Science and Technology: The Corner Stone of Building Strong
Dr. James R. Houston is pleased to announce that the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Research and Development Community of Practice, will host the first USACE Research and Development Conference on 17-20 November 2009 at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tenn.
This conference will facilitate communication and coordination within the USACE R&D community and provide a venue to stimulate technical exchange between leadership, engineers, and scientists.
The conference theme, Science and Technology: The Corner Stone for Building Strong supports the current campaign theme of the USACE, "Building Strong." The future strength of our Nation's capability and competitiveness rests on our ability to transition today's research and development investments to meaningful products meeting the needs of the Nation. The strong science and technology-based foundations we lay today are vital to the Nation's ability to meet the complex challenges we currently face and the even greater challenges of future generations. A strong research and development program is an imperative in the ability of the USACE to fully realize its vision: "A GREAT engineering force of highly disciplined people working with our partners through disciplined thought and action to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to the Nation's engineering challenges." Through R&D, we enable the USACE to achieve its mission of providing vital public engineering services that strengthen our Nation's security, energize the economy, and reduce the risks and consequences of natural and human caused disasters.
Conference Format back to top
This three-day program will include technical presentations, poster sessions, notebook computer demonstrations, panel sessions, break-out sessions and invited keynote speakers. The program is designed to provide opportunities for networking among researchers, developers, managers, and stakeholders. The goal of the conference is to greatly improve networking and collaboration among research and development staff. The conference program will consist of several types of sessions defined below.
Plenary Sessions
Plenary sessions will be held each day. Keynote presentations are intended to inspire and establish the atmosphere of collaboration and knowledge sharing. Possible panel discussions that address major topics of concern to the community at large may also be included in the program.
Ideas for panel presentations on issues of broad scope and concern to the USACE R&D Community of Practice are invited. Submissions should be made via email to Donald J. Morgan, Chief, ERDC Programs Office. Please include the title, description of panel presentation, how it supports the theme and goals of the conference, proposed speakers, amount of time needed.
Technical Sessions back to top
Each Technical Session will be chaired by Army Senior Research Scientists (ST), Army Senior Technology Leaders (DB6), or Business Area Lead Technical Directors from the ERDC and senior representatives from the Institute for Water Resources (IWR). The chair is responsible for fully developing the topic-oriented sessions, reviewing all submissions, and making selections for oral presentations, posters, and demonstrations. The chair will also be responsible for evaluating submissions for awards.
Technical presentations will be organized by technical session topics. The technical presentations are to consist of an oral presentation and written abstract. The PowerPoint slides and abstracts will be published on the Web. Technical presentations will present great work expanding technical knowledge in basic and applied sciences and research engineering. Technical presentations may present results of technical successes from integrated multi-disciplinary activities, as well as applied technology development where the immediate needs of the client may supersede optimization of technology. Oral presentations will be scheduled for 20 minutes, including discussion.
Notebook computer demonstrations are an option for both technical session presenters and poster participants. The demonstrations would be conducted separately in an area reserved for notebook demos.
Poster Sessions
To encourage networking, poster sessions, organized by technical session topic, will be used to offer another venue for presenters to provide more detail through posters or demonstrations of their respective technology/science. There will be poster sessions on the first and second days of the conference during lunch. The poster sessions will also serve as a venue for presentation of new or emerging technical work or less developed technical activities.
Breakout Sessions
Breakout sessions are intended to gather groups of USACE researchers, technology developers and leaders. These sessions should address issues of concern to the R&D community, such as future directions in R&D or professional development issues that make R&D more effective. Suggestions for breakout sessions are solicited from participants and will be scheduled as time and space allows.
Following are some ideas for breakout sessions under consideration:
- Maintaining Peer-Reviewed Excellence. Identifying ways to ensure that our work undergoes scrutiny by the best in each given field. Develop clear metrics for national and international standards of excellence (peer-reviewed journal publications, broad significance of science/engineering being conducted, etc).
- Bridging the Valley of Death — From S&T to Fielding. Case studies where S&T has been successfully fielded. Brief information on the underlying science/technology, but concentrate on why the science/technology transition was successful. One case study from each BA.
- Encouraging Innovation. Identify ways to encourage R&D innovation.
- From Customer Capability Need to S&T Requirement. Identifying and defining customer capability needs in terms of S&T projects. Quantification of success metrics.
- The Multidisciplinary Solution Paradigm. Developing holistic solutions for identified customer needs. Ensuring full utilization of ERDC/USACE resources (inter-branch, inter-division, inter-lab, inter-BA) to effectively and efficiently solve customer problems.
- The Killer Proposal. Streamlined project development processes using best practices for proposal development. Scaling proposal complexity to project scope and complexity. Ensuring appropriate level of technical review.
- Effective Marketing. Developing marketing teams. Marketing skills and tool sets. Marketing documentation. Determining the "most bang for the buck" audience to pursue.
Tentative Agenda
Click here for a tentative agenda. A final agenda will be made available by 1 November.
Call for Abstracts and Posters back to top
Abstracts for oral technical presentations and posters are invited on all topics in fields of science and engineering within the USACE mission areas. Please refer to the list of technical session topics for a description of each topic. All submissions will be reviewed and selected by the Program Committee.
All technical presentations and posters should address the following:
- Key issues: What key scientific/engineering issues does this effort address, relative to the scope of the problem?
- Advances: What major advance has or will this effort produce?
- Reviewer's Perspective: What would an outside reviewer see as particular innovations in this R&D?
- Products: What products have or will this R&D produce?
- Partners and Roles: Who are your partners, and what role do they play relative to the in-house effort? What does the organization gain from this partnership?
- Competitors/Others: Who else (A&E firms, DoD, academic, international) does similar research and development? What do they do differently, relative to the work here? How do you leverage their work?
- Client/Funding source(s): Does the funding come from direct-allotted (stakeholder R&D), or directly from a client (customer name(s), organization)?
- Duration of effort (or efforts): How long has this effort taken? May summarize multiple projects.
We ask each submitter to submit a 1-2 page abstract to a particular technical session topic. If more than one technical session topic fits, the submitter may choose to submit to more than one topic. The best abstracts will be selected for technical sessions and the submitter will be asked to submit an updated abstract if requested by the reviewers. If we receive a very large response to a topic, we may choose to designate the overflow to the poster session.
All abstracts for oral presentations and posters must be submitted on-line. Include title, author name(s), office symbol, mailing address, telephone, fax, email, and session topic(s) you are applying to. Indicate which of the following four options you wish to be considered for:
- Oral presentation in a Technical Session
- Poster
- Combination of Oral Presentation and Poster
- Notebook Demo in a breakout area as an addition to either Oral Presentation or Poster.
In addition, the session topic chairman may invite accepted abstracts to submit a full paper for peer review by ERDC leading scientists in preparation for submission to a journal of one's choice. The deadline for invited papers will be December 31, 2009.
Posters are for the presentation of preliminary results or research under development. Accepted posters will be displayed at the conference at all times and may include demonstrations, space permitting.
All accepted abstracts and posters will be published in a Web-based conference proceeding, if they are presented at the conference. You must obtain OPSEC approval prior to submitting all abstracts, presentation slides, and posters for web publication. Please click here for the OPSEC form and submission instructions.
To submit your abstract on-line click here. (https://strse.erdc.usace.army.mil/)
Awards Program back to top
Awards will be given for the top posters and oral presentations. The awards will be presented at the Awards Luncheon on Thursday, 19 November 2009. Categories include:
Papers: First and second overall, first and second by general topic.
Posters: First and second overall, first and second by general topic.
Criteria for judging: clarity of presentation, technical soundness and originality of contribution, relevance to USACE mission, and quality of written abstract/poster. Selections will be made by the session chairpersons.
Deadlines and Important Dates back to top
Abstract submission deadline: July 15, 2009
Poster submission deadline: July 15, 2009
Panel presentation submission: July 15, 2009
Breakout session submission: July 15, 2009
Acceptance notification: August 30, 2009
Final Abstract submission: September 30, 2009
Poster submission: September 30, 2009
Conference Registration deadline: October 24, 2009
You must obtain OPSEC approval prior to submitting all abstracts, presentation slides, and posters for publication. Please click here for the OPSEC form and submission instructions.
Conference Committee: back to top
Dr. Bert Davis, Conference Chair
Mr. Christopher Cottrell, Project Manager
Mr. Donald Morgan, Technical Committee Chair
Dr. Todd Bridges, ERDC-EL
Dr. Cary Butler, ERDC-ITL
Dr. John Cullinane, ERDC-EL
Mr. Jeff Harris, HEC
Dr. Keith Hofseth, IWR
Dr. David Horner, ERDC-GSL
Dr. Ashok Kumar, ERDC-CERL
Dr. Paul Mlakar, ERDC-GSL
Dr. John Peters, ERDC-GSL
Ms. Joan Pope, ERDC
Dr. Michael Powers, ERDC-TEC
Dr. Don Resio, ERDC-CHL
Mr. David Richards, ERDC-ITL
Mr. Roy Cooper, ERDC
Mr. Jeff Walaszek, ERDC
Mr. Pete Swart, ERDC
Conference Registration back to top
For information on Conference registration fees, meal fees, accommodations, and the conference venue, visit (PSA's conference Website http://www.team-psa.com/usace_rdc/home.asp).
Technical session topics under consideration are: back to top
Nanomaterials: Promise and Concerns |
Nanotechnologies (materials) have the potential to provide major changes in technological capability across all business areas. Nanotechnologies may affect: sensing, materials performance, corrosion resistance, force protection. |
Implications of Nanomaterials |
Nanotechnology has the potential to create many new materials and devices with wide-ranging applications, such as in medicine, electronics, and energy production. On the other hand, nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as with any introduction of new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials, and their potential effects on global economics, as well as speculation about various doomsday scenarios. This session will highlight ERDC research related to the potential environmental consequences of nanomaterials development and fielding. |
Nanotechnology |
The study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures of the size 100 nanometers or smaller, and involves developing materials or devices within that size. Nanotechnology is very diverse, ranging from novel extensions of conventional device physics, to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, to developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale, even to speculation on whether we can directly control matter on the atomic scale. This session will emphasis developments in the nanotechnology other than new materials, e.g., microfluidics, nanofluidics. |
Ecological Processes and Quantitative Ecosystem Science |
Advancing practice within ecosystem assessment, restoration, and management will be served through the development and application of quantitative approaches to describe processes and mechanisms and predict system behaviors and outcomes. This session will include examples of quantitative tools and their applications that highlight the benefits and needs of quantitative ecosystem science, including approaches for informing experimental design, data collection and analysis, and modeling. |
Economic Modeling |
This session covers advances made to predicting and measuring economic consequences to alternative management measures in flood control, navigation and environmental projects. Specific emphasis will be given to decision sciences including multiple criteria and risk in a systems context. |
Systems Biology |
Biology provides examples of successful adaptation and integration of complex interactions of numerous processes. This session would probe the current state of the art in systems biology and present ERDC research in the context of solving traditional engineering problem. Examples of cutting edge research in this area include: genomics, ecosystem interactions, biological networks, etc. |
Sensor Physics and Phenomenology |
This session will cover the science and phenomenology of sensing. Primary emphasis will be on the different sensing modalities and the phenomenology of sensor response, with particular attention given to the impact of environmental conditions on sensor response. |
Computational Chemistry and Biology |
Tremendous strides are being made in the use of in silico techniques for simulating and predicting chemical and biologic response to environmental perturbations. The ERDC is a leader in this area and this session will stress the advances being made in this area and how these advances map into NSF and NAS recommendations for the future of chemistry and toxicology. |
Geophysics Applications |
Geophysics session in which we could present IED, tunnel detection, countermine, UXO stuff. All these are to some extent geophysics based and there are some differences in the ERDC teams working each specific application of geophysics |
Security and Critical Systems |
Sustainable Operation, maintenance, and protection of USACE assets and DoD facilities are dependant upon aggressive assessments of operational linkages and understanding of potential natural and man-made threats. |
Multi-scale Modeling |
These papers will address issues of scale and how they are incorporated into models and the transition from nano to micro to macro to mega levels of assessment |
Earth Surface Phenomena |
This session would cover scientific processes of water, sediment transport, earth and soil stability, erosion and accretion, ice, ocean dynamics, earthquake loadings and the interaction of earth based components. |
Military Munitions Response |
The Army liability for military munitions response is estimated to be up to $20B. ERDC activities in MMR range from remediation of MM contaminated sites to evaluation of environmental risk of MM. This session will highlight new ERDC driven developments in MM response and highlight lifecycle management of MM. Four labs are actively engaged in this research. |
Survivability |
This session covers innovative science and technology, both basic and applied, to safeguard and secure the current and future forces. This includes the Soldiers as well as mission critical systems and facilities. The threats include kinetic and chemical energy munitions, directed energy weapons, as well as chemical, biological, and radiological hazards. Topics include protective materials and systems, measures to conceal and deceive, as well as operational procedures. |
Maneuver |
This session would go beyond mobility and examine innovative work in ground, air and dismounted movement. It would also cover Warfighter Mission Areas such as tactical and logistical areas |
Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems |
National priorities for both the military and civil side of the USACE include an emphasis on sustainable and resilient infrastructure. This session would combine papers from military and civil technology developers related to the planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of the natural and man-made environment. Emphasis will be on zero footprint infrastructure and infrastructure that can be rapidly restored from natural and man made disasters. Further, this session includes both fixed installations and forward operating bases. |
Geospatial Science and Engineering Applications |
We have found that geographical awareness has proven critical to military and civil mission planning and many Command and Control (C2) decisions. On the military side, geospatial decision applications consist of terrain analyses and geointelligence embedded into decision making cycles where the system makes specialist products available to the mission planners and decision makers seamlessly through various enabling technologies. Thus the resulting system of systems increases the quality and agility of Campaign Design, the Joint Operational Planning Process, Military Decision Making Process and Battle Command. R&D efforts supporting this area span from new techniques to gain situational awareness of the terrain and its condition, developments in geospatial markup language, cascading use cases, to robust assessment of courses of action, branches and sequels. |
Environmental Modeling and Prioritization |
This session will highlight advances made in modeling environmental systems on multiple scales with an emphasis on the predicted attributes of the system with and without alternative plans. Also, this session will cover methods to prioritize Federal investments across species, habitats and regions. |
Computational Science and Informatics |
Computational science and informatics technologies have become essential components of our research and development programs at ERDC. Each of our laboratories and their associated technical disciplines use data, information frameworks, modeling and assessment, decision support, and knowledge management to accomplish their missions. Those missions have required that our products to be scalable on a variety of computing platforms that include PDAs, PCs, and supercomputers. This technical session provides a forum to present and discuss computational science and informatics technologies that span the ERDC mission space. |
Development of Engineering-Economic Tools for Decision Making |
This session explores the team building aspect of modern multidisciplinary research efforts and institutional challenges to successfully fielding research products. Topics could include the engineer's perspective vs. the economist's perspective, planning model certification, processes and methodologies for model development, circular development and working with domain experts to build smart models. |
Quantifying Sources of Risk |
Risk Analysis has become an integral part in many aspects of science and engineering. This session will show how Risk Analysis has been incorporated into R&D in both general science and flood applications. |
Science that Informs Decisions about Risk. |
The Army and USACE are challenged by the need to manage a diversity of risks using uncertain information. Approaches for capturing, describing and representing information about risks and uncertainty are essential to analyzing problems, formulating risk management plans, and modeling potential outcomes. Examples and methods from a range of risk problems will be included in the session to highlight current advances and critical gaps. |
Mission Transformation: Future Requirements in Support of Military Operations and Civil Works |
These papers will be based upon scientific assessments that lead to a better understanding of projectable futures and how they may influence requirements and challenges of the future. What tools, technologies, and technology integration will be needed to support future needs from both the perspective of military operations and civil works. |
Technological Advances to Support System-based Approaches |
System-based approaches are those which specifically address exceedingly large temporal and spatial scales in the hydrologic, geotechnical, structural, environmental, and related information science disciplines.
They also seek science and engineering solutions that are holistic in nature as opposed to narrowly focused discipline specific approaches. |
Moving Science into Practice |
The emphasis here would be in documenting successful methods and examples of transiting R&D into application. Presenters will detail R&D they have conducted and show samples of where the technology has been applied in the field and how it helped to solve a problem. |
Adapting to Change |
Topics should address challenges in adapting facilities, capabilities, mission, and practices considering changing climate, demographics, resources, environment, and expectations |
Other |
Any other topic related to the USACE R&D mission that is not covered in this list. |
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