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The Science of Autonomy program is part of the Office of Naval Research's Naval Air Warcraft and Weapons Department.

Student engineering teams from Princeton, Washington College and the University of Alabama have won first place in their respective events at the “Promoting Electric Propulsion” (PEP) boat races, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE). In just six years, this electric boat-building competition has grown from a single university to 34, with more than 200 students who took part in the five-mile races on Broad Bay in Virginia Beach. Dr. Steve Russell, program officer, Sea Warfare and Weapons department, said he launched the PEP competition with a colleague from ASNE, Dr. Leigh McCue, and Tim Cullis, Naval Sea Warfare Center Carderock, after seeing a public race by local hobbyists in the Chesapeake Bay.

Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Don Walsh, best known for his daring dive to the deepest spot on Earth, nearly 36,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, has died at age 92. Walsh was a co-pilot of the Trieste bathyscaphe, a deep submergence vehicle acquired by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in 1958. Two years later, on January 23, 1960, Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard, son of the inventor of the bathyscaphe, became the first humans to descend into the Challenger Deep, located in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench. “ONR sponsored the Trieste, but it was then-Lt. Don Walsh who made the very daring decision to make the first descent into the deepest spot of the earth’s ocean. Walsh was a Navy officer, a submariner, an adventurer, and an oceanographer. To his family, we extend our deepest condolences and gratitude for allowing him to explore, and share his extraordinary experiences and knowledge with us,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus.

The Office of Naval Research recently sponsored the Defend the Republic STEM competition at George Mason University in Virginia. The contest featured lighter-than-air vehicles, also called blimps.

In the coming years, the U.S Navy and Marine Corps will encounter new challenges to their operational capabilities. From climate change to adversaries with enhanced technological capabilities, these challenges will require forces that are innovative, agile, and ready to adapt to new realities. How naval forces will confront these challenges will be the topic of a conversation with Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Lorin C. Selby, hosted during the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition, April 3-5, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

The future of naval engineering was on display last week, as 13 teams of high school and college students did battle at the ninth annual RoboBoat Competition in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR), Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane) and the NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge recently sponsored a three-stage competition called the Artificial Intelligence for Small Unit Maneuvers (AISUM) Prize Challenge.

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