VICKSBURG, Miss. - The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) recently signed an Educational Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, formalizing a long-standing relationship between one of the Army’s top research laboratories and the school that has been producing some of the nation’s top leaders for more than 200 years. The EPA provides a framework for the two organizations to pursue collaborative educational and research activities, with both parties mutually benefiting from the pairing.
“With this agreement, our researchers can interface with cadets, both here and at West Point, and get them excited about engineering and choosing to be a Corps of Engineers officer,” said ERDC Commander COL Jeffrey Eckstein. “When they see the type of work we’re doing, it’s hard for them not to be excited. They get to see the real problems and engineering. Let them drive a tank, fire artillery or shoot weapons, and then tell them about engineering – which do you think they’ll choose? But if we can show them what they can be a part of, it could change everything.
“In return, ERDC gets a pool of bright interns and driven cadets that can serve as researchers,” continued Eckstein. “Not only can they be an asset to us while at school, but they have the opportunity to spend their summers with us and possibly choose to continue their summer research into the school year as an independent study. This truly is a win-win situation for both parties.”
The EPA began as an idea from Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Van Antwerp, then serving as Chief of Engineers and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commanding General, who wanted to make the relationship between ERDC and USMA more formal. The objectives of the agreement include encouraging and enhancing studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines for cadets and faculty at USMA; better utilizing USMA’s potential to contribute to the solution of problems being addressed by ERDC for the U.S. Army; providing opportunities for ERDC researchers to participate at USMA in visiting roles and become familiar with programs, faculty, cadets and future Army leaders; providing opportunities for USMA faculty and cadets to learn and develop professionally, in addition to increasing their knowledge about ERDC; providing opportunities for officers in graduate school to conduct research that can be continued during their teaching tour at USMA; and improving the visibility of ongoing ERDC-USMA research.
The EPA also calls for a visiting professor position, which will be used to further enrich the USMA faculty while offering ERDC personnel an opportunity to return to an academic environment to teach and continue research. That position has already been established, and is held by ERDC’s Lt. Col. Steven Hart. His job has two main objectives – first, to bring ERDC research projects to West Point and facilitate cadet and faculty involvement, as well as encourage them to visit ERDC labs during the summer; and second, to export the infrastructure research and education done at West Point in support of military education and ERDC infrastructure related projects.
“Formalizing this EPA means that the ERDC-West Point relationship now transcends personality,” said Hart. “Past relationships depended on a person here who knew a person there. The EPA provides opportunities to cadets and faculty that would not otherwise be available. ERDC-sponsored projects are one of the few that are legally permissible for cadets and faculty to work on, and since the research costs do not include salary, the work can be done very efficiently for ERDC. For example, in the ongoing SIP-Hut project, I stopped counting at 2,000 cadet hours and 800 faculty hours.”
The SIP (Structural Insulated Panels)-Hut project, years in the making, began as a search for an alternative to the military temporary housing structure Barracks Hut (B-Hut) and is an example of successful collaboration between the two organizations. SIP-Huts improve thermal efficiency and reduce electrical demand, saving fuel and minimizing the operational eco-footprint of forces in theater. The new design also allows for substantial reductions in transportation requirements, construction time and cost. The technology, which is currently on version 2.0 and resulted in a team of cadets winning a QinetiQ Prize of $3,000, is currently undergoing a year-long, side-by-side comparison with a standard B-Hut. SIP-Hut 3.0, which incorporates improvements based on lessons learned, is also in the works.
“ERDC is able to get bright ideas from cadets on how to solve Army problems,” said Dr. Ashok Kumar, a senior science and technology manager at ERDC’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, Ill., who is heavily involved in the SIP-Hut project. “They bring in revolutionary solutions and are open to new developments without being encumbered by the limitation of incremental improvement over current technologies. The cadets bring in mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering skills with a drive to solve long-range Army problems. They have excellent laboratory facilities and extraordinary intellectual capacities and energy. USMA also has the benefit of high visibility to Army senior leaders.”
Joint projects are also promoted through ERDC’s hosting of visiting faculty and cadets for summer research, a tradition that began in 1978 and something the EPA ensures will continue. With placement orchestrated by Hart and ERDC Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory’s Senior Research Scientist for Weapons Effects and Structural Dynamics Dr. Paul Mlakar, currently serving in a liaison position as a distinguished chair in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at West Point, nine cadets spent the summer of 2013 at ERDC in a variety of laboratories and capacities. Part of USMA’s Advanced Individual Academic Development assignments, the program is designed to provide the cadets with real-world experience not available in classrooms.
“The Environmental Engineering Branch has had great success working with USMA,” said Andy Martin, chief of the Environmental Laboratory’s Environmental Engineering Branch. “Recently we were able to integrate Cadet Peter Fugate’s summer visit into a Systems Engineering Capstone Project where a group of cadets conducted a life-cycle costs analysis on the treatment of insensitive munitions process waste water providing valuable justification for the proposed processes that were chosen for pilot scale development.”
Martin’s branch has been working with USMA regularly for the past several years, with efforts spanning multiple projects. In FY12, the branch supported four cadets in a Systems Engineering Capstone Project focusing on beneficial use (BU) of dredged materials resulting in the development of a BU screening model, and in FY13 they supported four more cadets in a capstone project focusing on depleted uranium. The capstone project for FY14, inspired by Fugate’s time at ERDC, is in the draft phase and strives to determine the most cost-effective technology for treating insensitive munitions production wastewater at Army ammunition plants. Four cadets, including Fugate, are participating in the study.
While at ERDC, Fugate said, “Here, I am able to work on interesting real world projects and apply what I learned in the classroom. Overall, I have gained an understanding of what exactly engineers, managers and researchers do to support the efforts of the group.”
Over the years, ERDC’s USMA summer assignments have sparked a variety of advancements, including a recent patent application for Modified Soil-Filled Revetments, a cadet-created barrier meant to serve as an alternative to the traditional HESCO method. Those who’d like to request cadet involvement on upcoming projects can contact Mlakar, paul.f.mlakar@usace.army.mil, or Hart, steven.hart@usma.edu, who are both dedicated to nurturing and growing this relationship going forward.
“To use a mathematical analogy, what the ERDC-West Point partnership provides is the product of ERDC x West Point, not the sum of ERDC + West Point,” said Hart. “Together we are so much more effective in achieving the missions of both organizations than we could ever be separately.”