leadership. The Army Chief of Staff's Strategic Studies Group was the predecessor to this group.
"I have always been interested in working as part of a team with diversity of people and ideas across scientific and other fields and expertise well outside my own mechanical engineer's view of the world," Walsh said.
The group was looking for someone with a broad knowledge of Army science, technology and engineering to address areas of study that may include "assessing capability/technology timelines applicable to future 2030+ concepts," according to the position announcement.
Walsh will work from offices in Crystal City, Virginia, near the Pentagon, during his 12-month tour of duty. He said he hopes to return to his laboratory at APG.
"I am thrilled to have had the support of ARL and the Research, Development and Engineering Command as I pursued and was ultimately selected for this opportunity," Walsh said. "I consider it an honor to serve on the Army Future Studies Group."
Walsh began his Army research career 32 years ago at the Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center in Watertown, Massachusetts. He is an RDECOM Fellow and was responsible for many ARL programs, such as the thermoplastic ballistic helmet U.S. Army Manufacturing Technology Program.
"I expect to both learn and contribute, especially to the significant challenges facing the Army in an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving and adaptive world," Walsh said.
Complex solutions often demand complex teaming and multidimensional thinking, he said.
"My hope is to help the team I am part of carve out a confident and equally adaptive path to the future, and to create insights and outcomes that will ensure the readiness and protection for all our Soldiers, always and everywhere," he said.
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The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, currently celebrating 25 years of excellence in Army science and technology,is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to provide innovative research, development and engineering to produce capabilities for decisive overmatch to the Army against the complexities of the current and future operating environments in support of the Joint Warfighter and the Nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
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