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Today, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) recognized awardees of the 2024 Young Investigator Program (YIP).

More than 225 representatives of technology-focused small businesses joined a webinar, Oct. 23, to learn the ins and outs of the contracting process for awards through the Office of Naval Research. The Office of Small Business (OSB) at ONR initiated the webinar with the help of Virginia PTAC, an APEX Accelerator program that is partially funded through the Department of Defense (DoD) and administered by George Mason University.

Seeking out new technology or exciting ideas at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global is something of a treasure hunt. Dr. Scott Walper, science director, ONR Global, says the search for innovative projects can take him and his team of program officers all over the world, relying on a bit of luck — or serendipity — to strike gold. But recently, Walper said he and his predecessor for Synthetic Biology at ONR Global, Dr. Patrick Rose, who is now with SPRIND (Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation) had an idea to try something a little different. Walper said, “The thought was we would put out a call for a ‘Serendipity Collective,’ where we would sponsor a workshop and ask people to tell us their craziest ideas”. To attract innovators, the team worked with the company IdeatePlus. Walper said Kevin D'Silva, IdeatePlus CEO, and his team were instrumental in helping develop and manage the event, setting up a web-based platform to crowdsource and push out a social media campaign. The website generated 73 concepts from more than 225 active participants. The information was collected and shared it with a team of experts, including an artist, engineer, scientist and someone from the humanities. The experts scored proposals based on originality and feasibility. Eight teams were then invited to the “Serendipity Collective” held in Berlin in May. From those core concepts, another panel of experts composed of representatives from ONR Global, DEVCOM, the VW (Volkswagen) Foundation and SPRIND picked the ones they wanted to sponsor with an award of $50,000 to kick-start their efforts.

A few of the next generation’s brightest scientists recently had the opportunity to present their research and take part in a meeting of the NATO Science and Technology Board (STB). The STB hosted the event in Helsinki, Finland, Sep. 18-22, marking the first major NATO committee held in Finland since it joined the Alliance in April. The objective of the event was to engage with the next generation of scientists and introduce them to the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) by giving them the opportunity to present their research and to take part in a meeting of the STB.

Identify an issue and work to resolve it. That kind of work ethic exemplifies one of the most recent Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal winners, Lt. Cmdr. Sam Hughes, who worked with TechSolutions, at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global, to create a new, more efficient way to train radar operators. Hughes came up with the idea to use a simulation program for training radar operators while working as the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Integrated Product Team (IPT) lead at the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWC TSD). The new radar simulator trains up to 14 people at one time with a standardized training method. While Hughes’ name is written on the certificate from the DoN, he stressed it was a team effort that helped push the new radar operations training forward. “This is 100% not me. It was a team effort and as soon as we get it out to the fleet and it works, that'll be the greatest award I could receive.”

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 (ONR) has ended fiscal year 2023 with the highest rating from the Professional Services Council (PSC) for its outreach, transparency and thoroughness in acquisition forecasts. The Department of the Navy’s ranking on the PSC scorecard is a big change from previous years according to Ellen Simonoff, director, Office of Small Business Programs. She said last year the DoN pushed an initiative to get a higher ranking and succeeded, in part, by getting all of the Navy commands to have their long-range acquisition estimates correspond to each other in terms of how and what information was published.

A TechSolutions sponsored project has been honored with an award from the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) for its TS-872 Breathing Dynamics Trainer, created in a collaboration with the Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges Program Office at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR PMA-205) and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC). TechSolutions is a department within the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global, which quickly responds to viable requests for new or improved technologies or systems from Sailors and Marines. In the case of the Breathing Dynamics Trainer, Jason Payne, director, TechSolutions, said there was already training for pilots to experience hypoxia (low oxygen) using the Mask on Breathing Device (MOBD). However, TechSolutions received a request to expand its capabilities so that pilots could experience the effects of other breathing issues in a safe training environment, such as hyperoxia (too much oxygen) and excessive inhalation/exhalation pressures.

Today, the White House Office of Science, Technology, and Policy (OSTP) released the “National Strategy for Aquatic Environmental DNA.” The Environmental DNA (eDNA) Task Team had 10 federal agencies participating in drafting the strategy and included significant scoping and engagement of the private sector, academia and non-profit organizations.

For excellence in research areas such as rocket engines and autonomous vehicles, the Department of the Navy’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions Program recently presented $15,000 scholarship awards to five students competing in the 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, California.