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  • February

    Dr. Benjamin Trump named U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Researcher of the Year.

    ERDC scientist named USACE Researcher of the Year

    Dr. Benjamin Trump, a research social scientist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL), was recently named U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Researcher of the Year.

  • January

    The National Technical Committee for Ordinary High Watermarks (OHWM), made up of researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), the Environmental Protection Agency, regulators from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other academic institutions, stand in front of a waterfall following a field test of an interim OHWM identification data sheet.

    ERDC Releases New Data Sheet for Identifying Ordinary High Watermarks

    For 10 years, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has  led research on the development of a national manual and data sheet to identify the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) across the United States. The national manual was released as an interim draft and describes the OHWM, which is used to define the boundaries of aquatic features for a variety of federal, state and local regulatory purposes.
  • Kate Trubac, a Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory research general engineer, oversees an in-situ burn experiment conducted with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The burns are testing the efficiency of a new system designed to improve oil spill clean up.

    CRREL researchers test new crude oil spill method, tools

    When it comes to oil spills, efficient methods of cleanup play a vital role in mitigating damage. Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) are testing the effectiveness of a new tool aimed at cleaning up spills called the fire-boom.
  • Terry Winschel, historian at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), gives a tour of the ERDC-Vicksburg site to Susan Vogel Wilson and her husband, Bruce Wilson. Wilson is the granddaughter of the late Lt. Herbert Vogel, who served as the first commander of the Waterways Experiment Station

    Granddaughter of first Waterways commander visits ERDC-Vicksburg

    When Susan Vogel Wilson was growing up, she thought of her grandfather as a loving man with a priceless sense of humor who always brought back fun souvenirs from his travels. To the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Wilson’s grandfather is remembered as the man who started it all— the first commander of the Waterways Experiment Station. Wilson’s grandfather, Herbert D. Vogel, was a world leader in engineering and retired as a brigadier general for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At the age of 29, after earning a doctorate in hydraulic engineering in Berlin, Germany, Lt. Vogel was selected to oversee the construction of a new hydraulics laboratory in Vicksburg. Today, the Waterways Experiment Station (WES) has grown into ERDC—seven laboratories across four states, home to approximately 2,100 employees and a $1 billion annual research program.
  • Dr. Benjamin Trump, a research social scientist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Environmental Laboratory, was recently awarded the Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award by the Society for Risk Analysis.

    ERDC researcher recognized for outstanding service in risk analysis field

    Dr. Benjamin Trump, a research social scientist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL), was recently awarded the Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award by the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA).
  • ERDC Virtual Library

    Books to bytes: ERDC Library goes fully virtual

    VICKSBURG, Miss.— A new effort will transform the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Library by adding an unexpected capability: virtual reality. A team at the ERDC Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) is working to create a fully-immersive, interactive experience that is as realistic as physically walking into the Mississippi-based library with an ultimate goal of enhancing information and data discovery for team members around the world.
  • Treat Island, Maine facility for testing coatings

    New cold weather facilities established to test coatings that mitigate ice adhesion, corrosion

    VICKSBURG, Miss. — The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire, announced the creation of three new facilities on Treat Island, Maine; in Fairbanks, Alaska; and in Hanover for the testing of coatings to withstand — and even mitigate — ice adhesion and corrosion.
  • The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineer Research Laboratory (CERL) Robotics for Engineering Operations (REO) team recently participated in Project Convergence 2022 (PC22).

    Robotics for Engineering Operations team participate in Project Convergence 2022

    The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineer Research Laboratory (CERL) Robotics for Engineering Operations (REO) team recently participated in Project Convergence 2022 (PC22).
  • The new 4,008 square-foot annex building at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina.

    ERDC’s Field Research Facility to hold ribbon cutting ceremony for new annex

    The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new annex building at its Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, January 19 at 10 a.m. EST.
  • A team from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) participated in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Centennial Challenge and earned the 2020 Silver Medal. The ERDC-CERL team included Dr. Michael Case (not pictured), Megan Kreiger, Eric Kreiger, Russ Northrup (not pictured), and Dr. Pete Stynoski.

    ERDC-CERL employees honored with 2020 Silver Medal award

    A team from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) was honored by NASA for their work in a contest using 3D printing to create housing options not only on Earth, but also in space.

  • December

    Dr. Emily Asenath-Smith displays an ice laminate grown on a surface using her patented invention, “Vertical draw system and method for surface adhesion of crystalline materials,” which is a foundational component of her ice adhesion research program at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Center (CRREL). Asenath-Smith is the lead investigator for CRREL’s Ice Adhesion Facility where much of her innovative research is conducted.

    Improved ice removal methods lead to patent for ERDC CRREL inventor

    With winter weather approaching in colder climates, travelers face daily frustrations of scraping away the ice clinging to steps and vehicle glass surfaces. There are also impending risks of power outages caused by ice storms. For the military, icy conditions threaten the safety and success of global operations by severing communication and utility networks, halting transportation and interfering with visibility.
  • Computer scientist Tung “Alex” Ly with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) invented the “Digital Buoy Systems and Method” in his laboratory at ERDC’s Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL), Alexandria, Virginia. He received a patent in May 2022 for his digital system which will help reduce operational costs to the U.S. Government and provide real-time, reliable and enhanced marine navigation safety for U.S. private, public and commercial industries.

    Electronic buoy invention directs river traffic more safely, economically

    To improve marine navigation safety, enhance system efficiency and reduce buoys-tendering operational cost for the government, computer scientist Tung “Alex” Ly with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) invented the “Digital Buoy Systems and Method” at ERDC’s Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL).

  • November

    David Hibner is the new director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Geospatial Research Laboratory. He also serves as the director of the Army Geospatial Center and the Geospatial Information Officer of the Army.

    ERDC welcomes new GRL Director David Hibner

    David Hibner was selected to the Senior Executive Service and began serving as the new director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL) September 26, 2022. Along with his duties as GRL director, Hibner also serves as the director of the Army Geospatial Center (AGC) and the Geospatial Information Officer of the Army.
  • ERDC team member Shelby Purvis prepares for the sixth annual ERDC Under the Lights drive-thru holiday celebration on Dec. 8-9.

    Bringing holidays to life at annual ERDC Under the Lights drive-thru display

    Plans are in motion for the sixth annual ERDC Under the Lights drive-thru holiday celebration at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
  • Samantha Cook portrait

    ERDC researcher impacts Department of Defense policy through Climate Action Team

    When the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Samantha Cook enrolled as a music major at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), she never dreamed that an elective class called Global Environmental Change would dramatically change her life. The ERDC-Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) Research Physical Scientist now recalls that it was the first time she heard the phrase “global warming.” “I just took one look at the issue and said, ‘this is the problem of our generation,’” she said. Cook described how she changed her major, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from UNH, and then found a position with CRREL. Since November 2021, she has been on a detail with the Department of Defense’s Climate Action Team, helping to shape DOD guidance and policy on issues pertaining to climate change in support of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the armed services.
  • Lauren Dunkin is the chief of the Coastal Engineering Branch in the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory.

    ERDC’s Dunkin named USACE Manager of the Year

    Lauren Dunkin, chief of the Coastal Engineering Branch at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), has been named the U.S. Army Corps Engineers (USACE) Manager of the Year.
  • Blue heron stands on a beach

    Engineering With Nature initiative contributes to White House roadmap for accelerating nature-based solutions

    VICKSBURG, Miss. — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature (EWN) leaders contributed to a White House interagency report released Nov. 8 about opportunities for the federal government to accelerate the implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS). “The report provides a roadmap with five strategic recommendations for federal agencies to implement, and it provides an agency resource guide of thirty NBS examples in action,” said Dr. Todd Bridges, national lead of EWN.
  • Dr. Andy Nelson, Director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) participates in a groundbreaking ceremony for a flow battery at Fort Carson, Colorado, Nov. 3, 2022. ERDC-CERL was selected earlier this year to provide management for the new battery. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Kaley Skaggs)

    Groundbreaking Ceremony held at Fort Carson for flow battery

    The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) team at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) Operational Energy (OE) participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the installation of a flow battery at Fort Carson, Colorado, Nov. 3, 2022. The ERDC-CERL team was selected earlier this year to provide management for the new battery.
  • Presently based in Mobile, Alabama, as an emergency operations specialist with the USACE Reachback Operations Center (UROC), Theodore Lee coordinates requests for information from the field, has deployed as a Blue Roof data manager, and manages training and equipment operations, among other duties. The Office of Research and Technology Transfer, which coordinates patents for ERDC, will recognize Lee in 2023 for his achievements with a patent presentation ceremony and placement of an additional plaque on the patent recipients’ wall at ERDC headquarters.

    Predicting future runway alignment earns patent for Mobile’s Lee

    While the convenience of Global Positioning System (GPS) can assist drivers to desired locations, pilots can also depend on it to locate runways that have been renamed as the result of shifting magnetic fields, thus assuring passengers’ safety.

  • October

    Dr. Martinez-Guerra looks up from the inside of J.H. Fewell Water Treatment Plant

    ERDC’s Martinez-Guerra applies military installation expertise to Jackson water crisis

    VICKSBURG, Miss., - By now, many have heard of the recent water crisis affecting the city of Jackson, Mississippi. Many may not realize, however, that a research environmental engineer from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory, Dr. Edith Martinez-Guerra, applied her expertise with military installations to help assess the troubled system.