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When in Rome, as the saying goes, do as the Romans do. So, when in Britain, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global does what the British do – take tea at least once a month with potential industry partners. Jeffrey Brewer, co-director, ONR Global London Tech Bridge (LTB), said the Tea and Tech engagement is more than just a fun event. Its aim is to find solutions to problems that have been identified by U.S. Navy and Marine personnel or by the Royal Navy. Most of the companies that are invited are based in the U.K., although other European-based companies as well as U.S. companies may be approached. “We meet with several innovative companies in a rapid-fire format,” said Brewer. “Companies have a limited time to make their pitches, and we have subject matter experts from both navies on hand to ask questions and provide feedback. It’s almost a “Shark Tank” format.”

TechSolutions has just celebrated its 1000th request for a technology-driven solution identified by the men and women who need it most – Sailors and Marines on the frontlines of the mission. “Necessity is the mother of invention, which is why it’s so important to deliver what our warfighters need when they need it – not five to ten years later, but as soon as possible,” said Capt. Andy Berner, commanding officer of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global, which oversees TechSolutions. “When a viable request comes in, TechSolutions works to put that technology into the hands of our Sailors and Marines within months while other procurement requests are still working their way through red tape.” TechSolutions received its 1000th request on Jan. 19. Jason Payne, director of TechSolutions, said they are looking forward to celebrating the next milestone, number 1500, which he hopes comes in sooner than the first 500 requests since warfighters can now contact TechSolutions directly by phone, email, Teams, or through the ONR mobile app.

A research project from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global is providing valuable information about the effects of melting glaciers in Patagonia that feed into coastal fjords, transporting sediments, freshwater and nutrients. Dr. Chris Konek, science director at ONR Global in Chile, said the research will help the Department of the Navy (DoN) understand the effects of a changing climate on the coastal environment. “That’s the kind of the thing the Marines need to be able to handle,” he said. “It’s basic research and so it will help provide a fundamental understanding of this aspect of coastal systems where you can expect more things like this to happen in the future – more glacial melting as opposed to less.” Cristian Escauriaza, professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, is the principal investigator along with his university colleague, Megan Williams. They are working with the Filantropía Cortés-Solari, a conservation organization that owns and manages the Melimoyu Elemental Reserve in northern Patagonia. Patagonia is largely remote with a diverse ecosystem and a rich array of wildlife, including penguins and blue whales. Konek said ONR Global is interested in Escauriaza’s project for its potential to inform what’s happening to that ecosystem, which can also help inform what’s happening to other coastal regions experiencing the same challenges.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) — and its international arm, ONR Global — participated in the recent Autonomous Warrior 2023 (AW23) exercise, located at HMAS Creswell in Jervis Bay, Australia.

Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus will moderate a panel of industry leaders at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition, April 8-10, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Assessing surf zone conditions has never been an exact science for the Department of the Navy. That’s about to change thanks to a recent request to TechSolutions, which has resulted in new surf observation (SUROB) technology to make operational forecasts more precise. For the past six months, a team of scientists and engineers from the Naval Research Lab (NRL) and the U.S. Army’s Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) have been developing the technological tools needed to create a more precise surf observation report. In order to gain greater insight into how the surf observation tool may improve warfighter operations, NavalX recently organized a workshop that brought together the science and engineering developers with the Sailors and Marines who would use it. TechSolutions received the request less than a year ago for a technology-driven solution for surf observation from Maj. Zachary Taylor, a technology officer with the Marines’ Warfighting Lab. Within weeks, TechSolutions began working with the development team at NRL and ERDC to come up with a prototype.

The Office of Naval Research participated in Modern Day Marine, held April 30-May 2 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Modern Day Marine is the largest military equipment, systems, services and technology exposition exclusively targeted to the Marine Corps.

The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), the Hon. Carlos Del Toro, recently convened with representatives from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global's office in Santiago, Chile.

Two Office of Naval Research (ONR)-supported professors — Dr. Terrence Sejnowski of the University of California, San Diego and Dr. Haim Sompolinsky of Harvard University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem — recently won the 2024 Brain Prize for pioneering contributions to computational and theoretical neuroscience.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global has promoted Dr. Marcus Tepaske to the role of Technical Director, where he will lead experts in finding cutting-edge technologies and solutions and getting them into the hands of Sailors and Marines.