If a critical part breaks in the arctic, or other similarly remote and austere environments, forward-deployed warfighters can’t just order a replacement on the internet and have it shipped overnight. But what if they could manufacturer it onsite themselves? That was the premise behind the Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program’s first-of-its-kind Point of Need Manufacturing Challenge, held December 4-8, at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire. The event showcased technologies generated by member companies of the Department of Defense Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Six projects, selected for funding in March by ManTech and DoD expert judges, used the event to demonstrate that their systems could be deployed in a cold weather environment to help close supply chain gaps and enable warfighters to manufacture and utilize critical equipment right where they need it. “Material performance in the cold is different,” said Dr. Steven Wax, acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. “We must understand this to adapt to support current operations.” According to Stephen Luckowski, an advanced manufacturing associate at the Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center, CRREL was selected by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense to host the event because of the unique capabilities that exist at the laboratory. “The cold temperature capabilities at minus-60 degrees emulate the environments that we believe we will see in operations around the world,” Luckowski said. “This is a unique capability in the United States, and the only place where we could actually execute this type of work.” One of the industry participants, Anusha Iyer, CEO and founder of Vienna, Virginia-based Corsha, said the opportunity to work in such extreme cold temperatures was invaluable. “It’s been an incredible experience being able to come here and do this exercise at CRREL and really simulate that our platform can work at these kinds of extreme, austere temperatures and environments, and make sure that we’re putting in place technologies and solutions for the warfighter that will help them at point of need,” said Iyer, whose team demonstrated a platform that manages cybersecurity challenges presented by point-of-need manufacturing. “It’s only when you come into these types of settings that you see the unique constraints — everything that you take for granted sitting in an office or sitting in a secure data center that’s warmed up and continually connected — it’s a totally different playing field when you come into an environment like this. Everything from connectivity to cabling, to environmental constraints, are what we are solving for, and it’s great to do it in a live environment like this.” Defense officials from allied partner nations joined senior leaders and general officers from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the military services, defense agencies and the National Guard to witness manufacturing demonstrations in extreme cold temperatures. Wax was joined by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Deputy Commanding General Brigadier General David Trybula and DoD ManTech Director Tracy Frost in attending the event and interacting with and congratulating the developers on their accomplishments advancing the defense technologies to meet the warfighters’ needs. The event allowed CRREL’s scientists and engineers to demonstrate the laboratory’s capabilities and forge important relationships with defense industry and DoD personnel. “Hosting the Point of Need Challenge provided an opportunity for the CRREL community of scientists and engineers to not only support a significant DoD technology demonstration, but also to connect with, and develop, new partnerships with the larger DoD community of stakeholders,” said Dr. Joseph Corriveau, director of CRREL. “Through these partnerships our ultimate goal is to work together on tomorrow’s challenges, today.” Those new partnerships have already begun to pay dividends, according to Dr. Orian Welling, chief of CRREL’s Force Projection and Sustainment Branch. “Since the event, I’ve talked to several researchers who’ve been invited to engage on numerous topics, including participating in events this winter with SOCOM, holding trainings for our staff in Picatinny, and collaborating with researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Natick Soldier Center,” said Welling. The projects covered three challenges — the Warfighter Medical, Health and Nutrition Challenge; the Staying in the Fight Challenge; and the Cyber Challenge — and were assessed in real time by Soldiers, Marines, National Guardsmen and engineers. ManTech will invest nearly $2.5 million, while industry partners will contribute nearly $700,000 in cost share.

Katie Martin demonstrates the operations of the ERDC STORME table

With a long history of accurately modeling vessel maneuverability in American ports and harbors, the Ship Simulator at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) can be used by the military to plan, rehearse and train for amphibious operations around the world. Benefitting from ERDC’s deep expertise and understanding of the physical environment – including tide, current, wind and terrain – the simulator can also help leaders assess whether a planned mission can be executed within the parameters that have been defined. ERDC demonstrated these military capabilities of its Portable Ship Simulator during the Maneuver Support, Sustainment & Protection Integrating Experiments (MSSPIX 23), allowing it to reach a much larger audience than visiting an individual unit.

With a long history of accurately modeling vessel maneuverability in American ports and harbors, the Ship Simulator at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) can be used by the military to plan, rehearse and train for amphibious operations around the world. Benefitting from ERDC’s deep expertise and understanding of the physical environment – including tide, current, wind and terrain – the simulator can also help leaders assess whether a planned mission can be executed within the parameters that have been defined. ERDC demonstrated these military capabilities of its Portable Ship Simulator during the Maneuver Support, Sustainment & Protection Integrating Experiments (MSSPIX 23), allowing it to reach a much larger audience than visiting an individual unit.

Since its inception in 2010, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature® (EWN) initiative has made significant progress in developing and applying practical methods that demonstrate the benefits of an ecosystem approach to infrastructure development and operations. As a result, EWN features are increasingly being considered as an important component of coastal flood protection and dredged material management strategies. As the incorporation of Natural and Nature-Based Features in USACE projects has become more frequent, the need to accurately and efficiently model and test project designs has also increased. However, hydrodynamic numerical modeling of these features can be a time-consuming process, with limited guidance available on how to execute this workflow. To solve this challenge, researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center have developed the EWN Modeling Toolkit, a series of tools that enable more timely and accurate modeling of EWN features.

As missions evolve for the U.S. Military, so have the requirements for Airfield Damage Repair (ADR). The Department of Defense’s existing ADR capability requires significant manpower, equipment and pre-positioned material at key bases. But under its new adaptive basing concept of operations, the military’s ADR capability will need to be lighter and more agile. Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory collaborated with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) and the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) to develop an Expedient and Expeditionary Airfield Damage Repair (E-ADR) solution to deliver just enough, just in time solutions for the Warfighter.

As missions evolve for the U.S. Military, so have the requirements for Airfield Damage Repair (ADR). The Department of Defense’s existing ADR capability requires significant manpower, equipment and pre-positioned material at key bases. But under its new adaptive basing concept of operations, the military’s ADR capability will need to be lighter and more agile. Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory collaborated with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) and the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) to develop an Expedient and Expeditionary Airfield Damage Repair (E-ADR) solution to deliver just enough, just in time solutions for the Warfighter.

Dr. Ben Cox and fellow team members from the Airfields and Pavements Branch of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory utilize a new technique for creating hot mix asphalt. The researchers demonstrate how induction heating technology, similar to that of a microwave, can be leveraged to repair airfields and pavements throughout the world. This technology is one of many innovations that will be discussed during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Innovation Summit scheduled in October 2021.

Harmful algal blooms are a challenging problem that has impacted human and animal health, aquatic ecosystems and the economy of all 50 states. ERDC researchers and collaborators from Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and AECOM recently executed a pilot scale research demonstration project to assess the performance and scalability of a new system for removing and disposing blue-green algae from large water bodies. It’s called the Harmful Algal Bloom Interception, Treatment, and Transformation System, or HABITATS, and has shown promising results in breaking down algae and its toxins into useful products such as biofuels and fertilizer - using a process called hydrothermal liquefaction. Click on the video to learn more about this innovative research. For more information on the HABITATS research pilot go to: https://ansrp.el.erdc.dren.mil/ Lake Okeechobee Video: Jacksonville District & ERDC ACE-IT VI

The Joint Construction Management System (JCMS) explores its future functionality to be released in JCMS 5.0 (currently available as prototype software to operational units). The new functionality combines site selection and master planning solutions from the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) with existing JCMS (v4.1) software to address planning, design and construction of basecamps in forward areas. Through the exploitation of geospatial data, prioritization of commander's requirements, and master planning design tools, end users can create the full spectrum of contingency construction plans, georectified to a specific location, in accordance with UFC and theater specific guidance. A demonstration of the software is shown supporting a hypothetical disaster relief scenario. Contact: AFCS HelpDesk UROC-VTC@usace.army.mil | 877-ARMY-ENG | 601-634-2439 (DSN 312-446-2439)

Spiral 2 Technical Demonstration for Port Improvement via Exigent Repair Joint Capability Technology Demonstration: The Spiral 2 Technical Demonstration for PIER JCTD was recently held in Vicksburg, Mississippi, led by Dr. Mike Hammons. Spiral 2 demonstrated logistical agility via expedient mechanical repair kit sets developed by GSL for degraded pier substructure repair or reinforcement. Kit sets were installed on a simulated pier structure above and below water by divers from CHL’s Field Data Collection and Analysis Branch. Proof load tests were conducted by GSL’s Structural Analysis and Experimentation Team. Stakeholders and collaborators from multiple government entities attended.

Multiple DoD stakeholders attended a Water Egress Terrain Surfacing (WETS) Demonstration at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center to view testing of six matting systems to support heavy vehicles. The Vicksburg, Miss. based R&D center conducted thousands of tests with unfavorable soil conditions, slopes and driving conditions. Work with us - ERDCinfo@usace.army.mil

Decontamination Effluent Treatment System (DETS) ERDC conducted a "car wash" demonstration and study to simulate decontamination of military vehicles. The process minimizes decontaminated water requirements by treating chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear wastes. The water collected in this demo was spiked with supertropical bleach, Cesium-133 (non-radioactive) and Malathion. The waste was collected, tested and treated for reuse. Results were 100% removal of chlorine and surfactant. Greater than 99.9% removal of turbidity. 99.9% removal of Malathion (measured as phosphorus). 90% decrease of conductivity. The system is rapidly deployable and easy to maintain. The volume of decontaminated waste requiring management or disposal by the Army is minimized.

PIER Technology Demo, Hawaii; Port Improvement via Exigent Repair (PIER) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) - The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) partnered with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Emerging Capability, the U.S. Pacific Command, and the U.S. Transportation Command on the first of a four-phase operational assessment of technologies to rapidly repair damaged piers to minimum military utility. ERDC demonstrated technologies at Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, including its Multifunction Assessment Reconnaissance Vehicle (MARV) and a commercial-off-the-shelf pile-wrapping technology that ERDC developed for military applications. MORE ... search "ERDC PIER