Army innovation award winners announced at AUSA's Global Symposium

By Kari Hawkins, AMCApril 3, 2018

Army Innovation Award
The Rapid Fabrication via Additive Manufacturing on the Battlefield or R-FAB allows Soldiers to manufacture essential parts in the field with 3-D printing. It won recognition for the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Combi... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- An Army captain, a civilian engineer and a technology center were recognized with the Major General Harry Greene Award for Army Innovation during the 2018 Association of the U.S. Army's Global Force Symposium and Exhibition, March 27, here.

Capt. Daniel Harder, a research civil engineer with the Corps of Engineers' Engineer, Research and Development Center, received the individual award in the military category in recognition of the Helical anchor bolts he designed for the Army's mat system.

The mat system, a series of large, hard surface mats that are bolted together to resemble a portable and temporary road, is used to allow the transportation of Army tanks, vehicles and other heavy equipment over sand or other types of loose terrain. Harder redesigned the bolts that attach the mats together to eliminate the wear and tear on equipment tires and tracks.

Patrick Doyle, the Cyber Security Information Assurance Division lead electronics engineer at the Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, received the individual award in the civilian category for leading the development of the Common High-Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor Interoperable (HAIPE) Manager for Efficient Remote Administration (CHIMERA).

The technology configures, inventories, sanitizes and restarts Type 1 HAIPE devices from one platform in a central location, Doyle said, enabling Soldiers to have better situational awareness while saving the Army time, money and manpower. Because the data is government developed and government owned, this program provides significant cost reductions. In addition, it reduces risk to warfighters by enabling them to remotely control multiple encryptors from a safe location.

The winner in the group category was an honor shared by the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center's James Zunino, David Sabanosh and Ryan Petillo, and the Combined Arms Support Command's Capt. Mark Rodriguez. The two organizations were recognized for the development of the Rapid Fabrication via Additive Manufacturing on the Battlefield or R-FAB. The expeditionary system consists of 3-D printers inside a two-sided expandable shelter that protects equipment during transportation and expands to provide a climate controlled work area. The system gives Soldiers the ability to manufacture essential parts and design new parts using 3-D computer-aided design and printing at the point of need.

The Greene award is part of the Army's Greatest Innovation Awards Program, which recognizes the technological contributions of Soldiers and Army civilians that enhance Army readiness and soldier performance. The award program is managed by the Army Materiel Command in partnership with the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology.

Greene, the namesake of the award, was the deputy commanding general of the Combined Security Transition Command in Afghanistan when he was killed on Aug. 5, 2014, during an insider attack while the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul. He was the first American general officer to be killed by combat fire since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Throughout his 34 years of Army service, Greene spent much of his career in acquisitions, serving in several leadership positions in the Army research, science and technology fields.