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Assistant Dean for Research Bill Doe (center, holding “Beat Navy” sign) and Mike Traxler (far right – CU Office of Industry Collaboration) host the ONR contingent on campus.

A critical and growing component of the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s work is basic and applied research in support of national security needs. Over 18 percent of the college’s current research expenditures support programs for the Army, Air Force and Navy (including the Marine Corps).

As evidence of the our national reputation in defense research, the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) – Global Programs Office recently asked us to host 30 science and technology advisors from around the globe to the Engineering Center for a day-long summit. The group took part in briefings from faculty, discussions, and laboratory tours.

What were they hoping to find out at CU Boulder? The goal of the visit was so they could learn more about our engineering research and how it can help advance national security.

Led by Dr. Patricia Gruber, ONR’s Global Technical Director based in London, the science advisors included key staff members from stateside and forward deployed locations including Virginia, North Carolina, California, Hawaii, Europe and the Middle East. The science advisors work directly with the Navy and Marine Corps forces in their region to identify technology needs and then locate research partners in higher education and industry to find solutions.

The college is currently performing $12 million in Navy funded research in areas including soil blast modeling and simulation, flexible and modular radio frequency platforms, and optical device characterization.

Attendees were briefed by faculty members from across the college on their research in support of the Department of Defense, including:

• Scott Palo, Smead Aerospace, Associate Dean for Research
• Nisar Ahmed and Eric Frew, Smead Aerospace, Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles
• Jeff Thayer, Smead Aerospace, Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research
• Dejan Filipovic Juliet Gopinath and Dana Anderson, Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering
• Chris Heckman, Department of Computer Science

The guests were exceptionally complimentary of the research and capabilities of the college to support the Navy in science and technology.

Later this summer, we will be able to share our achievements and research with an even wider audience. A faculty delegation is planning to travel to Washington DC in July for the Naval Future Force Science & Technology Expo. The event will give us a chance to meet with science advisors and experts to discuss partnership opportunities for new and existing CU Engineering research.