HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Renowned scholars and from around the world converged here to attend the 2017 International Annual Conference for Engineering Management.
"We know better than most that our military could not accomplish its mission without the solid and long-term partnerships we enjoy with the engineering community within academia and industry," said Army Materiel Command's Executive Deputy to the Commanding General Lisha Adams. "So thank you for what your companies and institutions do in support of the American Soldier."
She highlighted the importance engineering solutions within the U.S. Army. "It is more critical today than ever before to ensure our Soldiers are the best equipped, best trained, and best led to maintain overmatch of our near peer competitors."
Adams described the inspiration and dedication of engineers who work with the Army. "I believe it is this noble cause, to save lives on the battlefield, which inspires our engineers to be creative and innovative."
Frances Alston, the incoming president of the American Society for Engineering Management said, "Ms. Adams was very inspiring, I appreciated how she placed emphasis on the need for engineers to embrace imagination and creativity to help solve Army engineering hurdles.
Adams explained how Industry and academia have long partnered with the U.S. Army to produce many world-changing innovations. "From communication to healthcare to transportation and beyond, we have made great things, helpful things, and we've made them together."
She went on to list a few of the Army's research initiatives such as: cooperative robotics for disaster relief, natural language communications for human-robot interaction, immersive virtual reality to enhance Soldier training, and cyber security hackathon.
In recent years, Army officials at the Army Research Laboratory have streamlined the process for developing Cooperative Research and Development Agreements -- the business framework for creating partnerships with the federal government -- through the use of open houses. Recently, ARL hosted its fourth annual open house hosting more than 400 representatives from industry and academia.
Adams concluded the keynote address with a quote from Helen Keller, "Alone we can do so little; but together we can do much."
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